CREATURE

・chapter 41・

Over the next few days, Roman would come to find out that there was only so much sweat, little sleep, and rigid training could keep out of his thoughts. The training, in all fairness, had been sufficiently brutal, and whatever he'd been lacking in motivation before Christmas, he'd quickly replenished with the desperate need to distract himself from Asya Radzevich.

No, it wasn't the work that was the problem. It was his incessant habit of repeatedly and deliberately seeking out the source of his frustration to see how much of her presence he could tolerate until he felt like he was holding back a flash flood that threatened to drown out every shred of common sense he possessed.

Nevertheless, he was hellbent on keeping his work schedule as busy as possible. Mornings began in the gym, with strength and endurance training, then company class at ten, lunch, and long coaching sessions in the afternoon. That left the evenings, during which he set out to recover as much as possible before waking up and having to do it all over again. Questionably, however, this portion of the day also involved listening for a knock on the door that told him she was joining him for dinner.

That little arrangement had started with him seeking her out the day they'd gone for a walk, promising that he'd make her the best salmon and potato combination she'd ever tried in her life. She'd taken him up on the offer, although reluctantly, and spent the rest of the evening in his kitchen asking about everything from where he learned how to cook to why he bothered doing it himself.

The next night it had taken nothing but a text to get her up there, and the night after that she turned up of her own accord. He was just happy she ate, was how he sold it to himself. But subconsciously, he figured that all the nights she spent on his couch were nights she wasn't spending with anyone else. Not that it mattered if she did, but it was nice that she didn't.

Like any other day in the foreseeable future, the last day of December had started in the gym. He was clocking a heavy strength training session while she had physical therapy, determined to move some serious weight before the day's technique training kicked off. Since the positive verdict she'd received from the physio a few days prior, her schedule was now also packed with an aggressive rehabilitation program consisting of two rehab slots per day and pilates in the afternoons. On that particular day, she was waiting for the go-ahead to ease back into company class. He knew the waiting game had been killing her, but as with any injury, rushing it just wasn't worth it. Not at the risk of a bigger injury. 

He finished up his last set on the bench, lifting the bar over the catch before dropping back down onto his back while he caught his breath. It was hard, trying to rebuild a body he wasn't sure he'd ever have again. He had a month to reconstruct as much of his technique as possible, recalibrate what he'd previously had years to refine, and trust that it was possible at all. It was a cruel sport, he thought, and an even crueler profession.

He pressed his palms over his eyes, hoping it smothered the dark stars skirting on the edges of his vision. At least now he had something to distract himself from, he figured, and for the time being, his strategy of stuffing his schedule seemed to be working. He hadn't done anything more than observe since they'd been back, and he was holding out hope they'd become good friends. 

He sat up, unwrapped his wrists, and changed shirts before going to wait for her outside the physio's office, checking his phone to pass the time. Bastian had been on his back for one of three things over the past week, but chief among them was certainly the guest artist he needed to fill in for a performance of the Nutcracker that evening. Originally, James had been scheduled for the role of the Sugarplum Cavalier, or at least, that was until he abruptly announced he was taking leave until the New Year.

Roman might have been relatively new to the Opera House, but it didn't take him long to connect Katherine's recent engagement announcement to James' sudden leave of absence. It wasn't uncommon, principal couples who have relationships on and off-stage, and sometimes there was infidelity involved and sometimes there wasn't. All he knew for sure was that James must have drawn the short end of Katherine Garland's stick this time around.