The Devil of DiRisio (14 page)

Damian brought me out of my thoughts when he said softly into my ear, “For our next duet, I’m going to improvise a little.  Follow my lead.”  Then he flew onstage for one of his solos.  I could barely think straight anymore.  My head was spinning.  I looked out on Damian’s dancing.  He was exceptional.  How had he learned that in one day?

When our next duet began, at first I worried about this so called improvising Damian had planned.  But he was such a commanding lead that after a few moments, I lost myself in him and the music. At the end of the first act, my character died and Pierre’s character, well, Damian’s character tried unsuccessfully to awaken me.  For all the power he possessed, he was unable to protect the woman he loves or bring her back from death. With Pierre, we’d always rehearsed him hugging my neck, pretending to cry and letting the curtain close.  With Damian, I didn’t know what to expect.  I knew he was going to try something.  I just knew it.

Sure enough, instead of the hug and fake tears, Damian kissed me.  I was trapped.  I was supposed to be dead so I couldn’t slap him or push him off of me so I had to just let him kiss me and kiss me and kiss me.  It seemed to last forever.  When was that curtain going to close?  Suddenly, unexpectedly, and absolutely unwillingly I felt my body respond to his kiss.  Maybe I got lost in the moment, maybe I was swept up into this dream we had just created on stage, or maybe he was just a really good kisser.  Whatever the case, he took my breath away.

Finally, the curtain closed.  Damian stood and helped me up with his wicked yet strikingly handsome grin.  I was speechless.  I had so many questions to ask, but I couldn’t quite catch my breath.  Damian winked at me then walked away.  He had a costume change. My character was dead, but he still had to come back in the second act and avenge my death.

“What was that?”  Anna Marie exclaimed in astonishment as she entered the dressing room all of the female students shared.  She was still in her costume from the first act and had waited to change until she could talk to me.

“I have no idea,” I said in a state of shock, still reeling from that kiss.  “I didn’t even know he did ballet.”

“That was amazing,” she exclaimed as she ripped off her costume. 
“Absolutely amazing.
I’ve never seen you dance like that.  I’ve never seen anyone dance like that.  Have you been practicing with him behind my back?”

“No, I didn’t even know he did ballet.”  I had to sit before I fainted from the pure euphoria that I felt.

“Are you okay?”

“I have no idea. I didn’t even know he did ballet.”

“You’ve said that like three times.  Snap out of it.”

Suddenly I did snap out of it and my mind drifted back to the cheating. “Listen, Anna Marie, about this morning. I had no idea what Sasha was planning to
– ”

Anna Marie held up her hand and closed her eyes. “I didn’t see anything, and I don’t know anything. As far as I’m concerned, you were in that library taking that test. I have no evidence otherwise.”

“Well, Cynthia does. Apparently, Pierre told
Sa
… well, me about him not being here tonight. And because I had no idea, she knows that it wasn’t me he was speaking to.”

“Girl, after the way you just danced out there with Damian, you could go to the Vatican, spank the Pope, then do an Irish jig on his pointy little hat and
DiRisio
would still ask you to come back. You were
that
good. So drop the test thing and get yourself together.  You’re in the corps for the second act.”  I don’t know how I managed to get myself together enough to get dressed and get back on stage.

After I finished my part, I stood backstage and watched as Damian jumped and leaped and turned and completely mesmerized the audience.  It looked like he went fifteen feet in the air with each leap.  And his butt in those tights … Whoa!  I’d never seen anything like it. Let’s just say he looked like he could crack a walnut with those cheeks. Where did he learn to dance like that? When did he learn to do that? And why didn’t I know he could do that?

Before the end of the show, the stage manager tapped me on the shoulder and told me to get back into my village girl costume. Damian and I took our bows together.  Not only did we get a standing ovation, we got eight curtain calls.  We didn’t even have the main parts, but we had stolen the show.  And Damian had started to steal my heart.

For the rest of the evening, I felt like I walked in some sort of enchanted fantasy world.  I heard the compliments and the adulation for me and Damian.  I heard the predictions of fame and even the offers for contracts from different dance aficionados that were actually in the audience to see Antonia Lyn.  I heard people say that I had danced better than she had ever danced in her entire career. I heard everything, but it didn’t really click that it was happening to me. Could I be dreaming? Everything seemed so unreal.

I also heard the tension in Will’s voice when he said, “Where did that come from? What happened to Pierre?”

“Hi, baby, I missed you so much. How was Iceland?” I took the flowers he had for me and smelled them innocently. “When did your flight come in? You must be exhausted, babe.”

“Where’s Pierre?” he asked in a strained determined voice.

“I don’t know.  He didn’t show up.  Damian really came through for me tonight.  Wasn’t he great?”  I tried not to show my true level of excitement, but I’m sure Will picked up on it.

“So, when was a kiss written in?  I’ve never seen you kiss Pierre.”  I pretended I didn’t hear him as Anna Marie dragged me away to talk with a critic from one of the local papers.

Late in the evening, I sat in front of my mirror taking off my stage makeup.  All the other dancers were long gone so I had the dressing room to myself.  I knew Will was waiting for me outside, but I still moved with decided slowness.  I didn’t want the night to end. 

After a quick knock on the door, someone entered.  I knew it was Damian.  He didn’t say anything.  He just stared at me, burning my flesh with those intense fiery eyes.  His hair was back to its normal wild uncontrollable bush and he was in his street clothes.  He exuded his familiar arrogance and for a moment, I forgot he was the same theatrical genius I had just danced with on stage.

“What do you want?”  I asked when I tired of his staring.

“I want you to admit it, Sonya.”

“Admit what?”

