Chapter 4
A/N – feedback is appreciated! It looks like there are a lot of you reading, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks.
Mérante stormed through the halls of the ballet school, ignoring the ballerinas climbing over each other to get out of his way. In the months since he'd returned, he'd established his reputation as a demanding maître de ballet. The Russian method of drilling and repetition of basics had stuck with him, and he had been pushing his classes to their limits to bring out the best in them. It had not won him favor amongst the corps.
Today, however, he was desperate to get in a good workout. The morning had been spent arguing with Pepita and Vaucorbeil about his newest ballet. Neither was willing to take a risk on such an unproven ballet, but if that were the case, then why bring him back at all? He found an empty practice room and changed quickly, then took his time stretching in the dressing room. The last thing he needed was to injure himself on account of his temper. The administration of the ballet was something he thought he'd ease into, instead he'd been thrown into it full tilt, reinforcing his thought that Lucien was not long for this world.
He walked out to the practice room, set the metronome, and began to dance. This was what he was born to do, he thought, the long strides, the powerful leaps, fouetté, jeté, fouetté, jeté, until he was sweating and breathing hard. He looked up to find the blue-eyed maid watching him. As soon as she saw him, she gave a quick curtsey and turned to go.
"Wait!" he cried, wondering once again what it was about her that he found so intriguing. He longed for another glimpse of her eyes, which he'd felt had seen right through him the last time they'd met. She turned toward him, eyes down. 'Look up, look up,' he thought.
"I'm sorry, sir. I just wanted to watch you dance."
He was making her uncomfortable, he realized. "It's quite alright. I didn't realize anyone would be using the room," pointing to her bucket. 'Fool,' he thought, 'reminding her of her station. Find out who she is!' But before he could say anything else, she was gone.