SWNOVELS The Alpha’s Pen Pal: Chapter 13
11.5 YEARS LATER
“Let’s run through that last section one last time, Haven,” Peter called to me from the middle of the darkened theater. “I really want you to imagine you’re floating on those sissones. Remember, you’re a fairy.”
I nodded to him as I turned away from the theater seats and grabbed my towel from the stage floor to dab at the sweat on my face.
Rehearsal had been grueling. Peter was picking apart every step and transition of my interpretation of the Lilac Fairy.
Not that I minded. He was a genius when it came down to the nitty-gritty details of nailing Nureyev’s choreography. Even in the short months I had been with this new company, I had already seen an improvement in my technique and performance quality.
But damn, were my feet feeling it. I would need an extra long Epsom salt soak over the weekend. Thankfully, it was my last rehearsal for the week, aside from the optional barre class on Saturday morning. Well, optional for everyone except me. And only not optional for me because I never let myself miss an optional class.
I moved back to upstage left and readied myself, then nodded at our pianist. Another perk of this new, smaller company—a pianist even at my solo rehearsals.
The music swelled, and I took a deep breath through my nose before beginning the sequence of steps that created the last phrase of the piece.
Sissone, sissone, passé relevé, double pirouette.
I focused on Peter’s notes, working to keep my arms light and breezy as I did the sequence again, imagining I had lilac wings coming from my back.
I repeated the sequence for the third pass and snuck a peek at my director in the house to gauge his reaction.
His approval was easier to guess than Miss Rebekah’s had been when I was at her studio, although still difficult. But his lip tugged up and I saw him nod his head as I executed my two front attitudes into the assemblé turn. I grinned in triumph as I came down to my knee out of the final double pirouette of the piece.
The theater was silent as I stayed in my final pose for a beat, imagining the house filling with applause. I rose from my kneeling position and executed my curtsy, then glanced at Peter.
“I’ll see you on Monday,” he said.
I smiled again and walked to my bag and my water bottle. That was basically him saying, “Good job.”
“You mean tomorrow?” I called to him as I plopped to the floor to unlace my pointe shoes.
“Miss Wainwright, how many times have I had to tell you? You should take at least one Saturday morning off every once in a while. You’re going to overwork yourself if you don’t.”
I bristled at the use of my surname, but said nothing. They were billing me as Kenway in the programs, so I needed to let it go when someone used my adopted last name.
I just shook my head at him and slipped my shoes into my bag, taking a sip of water before saying, “See you in the morning, Peter!”
I pranced down the stage door stairs and outside, the brisk early autumn air chilling my sticky, sweaty, and slightly heated skin.
I enjoyed it, though, since soon enough, it would be much colder in the evenings. Although, I doubted it would be as cold here as it had been when I lived in Denver and Salt Lake City. My roommate, Maya, said it got chilly in the winter, but I would be the judge of what these Californians considered “chilly.”
My walk to our apartment was peaceful. I enjoyed the rays of the sun as it journeyed out of sight behind the rise of the surrounding mountains. It was still an hour or so before sunset, but the sky in the east already twinkled with a few stars. The time just before sunset was my second favorite time of day, and I closed my eyes and breathed in for a moment before heading inside our building.
“Maya! I’m home!” I called out, mimicking Ricky Ricardo as I walked through the front door.
“Oooh, just in time too!” Maya squealed as she rounded the corner to the entryway.
Her dark, coiled hair bounced as she bounded up to me, a smile lighting up her brown eyes.
I tried not to cringe at her enthusiasm. “Just in time for what?” I managed to squeak out.
“To shower so we can make it to my birthday party!”
I blinked, looked at her cute outfit of black jeans, an orange crop top, and a denim jacket, and then winced. I had forgotten it was Maya and her twin brother Levi’s birthday party today.
“You forgot,” she said, dropping her hands to her sides. “Why am I not surprised?” she sighed in exasperation.
She gripped my shoulders and marched me in the direction of our shared bathroom. “You get in there and shower that ballerina sweat off of you. I’ll worry about your outfit.”
“But—”
“No buts, Havie! I swear, you live with your head in the fucking clouds half the time…”
She continued muttering under her breath as she slammed the door shut behind her. I wasted no time starting the shower and jumping in before it was even warm. I did not want to be on the receiving end of Maya Russo’s temper today.
Before I knew it, the two of us sat in the front seats of her old Jeep Cherokee, my damp, curly hair drying in the breeze from the cracked window as Maya drove. Maya had the music blasting as she wound up the roads higher into the mountains.
I stole a glance at her as she bobbed her head along to the song, and I couldn’t help but smile at her energy. She seemed to have an endless amount of it, and the long, grueling hours spent working on costumes for the company never seemed to diminish that spark.
I didn’t understand where all that energy came from, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous. I imagined all the extra training, stretching, and practice I’d be able to do if I had the same amount of energy as she did—I’d become a principal in no time.
As it was, though, I had already seen a positive change in myself since moving here. I didn’t know if it was the weather, the elevation, the endless redwood trees, or something else entirely, but I wouldn’t deny that moving to California had been the best decision for both my career and my mental health.
