CHARLES CLAIRE KALISTAChapter 35
- 4 years ago
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“Wow, Charles—that’s quite ambitious and crazy, like you said. The minute we touch down, I will do all I can to make that happen. You certainly have been the showman this past year, introducing me, special guests that I sprung on you at the last minute like Idina and adding those fantastic musical routines that include all of your ... harem,” Michael said.
“That’s what you pay me the big bucks for Michael,” I said, feeling a pull on my shirtsleeve.
It was Claire, who wanted a kiss. Never one to turn down an opportunity, I landed one on her. Princess asked for one as well, so Claire and she switched places, with K getting in my lap giving me a kiss that felt really nice. She got up and I went over to Annie and Sarah, giving them each a rather chaste kiss, considering Michael was seeing all of this. My harem—my Cask. I almost wish we had a young man traveling with us to take the pressure off me to ‘entertain’ Special K!
“Next, we head up to Russia, performing in Novosibirsk and Saint Petersburg and Moscow for 3.”
“Then, we head to Finland, to Espoo and Helsinki; on to Sweden, both Stockholm and Gothenburg; West to Norway, in the cities of Oslo and Bergen—then off to Reykjavik, Iceland for 2.”
“Back down, off to Copenhagen, Denmark for 2; Amsterdam and Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Antwerp and Ghent, Belgium; Luxembourg in the country of Luxembourg; say that three times fast?”
“From there we head to the Iberian Peninsula and have shows in Lisbon, Portugal and also in Valencia, Barcelona and 3 in Madrid, Spain. On to France...”
“Home of French Fries and the French Kiss,” Kalista said, making us all laugh a bit, including Michael who glanced over at Sarah and saw her and Annie holding each other, arm in arm. He smiled, seemingly resigned to his fate at simply lusting for Sarah from afar.
“Charles—Charles honey, where’d you go?” Claire said.
“Sorry, I was just thinking about something, where was I, somebody?”
Sarah helped by saying, “We were entering France, Mon Capitan.”
“OK, 2 in Marseille, France, then on to Monte Carlo...”
“What about Paris?” Annie asked, raising her head up from against the plane’s window.
“Marseille is on the Southern coast, while Strasberg and Paris are further north. We catch them later, don’t worry,” I replied. “Monte Carlo, Monaco, 2 each in Palermo, Rome, and Venice, Italy.”
“OK, to finish up the ISS Tour schedule, after Italy, is Geneva and Zurich, Switzerland; then Vienna, Austria for 3 performances. On to Germany—specifically Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin and Hamburg! All, 2 each. Between Berlin and Hamburg, we head over to Prague, Czech Republic. After Hamburg we go to Strasburg and Paris, France; 2 each. From there we take the Chunnel from Paris to London...”
“I am sorry for interrupting again Charles, but what’s the Chunnel?” Kalista asked.
Sarah said, “I will take this one, Loverboy.”
“MOTHER!”
Michael gave out a big laugh.
“Sarah!”
“Anyway, the Chunnel is an underground and underwater train tunnel. The body of water between northern France and the Southern end of the United Kingdom is called the English Channel. Back in 1988 they decided they had the technology to go under it from Pas-de-Calais, France to Kent, England. It opened in 1994 and because it was a Tunnel under the Channel, it became known as the Chunnel. The whole thing is only just over 30 miles long, like from Columbus to Marysville in Ohio,” Sarah said, ending with a flourish.
“Thanks, beautiful,” I said as I took back over, “We arrive at London and fly up to Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh, Scotland—on to Dublin, Ireland for 4 and we finish our International portion of this tour in London, England for 3. We finish off the Tour and our final performance with Michael, until our wedding, with 3 performances in New York, New York.”
“How many cities and how many total performances is that Charles?” Claire asked.
“Sixty-two different locations for a total of ninety-seven performances, not counting Athens, which may or may not happen,” I replied. “And whatever we replace our South American leg with.”
“Charles has got a really good idea for Greece everybody, I am going to push for that, as hard as I can,” Michael added.
Sarah got up and went over and sat on Michael’s lap saying, “I know you will sweetie, you will work really hard for me, won’t you?”
“You know I will, Sarah. Very hard indeed.” I heard him try to whisper, as Michael gave out a big sigh. He whispered something into Sarah’s ear that I couldn’t hear and she came back over to Annie and gave her a big ole kiss right on the lips.
Michael knows.
We touched down at La Guardia Airport, not knowing where we were performing—Michael had held that back from us. We all piled into a stretch hummer, our bags coming in a separate vehicle behind us.
After only driving for fifteen minutes we pulled up to a very old looking building, but something inside me told me where we were!
43rd City
New York, NY
Three Nights
Parker Hotel
I looked over at Michael, who saw the realization on my face and he broke out into the most marvelous of grins.
Michael said, “There’s an old joke, where the punch line is ‘Practice, Practice and more Practice. Charles, do you know the setup to that joke?”
“Michael—How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” I broke out in tears grabbing Claire in my arms and openly sobbing.
“What’s so special about Car-niggy Hall, Charles?” Kalista asked.
I replied, “Oh Kalista, Honey—It was designed and built in 1891 and is considered one of the most prestigious performance venues in the world. It was home to the New York Philharmonic Orchestra for years. There are three different Halls inside ... Michael, are we playing on the Perelman Stage?”
“Yep, Charles—only the best, for the best,” he said, enjoying my glee over this.
“Kalista; Benny Goodman and his Orchestra, Bill Haley and his Comets, The Beatles and Pink Floyd and many, many more performers of all eras, ilk’s, and styles have played on the stage, The Main Hall, otherwise known as the Perelman Stage, over the last 119 years. Wow!”
“And now we can add Charles & Claire and the Sparkling Kalista to that ominous roster of performers,” Annie remarked.
“When can we go in, Michael?” I asked, anxious as all get out.
“Charles—we have it for four days total, starting the day after tomorrow. Today we settle in, so where are you guys staying?” Michael asked, looking over at Sarah.
“At the Parker Hotel, Michael—only a quarter mile south of here. We have got a king and two twins—There’s a five-person hot tub in it,” Sarah replied looking over at me, smiling.
“That sounds mighty exclusive, when did you book that to get it?” Michael asked.
“Eight months ago, when I saw New York as the final town on this Tour, I decided we needed to move up in class a few times,” Sarah said.
