Plié (Lost Birds Book 2)

Part 7 Disappointed.

I heard the soft click of my door but I didn't believe it. All of the maids knocked before coming into a room and my mother would usually yell for me. This morning was probably the first time she'd been in my room in years. I felt rather than heard someone come over to the side of the bed where I was laying. I stayed still and quiet, unsure what to do.

"Tori." I recognized the low rumble of Aydan's voice. I quickly wiped at my face to hide the evidence of my tears but kept the blanket over me as a second layer of protection.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. I used a whisper voice so that there was no chance of my mother hearing.

"You weren't answering my phone calls." Aydan said. He sounded close but I couldn't tell where exactly he stood.

"I didn't want my mother to hear me." I said.

"Your parents left ten minutes ago for some function." Aydan said.

I didn't know what to say to that. They pretty much always had functions so it wasn't a surprise that they were gone again already. I should have guessed they wouldn't be home for long. When I didn't reply to Aydan he reached over and shifted my blanket down so that he could see my face. He was kneeling next to me on the floor with one knee down and one knee up. His arm rested on the knee that was up and his chin rested on that as he looked down at me.

 I glanced at his chin instead of his eyes and focused on his black long sleeved shirt. I didn't want to risk looking up at him and having him see how awful I was feeling.

"What happened baby?" He asked.

I shook my head. The gentle tone he was using in combination with the endearment made a lump form in my throat. I swallowed hard and managed to clear some of it. It was enough to answer without my voice wobbling too obviously.

"Nothing." I whispered.

"It's not nothing if it made you feel like this." Aydan said carefully. "What did she do?"

"Nothing." I repeated a little more confidently.

"She didn't do anything. She just ranted." I shifted sitting up and grimaced at the pain it caused my shoulder.

Aydan's eyes flickered to my shoulder. He lifted his chin from his arm and reached out to touch the back of his fingers to the sensitive area.

"Ok..." He sighed. "I'm going to get you some ice and then we are going to talk about what she said to you."

Before I could think of a valid argument Aydan stood up and disappeared back through my door. As promised he returned with an ice pack. He helped me place it over the worst of the swelling.

"After Theo left what did she say?" Aydan asked.

"She was upset about a flower being in the bag. She wanted to know what it was about." I answered without really thinking. The ice was helping immensely and I didn't want to focus beyond the blissful cool relief.

"What did you say?" Aydan asked.

"That I didn't know and I don't. I said it could have been from Stephan and she went off on me about knowing that he'd called off the engagement." I said.

"I need to know what she said exactly baby." Aydan said adjusting the ice pack on my shoulder to give a new spot relief as well.

"She just said uhhm 'don't play stupid with me.' She asked if I really thought that they wouldn't find out about Stephan calling it off and she said she knew his reasons." I said.

"What reasons?" Aydan asked.

I gulped and looked away as I shook my head. Aydan reached out with his free hand and tilted my chin up so that I was looking at him again.

"What did she say?" He asked again.

"Nothing I haven't heard before." I said.

"I need to hear it. I need to know exactly what she said so that we can cross reference it to things Stephan has said and determine if she has actually been speaking to him." Aydan explained.

I turned my face away from his hand to look away again. I focused on the nightstand and forced myself to repeat what she had said.

"She said that I'd let myself go. I gained weight, I lost muscle, and I can't even do a simple combination without crying like a child. And she's right, I couldn't do it..." I said shaking my head.

"What else?" Aydan asked. His voice was quiet and patient but he wanted the truth. I swallowed again and took a deep breath.

"She said that I was worthless and it was obvious why Stephan didn't want me. No one would. And that not even Theo would bother to look twice at me if we weren't well off." I said.

Aydan sighed and reached out to me again. This time he tucked a lose strand behind my ear instead of forcing me to look at him.

"Baby, I know for certain that Theo is quite captivated by you. We all are and I assure you it has nothing to do with this." Aydan tapped on the floor to emphasize his meaning.

"Now as for the rest... You need to gain weight. It's not healthy for you to be this small and losing muscle will happen during the recovery phase. You will gain it back very quickly, I have no doubt." Aydan said. "I am very disappointed that you even tried to dance like this. You left the hospital two days ago and I thought that we had made it very clear that you have to rest. If you are not careful with this recovery then surgery will become certain instead of the potential it is now. That includes taking your medication and wearing the sling."

I gulped and nodded. Aydan tapped my chin. He wanted me to look at him but he didn't want to force me to do it. I raised my eyes to his.

"You're not worthless. Ballet does not define you. It's not who you are, it's just something you do." Aydan said.

"It's not just something." I sighed. "To her it's everything. It's the reason for my existence and if I can't do it anymore..." I shook my head. My eyes burned at just the thought of how she would react if I couldn't dance anymore.

There was a light tinkling sound that emitted from Aydan's wrist. He pressed a button on his watch, the noise stopped, and he looked back up at me. He sighed and rubbed at the stubble along his jaw. He shook his head.

"I want to talk about this more but I have a meeting. Are you going to stay home today?" He asked.

I nodded. I couldn't handle another day like yesterday on top of the pain in my shoulder and back.

"Do you want someone to stay with you?" Aydan asked.

I shook my head.

"Ok..." Aydan said. "It doesn't sound like your mother is in direct contact with Stephan but I'll have one of the guys stay outside again tonight just in case. If you need anything just call. One of us can be up here with in minutes."

I nodded.

Aydan shifted to get up. He paused, turned back, grabbed my chin, and pressed a kiss against my cheek. My eyes widened in surprise and the second he pulled back my fingers replaced his lips. My cheek was tingling pleasantly underneath my finger tips. 

"I'll see you tomorrow baby." He said. The corner of his mouth lifted and then he disappeared back through my door.