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I heard the door swing open and quickly snapped my eyes away from Raine to catch Petra bowling in. She was a blur of sequins on a canary yellow dress, she was all teeth as she grinned at the class. She threw her arms around me and kissed my cheek. “Brother,” she mumbled as she pulled away and I leant myself against the wall, folding my arms across my chest.
The class broke out in to mock heckles and laughs when Petra turned and bowed gracefully then clapped her hands, ordering silence around the room. As she began to go over the steps for the next part of the lesson my eyes wandered back towards Raine. Jared had moved even closer to her and seemed to be saying something every now and again in her ear, causing her to either nod or smile, and as Petra told the class to get into pairs, I instantly knew Jared was going to ask Raine to be his partner.
Pushing away from the wall, I headed towards them. She looked around nervously over her shoulder at what the others were doing. “Partner up with Sophia please, Jared. I need to speak with Raine,” I said, and motioned with my forefinger for her to follow me. Moving towards the back of the studio, I led her through another door and into our office.
“Take a seat,” I said, grabbing an enrollment form and pen, placing it on the desk in front of her. “Did I hear right, you’re here for Ballroom lessons?”
She sat herself down in the black leather chair that had seen better days and tucked her hair behind her ear. It was then that I noticed the faint outline of a garish purple bruise at the top of her cheek bone, roughly the size of a small fist maybe, or the outline of fingers. Before I could study it any further, she quickly whipped her hair back over the side of her face and held it in place. Now I understood the need for the amount of foundation she had caked on her face.
Swallowing hard I moved and took my seat opposite her. “So, Ballroom?” I repeated, trying to keep my tone even, pretending I hadn’t noticed what she was hiding.
“Yes,” she whispered. She kept her head bowed.
“Well, Ballroom classes are taken with me on Tuesday and Friday evenings, 7pm until 9pm. On Monday and Thursday afternoons, Latin is taken by myself and Petra from 1pm until 3pm,” I reeled off as I silently willed her to raise her head and look at me.
She nodded, then finally raised her head. “I’m crap at dancing so you’ll have your work cut out with me. I need to learn Ballroom by the 21st of next month,” she said flatly.
I offered her a warm reassuring smile, and crossed my left ankle over my right knee. “I can do that, but you have to be willing to work hard to get the results. You will need to practice away from the studio and if money isn’t an issue I can also offer extra lessons here on a Saturday morning or on Sunday afternoons.”
“I will probably need them,” she mumbled, as she twisted the plastic bag around her fingers.
“Well, fill out this enrollment form and after a few lessons, I’ll be able to let you know from my own professional opinion, if you need the extra lessons.” I leant forward over the desk and pushed the pen and form closer to her. Studiously, she began to fill out the form, I closed my eyes and concentrated on the dull thud of the music from the next room and Petra’s loud voice resounding over it as she counted aloud.
“Is the lady in the next room Niki?” I heard her ask, reminding me that I hadn’t introduced myself properly yet.
Opening my eyes, they instantly found hers and I recognized the deep-seated emotions of suffering and loneliness radiating back at me, they were the same emotions I used to see staring back at me from my mother’s eyes. “No, that’s Petra, my sister.” I mentally kicked myself at adding my sister after it. It was as though I was trying to ensure she understood that Petra’s earlier act of public affection wa
s simply from a sibling and not an actual girlfriend.
When she handed over the filled-out form, I smiled as I took it, my eyes honed straight in on her surname and marital status, Peters and married. I forced my smile to stay in place, refusing to let it wavier at the fact she was married, despite the disappointment crippling its way through me.
“Right, first lesson is classed as a taster, so that will be free, how are you paying for the rest?” I asked abruptly. Her shaky hands found her purse and she pulled out a roll of bills tied with elastic and she rolled it towards me across the desk.
“When do I meet Niki?” She asked again as she shifted in her seat and straightened her back.
I felt my lips part and a deep laugh emitted from them, “Sweetheart, you already have. I told you I didn’t bite,” I replied.
Her dainty features swirled with one emotion after another, but the only one I could pick out was anger. Her eyebrows arched and her nostrils flared, “You? You are Niki?”
I licked my lips and narrowed my gaze towards her. She rose rapidly from her seat, “Yes. I told you earlier I was Niki. My real name is Nikoli Chenkov, Niki is my nickname.”
I watched her go as red as beetroot, her face glowing with heat like a hot pan, she looked like she was about to burst into tears any second. I wanted the earth to open and swallow me whole as her shoulders slumped forward and her bottom lip quivered. I needed to rescue her from my joke that was not as funny as I thought. “Don’t get upset, Myshka. You are not the first to assume I am a woman and you probably won’t be the last. Make sure tomorrow night you arrive promptly and in suitable attire, jeans are far too constricting to dance in,” I said with a laugh, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere.
She didn’t speak. She didn’t look at me. She just turned away and scurried to the door, pulling it back with such force, it slammed into the wall and bounced back as she fled, leaving me sat open-mouthed, at her hasty retreat.
My day had started full of promise, but now after meeting Raine, it sat like a cold cup of coffee. I didn’t know anything about her, but I knew I wanted to know more. I wanted to know all her secrets, her thoughts, and the torment she was hiding just beyond those walls she’d built around her.
The walls I was determined to bring down.
CHAPTER FIVE.
I sat at my large white shabby chic dressing table staring blankly at the forlorn look reflecting from the mirror as I pondered over the afternoon’s events.
I had felt like a fish out of water in that studio. I was inappropriately dressed, nervous as hell and Nikoli? well Nikoli, made me feel completely exposed. I felt like every time his eyes fell my way he could see straight into my soul, his piercing gaze could see all my hidden secrets and inner scars, forcing me to keep my eyes anywhere else. The only saving grace came in the form of Jared, at least there was one friendly face I recognized, even though I’d only met him briefly on the sidewalk.
When Nikoli revealed he was Niki and crushed my hopes of my dance instructor being a female, I instantly felt my cheeks ignite in sheer heated anger at the fact he had been having a laugh at my expense. I quickly pushed my anger towards him aside, when a sudden dread crept over me like an icy wind chill, numbing me from the inside out when I wondered how the hell I would explain this misunderstanding to Max. I knew the second he found out Niki was a nickname for Nikoli and she was a he, he would burst several blood vessels, probably in my face.
The thought terrified me as it surrounded me in a cold embrace. When Nikoli began to talk, and laugh about appropriate dance attire, I zoned out. I could feel my cheek start to throb incessantly as I tried to hold back the tears. My lip began to tremble and my lungs felt like they were suddenly filling with water, leaving little space for any air. As the rush of fear shot through my body, I turned silently and rudely ran from Nikoli, the studio and Jared. I needed to get air into my lungs, I was drowning with no one to save me.
