Chapter 27

JAKE

I feel Layla's hand on my leg and she pulls the pants as gently as possible over my ankle. She does a perfect job but then I see the concern increasing on her face. It is clear that she is afraid she is hurting me but I think she will hurt me more if she leaves me alone right now.

Then she asks me if the personal trainer should do it and without thinking I almost shout the words no. I am afraid that she might leave me and now, I have to recover from the idiotic way that I said it.

"I am sorry, I did not mean to scream. I just meant to say you are doing a great job. Just please continue?"

I hope that my words were enough for her and then I see her give me a slight smile. I watch her continue and I feel the care in her touch. She then takes the new pants and puts them over my ankle. She does it perfectly but then I feel the tremor in her hands.

I bend down and make sure that she looks into my eyes.

"Thank you, you did well. I did not feel a thing"

I see her blushing again and then she continues to help me with my pants.

"Can you stand for me?"

I stand up and by accident, I step on my foot that is hurt.

"Ahh!"

"Oh god, I am so sorry!"

I can not help but laugh through the pain just a little. I turn to her and say.

"Do not worry, it was not you. I stepped on my foot and I should not have"

LAYLA

It feels like I am making mistakes left and right. I try to do everything as gently and caringly as possible. I really do not enjoy him getting hurt and I am sure the crowd does not either. But when he says that it is not my fault, I somehow I do not believe him.

He is so gentle and caring. He deserves the best. I realized that I would not be able to be that for him because there will be someone out there that is better than me. I just smile at him and help him fix his clothes.

Then I touch up his makeup and I check his hair. I know that he must be out on stage any second now and I see him staring at the stage. He must be worried about how he is going to do his songs. I really want to say something to him but I am afraid that I might lose my job.

JAKE

Suddenly, something strange happens. The pain in my ankle is starting to leave me. I have no idea how this is happening but it almost feels like I can stand on it again. I stare out on the stage and I realized that maybe I can continue without any pain.

Then I see Layla just hovering around me and it seems like she wants to ask me something. I know that I should be on stage in a few seconds but I know I have the time of the world for her.

"Is there something you want to ask?"

She stops dead in her tracks and then she looks at me with that beautiful blue eyes. Her black hair falls perfectly over her shoulders and then those velvety lips speak.

"I do not want to ask anything but my I say something?"

It saddens me that she is asking me if she can say something. As if I am a king that you must ask permission to say something to. I wish she did not feel like that.

"Please, Layla. You may speak your mind"

"I just wanted to say, well...I hope that you do not have too much pain on stage"

Never in my entire life having a crew member ever expressed this type of concern for me. They have always done it out of duty and only when they are my personal trainer or manager. They just did it because of obligation.

I can not express my appreciation any clearer when I look into her eyes and say.

"You do not know what that means to me. Thank you, so much"

Then I stand up and I realized that I have no more pain. How can that be? I walk on the stage like a normal person and I have no pain at all. Suddenly, I start to wonder whether this has something to do with me turning into a wolf. Am I bulletproof?

I almost forgot my words with that thought running through my mind. But I quickly shake it out of my head and concentrate on my songs. There is not a lot of clothes changing involved in the next few songs and I know that I will not be seeing Layla for a while.

LAYLA

I watch him walking onto the stage as if there is nothing wrong with his ankle. I am very sure that I was not hallucinating when I saw the pain on his face. Is he such a good actor that I can not even see that his leg is hurt? I do not know if it could be that way?

I watch him carefully and I do not see any pain on his face or that he is limping. He must be very good at what he does. Then I turn around and get his last outfit ready. I know that the songs he is doing next are very demanding. I have done my research well.

He starts to dance does not stop for the next three songs. Then when the last song is finished runs towards me. I can see that he is completely exhausted and he is struggling to breathe. I make sure to put on the fan and then he plunges down in the seat.

Just as I am about to ask him if he is okay, Mark is there in a second.

JAKE

I feel completely exhausted as I fall down in the chair. I am so glad to see Layla and I see her walking closer to me. Then Mark comes into the picture and I wish he would have stayed away.

"How is your ankle?"

"Oh, that...It is fine, really...It must have been a light sprain or something. I have no pain"

I can see the shock on his face because he was here when the personal trainer tried to move my ankle and they could not because I was in too much pain. Now, I am telling him that I am pain for free.

" Are you sure?"

"I am sure. Now, let me get ready for the next song"

He pats me on the shoulder and then he smiles as he walks away. Then I see Layla walking up to me. Concern is still very much on her face and I love that she cares so much about me.

She helps me with the next outfit and I realized the more tired I become the weaker my control to not kiss her comes to be. Her scent is just too strong for me and her gentle touch drives me insane. I feel my hand reaching for her waist but then I hear the music and I jump up.

She jumps back in shock because I startled her and then I turn to her.

"God...I am so sorry, I did not mean to startle you but I have to go"

I turn around and run on the stage. It is clear that I am running away from her because my hand was just an inch away from her waist. I do not know anymore how to control myself around her and I needed to get out of there now.

LAYLA

I watch as Jake runs like a speeding bullet away from me and I do not know if he is late for his song or did he wanted to get away from me. I would, of course, understand because there are many fans out there that I am sure he fancies more. I start to pack up my stuff because this outfit was the last one.

I am sure that I will not be seeing him again and so I make my way back to the makeup room. As I close the door behind me a sadness once again fills my heart. It feels like I am falling for him and it is someone that I know I will never get. He is too famous to even think about having a relationship with someone like me.

I did not expect to fall for him when I decided to do this job because I had a persona of him and he broke every idea that I had about him. He is the complete opposite and now I know my heart will be broken every time I see him. I hear the crowd in the background and I know he enjoys all the love that he gets.

He does not need someone like me in his life when he has the world at his feet. I take a deep breath and try to get my thoughts straight. I am here for the work and not the man. I start to pack up my stuff and then I hear the crowd screaming even louder and I realize that they want an encore.

Then the music starts again and I can hear him sing. I can listen to his voice all day long and I will never get tired of it. He is the perfect superstar.