“Sarah,” I said. “I am with the classiest four broads every time we go out somewhere together.”
“Suck up,” Michael said with a smile on his face.
“Michael, Charles follows through on everything he says and everything he promises. That’s not a suck-up—that’s my Son-in-Law, to be.”
Michael got on the intercom and directed the driver to The Parker. Things got quiet for a while. We pulled up and got out. Michael went over to Sarah and they talked for a moment before we all went in.
While waiting for our luggage from the vehicle that was following us, I went over to Sarah.
“What was that all about Sweet-Lips, between you and Michael?” I said.
“Oh, he wanted to apologize for what he said. I can’t stay mad at him, he’s kind of cute, you know?” Sarah said.
Smarmily, I responded, “Not as cute as me, I hope, I’m still your favorite, aren’t I?”
“Oh, yeah Loverboy—When you get back from your honeymoon, you will find out just how much I love you,” she said, shocking me to the point of blushing.
“Hey, you two—Mother, why is Charles blushing?” Claire came over and asked with her hands on her hips, but oh, what nice hips.
I had half a mind to just tell Claire that her mother had propositioned me, but that would lead to an argument that I wasn’t willing to have in a luxury hotel lobby.
“She just told me how much she loved me again and I reacted that’s all,” I lied.
Claire and I chuckled remembering our last trip in an elevator. I was anxious enough to try that again while we’re staying here.
Our room, no ... our Penthouse, as the room was called, was massive. There were two separate rooms, with a king and two twin beds and a sofa. Kalista had her luggage placed against the wall by it, walked over and grabbed my hand as we walked through the rest of the place.
The floors were heated, the bathroom massive, with a spacious looking five person Jacuzzi in the middle of it, alongside an extra-large shower obviously made for more than one person in mind. Our view of New York was beyond compare. We had enough room to practice any of our dances, even our Quickstep.
“Sarah,” I said. “Why don’t you and Annie take the enclosed king bedroom? I see Kalista has staked out her sleeping area—that leaves a twin for my fiancée and I to sleep in. I am both hungry and tired, maybe more tired than hungry—how about you guys?”
“I am tired too, Loverboy,” Claire said to me, giving me a wink.
The rest of them said they were hungry, so I got up off the bed and started to put my shoes back on.
“Charles, you and Claire do look beat. We will go out to eat and bring you two something back with us, all right? Oh, and put a sock on the doorknob, if you need,” Sarah said, as Annie slapped at her, causing them both to start giggling. Kalista had a look on her face that developed into a blush and a giggle.
As the door closed, Claire leaned against it and announced, “Charles, you did it—they’re all gone for over an hour. So what are we doing, a shower together, the spa—a little something-something?”
“I wasn’t kidding, Claire-Bear. That was a long flight from San Diego and we lost three additional hours because of the time difference. I need to sleep, but cuddling’s not out of the question.”
She grabbed some things and went to the bathroom. I stripped down to my boxers, trying to keep everything nice and neat. Claire came out in an oversized t-shirt that had the words, “This Orgy Sure is Off to a SLOW Start.” She looked sexy, innocent and ... enticing.
“Claire, do you have anything on under that?” I asked holding my breath.
“Only panties—I can take them off, if...
“NO, keep them on please.” Oye!
We both crawled into bed, her coming up behind me, with her free range bosom pressing hard against my back, with only her t-shirt separating us. Yeah, I’m supposed to fall asleep. I felt her arm on my waist as we both fell asleep.
I must have been more tired then I realized, the coast to coast flying seems to really sap my strength. Kallie and the Moms came back from dinner with a container of food for each of us.
“Yoo-hoo kids, we’re back—we have a chicken sandwich and some onion rings for you,” I heard Annie say, causing me to wake up rubbing my eyes and giving my girl a quick slap on her butt and a kiss on her mouth.
Without thinking we got up and walked into the living room without changing, me still in my boxers and Claire in her oversized t-shirt. The second they all saw us, Sarah said, “Is that what you two napped in?”
“Mom, get a grip—I have panties on under this, Charles was worried about that too. Does everybody think we’re ‘playing doctor’ whenever you leave the place? Charles and I have gotten very ... comfortable around each other and it shouldn’t offend or worry any of you. We love each other and are getting married in just over a year, so calm down, please?” Claire pleaded.
Noticing her shirt, Kalista asked, “What’s an orgy, Sarah?”
Claire and I took the distraction of this outstanding question of Kalista’s, to grab our food and crawl back in bed to eat it.
A little bit later Sarah and Annie came in, without Kalista. They both sat down on our bed. Claire and I continued eating, while everyone was looking at everyone else. To break the fully formed iceberg in the room, I offered the Moms an onion ring. They politely refused, both of them squirming nervously.
“Charles, Honey,” Annie said. “I know that you and Claire are fifteen and engaged to be married and you have every right to do ... most of the things that you are doing with each other. However, Kalista is still very young and impressionable. She asked a question that Sarah and I shouldn’t have had to answer. You two are obviously in love and I am not stupid enough to forbid you from sleeping in the same bed, but when you get out of that bed, you must remember that Kalista is still in love with Charles and flaunting your ‘sexuality’ like you just did, could hurt her emotionally.”
Sarah jumped in, “Kids, you are wonderful dancers, obviously deeply in love with each other, but please be considerate of not only Kalista, but also Annie and me. Like Annie just said, what you do when you are alone is up to you and the standards that you have been shown during your lifetimes.”
“I can only imagine what your sexual instincts are wanting of you, and Annie and I both hope that you will continue to be true to your promise of not having sex with each other until after you are married.
“To impress upon you the importance of that,” Annie jumped back in saying, “Sarah and I will also be more careful about expressing ourselves. You must understand the only difference between your situation and ours is that, you are underage and we’re both women.”
“But, really hot women,” Sarah added. Mom slapped at her.
I responded to their concerns, “We’re sorry ladies, we slept very soundly and got up without thinking, inciting the ‘situation’ that caused Kalista to ask that wonderfully inappropriate question. We will try our hardest to set the proper tone in front of Kalista, but I have just got to say, when you three all saw Claire’s t-shirt, you should have seen your faces—it was priceless.”
“Where did you get that shirt, Claire? I may want one of those myself,” Sarah said looking over at Annie, who stuck out her tongue at her.
“Careful Annie—I know where that tongue has been?” Sarah said.
