Natalya stared at the ballet pictures adorning her wall. She remembered how much being on stage had thrilled her and how much she had loved it. But she remembered the bad parts too. (FB)
“Get it right!” Julian yelled. Natalya cringed when he yelled at her for the millionth time that night.
“How can I just fall back in your arms when you’ve DROPPED me so many times?” Natalya yelled back.
“Just get it right so we can go home.” All Natalya had to do was fall back into his arms after she jumped but she still didn’t trust him. A man in a blue suit came into the room.
“Are you Natalya DeLoch?” Natalya nodded, wiping her face and neck with a towel.
“I’m afraid I have some bad news. Your mother passed away this morning. I’m sorry.” As the man left, Natalya dropped down to her knees and sobbed. Julian felt her pain, as he had lost a mentor, and he watched as the strong girl in front of him crumbled. She quit ballet the next day. As far as she was concerned, her life was over. (EFB)
Natalya shook her head, tears streaming down her face. Julian had gone on, but Natalya knew that she was the only partner he wanted. He had been madly in love with her and when he turned abusive and put Natalya in the hospital, she left him. Fresh tears coursed down Natalya’s face as she remembered Nick’s passionate speech. It made sense. Natalya knew it would take a lot of hard work to be the dancer she once was. But it was something she wanted, in fact needed to do.
****************************
Natalya quickly walked to the studio where she knew the guys would be practicing. She had decided she was going to dance again. As Natalya walked down the hall after finding out which studio they were in, she heard “The Call” floating from inside the room. Natalya opened the door and the five guys. Nick turned and smiled.
“Take ten guys.” Nick grabbed a towel, slung it around his neck, and walked over to Natalya.
“Hey.” Natalya smiled as Nick’s gray blue eyes searched her green eyes to find some clue as to why she was here.
“Can I talk to you?” Nick nodded and ushered her into the hallway.
“What’s up?” Natalya took a deep breath and Nick what she knew he wanted to hear.
“I want to dance again.” Nick’s gentle smile turned into a huge grin.
“That’s great. Are you going to do ballet or something else?”
“I’m going to try ballet again. If that doesn’t work, I know that you guys have an opening for a dancer.” Nick surprised Natalya by pulling her into a hug.
“I’m proud of you Natalya.” Nick whispered in her ear. Natalya felt tears spring to her eyes and they softly fell, soaking his shirt.
“What’s wrong?” Nick asked, gently wiping her tears away with his thumb.
“You’re the first person to tell me that you’re proud of me since my mom. A lot of people were disappointed when I quit.” Nick nodded.
“But I really am proud of you. In order to be happy, you have to go into the midst of pain and face it. You’re doing just that.”
“Thank you Nick.” Nick smiled.
“If you need a place to practice, I have a studio at my house,”
“That’d be great Nick.”
“I’ll pick you up tomorrow so you can try it out.” Natalya nodded, kissed him on the cheek, and walked away.
*****************************
Nick picked Natalya up the next day and drove her to his house. Natalya gazed out at the ocean.
“Beautiful isn’t it?” Natalya nodded. “Maybe when you’re through practicing, I can take you out on my boat.”
“Really?” Nick smiled. “That sounds cool.” Nick led Natalya into the house and down into the studio. Natalya took off her warm up clothes revealing a pink leotard. She put of her pointe shoes and began to warm up. Nick was amazed at how flexible she was. After a half an hour of stretching, Natalya declared that she was ready to dance. Nick went over to his sound system and soon music from the Nutcracker poured out of the speakers. Natalya immediately started dancing. Nick was amazed. He had seen her dance with other people but to see her dance alone, was incredible. When she was finished, she was sweating but she was happy.
“That was great!” Nick commented and Natalya blushed.
“Want to go out on the boat?” Natalya nodded.
“Let me change first.” Nick directed Natalya to the bathroom. She was glad she had brought her bathing suit. She put it on and a pair of blue jean shorts. Natalya headed out the back door toward the dock where Nick was standing. He helped her onto the boat, then set sail. After getting out a reasonable distance, he dropped the anchor. Natalya took off her shorts and dove off the edge of the boat.
“Hey!” Nick called out. He then took off his shirt and dove in after her. They both surfaced and Natalya spit a stream of water in his face. Nick laughed, and swam to the boat, climbing up the ladder on the side as Natalya followed suit. While Nick was drying off his chest, Natalya suddenly got quiet. Nick went over and sat down in front of her, surprised to see her crying.
“What’s wrong?”
“My mom and I used to always watch the sunset together.” Nick pulled her close to him and she laid her head on his chest and sobbed. After her crying had subsided, they just laid there. Together, they watched the sun set on the distant horizon. Natalya slowly drifted off to sleep, reveling in the comfort of Nick’s touch. And on the boat in the gentle lulling sea, underneath the stars, in each other’s arms they slept.
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