Tomorrow Never Dies

Chapter 16 - "Get a room, lovebirds!"

I was still talking with my brother, my mum and Michael when I was approached by a man I'd never seen before.

"Miss Lighthawk, can I have a word?" I nodded, excusing myself from the conversation. "My name is Jason Smith."

"Nice to meet you," I offered him my hand, which he shook.

"I'm from the New South Wales Ballet Company, and having talked with your instructor and seen you dancing, I'd like to offer you a place in our associate's programme. It involves two hours' rehearsals six days a week, after your normal classes, and we put on a show every two months. We're based in Sydney city centre, and there is an induction morning next week should you choose to attend."

"That sounds incredible," I said. "I'd love to."

"Wonderful, if I could grab your email address I'll be able to send you more details." I wrote down my email for him, and returned to my family.

"I've just been scouted for the New South Wales Ballet Company," I told them, and my mother wrapped me in a bone-crushing hug. I'd always wanted to attend, but for years it had been a silly little fantasy.

"I'm so proud of you," she whispered into my hair, then pulled away to let Matty congratulate me.

"Way to go Flower," he high fived me then ruffled my hair. Finally Michael looked at me.

"You're not moving away are you?" I shook my head.

"It's twelve hours a week at their studio in the city centre, I get to stay here and work with Kiri and Lorna as well as them," I assured him, and he kissed me. I smiled as he deepened the kiss, then pulled away.

"I'm so happy for you," he whispered. "You deserve this."

"I love you," I said softly.

"Really?" he asked, to which I nodded. "I love you too." I hugged him.

"I need to go speak to some other people, I'll text you when I go backstage to get my stuff," I told him, and he nodded. I kissed him briefly then wandered into the crowd.

"Flora!" shouted Kiri, getting my attention. I turned around to face her, and she hugged me tighter than I would have thought someone as small as her could. "New South Wales Ballet!" I nodded, delighted. "I'm so proud of you. But anyway, where's Luke?"

"Follow me," I said, leading her to Luke, whose head I could see above everyone else's. He was with Ashton and Calum so I hugged Ash before talking to them all. "Guys, this is Kiri, my dance instructor, she's the reason I'm here right now." She smiled at all of them, and I caught sight of Luke staring at her. I smiled, thinking my work here is done, and walked off with Ash. He picked me up, hugging me.

"You were amazing little one," he smiled, putting me down. "You got two standing ovations!" I nodded.

"I'm so tired though," I said quietly.

"I'll get Michael to take you back to your dorm once I find him," he said. "But first-" he picked up my wrist and examined it closely. "No new cuts?"

"Nope," I told him proudly. "I'm working on not doing that again."

"Good," he ruffled my hair. "You don't deserve to do that." I hugged him again, waving him goodbye, and wandered backstage. My phone lit up with a few messages as I walked into my dressing room, and I read the texts.
Michael❤️: i'm on my way to take you home now, just grabbing my stuff xx
W4L: gone back to dorm, exam tomorrow and v little revision done help
Toby: heard everything went great! see you soon lil sis. attached: 1 photo
I opened the photo, and saw he'd taken a stunning close up of a jaguar. I smiled and saved it, before shoving my stuff into my bag and getting changed into my sweat pants and loose top. There was a knock at the door, and I looked up to see Michael hovering in the door frame.

"Are we ready to go, my good lady?" I curtseyed and took his hand as if we were about to go ballroom dancing together.

"Yes, kind gentleman," I laughed, and he guided me towards the exit of the theatre. We walked through the park in the middle of the campus, and we stopped to admire the way the lights made the water feature look even more beautiful at night than it did by day. I looked at Michael, tossed my bag towards the bench, and we walked into the middle of the fountains. I took his hand gently and guided him in a slow, silent waltz. The water drenched my hair, soaked my clothes, and made him look incredible. He was holding me as we rocked to the non-existent music when I cupped his face and kissed him, feeling strangely like I was re-enacting the famous scene from The Notebook. He deepened the kiss, and as we stood, sopping wet, the world around us seemed to stop, and it was just us left. Then:

"Get a room, lovebirds!" an unknown voice called, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Michael give them the middle finger. I smiled, looking at him, and laughed. We ran out of the fountain, grabbed our bags, and ran all the way back to my dorm. He left me with a lingering kiss in the door, and I fell into the room, sighing with happiness.

"What happened? You're soaking?" laughed Grace, looking up from her book.

"Long story," I said, feeling myself grinning. "But the fountain in the middle of campus is a lovely temperature for cooling off." It was true; I had been sweating from the heat of the spring evening but after our moment in the water I was a perfect temperature.

"I hope you and Michael weren't doing anything cringe," she shook her head, returning to her book. I towelled myself off, but as I returned into the room I saw her staring, horrified, at her phone. "What's this?" She sounded heartbroken, and she showed me the picture on her phone of Georgina kissing Ashton.

*****
its an update again wahey

song of the chapter: one call away by charlie puth