Jonathan had rejected it at first, but the woman insisted, and so there they were now. Of course, as if she didn’t have enough on her plate, Sophie was not surprised to find out that Nina had also been invited.
“We can leave, if you want,” Jonathan had whispered.
“It’s okay. I danced along her for years, I can spend an hour with her at the same table.” Sophie smiled, but in her heart, she really wished she’d taken up the offer. While she could handle Nina alone, she doubted she could handle her and Jonathan’s mother at the same time.
“Jonathan!” his mother exclaimed, standing up so she could engulf her son in a tight embrace.
“Mom!” he responded, before turning to face the other woman. “Nina, I’m glad to see you here.”
Sophie smiled too, greeting his mother and Nina at the same time. She wasn’t at all surprised when both women returned her greeting with a snarl. Jonathan didn’t notice, and it was probably for the best, she didn’t want him to fight with his mom or anyone else because of her.
“So, how are you? I haven’t seen you since the charity event.” Sophie had never seen Nina fake such an awful sweet tone. If she wouldn’t have known the girl, she would have sworn she was actually a nice girl. Sophie almost rolled her eyes when Nina batted her eyes and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Well, I’ve been really busy. You know the gala is approaching and I still have to work on advertising the casinos.” Jonathan sighed as he opened his menu.
“Nina has been busy too, you know. She was accepted in LaRouge Ballet. I’m so glad you got away from that small ballet group. I heard they are now accepting all kinds of people.”
Sophie dug her fingers into her dress, trying hard not to get angry. She knew for a fact they were both rubbing it in my face. His mother was both rubbing salt on her wound, and stepping on her and the ballet group’s pride and status. Suddenly, she felt something brush over her left hand, the familiar feeling of a hand wrapping around hers. Jonathan brushed his thumb over the back of her hand, as if calming her down.
“I heard they are among the best. Nina wouldn’t have stayed there if they weren’t.” He was defending her in his own way, trying as subtly as possible so as not to cause a scene.
“Sophie, did you audition too?”
“I did. But, I wasn’t so lucky, as you can see.”
“Oh please, there is no such thing as luck. You are either talented or not.” Sophie bit the inside of her cheek, her blood boiling.
Suddenly, the waves of glares and stares were interrupted by the ringing of a phone. Everyone turned their heads towards the source, Nina suddenly realizing it was hers. Slowly, she excused herself and rose up, answering even before she was out of earshot.
“Mom, what are you doing?” Jonathan whispered between his teeth the minute Nina left, his body now hovering over the table.
“What do you mean? I’m just conversing.” She shrugged, readjusting the strap of her dress.
“Conversing? It didn’t look that way to me.” Sophie tried to tighten her hold on his hand, weakly trying to make him stop. But to no avail, Jonathan’s gaze remained on his mom, asking for answers.
“I don’t care what it looks like. Yes, I don’t like the girl one bit. I am doing nothing except to show you she is not worth our while!”
Jonathan nodded, biting his lip. Had it been someone else, Sophie would have gladly defended her honor, but it was his mother. She knew she was not worthy of Jonathan. She knew Nina was a much better match.
“Then, I’m sorry for wasting your time, Mom.” Sophie didn’t realize what was going on until he’d pulled her to his feet, just in time for Nina to be back.
“Jonathan.” They left his mother’s voice behind, the name of her son vanishing behind them as they passed Nina and the tables filled with people that seemed to be watching them.
“What are you doing?” Sophie asked once they were beside the car. She ran a hand through her hair, sighing as she tried to calm herself down. Touched as she’d been by his gestures, she couldn’t allow him to fight with his mom because of her. Her parents had died so long ago, she cherished family more than anything else.
“What do you mean? Was I the only one who heard her insulting you?” He rose his brows, his voice a little too loud for a normal conversation. “Look, Sophie, you may not be able to stand up for yourself, but I can. My Mom has criticized and compared me my entire life. I’m used to it. But
I will not allow her to do the same with you.”
“You think I’m not used to being compared to others? I’ve been compared to Nina my entire life. I can defend myself..I don’t need you to fight with the people that love you for me. I can do it on my own.” Jonathan was silent for a while, he looked her dead in the eyes. She tried to figure out what he was thinking, but she couldn’t make it out.
“As long as you are married to me, you won’t have to do it on your own.”
Chapter 6
Jonathan smiled at the two other men that were seated around the table, as he wiped the corner of his mouth with the napkin in hand. Although he was laughing, inside he couldn’t wait to be away from those boring people. He’d been there for almost two hours, trying to talk over some contract clauses that needed to be changed. Of course, after they’d finally agreed on those, the two started talking about the wonders of golf. What an interesting topic! Jonathan had sarcastically thought, wishing that the ground would swallow him already.
“Excuse me, gentlemen. I need to go wash my hands.” Jonathan had never been more eager to leave the table. He nearly sprinted towards the bathroom at the other end of the room.
On the other end, there was a bar too, where people usually sat in order to wait for an empty table. He usually didn’t pay too much attention to his surroundings, his thoughts were always keeping him busy. Purely by chance, his eyes grazed over the bar, widening in surprise as they caught sight of Karen, Sophie’s friend.
