Note: I want to apologize for the small spelling/grammatical errors made in previous chapters. Here is Chapter 7. Thank you for the reviews and support.
Chapter 7: The Pain and the Tension…
Nadine POV (Flashback)
I often remembered the first time I met Xavier. I was nineteen going on twenty and in my sophomore year of college while he was twenty two and was preparing to graduate. I met him through none other than Roxy one Thursday afternoon in the café. Roxy and I were having lunch and catching up when he came over to our table.
"Hey Roxy!" he said.
"Hey Xavier!" Roxy greeted him.
"Mind if I join you ladies?" he said.
"Not at all," Roxy said.
Xavier pulled up a chair and sat next to me.
"Hi, I'm Xavier," he said.
"Nadine," I said.
"Xavier and I had a biology class together last semester," Roxy said.
"Ah, okay," I said.
"What are you studying?" Xavier asked me.
"Dance," I said.
"Awesome, a dancer," he said.
At that point I remembered just listening to Roxy and Xavier talk and catch up. I said a few words here and there, but back then I wasn't huge on conversation that involved more than two people. Most of the conversation had to do with their nursing classes, the professors they hated, and certain points about anatomy and physiology, which they could have left out because I was the squeamish one. A couple times I snuck glances at him, while at the same time caught his glances at me. He was six foot, muscular, nice smile, articulate. He appeared well together and was attractive, I will give him that. But he was going to graduate, head onto medical school and move on with his life. Any sign of a chance was dead before it was even given. Or it seemed to me. I never thought of the whirlwind craziness that would ensue not long after meeting him.
Nadine POV (Present)
I woke up late Tuesday morning to see Michael still sleeping with his arm around my waist in my bed. He had been in Atlanta now for a little over a week, and at this point we weren't sleeping in separate rooms anymore. But we weren't sleeping together, at least not like that. It seemed like every night when he wanted to pamper me by cooking dinner or giving me a massage we would end up cuddling in bed or on the couch, which I was okay with that. It was better than crying every night alone. That and I was making sure I wouldn't make the same mistakes as I did with Xavier.
I lifted Michael's arm so I could get out of bed, but Michael kept it tighter around me. I smiled because I knew he wanted me to stay in bed a little while longer, but I had to go to work. My kids originally had their talent show in two weeks, but since they were being so perseverant and diligent, they convinced me to move it up a week. Plus, most of them were leaving for a class trip around the original date with the school. So I had to be at work, which was always a rewarding experience. I tried again to lift Michael's arm and his eyes opened. He was so sexy when first waking up.
"Good morning," I said.
"Hi," he said groggily.
"I have to go to work," I said, "Do you need anything?"
"Hmm," he said, "Just for you to stay a little longer."
I blushed. I both liked and hated when he would say things like that, especially when I had obligations such as work.
"I know you can't though," he then said, getting up to kiss me.
I went to take a shower and got dressed in the usual, purple v-neck and black pants, my hair in a ponytail. As I grabbed my dance bag and purse, I went and kissed Michael good-bye.
Michael POV
Nadine hadn't been gone for a good five minutes and I was missing her terribly. I was lying in bed, looking up at the ceiling. I realized that no one's called me while I've been gone, which was amazing. I got up from bed to take a shower, and while I was towel-drying my hair, my cell phone started ringing. Of course, I spoke too soon. But it was Janet, so it was okay.
"Hey Tink," I said.
"Hey how are you?" Janet asked.
"I'm good, how's everyone?" I asked.
"Everyone's fine," she said, "Mother asked about you. Told her you needed time off."
"Thanks," I said, "Tell her I miss and love her."
"I will," she said, "So…"
"So what?" I asked, being coy. I knew what was next.
"Nadine," she said.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"What's going on?" Janet asked.
"We're…you know, I don't know what we are," I said with a laugh.
"Just going with the flow?" she asked.
"Yeah," I said, "Nadine's warming up, slowly but surely."
"Where is she now?" Janet asked.
"She left for work about an hour ago," I said.
"You're waiting for her to come back," she said.
"I was," I said. That wasn't what I meant to say.
"Was?" Janet repeated.
"Yeah," I said, "I think I'm going to surprise her."
"You're such the romantic," Janet said, "One of the reasons I love you brother."
I chuckled.
"Okay, I'm going to get things situated," I said, "I'll talk to you later, Tink."
"Okay," she said, "I love you. Bye."
"I love you too," I said, "Bye."
I got dressed in a red t-shirt with a black long sleeved one over it, and black pants. Once my hair was dry in a ponytail it went, and covered it in a black fedora. I just wanted to be where Nadine was, which considering my celebrity it was a risk going out alone, so the aviators were in order. I locked the apartment and went all side streets where there were less people around, and in about twenty minutes I made it to Nadine's studio. Before going in I saw her doing some fine-tuning with one of her classes, and judging from what I saw, it was her beginning class. Then she gathered all of them, about ten students together, and talked to them, which appeared to be about the talent show. After five minutes, the kids grabbed their bags and walked out of the studio and down the sidewalk, keeping the beat in their step. I went in the studio and Nadine was stretching her legs, and upon seeing my reflection in the mirror, her eyes widened and turned around.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
I kissed her on the lips.
