The dancer from Tbilisi

The Dancer From Tbilisi

I climbed down the dark staircase, illuminated different shades or red, blue and green from the flickers in the hall downstairs. I pulled off my long-coat and handed it to the coat-check girl before making my way into the hall downstairs.

The first thing I saw when I entered was the gorgeous girl dancing on the bar counter, striding through the glasses and bottles with perfect ease. I walked straight toward her, there was no point in looking around through the crowd sitting at the bar or dancing on the floor as I knew no one in this city.

She had long, blonde hair, iridescent blue eyes and wore a skimpy black outfit made of lace. She was Katarina.

I hopped onto a stool close to hear, a woman stood next to me, cheering Katarina on as she danced and trying to jump up and grab her every time she danced by her. The DJ played some popular dance tunes, already a little tipsy I could feel every beat pulsating through me and I began to move, dancing to the music, oblivious to everyone around me, everyone except her.

When Katarina danced past me on the bar counter in front of me, the girl standing next to me raised her hand and tried to grab Katarina's ass, I attempted the same but got a slap on the hand by the girl next to me. She seemed very possessive and I assumed they were girlfriends. Katarina bent down in front of us and I held out my cigarette for her, she moved closer and took a drag of my cigarette then got up and began dancing again.

I ordered myself a shot of Absolut and lit another cigarette waiting for the bartender to get it. There was a bunch of girls to my right, one of them sporting a DSLR camera taking shots of everyone, I beckoned her over and gestured for her to photograph me, I posed for her and she took a few shots of me then went away giggling. It was time for Katarina's break, she came and sat down next to me. She spoke only broken English and I spoke no Georgian but we didn't need words. I called the bartender over and bought her a drink. We talked and finished our drinks, then I took her hand and led her to the dance floor, she was a professional dancer while I just had two left feet and just couldn't keep up with her.

I spun her around, pulled her close to me and smelled her hair, she smelled wonderful. We then went back to the bar and talked some more. She asked me to give her my number, having only bought a SIM the previous day I had no idea what my number was so I handed her my phone and asked her to punch her number in.

She got back on the bar counter and resumed her dancing, I smoked another cigarette and danced with her friend, a dark haired beauty. It was getting late. I downed another shot of Absolut, donned my coat, pulled the scarf tight around my neck and headed out the door. The chilly Tbilisi wind was cutting through my face and hands but I hardly felt it, courtesy Absolut.

It took me a minute to get my bearings straight and for few seconds I wondered how I was going to get back to my hotel. I decided to head to Rustaveli the same way I had gotten there rather than risk getting lost at this hour. I began to walk south, leaving Shardeni street with all its clubs and bars behind me and trudged the cobblestone street to Freedom Square.