Passion and Pain (Dancers and Divas) (45 page)

“Don’t you even
start!
You trust people easily. You make mistakes. You have to let it go.”

“I know. It gets better every day.”

“Good! When are you seeing Sebastien?”

“Tomorrow.
I see him almost every other day.”

“Really?”

“Now which movie did you want to watch?”

The next day, Elena met Sebastien outside Julliard
,
where he was taking summer classes. As he walked towards her enthusiastically, Elena thought back to the times when she had hurt him. There was the time she had rejected him after he kissed her during rehearsal.
And again at the sophomore party when she pushed him away, refusing to acknowledge her true feelings, clinging to a Jay that didn’t exist.
Yet he said nothing reproachful to her as they hung out around New York after his classes, enjoying the glorious summer.

“Hey Elena,” he said, kissing her on the cheek, careful not to touch her cast. “How are you doing?”

“Better,” she said. “Can we sit down for a while?”

He led her to the steps of the building and she sat a step below him
, between his legs
, leaning against his
left inner
thigh.

“It’s a shame you’re not doing these classes. You would love them!”

“Yeah, this summer has had lots of surprises! No arm, no work and therefore no money for classes. Of course, I haven’t really felt up to it.”

He nodded thoughtfully.

“Seb, I need to talk to you about something.”

Elena saw a look of concern cross his face. She touched his arm lightly. “
You’ve been such a great friend.
A great person to me.”

“
El
—
”

“Please, I have to say this.”

He nodded.

“
I’m sorry about everything. I didn’t know how messed up I was about Jay. Maybe I felt like I was a failure if I couldn’t make it work. I didn’t understand what I was feeling or why he would lie to me. It never made sense and it still doesn’t.”

“It’s all in the past,” he said. “What are friends for? Besides, I know I didn’t always act in the most gentlemanly fashion. Maybe we could call it even?”

“But I hurt you so much and I pushed you away. Will you ever forgive me?”

“We’ve both made mistakes Elena, but our friendship is stronger than that,” he replied stroking her hair.

“Seb, the truth is,” she said, gazing into his deep blue eyes, “you mean everything to me. The
Jane Eyre
kiss, the sophomore party. I felt it all but I didn’t want to admit it.” She stroked his face with her free hand, then leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips
and then looked at him uncertainly.

He held her face with his two hands and held her gaze. “What are you saying Elena? You want to be with me?”

“More than anything!
I didn’t know how I could have been so blind.” He stopped her mid-sentence and kissed her deeply until she had to pull away.

“My arm, my arm,” she cried out laughing and crying.

Sebastien laughed too. “Sorry, I guess I got carried away
.”

“At least it will keep you out of trouble for a while longer. It comes off next week.”

“A whole week.
I can handle that,” he said as he kissed her tenderly.

“I love you
,
Seb,” she said as she leaned back against his chest.

“If you knew how long I have wanted to hear that,” he whispered, kissing the back of the head.

She turned around and looked him directly in the eyes, clutching the collar of his shirt. “You have to promise me Seb, no more lies or secrets
.
You and me, we have to be honest with each other, always, OK?”

He stroked her face. “I would never do anything to hurt you Elena. You can trust me.”

She turned back to face the street and relaxed into his chest.
He wrapped his arms around her
, his face against hers,
as she sat between his legs on the steps of the Julliard building. 

Elena closed her eyes.
She felt safe.
Loved.
With Sebastien, she knew she could get through anything from here on.

BITTERSWEET

Enjoyed Passion and Pain?
Look out for the sequel, Bittersweet, coming in 2013.

In
Bittersweet
the race is on. Elena and Sebastien are entering their senior years of high school and it’s all about getting the professional jobs, applying to colleges, making a name. All this while still holding onto friendships, love and integrity.

Can Elena reach her potential without losing herself along the way?

Will Sebastien’s secret destroy his relationship with Elena forever?

Will Letitia never change? How far will they go to get what they want?

Who will pursue their dreams and who will abandon them?

Whose heart breaks and whose will finally heal?

A captivating, touching and often humorous story of a performer’s self-discovery in the pursuit of success, love and happiness.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kathy Petrakis was born and raised in Sydney Australia by Greek immigrant parents. She always had a passion for the performing arts – dancing, acting and singing but they were hobbies giving way to a traditional professional career in banking. Before this book, her writing was used
only
to entertain friends with her unusual, and often disastrous travel adventures from around the world.

By the hand of fate,
Passion and Pain
and
Bittersweet
were born while
blessedly
unemployed and living in London, heaven for lovers of the performing arts.  At the time of publication of
Passion and Pain
, she was still living in London with plans to prepare for the launch of the sequel in either Sydney or New York.

For more information, visit kathypetrakis.com