Louise: A New Beginning (11 page)

“What kind of a favor?” He asked, drilling me with his stare. He was getting worried, I could tell. “Louise?” He asked louder this time. “You promised to not hide anything from me. We made a deal, remember?”

I sighed. “Okay, fine. I have been hiding something from you. . .”

He drew in a sharp breath. “Louise. . .”

“I know, I know. . . I’m sorry, Will. . . I thought it would be for the best.”

He shook his head, pulling me closer to where he was sitting on my bed, his shirt and pants were still on.

“What exactly have you been hiding from me?”

I swallowed again. I was hopelessly screwed. I knew Will would be pissed when he found out I was doing an investigation on Debora Griffin.

“I didn’t tell you everything about my conversation with Rea,” I said, watching him carefully. “She told me about something very important. But I decided I should make sure she was telling the truth before I did anything else.”

“What did she tell you?” Will asked impatiently.

“She gave me the name of your father’s assistant, Debora Griffin, saying she knew what actually happened the day he died. . .the reason for his death.”

Will’s expression changed from surprised to stormy. “What the hell does that woman have to do with it?”

“That is what I was trying to figure out.”

“All on your own, again?”

“I’m so sorry, Will. . . I didn’t want to disturb you with something that might not even be true.”

“And what Drew was supposed to do for you?”

“I asked him to find Debora’s address.”

“I guess he has found it, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good. We will go to see her together.”

“Will, I don’t think that’s a good idea. . .”

“It’s settled. . .and we are not going to discuss it any further, Louise. Either we go to see Debora together, or I will do it alone.”

“No way! I will go with you. I want to know the truth too.”

“Why? My father’s death is not your problem.” He sounded like a complete stranger now, cold and distant.

I didn’t respond.

“Or is there something else that you are not telling me?” Will asked, again knowing I was trying to fool him with my silence.

The guilt was eating me alive. There was no point in hiding things from Will any longer. It would only make our relationship even more complicated. “Rea thinks that your father’s death might have been planned. . .by my father, or someone close to him.”

“What?” He rose to his feet and started crossing the room, breathing heavily, like a lion getting ready to tear his prey to pieces. “This is not possible… Our fathers never met. Why would Montgomery want my father dead?”

I stood up too, and walked over to where he was standing. “I don’t know, Will. But what if Rea was right? You said she knows more than she will ever tell me. So what if she has a good reason to believe that our fathers were connected somehow?”

“This is insane. . . My dad never told me about Montgomery. Why would he die because of him? What problems could they possibly have that I didn’t know about?”

I took Will’s hand in mine, looking up into his eyes and said, “We will figure it out, okay? We will do it together.”

“Oh, Louise, why wouldn’t you tell me about Rea’s suspicions? Did you really believe someone like your father or even Debora, if she really has something to do with the accident, would let you get to the truth that has been hidden for ages?”

I smiled slightly. “Actually, I did.”

He smiled too, both sad and disappointed. “You are so naïve, Louise.” He wrapped his arms around me and locked me in his tight embrace. “Don’t you ever hide anything like this from me again, promise?”

“I won’t, I promise.”

Now, that Will knew the truth, I felt so much better. It was such a relief to know that I was not alone in this situation that I had no idea how to get out of.

“When do you want to go see Debora?” I asked Will.

“How about this weekend? I need a few days to prepare myself for this meeting. I don’t even know what to tell her or how to ask her about the accident. I haven’t seen her in a very long time.”

“Do you know where she went to work after she left your company?”

“No. As a matter of fact, I never talked to her again after that day. She left the company shortly after the accident. . . Do you think she really had something to do with it?”

“Anything is possible. She had been working with your father for a long time, right?”

Will nodded in response.

“She knew about the company’s business. She might be corrupted by someone who didn’t want the deal that your father was going to make happen.”

“I don’t know what to think. . . Debora had always been one of the very few people who my father ever trusted. And you are right, she knew way too much.”

“I think you should try to find out more about her life after she left the company. Where she works now, who she works for, etcetera…”

“That’s what I will do first thing tomorrow.”

