It's been a week since the club. I had only done rehearsals with Gleb and that was it. We still had a lot of fun in practice but I kept it strictly to that. There was no more inviting him out with me and the girls or hanging out with him outside of the dance studio. I hated that I had to do that but I didn't wanna be hurting anymore. On top of that, Natalie had been calling me every night to check up on me. I didn't tell her that Cole had hit me the night we went out to the club. I just told her that he was fine and I went straight to bed.
I woke up Monday morning and Cole was right next to me. He smiled. "It's the big day." he said.
I smiled a little. "I know." I said. "I hope you don't mind but I have to be at the ballroom all day."
"I don't mind." he said. "Your performances are important. It gets your name out there and more people will want you in their movies and if I'm lucky, they'll realize that you're my fiance and I'll get some more movies to direct." I nodded. Of course he made this about himself. "Listen, I'm sorry about last week. You know, I didn't mean to hurt you, right? I love you."
"I love you too." I said. He didn't mean it though. Nine times out of ten he always came back and apologized for hurting me and told me he loved me. It was his way of manipulating me into thinking that he was a good guy on the inside and it would keep me with him. "I'm gonna go shower and then head over to the ballroom."
"Okay. I'll be watching." he said. He wasn't letting me know that he was supporting me. He was letting me know that he would be watching to make sure I didn't say or do anything that he didn't want me doing or saying. I nodded and then disappeared into the bathroom. I turned on the shower and then slipped out of my pajamas before stepping into the shower. I let the hot water run over my body. I wanted the bad luck washed away and the good luck let in. It was going to be a long day but it was going to be a day away from Cole and I was going to enjoy it. I was gonna cherish it. I could only hope that it would last forever, even though I knew it wouldn't.
********
I pulled in to the parking lot and parked the car before turning it off. I know what you're probably thinking. I have a car. Why don't I just leave Cole with it? And the answer to that question would be this. Even if I took the car and left, Cole would know where I went. He put a GPS tracker in my car months ago so he knew everywhere that I took it. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it's probably the reason why he was completely okay with me doing Dancing With The Stars now. He could see that I was always at the studio for however many hours I was scheduled to be there and then I was home.
I got out of the car and walked by all the trailers before finding Gleb's. He told me we had to get ready in the trailer he had. It was like a dressing room. As soon as I found it, I knocked on the door and waited. I had no idea if he was in there changing or if he was even in there at all but I was about to find out. The door opened and Gleb smiled at me. "Hey." he said. "Come on in." I stepped up into the trailer and then shut the door before I looked around. "It's not that nice." he said.
"It's incredible." I replied before sitting down next to him. "So, I'm kind of nervous for tonight."
He grabbed my hand in his and looked at me. "You're gonna do great." he said comfortingly. "We've rehearsed and rehearsed and you're ready. I promise." He let go of my hand and then sat back. "I do have one rule though." I looked at him. "Do not watch the packages."
"Why?" I asked.
"Sometimes it can just take you out of your confidence. And sometimes when it's an emotional one, it can cloud everything else in your mind. You wanna do well in the competition and you can't do that if you lose all concentration. So, no watching the packages. You can watch them after." he said.