Page 68 of Reverence

Juliette closed her eyes. Hadn’t she seen Gabriel and Thierry teasing each other, looking for all intents and purposes as lovers? It had never crossed her mind that Thierry…

“I confronted him, Jett.” Gabriel’s tone was full of confusion. “And he admitted it. He knew. Thierry knew all along and he told nobody. He knew, Jett. How could he do this to me?” His shoulders shook again, sobs interrupting his words, and Juliette gathered him in her arms.

“He told me to keep my mouth shut and to go fuck myself, that he would deny everything. I slapped him and ran. I just ran and I went to Pont au Charge?—”

“Gabriel! What the hell? You went to the bridge Javert jumped from? Were you?—”

Gabriel actually smiled, and Juliette smacked his arm.

“You moron! You scared me!”

“Shhh, darlin’, I wasn’t going to jump. Well, the thought crossed my mind, but damn, I don’t know how one even does that. The bridge seemed rather low to achieve anything but cripple you…”

He trailed off and laid gentle fingertips on her bandaged leg.

“I’m sorry, darlin’. I’m sorry. I’m just so damn sorry about everything.”

She placed her hand on top of his much larger one and watched his eyes fill up again.

“What am I going to do, Jett? I’m sick… What the fuck am I going to do?”

Juliette gripped his hand tighter and tried to keep her own tears at bay. “We. My poor darling, we. What are we going to do? I can’t walk, and you’re sick. And neither of us can dance anymore. But we’ll figure it out, Gabe, together.”

She lifted his chin and pushed his face into her neck, holding him as he tried unsuccessfully to calm down, his hiccups interrupting the silence of the room.

The sound of a throat clearing from the door made them both look up.

“Well, Francesca is on the phone, and I think she might have the solution. For both of you.”

25

OF NEW SEASONS & EMERGENCY CONTACTS

People often said that Manhattan in the fall could rival Paris. For sentimentality, if nothing else. Too bad Manhattan and its quirky worldly beauty was lost on Juliette. She missed the leaves falling off the chestnuts in the Jardin du Luxembourg with a pain as acute as if she had been sitting on those benches and felt the foliage on her own shoulders just yesterday.

She missed so many things. Which was the real loss of her life? The winding streets or the bright boulevards? The gardens and bridges? The City of Lights itself?

Or the dancing? The ability to command the entire audience with one move of her fingers? The ovations? The curtain calls?

She squeezed the handle of the polished black cane that had kept her company for all these years since she and Gabriel had left Paris.

Seven years ago. Seven more surgeries. Some hope of returning to the stage despite her own better judgment. Francesca offering to wait for her to recover and begin anew with the New York Ballet.

And Juliette had begun anew, just not as a dancer anymore. Because of the cane. Well, because her knee never quiterecovered, but who cared about those semantics? So instead of the new face of New York’s most prestigious ballet company, Juliette Lucian-Sorel had become the one who made them all dance by accepting the position of Head Choreographer under Francesca’s directorship.

Seven years on, and they had gone from success to success. Juliette sipped her impeccably brewed coffee and leafed through the overnight copy of theNew York Times, the arts supplement all aflutter with enthusiasm and superlatives about yesterday’s opening night ofDon Quixote.

“Took us all these damn years to finally stage it right.”

“Are you talking to yourself, Juju?”

Juliette turned around and smiled. Her former roommate looked good. Very good, if she were to judge, and who better than her, since she had been by his side through it all and knew every wrinkle on his handsome face.

“I kinda miss this place, darlin’. Mostly I miss your coffee, though.” He reached for her mug, snatching it from her fingers. Juliette just shook her head and poured herself another one.

“I should be mad that you moved, but you and Gustavo are seriously adorable.”

Gabriel smiled, his eyes going soft.

---