I smiled up at him. “And here I thought kissing me would be the first thing you were going to do in the morning.”

He smiled too, tightening the embrace. “You are right, Debora can wait. You are the most important part of my life now. And that will never change.”

“Shall we go back to bed now?”

“Is there anything in particular you would like to do there?”

“Yes. . .sleep.”

He sighed. “Fine. It’s still better than dreaming about you for the rest of this damn night, lying in my own bed, wide awake and well, hard for you. . .”

I giggled. “You said it yourself, this is not going to last forever, remember?”

He took his shirt off and did the same with his trousers, leaving the clothes on the floor, right next to the bed.

“You are killing me, Louise. But when I think about the months I had to spend alone in my bed, I start to believe that what I have now is not the worst scenario.”

“My point exactly.” I got under the blanket and moved closer to Will, letting him hold me in his arms.

With my back pressed to his chest, I could feel every single breath he took next to me. It felt so good. I forgot what it felt like to fall asleep by his side. And yes, I missed feeling him so close to me. There was no point in denying that. Being with Will had always been the most precious of my memories. I didn’t want to think about letting him go, it was too painful to imagine losing him again.

William

Three days later, it still felt a little surreal to wake up next to Louise. During the night, we didn’t do anything but sleep in the same bed, occasionally kissing and embracing, but no more than that. She refused to sleep in my bed, saying it would give me even more power over her. She said that with a smile, though both she and I knew that was exactly what she was scared of. Technically, all the beds in the house were mine, but having her own room helped Louise feel somehow more independent. She was still afraid to lose the freedom that she had just started to get used to. I didn’t mind that kind of independence. After all, she was with me now, and that was the only thing that mattered.

We spent a lot of time together, walking outside, talking or cooking, or simply sitting next to each other, listening to music, and talking about things that bothered us. I truly enjoyed every second I spent with her.

I always woke up before she did. I don’t know why, I just did. I stayed up late, watching her fall asleep in my arms, and then I couldn’t stop thinking about my future that I more than anything wanted to spend with her. It was so easy to imagine calling her Mrs. Blair,
my Mrs. Blair. . .

We didn’t talk about the future. Neither one of us really wanted to go there, afraid it wouldn’t be as perfect as we wanted it to be. I could see how much she enjoyed her classes. She never once came home saying she had a bad day at school. Though there were a few times she came home and mentioned how the headmistress, Mrs. Cormac, came to watch her training. She said Sabine never talked to her after their first meeting a few days ago, but she always smiled when watching Louise training. I wondered if she saw the resemblance between them. Louise looked a lot like her father, but she also took after her mom. And I didn’t even want to think about the moment both of them figured out the truth about their kinship. . .

“A penny for your thoughts,” Louise said, bringing me back to the here and now.

I smiled, kissing her hair. “I was thinking about you,” I said. “I never stop thinking about you.” It was true. My whole life revolved around Louise. I hardly cared about anything but getting her back and making her stay with me, for real, forever.

“One thing never changed about the Will I met in
Le Papillon
, months ago. You are still a mystery to me, Mr. Blair.”

“Really? And here I thought you knew everything about me.”

“Not even close. I bet the amount of things you say aloud is like ten percent of the thoughts going on in your mind. I wouldn’t be surprised to know that your brain doesn’t turn off even when you fall asleep.”

I laughed quietly. “You know you can ask me about anything.”

“Yes, but I still feel like you are not telling me something. . . Or maybe I’m just being paranoid. With all the secrets people have been hiding from me for years, it’s really hard to trust people.”

“But you do trust me, Louise. . .don’t you?”

She sighed. “Does it look like I have a choice?”

I smiled, touching her cheek with my palm. “In most cases, yes, you do.”

“Hardly.” She grimaced at my words. “Wasn’t it you who made me move here?” She lifted her hand gesturing around the room.

“Well, that was an exceptional situation. I couldn’t leave you alone again, and you know why.”

“Right.”

“Anyway, what are your plans for the day?”

