Fort Morgan (43 page)

“
Did you hear they were
married?” Katia’s eyes gleamed with malicious glee.

Bestat sighed.

“
You should tread very
carefully, Katia,” Bestat said.

“
I should. . .”
Katia said. “Do you have any idea who you’re speaking
to?”

“
I’ve spoken with your
mother-in-law,” Bestat said. “She was unaware of your campaign to
destroy Ms. Delgado’s career. Further, she had no idea that, in her
name, you forced Ivan into virtual servitude for a
year.”

Katia turned to face Bestat.

“
Your mother-in-law has
spoken to her homosexual son,” Bestat said. “She has told him that
she is willing to stand by him while they speak to his
father.”

Bestat turned over her wrist to look at her
watch.

“
That should have happened
a half-hour ago,” Bestat said.

Katia’s phone beeped twice.

“
I’d guess that is your
husband telling you the news,” Bestat said.

“
You had no right!” Katia
said.

“
You requested that Ms.
Delgado’s guardians attend this meeting,” Bestat said.

She turned her head to look at Katia.

“
I am one of her
guardians,” Bestat said. “So is Seth O’Malley.”

“
O’Malley?” Katia’s voice
rose a bit.

“
Sissy’s sister is a
guardian, of course,” Bestat said. “You know Otis? He’s an old
friend of Ivan’s.”

Katia’s head went up and down.

“
Otis will be in
attendance as well,” Bestat said.

Katia swallowed hard.

“
He’s always liked me,”
Katia said with a little too much confidence.

“
Have you met his new life
partner?” Bestat asked.

Katia’s eyes went big.

“
Yes, he is off the
market,” Bestat said. “Now, we cannot affect the contract you
tricked Ivan into signing, but we will not stand by as you destroy
a talented young woman’s career.”

“
You have no idea!” Katia
said. “He groomed her to be his. . .”

Bestat’s head turned again to look at Katia.
Bestat sighed. A thin puff of smoke came from her mouth.

“
You know full well that
the only reason that he said he was married to Sissy so that a
dying girl wouldn’t have to go to the hospital alone,” