by L. P. Rose
“I’ll think about it,” I mumbled. I walked bare foot across the cold flooring to the kitchen at the far end of my open plan apartment. I loved this place, everything was big, open, and bright. The only two doors that were visible, was the one to the front door, and the other to the bathroom. It had four floor to ceiling windows that gave a great view at night, most of the time I didn’t even draw the blinds, preferring to move around it from the glow of street lights below.
“You want a coffee?” I called over my shoulder. Switching the machine on I grabbed two mugs with a yawn.
“I’d rather you explain this!” she snapped. I heard her pumps move across the flooring then they ceased when she came to a standstill somewhere behind me.
I turned around to see her stood with one hand sat on her hip, the other clutching a bunch of papers with pictures and information on Max and Raine. I rolled my eyes and reverberated my lips against each other then turned back to make my much-needed black coffee.
“Well, Niki?” She scraped the legs of the chair away from the table and took a seat, slamming down the papers on top of it.
“Research,” I replied with a shrug, as if to imply that the five hours I had spent obsessing over her at the computer was a normal and natural thing to do.
“This is that hot new girl that turned up at the studio on Thursday, isn’t it, the one you wanted one-on-one time with yesterday?”
Spooning in the sugar and stirring the cups I took a seat opposite her and pushed her cup towards her. “Yes, it is, and just so you know, she’s into dicks before you even think about going there!”
“She’s married, Nikoli! M. A. R. R. I. E. D.” She punctuated each letter of the word like I was a moron that couldn’t understand what it meant.
“I’m aware that she’s married, but something isn’t right with her, and I’m concerned,” I replied, taking a welcome sip of the steaming black coffee.
I watched Petra shake her head and look at me flabbergasted. Her dark brown eyes had widened and her lip glossed oxbow lips dropped open. “Don’t do this Nikoli, don’t fall for her, it’s wrong, she’s married just …just.”
“Just what? You haven’t seen what I have, Petra. That first day she turned up? She had a whopping bruise on the side of her cheek that she tried to cover up with make-up, yesterday when I was showing her the closed hold and slid my hand along her arm, she had faint bruising from fingers all around her wrist. She’s on Valium for panic attacks, and she’s so fucking nervous all the time, she jumps at raised voices, doors banging and every time I look at her, all I can see is her silently screaming for someone to save her.”
Petra scoffed then narrowed her eyes towards me. “What? and you think you should be that person? She can only be saved if she wants to be saved, you should know that. She isn’t mom!”
Those words caused the heat to rise through my body. The hand clutching my cup began to tremble and my head pounded harder as the blood gushed around it. “I know she isn’t mom, but she is displaying all the same signs,” I replied through gritted teeth.
Petra stood to her feet and paced backwards and forwards, her hand periodically dragging through her dark mane of curls. “Is this because you couldn’t save mom from dad? You’re now hell-bent on saving some other woman?”
“No one could save mom, she took her own life because of that fucking bastard. I’m not going to stand by and watch another woman be a victim of domestic violence and do fucking nothing!” I said sternly, and pushed to my own feet.
Petra raced towards me and clamped her petite hands on my arms, “Nikoli, you have no proof. Okay, maybe you have seen a similar pattern in her, but you have no proof. Has she admitted anything to you? Have you spoken to her about this?”
I shook my head silently and dropped back in to my seat. My head automatically bowed into my hands. “I can’t talk to her about it, not yet anyway. I need to build a bond with her and she needs to be able to trust me first. I’m telling you sis, she’s a victim and I’d bet my life on it, it’s that shit of a husband.”
I’d spent hours poring through media articles and photographs on the happy, loving Peters’ couple. He was a successful lawyer who had ploughed his way up the ladder to corporate partner, she was what the media termed, a trophy wife. She was twenty years younger than him and for the life of me, I struggled to see what she saw in Max. He was okay-looking and maybe in his younger years he was handsome but in my mind, they looked more like father and daughter than husband and wife.