“I have a dance competition today. Didn’t I tell you about that?”

“No, you didn’t tell me. Are you nervous?”

“Not really. It’s not like it will affect my grades, or anything. It’s really just another chance to show off my skills and see what the other students are capable of.”

“I never doubted your skills, in dancing or otherwise. I must admit, those other skills of yours are quite impressive too.”

She giggled, punching my ribs playfully. “Naughty boy, stop teasing me.”

“Said the girl who seduced me with a striptease and a lap dance. . .”

“Hey! I didn’t seduce you. And it was not a striptease or a lap dance. It was. . .just a dance, okay? I didn’t even try to seduce you. I was simply doing my job.”

“And I must say, you did it pretty damn well too.” I smiled and kissed her lips gently. “You know, I miss watching you dance for me. . .”

“And I miss dancing for you.” She smiled sheepishly, looking up at me. “I have a confession to make. . .”

“About what?” I asked, feeling a little worried about what she could possibly be confessing to this time. I hoped it wasn’t another bad situation she got into because of her desire to prove everyone, and me in particular, how grown up and independent she was.

“Every time I’m working on a new dance, I imagine dancing it for you, like you are there, watching me, and maybe even taking pictures of every step I take. I dedicate my every dance to you, Will. Even though you can’t see them.”

“But I will one day, right?”

“Yes, I promise, I will dance for you again.”

“Like in my room, or?”

She laughed, sitting up. “Wherever you want to see me dancing.”

“Then it will definitely be my room.”

She shook her head, still smiling, and got out of bed. “Wait here, I want to show you something.”

She went to the bathroom and returned a couple of minutes later, wearing a beautiful deep-red dress with long sleeves, decorated with small shining crystals. It was shorter in the front, and longer in the back, swaying slowly with every step she took.

“What do you think?” She asked, spinning around to show me the open back of the dress.

“It’s. . .stunning.” Indeed, the dress was amazing, but what I liked even more was Louise herself, with her long, golden hair still slightly messy from the night before. And her body in the dress that covered and showed just enough to make the fantasies in my head get out of control.

She walked over to the mirror and put on a feathered mask that matched the dress perfectly.

“Wow. . . What is this outfit for?” I asked, hoping it was for the dance that she promised to dance for me.

“It’s for the competition. I have to return it, but for the rest of the day, it’s all mine.”

I was a little disappointed. “I thought I would get a chance to see you dance in it,” I said.

She turned around again to look at her reflection in the mirror. Then she turned to look at me and said, “It reminded me of
Le Papillon
, and Paris, and you. . . The moment I saw it, I knew I should wear it for the competition.”

The moment
I
saw it, I knew I wanted to explore every small part of her body, hidden beneath it. My desire to make love to her just hit its limit.

She spun around on one leg, with the other one bent at the knee; her dress spiraled around her, as if she were dancing in the ocean with the waves holding the red fabric, making it move in slow motion.

I felt like the air was knocked out of me, she was too stunning for me to keep calm. She kept moving around the room, her every move performed with fluidity and grace, and I couldn’t stop thinking about all the things I felt for her. It was like falling in love, over and over again, harder and deeper with every breath I took.

Maybe she didn’t realize what she was doing, she looked so lost in the moment. It reminded me of the night in
Le Papillon
when we first met, after almost ten years of being apart. She didn’t talk to or look at me, she was simply dancing, flying up in the air and then landing on her feet, like a butterfly, beautiful and graceful, and maybe even a little surreal.

I was fascinated with her. Everything about her was too much for me. Sometimes I felt like I didn’t deserve her. One second I felt like I knew everything about her, then the next moment I felt completely different, like she was a stranger, more like a picture that I could enjoy watching, but never touch or love for real. And whenever her smooth lips landed on mine, I wanted more, so much more than just a quick kiss or touch. I wanted her to be mine, completely and unconditionally, just like I had always been hers. . .

She stopped at the edge of the bed and smiled at me. The mask covered a good part of her face; her eyes, lips, and chin were all I could see at the moment.

