Dimitris

September 15, Part 2

The Kiss of Death

Watching that maneuver brought me conflicting emotions: fear mixed with awe.

She had come here.

I usually felt blind when performing. But during one maneuver, I recognized her face in front of the audience. She was standing, gripping the safety barrier with both hands, her eyes locked on me.

I had to take a deep breath and force myself to stay focused, or I’d end up skidding. Even so, I did the rest of my performance thinking about the fact that she was there.

Aris had come to the arena...

When I finished, I took off my helmet and let her see that I had noticed her. The way she looked at me, just like how I couldn’t take my eyes off her, was indescribable.

As usual, after stepping off to make way for the next competitor, I was stopped at the betting table, with the organizers giving me the numbers and values in play. I didn’t need to pay much attention to know that most of the bettors had placed their money on my victory.

Once I managed to escape from them, I went to the spot where I had seen Aris. On the way, I was stopped a few more times by enthusiastic fans.

Luckily, I had never made any effort to be friendly with anyone, so none of them were surprised when I didn’t give them any attention, bypassing them and heading straight to the barrier, only to find that Aris was no longer there.

I walked a few more steps, looking for her. I breathed a sigh of relief when I finally spotted her. She was near the entrance, with her back against the wall, writing something in a notebook.

I went up to her, and she immediately saw me, putting away the notebook and pen.

“I thought places like this weren’t... what’s the word? Your scene?” I said, in the most casual tone I could manage.

Although I was sure I couldn’t hide my surprise at her being there.

“They’re not. But I decided to come by and see your work in person.”

“And what did you think?”

“Crazy? Insane? Suicidal?”

“That wasn’t what you seemed to think, judging by the way you were looking at me.”

A half-smile appeared on her face.

“It’s also, in a way, beautiful. And... mesmerizing.”

“The beauty comes from the risk itself.”

“Don’t you ever feel afraid?”

“It takes much more to scare me. But tell me...”

“It must be almost midnight. Isn’t this a bit late for a good girl to be up?”

“I’m actually heading to the dance school.”

"Odília Magalos has been opening classes at strange times."
"Actually, I’m going to rehearse. She gave me access to the space for the... championship rehearsals."
"So, you signed up?"
"Let’s say it wasn’t exactly a choice. Well... But that’s it. I really just stopped by here. I need to go and start rehearsing."

She took a step back, already preparing to turn and leave. However, I stopped her.

"Wait."

She blinked a few times, confused by that. And I couldn’t blame her because I didn’t quite understand the stupid thoughts that had crossed my mind either.

So it took me a few moments to reveal them:

"I have about three hours until the next round. I can accompany you."

"Did you understand the part where I said I’m going to rehearse dance?"

"Yes, I understood."

"That wasn’t a code for anything else, just to be clear."

Her face turned red and I almost laughed, finding her even more beautiful.

I would love for it to be a code and that accompanying her to a dance rehearsal had a more intimate and intense meaning. But at the same time, I knew that with her, nothing would happen. Not for lack of interest on my part. But if that was the case, why the hell did I have that idea to accompany her?

"I said I would rehearse with you if you came to the arena, didn’t I?"

"And I remember saying that I didn’t think you had any dance skills."

"I don’t. But I can help you in another way. Or just watch the rehearsal."

She seemed to reflect for a few moments, and I thought that if she were the sensible girl I thought she was, she wouldn’t agree to that.

However, she had already surprised me when she went to the arena. Why couldn’t she do that again?

And that’s exactly what she did, nodding her head in agreement.

"I’ll get my motorcycle" I announced.

But she promptly disagreed.

"No. I’ll call an UBER."

She quickly grabbed her phone, showing me that a disagreement on my part would not be an option.

Alright. We would do it her way.

***


After opening the door, she turned on the lights in the room. On the way there, she had told me that her decision to participate in the championship was due to pressure from Odília Magalos, who, in turn, had been pressured by the students' parents for hiring a teacher without qualifications. A participation in a national-level university competition might help alleviate that.
She guided me to the room where she used to teach my sister and connected her phone to the speaker via Bluetooth. I took a cigarette out of my jacket pocket and was about to light it when she warned me.
"Hey!" she pointed to a sign on the wall that said smoking was prohibited there.
"There’s no one here."
"Well, I’m not exactly no one."
"For a few minutes, you fooled me into thinking you’d become a bit less of a goody-goody."
I put the cigarette away, and Aris smiled before announcing, "This might be a bit boring for you."
"The fact that I can’t smoke? Definitely."
"No. I’m talking about watching me dance."
"Maybe I’ll be surprised, like you were surprised by what I did."
"It’s not even close. I’ll be repeating the same choreography and the same song to exhaustion."
"Maybe what you mean is that I might embarrass you by just being here watching."
"No. A dancer can’t be embarrassed by being watched while dancing. At least not a professional."
"And now you have to be a professional."
"Exactly."
She handed me her phone, already with a song selected, and then moved away, turning her back to me.
"There are other things that have always embarrassed me more. But a certain delinquent told me that the marks on my body are a part of my life story."
She unzipped her jacket and turned to face me. It was impossible not to let my eyes wander over her toned body in the tight tank top she was wearing. However, along with the desire that surged in me at the sight of the curve of her breasts in that low-cut top, something else caught my attention.
She was right: it was impossible not to notice the scar that ran up the middle of her breasts, ending just below the start of her neck.

"I know, it's not exactly pretty," she said, noticing my gaze.
"Well... I disagree about that."
It was obvious that I was referring to the beauty of her body itself, which wasn’t the focus of what she meant.
So, I was also honest. After all, I wasn’t the kind of guy who tried to please anyone.
"I didn’t realize it was that big. It must have been a complicated surgery," I said.
"It was. Cardiac."
"But I know there are less invasive techniques nowadays."
"Yes, but not for all cases."
She stretched her leg, placing it on a bar attached to the wall, starting a series of stretches. As she did, she continued speaking:
"The truth is, if it weren’t for that surgery, I would have died in childhood. It saved me, but it came at a price."
"What do you mean?"
"I gained a reprieve, which is constantly hanging by a thread. I have a higher chance of developing heart disease or even a tumor. That’s why I need to have such a strict diet, and... that’s why, despite loving to dance, I didn’t want to enter competitions."
"But you put in physical effort every day during classes."
"It’s different. Competition training will demand more from me. More effort, more intensity... faster heart rates without any control. Not to mention the lost hours of sleep for night training, which I often can’t make up. I might not always get proper meals either. All of this can harm me, both in the long term, gradually deteriorating my health, or even immediately."
"You don’t mean that you could have a heart attack or cardiac arrest suddenly, do you?"
"I’m not just saying that. I’m not even claiming that. But can it happen? Yes, it can."
"So why did you agree to this?"
"Tell me, delinquent... why do you take risks every day?"
"It’s different. I have nothing to lose."
"...You’re right. It’s different. Maybe the opposite."
"How so?"
"If I put myself at risk, I know I have a lot to lose. But I also know I have something to gain. Something that not even all the money in the world could buy."
Finishing the stretches, she faced me, a few meters away, with her legs apart. Then, she took a deep breath. "Could you hit play, please?"