Page 30 of Fragile

The next hour passed by in a blur. I was annoyed that the thought of Gabriel shagging whoever she was affected me so much. OK, so he was good-looking and I was instantly drawn to him but he wasn’t my boyfriend. I needed to get a grip.

Gabriel Knight could sleep with the entire room for all I cared.

At least, that’s what I attempted to convince myself of when I walked past his room later that night; the image of what they were doing in there, clawing through my mind.

I went to bed with the party going on into the early hours and told myself that Max was deluded. There was nothing between Gabriel and me and never would be.

Although I hadn’t even started anything with anyone since I’d arrived in London, I was more than done with the Gabriel Knights of this world.

My career as a dancer was all I cared about and nothing would ever be more important than that.

Five

Having unfortunately bumped into ‘Lisa’ the morning after in the kitchen in only her underwear and one of Gabriel’s law school hoodies, I decided to squash the feelings he generated in me as nothing good could come of it.

I threw myself into my classes, getting engrossed in my passion for dance and at the end of that following week, I had aced it. Sergey offered me a solo in their next dance show. Showcases usually brought in talent spotters and with it, possible representation. The thought of securing myself an agent fired me up and I even started extra practice in my room. It wasn’t easy without a barre but there was enough space.

It felt like I’d taken a step forward towards my dreams. Those nicer, easier to deal with ones, not like the memories of my parents’ death which still haunted me daily, breaking my heart over and over. Those who said time was a healer had never lost anyone. Not many people knew about my mother and father and in London, there was only Asher. I hated people looking at me with pity in their eyes. I cared for my foster parents but in respect of a real family, I would feel hollow for life.

Towards the end of the week when Asher was at Marks, and Gabriel was sitting his finals, I soaked up the fact that I had the apartment to myself.

I sat in box splits in front of the TV screen, having pushed the coffee table back to allow myself enough space.

Remaining in the position for at least half an hour, I watched a series of programmes on Sky TV while I stretched out my hamstrings.

Whilst I was in the process of rolling out my toes, the intercom went to state there was someone downstairs.

I was wearing tights and a leotard and having caused a minor strain in class on my left thigh muscle, I had pulled on one grey leg warmer. I wasn’t really dressed for company but what could I do?

Padding over to the screen, I could see that it was only Max but Gabriel was still at college.

“Hi Max. Gabriel isn’t here,” I said, after pressing the button. He looked up at the screen, almost as if he could see me before leaning forward and speaking into the intercom.

“Typical. Well, I just signed for a package, am I OK to bring it up?”

I smiled at the screen, looking at the large envelope in his hands. I couldn’t exactly leave him downstairs and what if the delivery was important?

Pursing my lips, I glanced down at my attire; toying with the idea of getting dressed first, but that would keep him waiting and I wasn’t indecent.

I bit the bullet. “OK, no probs. Come on up.”

After pressing the release for the doors, I heard the lift moving to collect him and quickly tidied up my plate and cup from the floor where I had been stretching out. Max knew the private code for the lift as he’d used it before. Whilst I was turning the TV off and straightening the coffee table, he walked out and into the living space, larger than life. He was wearing old work boots, jeans that had seen better days and a sweater. His shoulders seemed bigger than the last time I saw him and his tattoos angrier.

“Hey?” I said, forcing a smile I hadn’t been feeling.

He looked me up and down but there wasn’t anything smutty about it. “Hey yourself. Nice tights,” he said with a lopsided smile.

Grinning, I turned away and moved to the sink to wash my pots from earlier. “Please just make yourself at home, I’m sure he won’t be long,” I shouted over the sound of the tap.

“Where do you want this?” he said, waving the brown envelope in the air. I shut the water off and dried my hands, hoping the parcel was for me from my foster parents.

“I’ll take it, thanks,” I said with outstretched arms, moving out of the kitchen. He passed it to me and I briefly read the large bold handwriting on the to-be-signed-for package. It was paperwork for Gabriel, maybe something to do with his exams and so I strolled over and placed it in the centre of the table where Gabriel did most of his work.

I could hear Max moving around the apartment behind me before the creak of leather told me he had lowered himself onto one of the sofas.

“So, I interrupted your practice from the looks of things?” he said, his deep voice gliding nicely over my bones. We had spoken a few times now and although he attempted to hide it, he was a nice guy. One of the good ones. I wasn’t overly attracted to him though; he was too big and burly for me.

After washing up, I popped the plug up and turned to face him. “Yes. I’ve been given a solo in a showcase and so I need to put in extra time.”

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