| Subject: Chapter 15a |
Author:
Juli
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Date Posted: Wednesday, June 01, 04:21:38pm
In reply to:
Juli
's message, "Angelita - new chapters (finally)" on Friday, February 18, 01:02:53pm
Chapter 15
The next morning, early, Nikita arose. She threw on a robe and walked barefoot down the hall. She had been thinking about the previous night and Jurgen’s kiss. She didn’t know what to make of her feelings.
The hallway was still only dimly lit from the early morning light as she tapped lightly on Michael’s door. There was no answer. She knocked again, wondering if Michael was still asleep. Discarding that thought, she turned the knob and peeked inside. The bed was empty. Thinking that he might be on the balcony, she glanced at the windows. She realized how silly the notion was as she saw the cold rain streaming down.
Closing the door, Nikita wondered where Michael was. She stopped one of the maids that was just arriving to start the day and asked.
“Mr. Samuelle has turned the blue bedroom into an exercise room,” the woman told Nikita.
Nikita nodded, wondering how she didn’t know that. She hurried down the hall and knocked. Peering around the door, she saw Michael in the middle of a martial arts set.
She stepped inside to watch him, but didn’t say anything. Michael was in deep concentration and didn’t even glance at her as she leaned against the wall.
Nikita remembered the last time she had watched Michael do his training exercises. She had almost tripped and he caught her – and held her close. The memory of that morning only a week or so ago, brought a flush to her cheeks and another confusing thought to her already bewildered brain.
She watched the muscles of his shirtless back ripple across his frame as he moved slowly, deliberately through his movements. There was a thin sheen of sweat that covered his back and chest, making him shine in the low light. As he continued his movements, Nikita realized that she knew the routine he was performing; it was one he had taught her. As she watched, she could see that he was almost finished so she decided to stay.
Michael had to focus all of his concentration to continue his training and finish the set he was performing. Nikita, dressed only in her satin nightgown and robe, was a distraction he could hardly ignore. Drawing on inner strength and discipline, he willed his eyes to focus only on the mirror, and not Nikita’s reflection in it. Sighing as he finished the final position, Michael picked up a towel to wipe his face and turned to face her.
“Good morning,” she said with a smile.
“Good morning,” Michael said. He did not return the smile; he could not muster one after the previous night. He turned and picked up a water bottle and took a long swallow.
Nikita couldn’t explain why Michael drinking from a water bottle seemed to affect her so, but it did. She looked down at her hands, until he had finished.
“Did you need something, Nikita?” Michael asked, wiping his forehead with the towel again.
“I, uh.. well, last night, I’m just confused, Michael,” she stammered, unsure of what her question really was.
“Confused about what?” Michael said, not sure if this would be good or bad.
“I’m not sure. I had a nice time with Jurgen, he wants to take me to dinner again. He kissed me… it was quite exciting… I think I just feel overwhelmed by it all. How do I know who is right or wrong or … I don’t know what to think or feel anymore. New York is confusing me,” she said, finally looking up to meet his gaze.
It took a great deal of will power not to put his fist through the wall when he heard her say that Jurgen had kissed her. He didn’t trust the man at all. He now understood why she didn’t lower the partition to talk to him though.
He took a deep breath. “You don’t have to stay in New York, Nikita. Perhaps you could go back to Australia with Walter,” he suggested.
Nikita cocked her head. “I never thought about that. I would like that, but Jurgen says I should do the television shows because it will help my father’s business,” she told him.
Michael’s jaw clenched as he tried to present a calm exterior. “I think your father would tell you to do what you feel is right and what you want to do. He wouldn’t suggest that you do it for his business,” he told her.
“You are probably right,” she said absently.
As Michael began to collect his things, Nikita suddenly remember a question she had been meaning to ask. “Michael, are you gay?” she asked, intently.
Michael was so stunned by the question that he dropped his water bottle on the floor. He looked up at her in amazement.
“What?” he asked, incredulous, wondering if he had heard correctly.
