I look at her. "As long as I'm dancing, I have a future." The French Championships would be a significant step. A damn big one. With that reputation, I could work as a dance coach and performer, maybe even for television.
Her hand finds my chest, and her gaze turns serious. "I'll never allow anything to endanger your dance," she says with determination. "No one at the academy will know about us if we…"
Could that be the solution? Can we really hide so well?
No, it's too risky.
I tenderly stroke her fingers. "Not only my future but also yours depends on it."
A mixture of longing and determination fills her expression. "It's just three years."
"We'll have to constantly hide. We'll be alone during dance rehearsals, yet we can't lose control even once," I remind her, emphasizing the challenge. "It will feel suffocating and limiting."
Instead of despairing, she shakes her head. "If I've learned anything from my mother's death, it's that you have to savor life."
She takes my hand, pulling me to the front of the terrace railing. Together, we gaze at the city's nocturnal lights.
"Yes. The time at the academy will be tough, but we're already used to that. And every second we're not there, we'll cherish," she says, sitting on the balustrade and drawing me close. Her legs wrap around mine. "As often as possible, we'll escape. Away from Paris, where no one knows us. We'll create memories we'll never forget."
That sounds wonderful.
"We'll taste wine in Champagne and build sandcastles on the beaches of Normandy," I suggest.
She strokes my hair. "We'll navigate a boat through the canals of Bruges and camp in the forest of Fontainebleau."
Absolutely. I bury my face in her neck, relishing the scent of summer surrounding her.
"And one day, when the academy is behind us, we'll dance the mambo together in the heart of Paris," she adds passionately, her tone filled with more emotion than any human should contain.
"Before the eyes of the whole world," I respond. Everyone will witness our love. It will be the beginning of a new life. The moment we'll be truly free.
Aurora sighs longingly. "Barefoot in the summer rain."
I can't help but grin. "At a Joshua Friedberg concert," I chime in, taking it one step further. His piano music is unique, just like both of us.
She forces me to lift my head from her shoulder to look at her. Her face is filled with awe. "I love Joshua Friedberg."
And I love you.The words rest lightly on my lips as if they could fly away any moment without my intervention. I should be afraid. Of these overwhelming feelings that Aurora has stirred within me so quickly and everything they could lead to.
But the opposite is true.
Now that I'm finally ready to embrace these feelings, everything suddenly seems possible.
"So we have a plan," I say gently, tracing the contours of her cheeks. "We'll dance, and we'll live."
She nods, slowly at first, then more emphatically. "We'll dance, and we'll live," she confirms before pressing her lips against mine once more.