OK, she just answered my question regarding what all they were doing as a part of their newly formed sexual relationship. I know about lips and tongues.
“Finish your food, then change into something more presentable, please?” Annie said.
“Why, what’s planned? I was hoping to get back in bed with my hot fiancée and make a baby or two.”
“Come on, ladies—can’t you hear sarcasm anymore? Aren’t you guys tired at all from that long flight and now having just eaten?” I asked.
Looking over at Annie and licking her lips a little, Sarah said, “That’s an excellent idea, both laying down and making out—go back to sleep and Claire keep those panties on for another year, please. When we get back to Columbus, I am taking you in for birth-control pills, all righty?”
“OK Mom, come here Loverboy,” Claire said, ignoring the Moms and curling my toes with the kiss she was starting. Sarah and Mom left as Claire rolled over on top of me.
“Charles, no cold showers allowed, just tell me that you love me, please?” Claire said as she pushed her hand up against the front of my boxers. “Sarah wants me to keep my panties on, but I could take off my t-shirt if you’d like me to?” I felt the flap of my boxers being opened by her...
“I am OK—Oh my god Claire—I love you this much,” as I rolled back over on top of her.
“Oh, Charles,” she said as our lips and tongue interfaced. Hmmmm, she tastes good!
After an additional three hours of ... napping and waking up with the most beautiful 15-year-old redhead in the world next to me, I noticed it was getting dark outside. We could go out and find a place to dance and eatin New York City. I looked over at Claire—she’s even pretty sleeping. I woke up with what I believe is called ‘wood,’ so I grabbed some clothes, gave my sweetheart a kiss and went in to take a cold shower.
While I was showering I was thinking about what Mom and Sarah had said to us. Claire and I do have a responsibility to not only Kalista and our mothers. We have a responsibility to what all people think about us.
I came out from my shower and saw the goddess wake up and stretch. We smiled at each other and blew each other a kiss.
“Only 433 days until we get married, Claire-Bear,” I said to her.
“So 434 days and 1 hour later—that’s when the ‘fun’ begins?” Claire responded.
“What! You are not having fun yet, Claire?” I teased.
“Well, you are right—I am having a blast dancing with you and having all of this time together, but you and I both know what happens in 434 days—Our Honeymoon, in Hawaii.”
“With no Kalista, Annie, or Sarah to interrupt us ever again. I can’t wait?” I said.
Claire grabbed a change and wiggled her butt as she walked into the bathroom. She raised her t-shirt up to show her bare hip, which was enough to tell me that she’d taken off her panties between our two naps.
Oh boy!
We were all entering the Iguana New York, a restaurant and dance lounge a quarter mile west of our hotel; Claire ‘taped herself in’ her black mini-dress; Kalista in her red multi-way dress, this time wearing it as a strapless; Annie and Sarah in their matching black dresses, all of them looking like a million bucks.
Kalista’s look defied her being not yet ten years old. Claire gave her a fair amount of makeup, causing them to look like sisters, maybe even sixteen years old. They held hands as we were taken to a table right next to the dance floor.
As usual, our server fawned over the ladies, recognizing us. Annie and Sarah each got a Margarita; Annie’s being a Mango while Sarah got hers with Pineapple flavoring. I asked if we could get a ‘virgin’ version of a Margarita, so the three of us ordered a Frozen Strawberry Margarita, with them replacing the usual Tequila with orange juice. Kalista loved having something so adult looking in her hand.
There’d been music playing ever since we’d walked into the place. After having a sip of our drinks and ordering dinner, a rather cha-cha-esque version of ‘Start of Something New,’ from HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL came on and I grabbed Claire and went to the completely empty dance floor, whispering to her we’d use our ‘Way You Look Tonight’ routine.
There was a rush of excitement from the crowd as we stepped up and started to dance, and begin the routine. There was electricity in the air, I always enjoyed this popular song, as we’re dancing all around the edge of the dance floor, with people clapping with the beat as we moved to the center of the floor. Claire was ‘taking it up a notch’ splaying those gams of hers doing multiple Rondés and just making me practically salivate as I was dancing with this hot young lady; our legs, hips and arms in perfect synchronicity with each other.
The end was coming, so I felt compelled to raise my arm, which drove the crowd crazy knowing what it meant. I said,’8’ to Claire and she just smiled, as we finished the dance with eight consecutive rhythm adjusted Samba spins. I added a kiss as the audience/patrons all stood up and applauded, with a few whistles due to my fiancées outfit. We bowed to all and went to our table, seeing our ladies standing as well.
“Had you ever danced to that music before, kids?” Sarah asked.
“That was their ‘Way You Look Tonight’ routine Sarah,” Kalista said. “Only way better.”
I leaned over and gave K a nice kiss.
Our server came with our food, asking if anyone wanted his or her drink topped off—Kalista asked for a fresh ‘Virgin Margarita,’ giggling as she said it.
“Wow—will you look at all that food?” Sarah said.
“Mother, we eat, so we can dance, so we can love,” Claire said with a certain amount of dramatic flair.
“That’s a truly remarkable thing to hear your own daughter say, when not that long ago, I remember when you told me, ‘Mother, do I have to go to Cotillion? All of the boys there will be nerdy and their hands will be all clammy,” Sarah said with a vengeful smile on her face. We all laughed at that.
Looking over at me and blushing a little, Claire said, “That was before I met Charles, who looked at me that day, like he still looks at me—all of the way into my soul, every time.”
“I remember when boys looked at me like that, but now I have Sarah to make me happy,” Annie said grabbing Sarah’s hand on top of the table.
We started in on our food, as I recognized another song, Jill Scott’s ‘Hate on Me.’ Kalista grabbed my hand and pulled me up on the floor, giving me a kiss and we started our Samba routine. Boy, Kalista had a focus on her face and in her dance steps, clearly enjoying her hips, as was I.
We got in close to do some spins and Volta’s. She put her hands on my hips startling me for a split second, so I placed mine on hers as we did a portion of this routine in really close.
Our hips were in very close alignment as she turned around and backed into me, turning this into something of a salsa style dance. She was running her hands through her own hair as I pulled her really tight up against me, startling her, but we kept dancing together turning in circles to show everyone what we were doing. The dance was ending and she turned back around as we finished with her layback stretch move from the original routine as the music ended, fading away. This girl is five years younger than me?