Maya’s car turned right and bounced down a gravel road, and I perked up. I had lived with her for several months, but I had yet to see the small town where she had grown up, although she spoke of it often and with fondness.
I gaped in shock as we rounded the bend, and the town came into view. It was cozy and homey, and yet also fancy at the same time. In the middle of the various sized homes and shops was an expansive mansion designed to resemble an incredibly large log cabin. It backed up to an enormous lake surrounded by redwoods.
It was all breathtaking and natural, and I felt instantly at home.
“Who lives here?” I asked as we drove to the parking lot in front of the large house.
“The mayor,” she said as she glanced around for a place to park. “Well, him and his family. The wife and the youngest two, at least. His oldest son moved out a few years ago when he graduated from college. And they actually only live on the very top floor. The rest of it is… a clubhouse.”
“Like a country club?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she muttered as she parked. “Follow me, and don’t forget your jacket,” she added as she hopped out of the car.
I swallowed down my tension and did as I was told, even though being ordered around grated on my nerves. I grabbed my black leather jacket and tucked it over my crossed arms as I followed her through the parking lot at the clubhouse and down a path blocked by a small garden gate.
As soon as we reached the lawn behind the house, the noises from the party greeted us. I gave a nervous smile at a few people who glanced my way, although none of them said anything to me. Most of them just stared for a second and then turned back to their conversations.
“Levi!” Maya squealed, and she threw herself at a tall, dark-skinned male.
He laughed and hugged her back, the curls in his hair bouncing just as Maya’s did. I knew right away he was her brother, even without her shouting his name. They didn’t look exactly alike, but the resemblance was in the shape of their eyes and their height and long legs.
“You must be Haven,” he said in a deep voice as he let Maya go and walked up to me with his hand outstretched.
I shook it, and he cocked his head at me as he looked down at me, studying me.
“That I am,” I replied, trying not to blush under his gaze.
I couldn’t help but notice how I didn’t quite fit in with most of the young women in attendance at this party. While I wasn’t short—five-foot-five—most of the females here had to be five-foot-eight, minimum. They were all almost flawlessly beautiful, with perfectly sized curves on top and bottom, while I was flat as a board, and my bright red hair stood out like a flame amongst the brunettes and blondes around me.
I hid my obvious discomfort as I made my way to the buffet table, weighed down by deep pit pork, rice pilaf, green beans with bacon, salad, and dinner rolls. There was enough food to feed a small army, but one glance around at the tall females and muscular men was enough to understand why there was this much food.
“Hey!”
I glanced to my right as I finished grabbing my plastic fork and spoon and met the blue eyes of a young teenaged girl.
“Hi,” I managed with a smile.
“Do I know you?” she asked, cocking her head to the side like Levi had done.
“I don’t think so?” I answered, shaking my head. “I just moved here a few months ago. I’m in the ballet company just down the mountain and—”
“Oh!” she said in realization. “You’re hu… who Maya said she was inviting tonight!”
“Yes, that’s me!” I said with an awkward laugh.
“Maddie!” Maya yelled. “Go bother someone else!”
“But—”
“No buts! You’re not even supposed to be here, and you know your dad would not be happy if I told him you snuck out.”
Maddie paled and scampered off in the direction of the neighboring houses. “She wasn’t bothering me,” I chuckled.
“I know, but she really will get in trouble. Or rather, I would get in trouble.”
I scrunched up my face at her words. I didn’t understand why Maya would get in trouble with Maddie’s dad, but she cut my musings short when she looped her arm through mine and led me to the table she had grabbed seats at.
She quickly introduced me to all her friends from here, and I just as quickly forgot all of their names. Nothing against them. I just didn’t make a habit of remembering people unless I’d met them five times or more.
The sun had set by the time I finished eating, and after I’d cleared away my trash, I threw my jacket on and made my way to the shore of the lake.
Even with the dull roar of the party, the area near the lake was peaceful and comforting. The nearly full moon reflected in the crystal clear, calm waters of the lake. The water was so still it was hard to tell for sure which was the real sky.
I turned my face up towards the moon, soaking in its light and breathing in the mountain air. It was like Colorado in many ways, yet somehow even more familiar than that place had ever felt. And definitely more than Utah—that place had never really felt like home.
The shuffle of footsteps on the pebbles behind me caught my ear, and the clearing of a throat made me turn around.
My heart leapt into my mouth. Not just from the noise and the sudden interruption of my quiet time but also at the brown eyes staring back at me. Brown eyes that were familiar and yet not, because the boy behind them was no longer a boy, but a man. And oh man, was he a man.
A very tall, very strong, very handsome man. With a short, trimmed beard, broad shoulders, and a piercing gaze that cut through my self-imposed shield.
I shook my head. It couldn’t be him. There was no way it was him.
But his eyes—those eyes I could never forget—went wide with a shock that matched what I felt in my soul. He opened his mouth and breathed out just one word, his voice a deep husk that made my knees weak and turned my insides into fondue.
“Haven?”