Tale of Two Hearts

Chapter Eight

Sophia stretched her leg out onto the barre, bending while holding her foot. She looked at her left hand, staring at the ring twinkling back. The last week had been a mess of affairs. Leaving Italy, seeing her dad in passing, meeting Seto Kaiba, getting a job as a dance teacher. Just unbelievable really.
"I have to focus!" She told herself. She looked at herself in the mirror that ran the entirety of the dance studio. She wore a simple long sleeved black leotard with a pair of white tights and black pumps. Her blonde hair was in an elegant bun, a few fly away strands at her nape and her face. Breathing out, she heard a cough from the door. Turning, she saw a tall man. He was six foot two, with a head of pale blond hair and piercing blue eyes. His face and features were sculpted as if a Grecian sculptor had created him. He wore a pair of grey sweatpants and a simple black v neck top. He had a black leather biker jacket thrown over his shoulder, and a smile that would melt even the stoniest of old women. Sophia gulped down air.
"Hello. I am Nikolai." He spoke with a thick Russian accent.
"Hello..." Sophia stood, waiting for him to say something to her, but he just smiled that perfect, dimpled smile.
"Can I help you?" She asked awkwardly.
"Indeed. I am a scout for a local ballet. I heard a new dance teacher was starting, and we need dancers for our troupe. I have come to see whether you would make the cut." He smiled in that cocky smile that just screamed I GRADUATED FROM JUILLIARD. Sophia frowned. She'd come across these asshats before.
"What a wonderful offer. I only teach, I do not wish to perform. Thank you." And with that, she went back to stretching.
"Would you mind if I sat in on your class, at least?" Goddamn asshole.
"As a matter of fact, yes, I would. This is the first time meeting my class and I'm unsure how  they would react to a near stranger sitting in on their-" Sophia was cut short by a trio of screams from behind the stranger.
"OH MY GOD!"
"IS THAT-?"
"IT IS!"
"NIKOLAI DIBROVOSKI!"
So this asshole was a successful asshole, and what seemed to be the entirety of her class (more girls filtered in behind the others) had filtered in, cooing and whispering.
"Hello young ladies! I was just about to ask if I could watch your practice, but I don't think your new teacher approves!"
At least ten sets of eyes now stared at her. "Please Miss! We love him!" A small voice from the back piped up, to which the Russian winked and blew a kiss. Squeals erupted from the class again. Sophia rolled her eyes behind shit lids. "Sit in that chair in the corner. And if I have a single complaint from a parent, I'm coming for you." Sophia narrowed her eyes at him.

"And that girls, is how to execute a pique turn! Well done everyone! I'll see you all tomorrow!" She waved as her students relaxed and all hustled towards Nikolai, giving Sophia what looked to be the best window of opportunity to leave.
"Miss Giovanni! Wait!" He called over the heads of the girls. He was half way through signing autographs for them all. Then, Sophia's phone went off. It was her father.
"Hey Dad! How are you?"
"Darling! I'm fine! And yourself?"
"Im okay, no need to worry."
"Oh. But there is! Kaiba-boy has been in touch and explained the situation! My beautiful daughter, hiding under a false name and engagement! It makes me sick!" Her father sounded enraged, not the slightest bit humoured by the situation they currently found themselves in.
"Dad it's okay. I'm happy!" She lied. Silence from his end of the phone.
"Don't let him too close. I've heard about his escapades. The latest the heiress to the Hampshire hotels, poor girl went on a rampage."
"What do you mean..." Sophia sounded confused. Seto Kaiba with Melanie Hampshire?  That was the last two people she'd have paired together. But still... she remembered the drunken vandalism, the keyed limousine...
"Of course! She set a car she thought was his ablaze ! It only belonged to Michael Jordan! Nearly identical cars, but the silly bint forgot to check the license plate! It was a huge scandal, simply delicious!"
"No!"
"Yes! She's crazy! Be careful. Anyway, your loving fiancé is coming to pick you up."
"Wait.. what."
"He told me on the phone five minutes ago. He was pulling up to your place of work, that's why  he hung up."
"Oh my god! ITS SETO KAIBA!" Sophia heard from behind her.
"Sounds like wonder boy has already came to the rescue." Her father laughed. "Ciao darling!" And he hung up the phone. Turning on her heel, she melted a little. There he was, in a pair of black trousers that sat at his hips perfectly, a still crisp white shirt covering his torso. He had his matching suit blazer folded over his arm, as if it cost nothing.
"Sophia, I've come to pick you up." He said, nodding at the gaggle of girls gathering around him, looking particularly uncomfortable.
"My my, the Seto Kaiba? Good to see you my friend." Nikolai looked him up and down. Nikolai was a couple of inches shorter than Seto, and his shoulders were less broad. He clapped his hand to Seto's, smiling. "Ah you do not remember me, no?"
"No, can't say I do!"
"You dated my sister a few years back." His perfect dimpled smile faltered and annoyance flashed across his face
"Sorry I don't recall."
"Natalia? Natalia Dibrovoski?"
"Ah. Natalia. Yeah, I took her to a couple of charity balls. Nice girl. I don't recall meeting you though. But I see you've met my fiancée, Sophia Giovanni?" Seto put his hand on the small of her back, moving her hand just enough for the rock on her left hand to deflect the light into Nikolai's face. His eyes narrowed.
"Fiancée, you say? Well I was just about to ask her whether she would like to come to a practice. We are looking for a woman to replace Marnie, she's recently fell pregnant, and I don't believe she'd be returning afterwards." He rolled his eyes. Even though he looked much like a young Leonardo DiCaprio, Sophia hated his shallowness. It was so easily read on his face, it made her sick.
"I'll have to politely decline, Mr Dibrovoski. I can little afford to take time off from a new teaching position. I enjoyed today's session, despite the circumstances." Sophia gave him The Face, the slight sneer of disgust she'd give when she was very displeased. He reached into his pocket and handed her a card. "If you change your mind, call this number. I bid you good day." He smiled, waving as he walked out. When the door to the studio closed, Sophia looked up at her 'fiancé'. "What a rude, arrogant meat head!" Sophia growled through gritted teeth. Seto laughed, a real hearty laugh, and he put his hand on her shoulder. "Cmon, before paparazzi surround us."

