In Reverse | Chapter 1: Prelude
The first time he saw her, she was stripping down her street clothes, shouting out to Layla at the back of the
audition room. Ken had gawked at her and she fell into an arch with her stomach to the ceiling, pleading for Layla's
attention. She was trying to prove her worth, but she was loud and obnoxious and there was no grace in her amateur
acrobatic movements as she kicked back and forth into stances. She was late to the audition, and Layla had said no.
So he didn't give her a second glance as he followed his star partner out of the room with the girl still shouting
out behind them. He waved it away as an event and didn't expect to see her, if ever again.
But she became a star. Or was she always a star, that no one had notice it's twinkle until now?
When was it that he had begun to appreciate the faint protrusion of her spine when her back arched
towards the cieling during a stage flip, or the tensing muscles of her legs as she coiled for a spring
the trampoline?
Her tricks were not better than his star partner. Layla's limbs memorized perfect angular positions and
lith movements.
But sometimes, he caught himself watching her when he didn't mean to from the dark corners of the rehersal
rooms after hours. He loved the blisters on her hands when she worked hard on the trapezee. When she fell,
often he felt a string in his insides pulling him to cushion her fall before the net could cradle her.
She was crude in her techiques, and she had no grace. There was a wicked crime in her numerous and blundering
attempts at the same maneuvers over and over again, but, there was also a wicked, wicked fire in her spirit
when she landed her acrobatic trick so perfectly
These were feelings of amusement and wild curiousity. She was an object of the most supreme interest to her.
He didn't know how else to describe it. Time spent around her went by pleasantly fast, and inevitably he would
have to leave before she would find him in his observant mission. So like a ghost, he would slip out from her
present on silent toes. And he would leave, full with thoughts and a restless spirit about how she could attract
him like that. One of these days he would have to find out.