He remembered the woman from the dinner, but that didn’t mean he knew what he should do. He contemplated between going to say hello and rushing to the restroom unnoticed. He knew in his heart he would eventually choose the latter, but life made it so that Karen looked his way, her features brightening as she raised a hand to wave at him. He’d enjoyed the girls’ company the other night. They had the same free spirit as Sophie. It was easy to be around them and they didn’t have the unnecessary expectations around him. So that wasn’t exactly the reason he’d thought about ignoring her. In fact, he just didn’t exactly know how to act around them when Sophie wasn’t there. Foolish as it was, even he got those kinds of crazy thoughts.
“Jonathan! What were the chances of meeting here?” Karen exclaimed as she surprisingly engulfed him in a friendly hug, her smile wide and welcoming.
“I’m here for a business meeting.” He shrugged, his head pointing towards the table where he’d been seated.
“I see. I’m waiting for my boyfriend. But he’s late as usual.” She sighed between a chuckle. Jonathan smiled too and nodded, wondering if he should ask about her boyfriend or just ask about anything random altogether, but before he got to ask anything at all, Karen opened her mouth to talk again. “What will you guys be doing tonight?”
Her enthusiasm for the night made Jonathan raise a brow, a puzzled look on his face.
“Oh, stop acting like that. I’m sure you planned something big for her birthday. Don’t worry I won’t tell her a word.”
It took him a second to realize what she’d said. The words first turned and flipped in his mind until they eventually made sense. Of course, he tried to smile and act as if he knew what she was talking about, he had to–how could a husband not know when his wife’s birthday was?
“You caught me.” He faked a chuckle. “I’d rather not tell anyone. It’s quite special.” He knew Karen understood him wrong, judging by the way she was blushing, she’d already imagined the worst. But Jonathan didn’t object, he let things be for the time.
&
nbsp; “Sorry, I can’t stay anymore. I’m afraid I must join the others again.”
“Don’t worry, go ahead. Matt will probably be here soon.”
The trip to the bathroom had been forgotten, he’d had his moment away from the so-called gold conversation. Jonathan was now ready to face a couple more minutes with those guys. Sighing, he bid Karen goodbye and turned to walk towards the men, his mind now troubled by other thoughts.
He wondered if he should do anything special for her. He wanted to, but at the same time he knew he couldn’t confuse Sophie anymore. Sleeping together had already complicated things too much. They were still running away from the subject, pretending as if nothing had happened, but they were both aware of the elephant in the room. There were emotions and thoughts that ought to be talked about. Of course, in order to talk about it, they needed to understand them first. And, Jonathan was still to make sense of things.
He knew his relationship with her was strictly formal, that he should think of it as a business. But how could he do that when Sophie made him feel things he had never experienced before? When she was around, everything else in his life seemed to disappear. He felt an urge to live life the way he never wanted. It was weird. He feared that if he opened the subject he’d truly lose her. That she would tell him he was crazy and that she’d leave. Why would she stay anyway? A contract could never bind a soul as strong as hers.
“Jonathan, you’re back. We’re sorry, but we have to leave. We just got a call from the office.” The two men were already on their feet, a grim look on their faces. Jonathan couldn't believe how sad those two were because they had to interrupt their gold conversation.
“Let’s go.”
The street where the restaurant was located was a busy commercial street. It was filled with shops and boutiques, expensive and cheap ones. All kinds of stores for the eager tourists that dared to venture onto the streets of Vegas. Jonathan rarely took a stroll among those shops, and had it not been for his car that had been parked down the street, he doubted he would have. His time didn’t permit it. He didn’t have the time, yet there he was, walking down the street, his hands shoved in his front pockets, his mind wandering back at Sophie as his eyes gazed through the windows.
He might have been subconsciously searching for a gift, or maybe he had suddenly taken fancy of women jewelry. Whatever the reason, he now found himself in front of a jewelry shop, his eyes set on a necklace.
The necklace was simple, made of silver, the chain soft and thin. He imagined it around Sophie’s neck, outlining its beautiful contour, the medallion that was in the shape of a ballerina pressing against her skin.
It was a typical necklace to get a dancer. Yet, it seemed to fit Sophie perfectly. Even the emerald on the ballerina's chest seemed to match her eyes. Sighing, Jonathan bit his lip, wondering what to do.
“A gift won’t confuse her,” he muttered to himself as he tried to convince himself that doing something for her birthday wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
*****
Sophie smiled as she lowered herself onto the puffy blanket, her hand still tightly wrapped around the ice cream box, the special kind she only bought on her birthday. The taste of rum mixed with that of raisins was like heaven on her tongue. There had been nothing on T.V. so, she’d settled on rewatching some old episodes of her favorite series. She had been at it all day, eating and relaxing. She’d promised herself a free day for her birthday for weeks now. She had refused any invitation to party or dine, she was to do nothing.
That had been her wish. With the new Gisselle show coming, she’d been dancing and practicing all day. Which was good. She needed to practice anyway, if she even wished to stand a chance for the audition Jonathan promised to arrange.