The crowd, being predominantly Latina, really enjoyed the last bit of that dance and applauded and cheered for us. K and I bowed as we headed back to our table. I could tell Claire wanted to say something, but she just broke out into a big smile and said, “K, that was so hot—you didn’t break my fiancé, did you?”
“No, I remembered seeing that in the Dirty Dancing movie we all watched and it looked like fun. Charles, I am sorry I didn’t tell you first, I thought I would spring it on you,” Kalista said.
“That’s OK, I enjoyed it as much as you did. We can change up that routine sometime with some specific Salsa moves.”
The DJ from the place came up to our table.
“Hello, my name is Raoul—I know you guys usually carry your music around with you, if you want I will play anything you want, if you will dance one more dance for our crowd. They love you guys.”
“Sure, Raoul—give us just a minute please?”
“OK, what do you girls want to dance? Something fast? Something slow? Something sultry?” I asked.
“Charles that dance wore me out—you and Claire—go ahead and show off with something,” Kalista said.
I think she was fibbing, because she looked ready to dance.
I looked over to Claire and she and I together said, “Quickstep.” I followed that up with one word, “Ritz” to which she replied “Yeah ... Loverboy.”
Annie got it out and Claire and I went over to Raoul, handing it to him. We went over to the middle of the floor.
I heard a microphone turned on, “Atención señoras y señores, Charles y Claire, ahora, la danza el Quickstep. Nadie en el mundo puede hacerlo como Charles y Claire puedes hacerlo, para darles un gran aplauso por favor.”
(Attention Ladies and Gentlemen, Charles & Claire will now dance the Quickstep. Nobody in the world can do it like Charles & Claire can, so give them a great big round of applause please.)
There was a terrific round of applause, as he had started the music. We started our first Quickstep in a while, but we quickly got into a groove as the crowd clapped with the Masters Of Harmony, who were singing. At the key change, we kicked it up, again doing our kicks and flicks all around the outside the edge of the dance floor, as the song ended. So did we.
We heard people whistling at us, cheering for us, applauding us. It almost felt like a competition routine, for the first time since we’d been on this tour. Again, we bowed and went off to our table.
We finished our dinner and were getting ready to go. Raoul came over and said, “Thank you very much, Senor Charles and Bonita Chica Claire.”
In my best accent I could muster, “Es muy fácil bailar cuando se tiene esa maravillosa y bella mujer a bailar con lo que yo hago.” (It’s very easy to dance when you have such a wonderful and beautiful woman to dance with, as I do.)
“Buena’s Noches,” Raoul offered.
“Buena’s Noches,” Claire and I said together.
We paid and headed back to our hotel.
With another full day to ourselves, we decided to see if there was a Broadway Show we could get into. Sarah called the George Gershwin Theatre and after mentioning Charles & Claire, got us in to see WICKED.
While Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel were clearly fantastic, the ladies performing Glinda and Elphaba these days should still be marvelous.
We all decided to get into the spa for a while, to relax and enjoy each other’s company.
“What time does the show start tonight?” I asked Sarah.
“Eight o’clock—but they recommended we get there at seven, if not earlier,” she responded.
“How dressed up are we going to get?” Kalista asked.
“Well, Kalista—we’re Charles, Claire and the Sparkling Kalista, so I think we should dress in our finest,” I said, putting on airs.
“We are recognized everywhere we go,” Claire added.
“Why don’t we all dress in black tonight?” Annie came into the conversation.
“That’s a great idea Annie,” Sarah said. “Why don’t we all wear our black multi-ways, using the strapless design? Charles won’t know where to look.”
“That suits me OK ladies—I love you all regardless of what you wear,” I said, laughing at Sarah’s highly accurate remark.
We were all dressing for going out and Claire came out of the bathroom in her black dress, looking like a million bucks. She hadn’t put on any make-up yet. However, she looked beautiful, with her big natural eyelashes and her freshly scrubbed face.
I walked up to her and whistled, letting her know how much I loved her. We gave each other a lengthy kiss, only being broken up by Kalista walking by on her way to the shower. She giggled her hips and smiled at us both and walked by.
Claire went over to the mirror and started putting on her make-up, just a little eyeliner and powder, along with a little color of lipstick. It was a lovely shade of red, not too bold, but quite attractive as well. As she finished, I came up behind her and grabbed her around her waist and kissed her on the neck, eliciting a high-pitched squeal from her. I whispered in her ear, “You are so very beautiful.”
Our drive to the Gershwin Theatre was uneventful. When we arrived, there were people in line for what’s called the ‘Lottery.’ They sell 26 tickets at a reduced price, prior to most performances, however, a quick glance told me there were 200 people waiting to find out if their name is selected. A number of them saw us and yelled, “It’s Charles & Claire.”
We were there early enough, so we signed autographs for all who asked, which was most of them. We waved goodbye as we went inside to pay for and pickup our tickets. The young lady selling the tickets got a case of the giggles as she saw us walk up.
After buying the tickets, we spent a little time in the Theater Hall of Fame, which was located inside the Gershwin Theatre, having been originally named the Uris Theatre, after its original developer.
We spent some time, looking at the plaques that filled the walls for the many notables, a combination of actors and actresses, directors, producers, costume designers and many more. Through a handout you were given as you walked through the entrance of the Hall of Fame, I found out that to be eligible for induction, the theater professional must have given at least 25 years of service to the American Theater and have five major production credits to his or her name.
Claire and I looked around together pointing out many names we recognized, including Julie Andrews, Danny Kaye, Bert Lahr—the comedian who’s remembered by most people as the Lion in the WIZARD OF OZ. Claire pointed out the names of Angela Lansbury, Robert Preston and Mary Martin.
Kalista was looking around by herself and came over to us and pulled us back to where she just was and asked, “This name I have seen before—I know he was a dancer, can you help me out by pronouncing his name and telling me about him, please Charles?”
“I’d be happy to Super-K, His name is pronounced ‘faw-see,’ Bob Fosse. He was considered one of the all-time great dancers and choreographers, being nominated for 21 Tony Awards and winning 8 and also winning a Tony Award, Academy Award and Emmy Award all in the same year, either 1972 or 1973.”
“It was ‘73, Mr. Newman. Excuse me, but you know your Fosse. I am Terry Hodge Taylor, Executive Director of the Hall of Fame, since 1990.”