I’d found myself hoping to find something incriminating against him, but I found nothing. In all the pictures of them together, her smile seemed forced, never reaching her eyes. Her eyes always looked dull and lifeless as though she was going through the motions but wasn’t really there, and the more pictures I looked at, the more determined I felt to save her.
“Niki, do you like her in that way, or is this just a way to make up for our failings at mom’s suffering?” Petra asked me gently, sitting on the floor at my feet.
My mind pictured Raine yesterday when she had stood herself upright in front of me with her hair gathered on top her head, my eyes had instantly homed in on her neck. It was long, elegant, and smooth, just like a swan. I couldn’t take my eyes away from it. It was the most beautiful neck I’d ever seen, I wanted to hold it, trail my fingers down it, skim the tip of my nose up it, kiss it, lick it, taste it. I just wanted to fucking devour it. I had to tear my eyes away from her before I did something stupid, something I’d regret.
“You like her, don’t you?” Petra pressed when I hadn’t answered her question. I slouched back in the chair and reached for my coffee, deciding to evade the truth. “I don’t know enough about her yet, but I can’t watch another woman suffer the same fate as mom, Petra. I just can’t. I’m going to save her if it’s the last thing I do.”
“Do you have a plan to get to know her better?” She asked me, raising her eyebrow and smirked.
“I’m going to suggest extra dance lessons, Saturday and Sunday,” I replied with a matching smirk.
Pushing to her knees she wrapped her arms around my neck and I sighed in to her shoulder. “You do what you feel you need to, Niki. Just remember an abuser, a manipulator and a control freak will not let her go easily, you need to be careful coming between this man and his wife. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
I nodded as my right arm slid around her waist. “What time are we meeting Miss Right then?”
“Can you be ready in an hour?” She giggled excitedly then pulled away and rose to her feet, “your approval means the world to me.”
With a deep sigh, I drained the rest of my coffee and stood up, “Sure, I’ll meet you there, I’ll just get showered and changed.”
*
After a hot shower, some toast, and another coffee I felt more human. I pushed all thoughts of the beautiful Raine from my head, determined to enjoy the evening ahead and give the once over, and even maybe my approval on my sister’s new girlfriend.
The cab pulled to a stop on Grand Street and I handed over some money then swung open the door, straight into someone. The guy turned around, red-faced and I apologized profusely.
“You want to check the sidewalk before you throw open the door, you stupid prick!” He spat before turning away again and hooking his arm around his companion.
“Twat!” I muttered as I waited for the cab to pull away so I could attempt to cross the road.
I could see Petra, Mike and Jenson seated at a table in the window of Mexicana, all smiles. As I stepped from the sidewalk, I froze. That man seemed familiar. I took a step back and turned in the direction he had headed. I craned my neck over the heads that passed me by and I spotted the top of his blonde hair heading into the entrance of the Plaza.
Quickly, I pushed passed the throng of people heading towards me. I felt like I was in a slow-motion movie, my heart began to palpitate and fear clouded over me that I would lose him. I froze in the doorway of the Plaza and watched Max Peters
laughing and joking with the beauty beside him, my heart plummeted in to my gut. “Raine,” I whispered.
I watched the back of her pull from Max’s hold and lean in to kiss his cheek, he handed her a square box and she pulled something out I couldn’t quite see. I watched him clip, what looked like a bracelet, around her wrist, then he leant in to say something in her ear. I was glued to the spot, my feet unable to move, my mouth unable to say anything. My heart hammering ten to the dozen.
Then she finally turned in my direction, she was laughing as Max tried to pull her back to him.
It wasn’t Raine.
CHAPTER EIGHT.
It was Tuesday evening and I was determined this time to turn up to my dance lesson on time, and armed with as much information my head could cram in over the last three days. Max had spent most of this weekend holed up in his study working on his latest case which had left me some freedom to get to grips with Ballroom. I was determined to prove to Max and myself that I could do this, that for once Max could be proud of me and not embarrassed when we stepped out onto that dance floor.
