AudreyWhen I first leased this place, planning to use it as my dance training studio while I was stuck here in Aberdeen, I had thought about getting rid of the couch. After all, the thing wasn’t very appealing, with its worn-out leather and dust. It looked like it had been there since before I was born. Not only that, but it was just going to get in the way as I was dancing.I had wanted a proper dance studio, with all the trimmings. Floor-length mirrors and good lighting and everything. A place like I had back in France. At the very least, I wanted a good rectangular room that was large enough to move around in. A place where I didn’t have to worry about some couch that the previous owners hadn’t taken with them when they moved on. Because I was sure that I was never, ever going to need that couch.Now, I had to admit that I was pretty dang glad that I had kept the stupid thing around, in spite of the time that I had stubbed my toes on the leg.I smiled up at Jesse as he trailed his

Jesse“You’re so sappy,” Audrey said, but I could tell that she wasn’t unhappy with that.We lay there quietly for a while longer, until I felt like I could doze off right there on the couch, uncomfortable as it was since I couldn’t stretch out and since it wasn’t really meant to fit both of us like this.I finally sighed. “I guess I’d better get you home, huh?” I asked her.“I guess,” Audrey agreed with a small sigh of her own. “I kind of wish I had my own place so that I wouldn’t have to worry about getting home. But I don’t want Mom to wonder where I am or if I’m all right. Nor do I really want to tell her that I’m, you know, sleeping with you. I’m sure she already knows, but it’s not the conversation that I want to have with her.”“Yeah, but if you had your own place here in Aberdeen, then you’d have to stay,” I pointed out, trying not to sound too wistful as I teased her about it.She was quiet for a moment, and I knew that she was considering how to answer that.“Just a joke,” I

AudreyThe director continued, “Of course, this will all be up to the doctors and the trainers. You’ll be required to check in with them after every training before you ever set foot on stage for a show. But if your ankle really is doing as well as you say it is, then I think it’s about time that you took one of the lead roles.”“Thank you,” I said breathlessly. In my head, I was already thinking about all the training that I would need to do here over the next three weeks so that I wasn’t an embarrassment when I returned to Paris. At least I hadn’t been out for the full six months. Things would come back quickly, I was sure. I would just have to make sure that I stuck to my diet and kept working out at my studio during the day.It would give me something to do, and I was grateful for that. Things would finally start to feel normal again.“Is three weeks enough time?” the director asked. “I don’t want you to rush your recovery. But we could really use you. The next round of shows star

JesseNot only that, but I liked seeing how relaxed she got the longer she was here in North Carolina. Every day she seemed to smile a little more and laugh a little more easily. I wondered if anyone in Paris ever got to see her like this, and I liked to imagine that they didn’t. I liked to imagine that Audrey reserved this for me, that it was the culmination of our long friendship and our current intimacy.Maybe I only wanted to know that she was going to miss me as much as I was going to miss her. I knew that was pretty foolish in and of itself, though. She was going to be busy when she went back to Paris. She would have new dances to learn, friends to catch up with, a dozen things vying for her attention. If she got bored, she was there in a bustling, cultural metropolis with a dozen types of entertainment right there at her fingertips.Unlike here in Aberdeen, where it would just be me, myself, and I. I couldn’t work hard enough at the hardware store to forget about her now, let a

AudreyI couldn’t help feeling nervous about the fact that Jesse was coming over. I had been on the fence about actually inviting him. I didn’t like lying to Mom, though, and she had told me that I should ask him. As for picking a date for him to come over, well, it wasn’t like I had that many days left. My flight was already booked, and I would be back to Paris in less than two weeks.I still could barely believe that. Of course, I was ecstatic about the fact that the director not only wanted me back far sooner than the six months that he had originally given me, but that he also wanted to give me a lead role, to boot.The more I thought about it, though, the more nervous I made myself. It wasn’t just about losing Jesse, either. Had I been training enough? Did I still look enough like a ballerina, in spite of the few pounds that I had put on while I was back here? Would I be able to work all of that off? Would I be able to handle the role that the director wanted to give me? What wou