He and I shook hands. He kissed the hands of both Claire and Kalista, neither able to hold back a giggle.
Sarah and Annie joined us at that point, with Annie saying, “Charles is my son, Mr. Hodge Taylor—nice to meet you, this is my ... best friend Sarah, who is Claire’s mother.”
The Announcer came on: “Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls; school’s out and guess who’s back joining us? Charles & Claire!” A wonderful round of applause came up from the crowd, the returning kids smiled at us, the new kids glared at us. “But they are last today, so let’s get started.” He went on to announce the first competitors and it began. Things were moving along, I felt a bit more nervous than usual. Claire came up to me and said, “Charles, remember we’re waltzing today, this...
About three hours later, we’d gone through our new routines, polishing them all up a bit—also going over every routine we’d won a trophy using. Some of those were quite fun, since we hadn’t performed them in such a long while. “LUNCH!” The three of us all came in to see a layout of food that was amazing; we had lasagna or meatloaf to choose from. Also, there were Pan-fried home-made French fries, which is a specialty of the ladies, and the usual Salad Bar, but it had more things to choose...
By the time I looked it up, Claire had gone back into our room, Kalista was looking for a suit and the ladies went back to their room to change. “Charles, I may need you to put some sunscreen on me, later?” Kalista said swishing her hips as she went into her bathroom. She knows how to turn me on! I got up and saw my fiancée walking out of our bathroom, with a delicious red bikini on. “Come on X Man, we want to get there before they leave for the day,” Claire said. As quickly as I could, I...
Excusing myself from the ladies for a moment, I went back upstairs to take a shower and shake the ‘Claire-webs’ from my mind. I quickly got dressed and went to BallroomDancer.com, (real!) to see which steps I wanted to add to our various routines and there was a knock on my bedroom door. Rather than my usual ‘come in,’ I asked, “Who is it?” “It’s Claire, Charles ... Annie and my mom said I should come up and talk to you. We need to talk.” “Just a minute — All right?” I was feverishly...
“E-rog-en-ous Zones – look it up. They are places on a woman’s body that, when touched ... or kissed, can produce the female equivalent of your ‘problem,’ at least it makes us feel really good all ‘inside.’” “A young girl like Claire or Kalista doesn’t know they have places on their backs that control specific parts of their anatomy, and can create a lot of sexual feelings, and in your and their cases, sexual frustration. Be Careful, dude,” Sarah finished. “Since this doesn’t sound like...
At that point, Sarah and I had scheduled seven days off to recharge and refresh in Dallas, only three hours away at the Cooper Hotel & Conference Center. The place was awesome. I even scheduled a Swedish Massage for everybody in our group - each in their own rooms, which costs extra, but we’re all worth it. While in Dallas, we went off to Six Flags Over Texas, only thirty minutes away from our hotel. We even got Annie and Sarah to go on some of the rides. The place was pretty cool. While...
Leaning into Kal, I said, “I think you can do this better than Claire could, but you know I can’t tell Claire that and you can’t either, ever! You promise me? Pinkie Swear?” She put out her Pinkie, attaching hers to mine. I heard her say, “Pinkie Swear, Charles.” I looked over and saw a delicious smile on Claire’s face as K started to try the cut time tempo. She was hesitating. “Look at me, Princess? This song is called, ‘Hold On’ so you can hold on to me and I know you can do this. Try it...
2nd City Grand Rapids, MI Radisson Hotel Here, we performed at the DeVos Place Convention Center in the DeVos Performance Hall, which seats 2,400 people. Mr. Bublé told me we got in here because Harry Connick Jr cancelled, and we got the date. The irony of that is that the two of them have reasonably similar singing styles as well as they sing a lot of the same old crooners’ tunes. From there, we schlepped to, 3rd City Detroit, MI Holiday Inn Woodhaven 4th City Akron, OH Sheraton Suites...
We all got out of the Spa, changed and had something to eat. Both refrigerators, as well as the chest freezers in the garage were quite full, so we have enough food to last until we leave on tour, maybe even longer. I suppose we could pack some food to go with us? Annie spoke, “Today is July 25th guys, midway between Charles & Claire’s birthdays. In celebration of this, kneel, Claire McArthur and Charles Newman.” Kneel? Claire and I looked at each other, not knowing what was about to...
Having brushed up on all of our routines the past couple of days; we were ready to begin rehearsals for the US Something Special Tour. We made our way to the Battelle North Room at The Performing Arts Center in Columbus and found Mr. Bublé there, along with his twenty-nine-piece orchestra and the Arts Center Staff working together to get ready to rehearse. Michael waved at us, as we came into the room. “So, Charles – did you really create a routine to ALL of my recorded music?” Michael...
Sarah went to her daughter and hugged her, tightly. “Yes, I do,” she said just loud enough for us all to hear. My mother started back up, “Claire, calm down. I believe you, but I need you both to be thinking clearly these next few days ... about only dancing! You may become stars whether you win this competition or not, if David Letterman has his way. He may even ask you to go on his show. I believe it broadcasts from Manhattan. I had better go and talk to Jimmy about this.” “Go ahead and...
I blushed deeply as we started to dance using our classic routine we’d made so long ago, to this—her favorite song. She glowed as we danced close enough together to push the ‘girls’ up and against my chest. I glanced quickly down at them, but I just as quickly, returned to the beautiful face of my future mother-in-law as we danced alone on the dance floor. The music ended as I rolled her out and in, ending with my arms completely surrounding her from behind. The audience had been as...
Even Pam and her cameraman Eloy, from WSYX-TV, were there, along with Dave the DJ and his following. I saw my girls changing into their slippers as I mulled over in my head which dances to perform. I quickly decided on ‘The Only Exception’ a Waltz with Kalista, and our new ‘Encore piece’ ‘Xanadu.’ Out of breath, Pam came up to me and said, “National in two minutes, Charles, please?” “Thank you - two,” I responded. Pam laughed. An energy always pulses through me every time I know we’re...
“I am glad you like it so much, Loverboy. If we move into your grandpa’s home, we better have a spa in the backyard, if not inside somewhere too.” “Yeah, inside—that’s the term your mother was using on me too.” We went out to dinner and got back early enough to work on our new routines some more. First, I got Kalista and we worked all of our numbers, then I got Claire to do the same. Lastly, we did out group numbers and the Claire/Kallie numbers as well. It was after eleven pm by the time...
