The Dancer

2

I pulled into my driveway and parked my car. My family home wasn't extravagant by any means, but we had what we needed. After leaving Potomac, I realized how much cozier my home was. Most of the mansions in Potomac looked sterile; they belonged in a magazine or they weren't lived in or something. They looked stiff and boring. Even Nicolae's house appeared to be that way, but once inside it was clear that he and his daughter were an exception to the typical Potomac family.

I trudged inside and dropped my bag by the front door. I kicked off my shoes and padded into the kitchen to join Carol. Her fit frame turned from the sink to watch me for a minute.

"Hey. How was it?"

I shrugged as I grabbed a towel and started to dry the pots placed on the rack.

"The dad is nice, but the girl is kind of a brat."

"How old is she?"

"Twelve. Her mom passed away last year so I guess she has some weird thing against women."

Carol nodded absently, her honey blonde hair bobbed with the motion. "Yeah, I looked him up a little. Pretty decorated guy."

"Oh yeah?" I didn't want to seem overly interested in Nicolae Cuza or his past. Carol would rip me a new one if she knew I even found him remotely attractive. The one thing all of my parents wanted for me was a life outside of the military. They didn't want me to end up with a military man or join myself. They wanted me to do what I was passionate about.

"Yep. He's interesting. That's for sure."

"What do you mean?"

"He's young for a colonel. I guess when her mom died he retired and took the political route."

"Interesting," I agreed. "You know, he did do something that was kinda weird. He had a translator with him."

Her amber eyes met mine for a moment. "So?"

"He speaks English just fine. He understands more than he speaks, but it was clearly enough to talk to me."

She grunted in response and turned off the water. "How'd you find out he speaks English?"

"His face. He looked surprised when I told them how long I've been dancing so I asked him if he understood me. After that he got rid of the translator."

"Probably didn't want to waste time trying to talk to you personally if you weren't gonna work out."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Or maybe he skeptical of everyone after his stint in some black ops type stuff."

My eyes scrunched together. "What?"

"Yeah. There's always a reason someone flies up the ranks like that, Holly. I couldn't find exactly what it was he did, but there's something."

I rolled my eyes. "He's a nice guy. He's fine."

"He can be nice and still be a killing machine. Most of them are."

"Dad did stuff like that," I reminded.

She dried her tan hands and went to sit at the round table. It was the first time I noticed how old she looked. I always thought of Carol as young and vibrant, but since my dad's Parkinson's became severe, she had started to age dramatically. I wanted to do something for her. I just didn't know what. We were both stretched to the max and now that I had Katerina there wasn't much more I could take on.

"Look, I wanted to wait to talk to you, but I don't think I can."

I carefully joined her at the table and sat down. My hands pressed to the cool wood table as I watched Carol trace the lines of the weathered table.