“Now I know how you felt when I was wearing a mask,” I said. “I want it off. . .all of it.” I pointed to her dress.

She laughed, spinning again. “All in good time. . . So you’d better gain some more patience, Mr. Blair.”

“More patience? Seriously? Is it even possible to be more patient than I already am with you?”

“Don’t know. But we will have to finish this conversation later, or I’m gonna be late for my class.”

“If it were up to me, you would miss them all today.”

She laughed again and came to place a quick kiss on my lips. But I had a better idea.

I pulled her to my chest and we both fell on to the bed.

“What are you doing?” She giggled, lying next to me. “You’re gonna ruin my dress! I need to return it tonight.”

“A few wrinkles won’t ruin it,” I said, bending to cover her delicious lips with mine.

My palm slid under her dress and up her thigh, where I could feel the lace of her panties. Slowly, I pressed my thumb against her clit, gently rubbing it through the fabric.

She moaned at my touch. The sound was barely audible, but it sounded like pure music to my ears.

I hadn’t touched her like that for a long time, and I guess we both were taken aback by the sensation it caused within our bodies.

“You are going to be the death of me, Louise. . .” I said between kisses.

“If you keep touching me like this, I’ll die first.” Her words feathered my lips in a tempting manner. Did she even know how much power she had over me? She thought I dictated the world around us; she thought I dictated her. . . But it was Louise, who dictated my every breath, my every thought and my every secret wish; she was my everything.

My hand slipped just a little higher, to the waistband of her panties. God, I was seconds away from ripping them apart and taking her right then and there.

“Can you ask whoever you need to return this dress to, to keep it for at least a while longer?”

“What for?”

“I’d like to study it more precisely.”

She thought for a moment. “I’ll see what I can do.”

I then kissed her again, deeper this time, and when I felt like I was reaching the breaking point where I knew there would be no way back, I backed off and removed my hand from where it had been touching her while we kissed.

“Bring this dress back home,” I said, standing up. “What time does the competition begin?”

“At noon, why?”

“No reason. Just wanted to tell you to break a leg.”

I gave her another head-to-toe glance and walked to the door, already knowing I wouldn’t miss her competition for the world. I didn’t want her to know that I was going to come and watch her. I wanted to surprise her.

But as it turned out later, the surprise was waiting for me. . .

The moment I entered the auditorium of
Balero
, I knew it was a bad idea to come here. I had a few meetings in the morning, so I didn’t have time to go home and get changed. In my suit and tie I looked more like a professor than a boyfriend of one of the local students. A few girls gave me a curious
‘Now-who-is-this-guy’
look, shared a few words with each other, about me or how I looked, I wasn’t sure, and giggled.

I immediately wanted to leave. But then, I saw Louise. She was talking to a tall, blond guy, wearing a deep-red shirt and black slacks that I bet were supposed to match Louise’s dress. She didn’t tell me she was going to dance with a partner. Either she didn’t think it was important enough to mention, or she simply thought I would be jealous. Which, needless to say, was exactly how I felt at the moment.

The guy laughed at something she said, then wrapped one arm around her waist possessively and together they walked to the other side of the stage where a few other couples were getting ready for their performances.

“Excuse me, Sir,” someone said to me. I turned around to look at whoever it was, and cursed mentally. There was Sabine Cormac standing right behind me. She smiled politely at me and said, “If you are here to watch the competition, why don’t you take a seat? The show is about to begin.”

“Sure, thanks.”

She nodded, and without asking, she pulled me toward the seats near the middle of the auditorium.

“We don’t usually allow strangers to watch competitions like this, they are open only for the students and teachers. But I can see that you are here to support Louise. Am I right?”

I stared at her, genuinely surprised. “How did you know that?”

“I saw you watching her. And I’m really good at reading people. You didn’t pay any attention to those girls so openly eating you with their eyes. All because you couldn’t take yours off Louise. Are you two dating?”

Wow, the woman obviously didn’t have any problem discussing one of her student’s personal life with a complete stranger.