I came back down dressed for the spa, Sarah was already in, so I checked and asked, “You do have a suit on, right Sarah?” She stood up and had on a beautiful one-piece swimsuit, that had the American Flag on it, but there was a mesh portion over the bosom area that flashed a bit more ‘skin’ than I had been expecting. I got in and turned my back to her saying, “Be gentle, Mrs. Robinson,” which caused her to laugh a bit. Just as she was starting to rub my shoulders, everybody came through the...
We all looked at one another and did not understand what she was saying to us. She tried again, “That man who just left here ... is ‘John McArthur,’ not Daniel. It was Daniel who died in June’s arms, all those years ago. John swapped ... all their credentials and took over the life of Daniel, including, being the f-f-father of all of my children.” She was sobbing very hard again. I remarked, “It seems like John and Daniel played the same kinds of tricks on everyone, being twins? Including...
Last year, being thirteen-year-olds meant we danced on Tuesday, but this year (2013) since we both will be tuning 14 in late July, we’re probably moving to Thursday nights. However, we got a letter from Jimmy with the upcoming Cotillion schedule. Things have changed considerably; Monday is now 17/18-year-olds, Tuesday 13/14-year-olds, Wednesday 11/12-year-olds, Thursday 15/16-year-olds, Friday is the 9/10-year-olds, and Saturday at ten am, will be the 7/8-year-olds. This was explained by an...
“MOTHER!” She was on a roll, so Sarah kept going, “Sorry Claire, but the truth is the truth. Most girls your age are getting ready to go to high school and plan to sleep with every boy they meet, until they find the one to bring home to Mom and Dad. You, however—hit the mother lode; he’s cute, he’s smart, he treats you like he’s known you for a dozen years, but it’s been barely over a year and a half, from when you first met.” “I know I didn’t originally understand what was going on with...
“You had me worried there for a minute, Tiger,” she said giving me a new nickname. “I thought I felt your hands moving towards my butt.” “They did ... a little, but I was in control of my hands the whole time, OK Love.” “OK Love,” she repeated quietly. Jimmy told us that during the next week we would likely still be working on the Tango and Cha-Cha. Claire and I only needed to refine our steps and learn a few more. We must keep Jimmy satisfied. ==== It was Saturday night, and Annie and...
“I am in a spa with four very healthy and attractive women; my mother, my girlfriend, my soul mate and my potential mother–in-law. The last thing on my mind is having fun. Wait a second ... that didn’t come out quite right.” “Charles,” Claire said swimming over to me, “Do I make you nervous right now?” “Not n-nervous, Claire. More uh — uhm, well ... uncomfortable,” I lied. Claire started to walk towards me with water dripping off ... everything. “Claire,” said her mother, “Don’t tease...
The next couple of days were something of a haze, with the practices, the new routines and such. Mom repeated that the musical guidelines for time are, to avoid a penalty, between 150 and 210 seconds. “Annie’s Song” was 180 seconds, but a song that goes 223 seconds, like “Footloose” does, might be stretching it just too much. Claire told me that Josiah could trim music from the front or the end of the song to make it fit the 210 maximum. So, I asked her to have him cut the opening eight...
Breaking the mood, Sarah said, “He’s not the greatest dancer ever, but he’s darn close. Thank you for stopping by,” she added, rubbing my back saying, “She’s not too far from the truth, Charles?” I leaned into Sarah and cried for a bit. Fed, showered, and dressed - we showed up early for our second Carnegie Hall Performance, these folks paid $2,500 each to see us, so we really needed to be jazzed and ready. Walking up to Michael, I saw he’d actually put on the T-shirt we got him. “Hey...
“Back to the Countdown, all right?” I hopefully asked. That settled them all down, at least a little. Claire said, “You were at 14, Charles.” “Thanks honey,” I said with a kiss. “Number 14;” 955,000 Sarah “Marilyn Monroe” pose “What’s that mean?” Kalista asked. I said, “There was an actress in the 40s, 50s and early 60s named Marilyn Monroe, Kalista. She exuded sexuality and one of her many famous pictures was with her bent over in a low-cut all-white dress, with her ‘girls’ pushed...
“Let’s get back to the hotel everybody,” Annie said. “Michael, when do we leave for Russia?” “In three days, we fly from here to Novosibirsk, Russia, about 2,950 miles, then on to Moscow, an additional 1,730-mile leg, after that to St. Petersburg, our final Russian stop,” Michael said. “Good, I might just sleep for the next two days Michael,” I said. Claire leaned in close and said, “Not without me, you won’t?” The realization of the previous evening, hit me when I woke up. I had my arms...
When they saw us walk up to their ticket windows, there was a scream from within, and they called their supervisor who gave us all free passes for the day. Ever-present Sarah showed me she had autographing pens with her. First thing we did was to take the Behind the Scenes Tour that showed off their zoological support area, and Jonathan, our guide, made a prideful point of mentioning all of the endangered species they had at their park. After the Tour was over, our guide, Jonathan stayed...
What was that? Did they say we had moved on, or were they telling us to leave the floor? The crowd was stunned and started to applaud very loudly. I guess that meant ... We made it! We waved back to the crowd, and Claire took me by my collar and kissed me in front of everybody there. I knew this was likely to come back on me, but I responded and kissed her back causing the other dancers around us to start applauding as well. We broke up both equally embarrassed, but happy as can be — we...
FIFTEEN YEARS LATER (2032) “Charles?” K said, now 28. “Yes, Princess?” I responded, now 33. “Everybody’s gone, leaving us alone.” “Where did they all go to?” I asked. “Claire, Annie and Sarah with Rose and Michael, along with Ken and his brood, went to check on the newest Charles & Claire Dance Studio in Pittsburgh. On their way back they were going to Columbus for the day, to check on the studio that Brian and Susan, and their family, are in charge of.” “That leaves us all alone,...
Well, again, Tuesday night couldn’t come soon enough for me. This week, Brian’s mother took us to Cotillion getting us there early so Claire and I could confer with Jimmy. We told him about the BBQ and about all the steps we learned. Mr. Bradshaw looked at us flabbergasted and said, “You have learned The Natural Turn Progression? I usually don’t even try to teach that to anyone under fifteen; they ... just can’t grasp it. You two really are something special, you know. Next week, I will be...