"I couldn't take being home without you," I said.
"Stop that," Nadine said, blushing.
"When's your next class?" I asked.
"In another thirty minutes," she said, "I have some down time until then. My advanced class is coming early today."
"Cool," I said, walking closer to her.
"Hey," she said, "You have to be good if you want to stay."
"But I'm always good," I said, biting my lip.
"Stop," she said.
We sat there in the studio enjoying each other's company for the time being when one by one, students started trickling in. At that point I thought Nadine would have me go into the back room to not be a distraction, but she didn't say anything. I sat off to the side in a chair and watched the advanced class.
"Miss Nadine?" one of her students asked.
"Yes Jacob?" Nadine answered.
"We have a new song for the talent show," he said, "Another song."
"Yeah?" she said.
"We've been practicing outside of class," Jacob said, "and thought maybe we could do 'Bad'?"
"Oh?" Nadine asked with a smile.
"Yeah, we were thinking of when you went to the concert," another student, a girl, said, "We know you like Michael."
Nadine looked at the girl with a smile and raised an eyebrow.
"Indeed I do," she said.
I started to smile and blush.
"So?" Jacob said, "Would you like to see it?"
"Yes I would," Nadine said.
Jacob handed her the CD and she went over to the sound system to play it. Nadine leaned against the mirror, her hands on her hips as they started dancing. Jacob was the little version of me in the number, and he captured most of my mannerisms. The class infused a bit of tap into the song, while maintaining what was in the short film. To be honest, I was quite impressed, and so was Nadine. When the song was over, there really wasn't much to say for criticism. These kids really did their homework.
"Well," Nadine said, "I'm sold."
The class jumped with joy and high-fived each other while Nadine smiled at them. I could tell those were the moments that made her most happy.
"Alright," Nadine said, "Let's go onto the other song we've worked on, and we can end rehearsal early."
The class went on as instructed. The next song had more swing and Roaring 20s vibe, which I admired. I nodded my head and tapped my foot to the beat as I saw the girls getting swung around and the boys snapping their fingers. Another few minutes and the class were swung out, beads of sweat falling from their faces.
"Well done," Nadine said, "Let's call it a day."
The kids started packing up, and Jacob walked up to Nadine with a piece of paper in his hand. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but Nadine nodded her head and took the paper from him. Jacob went on to pack his belongings and left with everyone else, and then it was just the two of us. Nadine packed her bag and walked toward me as I got up from my chair.
"How did you like your tribute?" Nadine asked.
"I loved it," I said, "and I learned something."
"What's that?" she asked.
"You have a crush on me," I said teasing her.
"Oh shut up," she said, blushing.
I offered to carry her dance bag and she went on to lock everything and turn off the lights before we left the studio. We walked back to the apartment and before I could offer to make dinner, Nadine crashed on the couch. Clearly my poor baby was exhausted. She turned around so that she was on her back, and I walked over to the couch and sat on the other side. I reached for her, and she came over to lie on my chest, just like the first night we met. I gently stroked strands of her hair with my fingers and kissed her forehead. She snuggled against my chest and held me tight, her leg around me. I held her tight and hummed to her as we both drifted off to sleep.
Nadine POV (Flashback)
It was getting late out in the courtyard on campus when Xavier and I decided to spend an evening getting to know each other. I was nervous and he did his best to make me feel comfortable around him. After a few laughs and talks about hobbies and aspirations, he began to get serious.
"Do you see yourself being with me?" Xavier asked.
"Yes," I said without thinking.
I was a late on a lot of the rites of passage that a girl was to go through. I didn't really date until college because of my mother being overprotective, and even in college I hadn't had much luck because the dancer's workload didn't leave room for romance. I had my first peck on the lips when I was sixteen, but Xavier was my first real kiss about two weeks after meeting him. It was funny, because it happened in my dorm with whom I shared with Roxy, while Roxy was doing a research paper. She never thought anything was going on. It lasted a good twenty minutes. Soon after, that was when a lot of the hurting started.
Nadine POV (Present)
I opened my eyes the next morning to find myself lying on top of Michael, my leg wrapped around him while his hand held onto my thigh. The soft strokes of his fingers on my thigh jolted me slightly, turning me on. I looked up to see his face, and he was awake, his expression was familiar. The same expression from when we were in the studio together, his downcast eyes looked at me with sensual hunger. It was getting to a point where we couldn't put it off any longer. We wanted each other and we both knew that, but the truth was I wasn't ready. Michael would just have to understand, it had to wait a little while longer…
