Page 28 of Slow Burn
I knew I had to talk to him sometime, but it didn’t have to be now. My head was full of nerves and the steps that, in a couple of hours, I would have to perform. I couldn’t allow anything to throw me even remotely off.
Annoyingly, because I wasn’t really in a chatty mood, Daniella fell into step beside me as I headed for thecommunal dressing room. I couldn’t hear any of the usual chatter from the other dancers, so we must be the first in.
‘What is it with you two?’ she asked. ‘You and Gabriele?’
I swallowed hard. How much did she know? Surely he hadn’t told her?
‘I’ve no idea what you mean, and honestly all I want to think about right now is the show,’ I said, trying not to sound defensive.
Apparently, Daniella was not to be deterred.
‘Because I hope you know how lucky you are to have been given this role. It’s unheard of for a dancer as inexperienced as you to be handed something like this on a plate.’
‘Of course I realize what an opportunity this is,’ I said, put out by her tone. What was she suggesting here?
‘As dance captain, I will be watching you closely, as I will every other member of the cast. And if you’re not on your absolute A-game every single night, we’re going to have a problem.’
Was she threatening me? I bet she’d love it if I messed up and had to be replaced by either her or one of her adoring hangers-on, a group that included Carlos’s stuck-up assistant Emily, and who seemed to be gossiping together – sometimes about me, no doubt – every time I looked at them.
‘Trust me, there won’t be a problem.’
Daniella looked at me sideways.
‘Some advice, for what it’s worth. Gabriele needs to befocused on the show, not on some new romance that probably won’t last more than five minutes, anyway.’
I shook my head, reminding myself to keep calm, that she probably had no idea what she was talking about and was fishing for clues. Little did she know that romance wasn’t even an option – I was hardly going to make Gabriele fall madly in love with me, was I? There was some unresolved lust between us, that was all. And it wasn’t worth risking my reputation – or the wrath of Daniella.
‘There’s absolutely nothing happening between us,’ I lied.
Then I found a small section of the mirror that I could make my own and began to unpack my make-up from my bag, trying my best to ignore Daniella, who was still hovering next to me.
‘He doesn’t do relationships, anyway. You know that, don’t you?’ said Daniella, leaning her back against the mirror, refusing to go away.
‘Why would I care either way?’ I said, scraping my hair back into a bun.
‘There’s a spark between you, anyone can see that. But if you think it would ever be more than that, you’re mistaken. He’d never give you what you want.’
‘How would you know what I want?’ I asked, turning to her, wishing more than anything that she’d just leave me alone and go away.
She shrugged – she’d rattled me and she knew it.
‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you,’ she said.
I tutted as she walked away, looking at myself in the mirror, knowing she had a point, even if I could have done without her rubbing it in.
Luca chose that moment to poke his head around the door.
‘Is it safe to come in?’ he asked, raising his eyebrows hopefully.
I smiled. ‘It’s only me in here, so sure.’
Luca scooted inside.
‘What did she want?’ he asked. Daniella had probably just flounced right past him.
‘Quizzing me about Gabriele. Warning me off him,’ I said.
Luca rolled his eyes. We’d developed a pretty close friendship considering we’d only known each other for three weeks. He was Gabriele’s understudy, so we’d rehearsed the duets together as well as the group dances. I loved Luca, but was it bad of me to hope that I’d never actually have to dance with him on stage? He and I shared a laugh together, and we enjoyed bitching about how snippy some of the other dancers could be, but I knew we didn’t have a fraction of the chemistry on stage that Gabriele and I did.