We got up, showered and met up with the group for a small and quick breakfast. Sarah got us a room in the hotel to practice in, we went through all of our newly restored routines two additional times letting the girls flash them up a little. We took a cab ride out to Wembley Stadium to check it out. We saw a very large dance floor being setup, it was maybe 80ft across by 100ft deep, easily the biggest we’d seen so far. As fast as they were setting it up, Michael and his merry men were...
That caused Jimmy to smile big as he said, “Now ... Charles & Claire will show us all, the Tango,” starting “Hernando’s Hideaway,” a different version than we had danced to before, but quite lyrical. Claire turned to me and said, “Charles remember, No rise and fall!” What a wonderful dimpled smile was on her face. We proceeded to Tango ourselves into a lather using steps that we know Jimmy wouldn’t be teaching tonight, but when you love to dance ... you do what you do, and what you...
“OK, last subject – turning professional and going on this tour. I am beginning to believe, that we are going to like dancing for people on this tour more than anything else, so I suggest we all turn professional right away, informing the NDCA at the proper time. We go on this US Tour, and maybe even Michaels’ World Tour as well.” “Then we maybe find out about going on the World Dance Council International Tour, or starting our own Tour, something along the lines of ‘The Claire and Special K...
“Ooooohhhhh — That was a joke, Charles? That was my soon to be fourteen-year-old sons’ idea of a joke. Ha-Ha. Hmmm ... you knew I was behind the door, didn’t you? Well, you got me pretty good there, Chuckles. I must admit.” She started laughing with us; so, I guess she was OK, but I am going to start being more careful, generally speaking. RING “Hello, this is Charles Newman, who may I ask is calling?” “This is Kalista McArthur, Mr. Newman. Calling to see how you are doing?” “Kalista. So...
Not having been there for over five years brought back memories. It was an all-new orchestra, with a new conductor, Herbie must have retired or passed on. After getting everyone settled, I walked up and introduced myself and met the new conductor, Harold Watson, better known as Hal. He was aware of who we were and had a large number of our music ready for us. There was no live singer this evening, just a nice meal and dance music. I sat between my wife and my daughter. “Daddy,” Rose said...
The next morning, after working out and coming back to take a shower, I looked at our list of cities we’d gone to so far and determined that we have been to 30% of the total cities, and we’re about eight months into our 24-month long Tour so far, which ... matches up. We’re less than two months from Kalista’s 12th birthday. Our second Anaheim performance was as electric as the first, then we had a day off, then Fullerton for a single, the next day was our ‘Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon...
I chuckled, put the phone down and ran to Mom in the kitchen asking her if Claire could come over in the morning to practice. Of course, she said, “Are you ready to be a proper gentleman this time, young man?” I bowed my head and said, “Yes, ma’am. I have got Claire holding on the phone. Could we get her this time, instead of one of her family having to drop her off, please?” That probably sounded a bit needy. “That was the perfect amount of groveling. Go tell her we will be coming to get...
The performances the next four days in Sydney, were quite outstanding. Kalista was extraordinary, and Claire was at the top of her game as well. I’d begun to go to the gym now and work out every morning. I did look up the latest news on Happy Birthday, finding that only three weeks earlier (On September 22nd) a judge in Los Angeles ruled that none of the companies that have collected royalties over the years, held a valid copyright claim. An attorney for the plaintiffs, Randall Newman (No...
Claire said, “I guess we’ll find out who wins the battle of the chesticles, won’t we, Mom?” Sarah did a shake and said, “In sheer size, dear – there’s no comparison.” They all laughed and snorted. “All right let’s go ... Dammit! The stat site is down, I need to call Ken about this!” “Oh,” Sarah said. “We got a request from Disney to make our posters available in the non-USA Parks. Without running it by anyone, I said to go ahead, but only in Japan. I figured we could find out how...
“Both of our mothers, along with our future stepdaughter, would kill us both if we did something as stupid as that,” she responded. “You’re right Claire, and when you are right – you are right,” I said, first looking over the delicious body of my soon to be wife, then starting another kiss. “I am so horny, and you are so gorgeous – a deadly combination, my dear.” “I am up for a little ‘afternoon delight,’ Charles?” she said grinning at me, reminding me again of that wonderful June evening...
After we got home, I changed into a swimsuit and practically jumped into the spa. Being that everyone else was of a like mind, within a half hour, I was joined by my entire C.A.S.K of ladies. Kalista came up to me and asked, in an alarmingly sexual tone, “Whatcha doin, Loverboy,” and she sat down on my lap, spreading herself out in a leisurely manner. “Well, Special K, you sexy lump of clay, you, I was looking at the final leg of our US SST tour.” I had my laptop on a stool...
“Can we wait and not have sex, until we’re married? Too many kids rush into their first time and end up regretting their decision.” “Absolutely Charles, that’ll make it that much more exciting, when we finally do make love to one another, for the very first time.” Of course, that was exactly when Sarah walked in, knocking and saying, “I want the two of you to know something about love. There’s lust, and it is a very powerful and strong emotion, that can break up friends forever. It can ruin...
“I am so excited,” Annie said. “How do you calm down when you get this excited.” Michael knew, so he walked over to her and gave her a nice kiss, possibly the best kiss they had yet shared. She touched her lips and seemed calmer. “He certainly takes after his father,” Kallie said. “Charles did that to Sarah once, and she was never the same again.” “Five minutes please,” our tech girl announced through my headset. I passed that along to the gang. Turning to my wife, I said, “Ready for...
We all laughed for the next hundred miles or so as we headed towards our, 31st City Salt Lake City One Night SLC Marriott City Center We arrived in Salt Lake City about three am. Sarah had gotten us a large suite with two queens and a rollaway. We’re performing at the Salt Palace the day after tomorrow. We were emotionally drained from the last six hours of things happening, so Kalista got in the rollaway, provided I give her a goodnight kiss, which I did, and I crawled into bed with my...
Eventually, we all changed into rehearsal clothes again. We had less than four full months before we leave on ‘The Next-Generation Tour’, and these routines needed to be automatic. I introduced the third set into our regimen, two weeks later we added set number four. Six weeks later all seven sets were worked into the rotation. Sammi was right — the kids were catching on, smiling as they were barely out of breath after a day’s rehearsal. My daily workout did its job; I was back in the best...