As they slid into the sleek silver BMW convertible, she saw a paper on the back seat. Pulling it into her lap, the front page read: WHO IS SETO KAIBAS SECRET MISTRESS? There was a picture of them, sat in the back of the car together at the airport laughing, looking a little disheveled. She read out load to Kaiba: "who is the mysterious blond bombshell seen arriving in Japan with young billionaire Seto Kaiba? Japan's most eligible bachelor suffered a messy break up with the Hampshire heiress last year, resulting in her accidentally trashing Michael Jordan's Porsche, thinking it was her handsome ex boyfriends own luxury sports car. She enjoyed a stint in prison, Michael Jordan not willing to press charges as she seemed dangerous and unstable at the time.
Seto Kaiba has been seen with many women in recent years after he took over his step fathers company and reformed it. The once-dual monsters champion has been seen with the likes of Karlie Kloss and May Yigogo, and had even taken the entire women's Russian ballet troupe away on a cruise ship for a weekend in the Bahamas, leading. An extravagant playboy lifestyle. Can the as yet unnamed young lady be the beauty to tame the beast in Seto Kaiba's wild heart?" She put the paper down, and looked at him. His mouth tweaked at the side.
"Go ahead. Condemn me for my so called 'playboy lifestyle'." He snickered, not taking his eyes off the road.
"I'm more worried about this beast I'll need to tame." She burst out laughing, to which Kaiba did too. Wiping a small tear from her eye, she laughed.
"What about when they find out who I am? And that we're engaged?" She giggled.
"I have a press conference tonight. If it's anything like the last time I was seen with a woman, they'll be asking me about it there. I'll inform them we got engaged and we've been hiding our relationship for the last six months?"
"Mmmm six months sounds about right. How did we met?"
"On holiday in Italy. I saw you at the beach, fell in love instantly. You were stubborn, the usual boy meets girl story, one the press will think is sweet." he said, driving with one hand and rest his head on two fingers at another.
"How are you so cool about this? And collected? In fact, how is your story so solid?" She looked at him with a frown on her face.
"My personal assistant, Marcia, is very good with these sorts of things. She is my eighth one so far this calendar year."
"EIGHTH?"
"Yes. I had all but decided to do the filing myself, but Marcia's wife works in our hardware and robotics laboratories, and knew how much I hate working with female assistants." He finished.
Her frown deepened. "What do you mean?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"God, nothing against women! It's just I don't like being in close proximity to people normally, and many women, such as the last three I hired, decided they wanted to do a little more than work for me... if you catch my drift?"
"Oh lord! That's disgusting."
"I swear to you now Sophia. On my life. Some of the things they did and said were completely vulgar. I just wanted someone to file my paperwork, make appointments, take phone calls and bring me coffee sometimes. But women like those, most women in the administrative industry that work close to CEOs, are normally after one thing and one thing only."
"And Marcia..?"
"Is gay, and very happy. You'll meet them both soon, actually."
"Why?"
"Because they know of our situation. Marcia is around me all the time, of course she'll need to know. Plus, you need to come to this press conference with me, it would look bad if you didn't." he said in final tone.  
"But... I'm wearing a leotard."