Tuesday of that week after Hayley's graduation, however, Linda received an unusual call. Melody, a chummy, African American front desk worker, paged her from there. "There's some guy down here asking for you," Melody said when Linda answered the page. "He says his name is…" Linda's end of the line rustled and clunked while Melody must have set it down to ask a question to someone standing nearby. "…it's Roger Maitland."
The name at first did not register. She wondered if he could be a pharmaceutical representative trying a coy, new angle. Suddenly it occurred to her: the aborted dance lesson and Maggie rushing her to the hospital. "Tell him I'll be right down," she said.
At the front lobby, near the gift shop, she met Roger. She tried to remember how long it had been since the last time they'd seen each other. After he'd taught her in the dance lesson late in her pregnancy with Matthew, she waited four months to return. For the next four years after that, she alternated taking lessons from him, or from Jared, before Roger left the studio to accept a position with a competitor. Linda remembered Maggie being distraught over losing him. Why was he seeking her out now?
Passersby in the lobby turned heads and gawked when they saw Roger. Though only of average height and build, he seemed immaculate in a perfectly tailored, European style suit with a pastel rose shirt and coordinated burgundy tie. His sandy hair was still full, yet graying at the temples and while his face sported forehead grooves and smile lines, he had aged elegantly. Linda had noticed the same thing occurring among all longtime dancers whether they were male or female. "Linda!" he said, opening his arms when he saw her. "It's so nice to see you! You look great!"
Through their greetings and small talk, Roger apologized if he caused her any alarm by coming to see her at her work. He admitted that he had no other way to reach her. Linda nodded. "So what's this all about?" She had an inkling it was something a little more involved than trying to book her for a dance lesson.
Roger led her aside, toward the glass wall, out of earshot from the passersby. "It's actually a business proposition, but it's a little complicated to get into right here. Can we meet after you finish your shift?"
Linda glanced at her watch. "That'd be in about an hour."
"I'll meet you right here."