“Myshka?” Nikoli said, as he came through the double doors into the hallway. “You’re early.” He quickly rammed his cell phone into his sports bag, looking flustered.
I half smiled towards him and pushed away from the wall I was leant against, “You told me not to keep you waiting on Friday and to be prompt, so here I am.” I shrugged and splayed my arms out to the side, dramatically.
I felt a tightening across my chest as I watched his halfcocked smile grow wider, his wet hair hanging loosely over towards his right eye and his jaw shaded with a light coating of stubble. He’s got to be gay, surely?
“How was your weekend?” He asked, pulling out some keys and headed towards me to unlock the door to the studio.
“Yeah, good. Yours?” I automatically politely asked. I picked up my rucksack from the floor and followed him inside. I’d remembered to pack a bag of essentials this time, water, hand towel, hair tie and my meds. I’d already necked a Prozac before Nikoli had turned up so I was praying a panic attack would stay far away today.
“It was enlightening to say the least,” he replied with a snort. His response was completely lost on me, as he stood in the middle of the studio and stared my way. I could see his chest moving up and down rapidly and his jaw was sat firm. I noticed the tick in the hallow of his cheek pulse as I waited for him to say something. I felt uncomfortable, I felt like he was undressing me, and as much as I wanted to lower my gaze away from him and admire my sneakers instead, I couldn’t. My eyes stayed locked onto his face for what felt like an eternity until the noise of the other students filtering in to the room began to fill the deafening void between us.
“Raine, right?” A melodic voice asked beside me, making me pull my eyes away from Nikoli. He turned his back towards me.
I half-turned in the direction of the voice to see a woman with a beaming smile and pure white teeth, her skin was a creamy mocha color and flawless. She had enigmatic, rich brown eyes and her jet-black hair hung in tight ringlets on her shoulders. She was gorgeous and I instantly felt hidden by her shadow. “I’m Mona.” She held out a hand to me.
“Nice to meet you,” I whispered taking her hand and shaking it. “So, are you here to learn Ballroom too?” I asked, as I undid the zipper on my hoodie and removed it.
“I’ll let you in on a little secret,” she smiled as she pulled her hair away from her face and secured it, “I’m only here to ogle him.” She laughed nodding her head in Nikoli’s direction. My eyes looked over to him and caught him frowning at his cell phone again as he muttered under his breath.
“He’s gay, though isn’t he?” I asked without thinking, desperately hoping the words didn’t make it sound like I was interested in him too.
She threw her arm around my shoulder and let out a high-pitched laugh causing me to instantly freeze, “Are you for real, girl? Niki is not gay. His sister though, that’s another story.” She winked and tapped the side of her nose as she walked away.
“Right, is everyone ready?” Nikoli called. I let out a deep sigh and tied my hair up, mentally went over the hold, and the lines and where my head should be before slowly heading behind the other students.
“Now, I know most of you have already been with me for a while but can someone please explain the term Front Line, for Raine’s sake?”
Heads turned towards me and I could feel my cheeks burn under the heavy gazes of their eyes. Mona was the only one to speak up and as she began to launch into her animated explanation, I felt a hand push into my back slightly. I snapped my head around to see Jared stood right behind me and I smiled. “You made it here okay?” He whispered.
“Yes, and panic attack-free, you’ll be pleased to hear,” I whispered back, Jared sniggered. Nikoli’s eyes instantly swiveled in our direction and narrowed.
“Something funny, Jared?” He snapped. Nikoli’s eyes widened with pending indignation. “Maybe you can explain to Raine what Top Line is?”
I heard the grunt fall from Jared’s mouth behind me and then he muttered a string of obscenities and I realized he couldn’t answer Nikoli’s question. I cleared my throat and raised my head, “Top Line is created by the shoulders and arms of the couple. It means in a closed hold, the line would be even, smooth and harmonious and in an open position the line created by each partner should be a visual match or a continuation, like a mirror image,” I said with more confidence than what I actually felt.