Thinking of him made her throw her gaze to the clock across from her. It was a little past ten, he’d missed almost her entire birthday, and although she hated to admit it, she felt disappointed. Silently, she’d been waiting for a call for the whole day, whenever someone would call to wish her a happy birthday, she’d jump slightly and wish his name would flash across the screen. But it never did.
Thinking about it, she came to realize that he may not even know. Why would he? She never told him, their relationship didn’t require them to bother one another with such trivial details. Sighing, her smile was gone and the ice cream too melted for her taste. Slowly, she paused the series and stood up, deciding that maybe a warm bath would be a good candidate for the next item on her ‘to do’ list.
She was halfway to the kitchen when the sound of keys broke through the silence and the front door opened. A feeling that resembled excitement grumbled in the pit of her stomach, confusing her. Was she actually happy he was home? God, did Sophie want to punch herself in the face. She knew how toxic and misplaced those emotions were.
She knew, but what difference did it make? She still hurried to put away the ice cream and let loose her hair. As if he hadn’t already seen her as a complete mess.
“Jonathan?” She asked from behind the counter, her hand resting on it as she slid the upper half over it.
“I brought food!” She wished that was the way he’d greet her every day. She might be a ballerina, but there was one thing Sophie learned she could never give up, and that was food.
Her eyes widened as she hurried out of the kitchen, her gaze set on the two pizza boxes in his hand. Jonathan laughed at her reaction, handing them to her, the paper bag that had been dangling from his hand almost knocking one of them down.
“Wine too?” She rose a brow.
“Of course wine too. Would you like to have some orange juice with it then?” he asked sarcastically.
“I’ll go get the glasses.”
Sophie was back in a matter of time and ready to sit around the coffee table and continue her series while munching on some pizza. But, just as she was about to sit, Jonathan shook his head and rose the boxes off the table.
“We’re eating on the balcony today. The weather is perfect,” he said, then looked around. “Not that you would know. Judging by the mess, I bet you stayed here all day.” Sophie suddenly felt the urge to wipe that grin off his face, but didn’t get the chance. He moved out of her way too soon, his feet already halfway to the balcony.
Jonathan had been right, the night was truly beautiful. It was warm, with a breeze that cooled the skin, the different fragrances of the night carried it. The sky was clear, but there were a few stars, most of them blinded by the brilliant lights of the city. From where she stood, she got a clear view of almost everything. She could see the Hunter hotel and its casino–one of the many across the city. She saw cars and people rushing into the themed buildings, eager to spend their money and taint their souls with the pleasant sins the city offered.
“I thought you’d like it.” Jonathan chuckled.
It wasn’t until then that Sophie noticed he’d pulled the table away and placed a blanket on the floor, the striped pattern bright against the black tiles. For a second, she stood there, her eyes scanning the ‘indoor picnic’ he’d pulled together with the flick of a wrist. The way he looked as he poured the wine, his face shades of focus.
“Thank you,” she whispered, as she took her glass, slowly lowering herself onto the blanket.
“I spoke to my mom today, I told her we’re planning an official wedding,” he blurted out right before taking his first bite.
“And, what did she say?”
“She was pissed. But then I told her how it might help us raise the stocks and all, and she went on full business mode and just agreed to it instantly.” Sophie didn’t know what to think of it. She felt bad for Jonathan, for having his mother’s full support only when what he was doing benefited their profits. She thought of it as selfish. But then again, what did she know about how the elite families worked.
“And, everyone else, do they like the idea too?” Jonathan only nodded.
“How about you, how are the rehearsals going?” Sophie was surprised by his question, but
quickly recovered.
“Tiring.” She laughed. “But it’s all good. The show is in two weeks, so it will all be worth it then.”
“Are you on the corps or the main lead?”
“Main lead. If there is one thing good about this ballet group it is that they don’t discriminate.
They choose people based on their talents.” Unlike LaRouge, she mentally added. “Then why don’t you stay there?” Sophie sighed and thought about it.
“My grandma. She was a ballerina too. Before she died, she mentioned how she would love to see me dance for them. I want to do it for her. I owe my entire dance career to her. It’s the least I can do.”
Jonathan nodded. She knew he was trying his best to understand, but he couldn’t. The entire ballet industry was so messed up. She knew it would be more fun to stay where she was. She’d created a name for herself there. But in her world, staying put was not the life she wanted. She wanted to evolve, even if it meant battling with the demons of the industry.
“Dance for me,” Jonathan blurted out, so fast, that Sophie almost missed it. “I only saw you dance once. I want to see it again.”
His eyes were glued to hers as he spoke, not even a trace of hesitation in his voice. She felt his request in her bones, a shiver running up and down her spine.
“Now?” she breathed out and he nodded.
“The first act of Gisselle. Can I be the first one who sees it?”
Sophie wasn’t sure her body would be able to follow her orders, not with the electrifying feeling that surged through her. Still, she nodded and stood up. Her phone in her hand, the music of the first act somewhere in a file she had created. Silently, as if under a spell, he followed her into the living room. Her pointe shoes were still near the couch, where she’d left them the day before.
The Married One Page 6