“Last night in the ladies room, two women came in and I think they were talking about you. She said you were probably gay. I don’t know what that means. Are you?”
Michael actually laughed out loud, relieved to understand her question.
“Gay means homosexual, meaning that a man who was homosexual would be attracted to other men,” he explained.
Nikita screwed up her face. “You aren’t, are you?” she asked, horrified.
Michael chuckled again and shook his head. “No.”
“I wonder why she said that, then?” she pondered.
“I’m sure I don’t know,” Michael said, not wanting to get into an explanation of the way single women in New York protected their fragile “dating egos.”
“Will you go with me again?” she asked, as he headed for the door. She reached it at the same time he did.
Michael turned and gazed into her eyes intently. They were close; Nikita had leaned against the door frame with one shoulder and Michael had moved over to give the door clearance to open. Their faces were now only a few inches apart.
“Do you want me to?” Michael asked, extremely aware of their closeness.
Nikita’s heart fluttered wildly and she wasn’t sure what the question was referring to anymore. All coherent thought flew from her mind. She nodded and swallowed.
Michael let go of the doorknob to free up a hand, and then reached up to stroke the side of her face.
“I will do whatever you ask, ‘Kita,” he told her quietly.
Nikita’s mouth dropped open slightly at his touch on her face and his comment. “Michael?” she whispered.
“Hmmm?” he asked, just as softly.
The loud knock on the door beside their heads made Nikita jump.
“Michael? You in there?” Walter’s booming voice came through the door.
Michael sighed and pulled the door open.
“Oh! You are in there,” Walter said, his hand raised to knock again. “Oh, hi Sugar. You gonna work out?” he asked her with a grin.
“I was just talking to Michael, Walter,” she told him, hoping that she wouldn’t give herself away by blushing.
“Ah, well, ok. Are you finished? I need to have a little chat with Michael myself,” he said.
Nikita glanced back at Michael, but his face was unreadable now, so unlike the depth she had seen only moments before. “Yes, I think we’re finished,” she said, stepping around him and heading for her room.
“What was that all about?” Walter asked, stepping into the room when Michael opened the door wider.
“She’s confused,” Michael answered. “Richardson kissed her last night. He’s taking advantage of her.”
Walter swore. “He’s moving way too fast for someone as naïve to the world as Nikita is,” he said. “Can’t you do anything?”
“I suggested that you take her to visit Australia,” Michael answered simply. “Other than that, I can’t dictate who she can and cannot see.”
“Not a bad idea, but you have more influence than you give yourself credit for, Mike old buddy,” Walter said with a wink. “Didn’t you see how she blushed when she left here. What was really going on? Do I need to be concerned for my niece’s virtue?” Walter joked.
Michael did not smile. “I am only a bodyguard to her, a friend, perhaps a confidante, nothing more,” he told Walter morosely.
Walter guffawed. “I doubt that, son. I think she has a lot more feelings for you than she realizes. I bet all this New York flash and glamour is just blinding her right now.” Walter lowered his voice, “If you have any kind of feelings for her, you should do whatever you can to keep her. What kind of life will she have with someone who sees her as an heiress or a celebrity? What kind of gold diggers will be sniffing around here soon? You are the only one who knows who she really is. She will see that eventually.”
Michael was stunned by Walter’s impassioned speech. He hadn’t realized that the older man had seen through everything so easily.
Walter nodded seriously at Michael’s silence. “You think about what I said, Michael. It won’t be easy for Nikita to go through the rest of her life as a celebrity. It’s not who she is. And it won’t be easy for you to watch her with other men if I read you right. Think it over.”
Walter left and Michael stood alone in the dim light for a few more minutes pondering his comments. Was Walter really giving his blessing for Michael to form a more personal relationship with Nikita? More than that – he was suggesting it. Michael was still in shock over the conversation. Nikita had looked so wanting when he had told her that he would do anything she wanted. He had been close enough to kiss her when they were interrupted again. It made him wonder if the fates were conspiring against them. With Walter’s words ringing around in his mind, Michael made his way to his room to shower.
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