I had hoped to have seen him smile or show some characteristic that he was pleased, but his mouth stayed pulled in to a grim line, amidst his stubble. “Midline?” He questioned.
“Midline is the bilateral symmetry of the diaphragm between the couple,” I replied instantly.
Nikoli’s face softened and he laughed, his deep chuckle suddenly lifted the spirit of the room as he stood and nodded. “Well done, Raine,” he said approvingly. The seed of his approval planted itself somewhere in my gut and blossomed up right through me as my lips, for the first time in a long time, curled into a genuine smile.
“Thank you for that, Raine. I owe you one,” grinned Jared who was now stood next to me.
“You saved me last week, now I’ve saved you, I guess that makes us even,” I replied.
“Okay. Partner up!”
Jared held up his arms in frame, “May I?” He asked with a bow of his head.
“You may,” I replied quietly. I held up my own frame and stepped towards him.
“Not this time, Jared, sorry. Partner Mona,” ordered Nikoli cutting in front of Jared and taking up my frame.
Jared took a step back and bored his eyes into the back of Nikoli, then growled before maneuvering towards Mona.
“Was that necessary?” I croaked when his hand met mine and grasped it firmly, then his other hand brushed past the side of my breast, under my arm and rested on my shoulder blade.
“Yes, it was necessary,” he replied quietly and pulled me forcefully closer. I lost my footing and stumbled into his chest, my head landing under his chin and I found myself closing my eyes and sighing, letting my frame sag. He smells divine.
“Are you comfortable there?” He chuckled. Quickly I snapped my eyes open and pushed myself away. A blush seared my cheeks, my face was on fire. I felt awkward, demure, and coy and tried to hide behind my hands with my eyes pinned to the floor. I could feel his eyes burning into the top of my skull as he waited for my response.
Gently he pulled them away from my face and silently forced me back into frame. “We are going to do the Waltz, it’s four steps which includes step-slide-step in 3/4th time,” he said with a wink, completely bringing me out of my embarrassed state.
I watched him as he explained body sway, rise, and fall actions, and the relaxation moves, then he showed me some steps and before I could take a breath we were step-slide-stepping around the perimeter of the studio, weaving in and out of the other students in time to the music. Nikoli’s hold on me was comma
nding, I could feel myself begin to loosen up and I daringly stole a glance in his direction. My eyes met his, “You move well,” he said.
“I didn’t realize it was this easy,” I replied, a giggle escaping me.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, this is only one part of the Waltz. Eyes front,” he ordered making me unwillingly pull away from his gaze.
Nikoli never let go of me once, his hold never wavered and with startling realization I found he made me feel safe, confident, and free in his arms as we continued to glide around the floor.
He brought me to a sudden stop by swiveling my body and draping me backwards over his arm, my body bent of its own accord and my breath hitched in the back of my throat. He leant over me with a dangerous glint in his eye, “This is only one of the many positions I’ll have this body of yours in,” he said lowly. Suddenly I was upright on my feet, swaying like a pendulum and a partner less as he walked away and turned off the music.
I gulped, then raced towards my bag for my water bottle, my throat felt dry as the look he had burned in my direction, made me feel flustered just thinking about it.
Think of Max. Think of Max.
Max’s angry face, complete with spittle at the corners of his mouth, floated into my mind. I let out a deep hiss through clenched teeth, and the heat of my body instantly cooled down to minus degrees.
“I thought you said you couldn’t dance?” Jared said, sitting on the floor next to me.
“I can’t,” I replied nonchalantly. I noticed Mona come and sit the other side of Jared. She smiled and winked at me.
“You looked great out there with Mr. Shaggable,” she said. “I remember the first time he danced with me, it was all I could do not to throw myself at him.”
“He dances with all his students?” I squeaked. As she nodded and continued to talk, I zoned out. The shine of dancing with Nikoli eroded away, leaving me feeling annoyed with myself that I would stupidly think that in anyone’s eyes, I would be viewed as special.