“That you’ve never had that much fun in your life.  That you danced the best you ever have.  And that it was because of me.  Admit that we have an undeniable chemistry and that we belong together.”

“I admit we work well together,” I said as I turned to meet his gaze. I had to turn back to the mirror again.   I couldn’t handle his powerful glare.  It made me weak. “But you’re crazy if you think we belong together,” I continued as I wiped off my lipstick.  Damian turned the chair around so that I faced him.  He leaned over and placed his arms on either side of me resting his hands on the counter behind me.  He had me locked in place.  I couldn’t move.  Not that I wanted to.

“We create a passion that you will never find anywhere else,” he said with his mouth so close to mine I could almost taste his hot cinnamon breath, “especially not with your little basketball player.”

“You’re wrong,” I breathed. He had me so confused and flustered I wasn’t convinced.

“Am I?  Then why won’t you marry him?” Damian brushed his lips against mine.

“What are you doing?  Is this some sort of game to you?” In my mind, I yelled this angrily, but in reality I think it was more of a whisper. He ignored my question and kissed me.  Instantly, I was transported back on stage.  I was lost in his kiss until I found Will’s face in my memory.

“Get off me,” I yelled as I pushed him away.  “You know nothing about me.”  Just then there was a knock.  We stared at each other breathlessly.  After another knock, Will entered.  I ran and leaped into his arms kissing his face all over.  I was so happy to be held by someone that actually cared about me and didn’t just want to make me one of his conquests.  While I kissed Will, I opened one eye and took a peek at Damian’s face. Why was he smiling? Will suddenly noticed Damian’s presence and tensed up.

“What is he doing in your dressing room?” he asked suspiciously as he
unwrapped
my arms from around his neck.

“Let’s go celebrate,” I said ignoring his question.

“Great, I’ll get my coat,” Damian said before Will had a chance to respond.  Will
glared
at him.

Damian dashed into the hallway on the way to his dressing room when he almost knocked Sasha over.

“You must be the sister,” he flirted as he steadied her balance. Damian and Sasha started chatting quietly in the hallway.

Will reached behind him and flipped the light switch three times. “I don’t really feel like going out, especially with that guy,” Will said indicating Damian. He flipped the lights again. “You know I don’t like him.  I don’t like you dancing with him and I especially don’t like you making out with him on stage in front of hundreds of people.”  Will was trying his best to sound calm, but I could tell he was really angry.  He’d stated on more than one occasion his dislike of Damian which usually made me bring up my dislike of Veronica which usually led to some sort of argument.  He was trying to avoid getting me upset on what was turning out to be a special night for me.

“I wasn’t making out with him.  It’s called acting.”

“Well, did you have to
act
like you enjoyed it so much?”

“I was supposed to be dead.  What did you want me to do?  Jump up and run off the stage?”

Will sighed and said, “Look, I don’t
wanna
argue about this.  Can’t we just go home?”  He embraced me and kissed the top of my head.  But I didn’t want to go home.  I wanted to celebrate.

“But one of the company members is having a party and it’s a great way for me to mingle with the professional dancers and get to know them and Will, this was the best performance I’ve ever done and I want you there with me and … ”

“Okay, okay
… ”
Will relented to stop my whining.  I realized how annoying I was being, but it was true.  I deserved to enjoy my success. He’d certainly had enjoyed his.  “But, I swear to God, if that Damian guy so much as looks at you tonight, I’m kicking his ass.”  My eyes widened a little bit out of shock.  That was the first time I had ever heard
Will
make a violent threat toward someone.  Well, it was the first time he was serious about it.  He always teased that he would beat up Pierre and Alejandro for me, but I knew he was joking.  He wasn’t joking right now.  He was dead serious and I was a little afraid for Damian’s sake.

***

Fortunately, the evening proceeded without incident.  Damian didn’t even look at me the entire night, which actually kind of annoyed me.  He spent all night putting his moves on Raquel.  What in the world did he see in her?  Her technique was awful compared to mine.  She didn’t even have proper turnout.  Did he just get eight curtain calls dancing with her? No! He got them with me, but he was now ignoring me.  But why did I care?  I had a handsome, famous, basketball player hanging off my arm. And hang he did.  Will didn’t stop touching me every chance he got.  It was like he was proclaiming to the room that I belonged to him. 

Finally, I couldn’t take Will’s obsessive, possessive attention and Damian’s eerie, annoying inattention so, Will and I went home and went to bed.  Even while Will slept peacefully at my side, I was unable to turn off my mind.  I kept reliving what it was like to dance with Damian.  I kept hearing the music and seeing his face and feeling the complete euphoria that only came from receiving eight curtain calls.  Then I would hear his voice.  Why did he keep insinuating that I didn’t love Will?  Did he see something I didn’t?

Early in the morning, Will went for a jog then went to go lift weights before his practice.  I gave up on trying
to sleep
and went to the kitchen where I found Sasha eating breakfast.

“You don’t get any English newspapers?  I have no idea what these say,” she said when she saw me as she gestured to the stack of six or seven papers on the kitchen table.  Will ordered every Italian newspaper that might possibly mention his achievements on the court.  I grabbed one and started flipping through to the arts section.  I wanted to see if there was a review of me and Damian’s performance.  Sasha knew what I was doing.

“Is it there?  What does it say?”

“We got great reviews.  They think we’re the next big thing.”

“Oh, that’s great, Sweetie.”  Sasha beamed. She was so proud of me.  “You’ve really done well.  You and Will are huge successes.”  I thought I saw a hint of jealousy in her eyes, but she quickly covered it up as she said. “You two are perfect for each other.  Why won’t you marry him?”