Part 15 (2/2)

I was so happy I nearly ran home, and did skip part of the way. I had to slow down in order to call James. He picked up on the first ring. ”Are you in a meeting?”

”No,” he replied. ”How did yours go?”

”Swimmingly. Renault is gone gone gone. What you read in the paper was true. More students came forward to finger him once the word got out. And all I have to do is rewrite my thesis and I'm home free.”

”All you have to do?”

”Okay, yes, it's going to be a lot of work, but it's work I wanted to do anyway. And it'll be so much better now that I've seen many of the paintings in person! I took a ton of photos for myself after hours in the gallery.” I did a little twirl on the street corner waiting for the light to change. ”Next on my agenda. What time are we meeting the trainer?”

”Two o'clock. I would suggest a light lunch. Sabine can be a drill sergeant. I will text you the address. Two other members of the troupe will be joining us.”

”Ooh, fun.”

”They don't know my real name, though they know my face. You'll hear the dancers refer to me as Jasper. I've known them for years, but the policies stand. Everyone who works for me signs nondisclosure agreements, but you never know when someone could be blackmailed or drunk. It's safer if they simply don't know my real name. Sabine knows it, but she'll never use it in public. You shouldn't either.”

”I'll be careful.” I'd gotten used to the way Stefan referred to him without any name if he could avoid it. I would have to try to do that, too.

”Now. One more scheduling question I have for you. When would you like the movers to come?”

”Well, I won't have time to start packing until tonight...”

”I have plans for you tonight.”

The way he said that made something in my middle clench deliciously. It was like he'd run a hand up my thigh, or slipped that hand into my hair and tilted my head for a kiss. ”Do I get a hint what kind of plans?”

”No. But I should point out that the movers will do all the packing, as well.”

”Really? I should tell Becky that.” As the conversation returned to light and mundane, I noticed the light was green and I crossed the street. ”She's probably been excavating her closet all morning.”

”They'll bring the boxes, everything. You won't have to lift a finger unless you want to. There are some items you might consider too... fragile... for others to handle.”

”Mmm-hmm.” I knew he was talking about the set of gla.s.s d.i.l.d.oes and s.e.x toys he'd made for me. The issue wasn't so much that they were fragile as that I didn't want a moving man looking into the case. ”I'll hand-carry a few things.”

”Why don't you bring them with you today?”

”Yes, James. And how many changes of clothes will I need?” I stopped at a corner pizza stand where a single slice was two dollars and gestured for one.

”I don't plan to keep you overnight. You and Becky can have one last night in the apartment and I'll have the movers there tomorrow morning. Say, eleven o'clock? Let me know if that doesn't work for her.”

I put two dollar bills onto the counter and took the paper plate. The slice was so large it hung off the plate by several inches. ”Will do. I think that should be fine, though.”

”Excellent. See you at two.”

Since I was supposed to eat a light lunch, I left the two inches of crust where the cheese didn't reach and tossed it into a garbage can as I walked. My phone chimed with the address. There was also a text.

Do not be put off by the others. Remember we will be keeping our involvement a secret so as not to taint the audition. I may seem cold and indifferent to you. I will make it up to you later.

At the thought of ”later” I felt that delicious drop in my stomach like I was taking the plunge on a roller coaster of l.u.s.t.

I felt it again when I walked into the dance studio and caught sight of him in skintight leggings and a wide-necked midriff s.h.i.+rt. He was at the barre, a diminutive woman in a maroon bodysuit as dark as her skin barking at him as he stretched one leg. His hair had been lightened again, and under the spandex he looked like one-hundred-percent pure muscle.

Easy girl, I told myself. Tamp it down. Right now you're supposed to be a prospective employee, not his girlfriend.

Sabine left his side to greet me and show me to a changing room, where I stowed my bags and put on dancing clothes.

I came out carrying my old ”jazz” shoes and set them to the side. They were working on a partner stretch, so I began to do my usual warm-ups.

When we were at least partially warmed up, Sabine gestured for me to join them in front of a mirror for some exercises. She led us through various movements that I picked up easily. They were pretty similar to the ones I was used to, leg swings, lunges, and scissors for the legs, then working up to the smaller muscles in back, shoulders, and neck. We sat on the floor to work on neck and shoulder isolations and I could feel I needed a lot of work there. My flexibility was good, but gaining back the fine muscle control and strength was going to take some time.

Then we were back on our feet and she led us through another series of movements from one posture to another, ten times from one to another, then ten times from that one to a third, and so on, forward and back, forward and back. She walked around us as she clapped a steady rhythm, making comments, mostly to James, about his form. ”Elbow higher. Straighten your neck.”

At one point, though, she was between us and I was facing her. ”She's a bit short, don't you think?”

Before I could react with anything more than a startled look, Sabine, who was a good six or seven inches shorter than me, gave me a wink.

James, who was facing the other way, burst out with, ”Her height is perfectly adequate!”

”Tsk. You're the boss,” Sabine said, giving me another wink and then circling him with a stern expression that belied it. If there was one boss in the room right now, it was Sabine. ”No talking. Knee, higher.” She poked him in the ribs and he flinched. ”Short is good. Makes you look taller and maybe you'll even be able to lift her.”

Clap, clap, clap. She paused then to show us the next posture. She had nicknames for each of them. The Teapot. The Hero. The Statue of Liberty.

Eventually we had run through a long set of these and she checked the clock on the wall. ”Didn't you say some others were coming?”

James dabbed his face with a towel. ”Two others. They are late.” He did not sound happy about it.

”Traffic, no doubt,” Sabine said drily. ”Ah, here comes someone now.”

A chime sounded when the front door opened, and through the frosted gla.s.s I could see the shapes of people in the vestibule, but the inner door was locked. Sabine went to open it and then closed it again behind them: two people, a woman and a man.

She clearly knew the pair and waved them toward the changing rooms. Before long they had joined us in front of the mirror, and without any introductions we sat down to do some core strength and more isolation exercises. The man had dark brown hair, gelled back, and looked to be about James's size, while the woman was about mine. Her hair was pulled back in a short ponytail and looked like it had been through a few dye jobs, dark at the top, reddish in the middle, and blond at the ends.

I could see now why James had compared Sabine to a drill sergeant. This was a lot like what I imagined boot camp to be like, except instead of push-ups and sit-ups the moves were artistic.

After almost an hour of that, we had some water, and I finally met the others formally. Roland and Annika had danced with James several times before. I introduced myself as Karina, and James-truthful as always-told them he had seen a performance of mine in London that had inspired him to invite me to audition.

That was also when I first heard the dancers call him Jasper.

Sabine didn't give us a lot of time to chat. For the rest of the time we worked on partner movements, Roland with Annika and James with me at first, and then we traded partners. Sabine switched from clapping to playing a prerecorded African drum, freeing both her hands to demonstrate with and to position us.

We were all sweaty and tired by the time the rehearsal was over. ”Enough for today. My regular students will be here soon. I have blocked every day until three for you and your bunch. I like this new one, too.”

”Thank you, Sabine.” James leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

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