The rest of the day was a blast, the farthest thing from dancing we could do. Occasionally, Sarah grabbed my hand as we walked to the things we wanted to see and accomplish. We’d gotten tired, and let our guide give us a mini-tour, while we stayed in the cart. We weren’t being bothered for autographs that much, but if someone asked, we’d stop and gladly do it. We were all dried out now. I’d seen a place on the Park Map I wanted to go to, so I asked to go to Topper’s Hat Shop. I got a light...
I opened the door to a wonderful scent, thank you Ken, and Claire and I quickly started a load of laundry, then stripped and got naked into our spa. I got a text from K, “Can I spa with U?” I asked Claire and she said ‘Sure’ and I texted K back. She was over in a flash. I was planning on putting on some boxers, but my legs felt so good, I stepped into the spa, naked. K came in already in a suit. “Princess, right now - naked only.” She got in, put Claire between us and stripped herself...
“Kallie?” I said pulling her to where we could talk and not be heard. “Yes dear,” she replied giving me again that smile that radiates love. “I found an ALS Research Center in San Francisco. They are expecting records from your doctor regarding your preliminary diagnosis. I have emailed you their information and would love it if you took care of doing that in the next 24 to 48 hours,” I asked. “It isn’t that important, Charles,” she said. “It is to me, please, Special K, do it for me,...
Things were breaking up and our group quickly surrounded us, as we exchanged hugs and kisses. I looked around and didn’t see Kalista anywhere, at least not until she was in the air, on her way to me and I caught her. I won’t be able to hold her much longer, she has gotten taller and thus, heavier; I certainly wouldn’t say that to her face. She went for the deep kiss, but Annie and Sarah were there in time, to stop it from happening. After signing autographs for over half an hour, Annie...
We laughed all the way down to the kitchen. I pulled the chair out for Claire and we went about our business. I made her a salad and brought it to her, then made us each a cheeseburger and grabbed some chips and took it to the table. Lastly I poured us a couple glasses of water and realized I was the only person moving at all. The ladies seemed perplexed over Claire’s ‘ensemble,’ but nobody actually said anything. Claire looked up and said, “Are Charles and I the only ones having lunch...
Our Three Sports Stadium Performances were not technical sellouts, but they were the loudest frikking amounts of people we ever had, with Dan the Man in his elements. Well, back to the Tour: 40 cities left in California; starting in Oxnard, then Ventura and Santa Barbara for 3, Santa Maria for 2, Bakersfield for 3 (In a new multi-use stadium capable of holding 125,000), followed by Visalia, Clovis, and Fresno for 2, Modesto, Stockton and Sacramento for 3. We were planning an extra two days...
“Yes, a Terrible Tango routine,” I said. “Must find just the right music,” as I started rummaging through our music collection. “What about ‘Hernando’s Hideaway,’ Charles? We have practiced to it a couple of times?” Claire suggested. “No, Claire ... it’s a great song to Tango to, but I want something that works for only you and me ... so nobody else will dare dance to it, after we do.” “Aren’t we getting a little full of ourselves, Charles?” mom asked. “No Mom, the music is important;...
Finally, we went back to dancing. I thought we could now practice the Cha-Cha and the Tango. Those were the dances we were expected to know for Cotillion later. We went back over the four Basic patterns, the New York step, along with both the Spot and Walkaround turns again. I added to that, the Crossover steps, and a really cool derivative step called The Chase. After going through this without music, I looked at their selection. They had the Eliane Elias version of “Oye Como Va;” a perfect...
Disney’s Hollywood Studios was impressive. With twenty attractions to choose from, including Rock ‘n’ Roll Coaster, Star Tours in 3D, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, that Annie and Sarah wanted nothing to do with, Toy Story Mania, the newly refurbished Fantasmic, and a 25-minute long Live truncation of ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ with five of the wonderful songs from the movie, including the Oscar winning ‘Be Our Guest’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ We also watched the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt...
She pounced on my slightly diminished erection, enjoying it like a kitty cat that just got a fresh plate of milk. She got me clean and pushed me on my back. She dropped her butt down on my erection, causing her to practically scream bloody murder. I threw her a pillow, as she performed at first a ‘Cowgirl’ then without stopping turned it into a ‘reverse.’ I pulled out and got her on her hands and knees and I plowed right into that beautiful butt of hers, again doing most of the work. Only...
My girls all came up to me wondering exactly what I was going to say. As usual, I said that I didn’t know yet, I’d planned to wing it. The cameraman was getting instructions through his earpiece and I got Claire and Kalista on either side me. He backed up a bit and gave me a 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1. The reporter handed me her mike, and I said, straight into the TV camera in front of me, “Ladies and Gentlemen, and kids of all ages, from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Welcome to the Columbus Mall, in...
We got back to Caesars about twenty-five minutes before things started. The same gentleman we’d spoken to before helped us to our seats. The lights dimmed. As part of her show, she does many of her most popular musical selections, including practically all of her music that we had. After her first couple of songs, she took her microphone and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, last fall I was lucky enough to be part of a very special wedding event. It was at a football stadium in Columbus, Ohio....
“I plan to ask her to marry me at graduation, not to marry me at graduation. I know many teenagers as well as older folks seem to think two or three months is plenty of time to be engaged. I hope to be engaged for two full years so when we turn twenty, that year’s McArthur Family BBQ could become our Wedding Day.” “I know you usually hold it in June, Sarah, but that year it could be the Sunday between my and Claire’s birthday’s in July. Could that be planned? Maybe you can get that dunk tank...
We landed in Fairbanks, Alaska, for the first of four performances in the 49th state. Fans in Fairbanks, Anchorage, and Juneau all loved our Next Generation Tour. Our hop from there to Hawaii was wonderful. Our Tour of Pearl Harbor was amazing. Michael explained it to his ‘girls’, causing all three of them to cry a little. Sammi did the same with Lily. My Great-great grandfather, Richard Noble Newman, was shipped to Pearl Harbor during the late summer of 1941. By the grace of God, he...
The next night’s performance was something of a letdown. Michael Bublé performed flawlessly, but every one of us fumbled something. After saying goodnight to him and getting our money, I called a meeting for when we got back to the hotel to pick up Sammi and her crew. After we all assembled outside our vehicles, I said, “What happened tonight was totally unacceptable! Even I messed up!” That garnered a laugh. “In the entire history of Charles & Claire, that has never happened. I don’t...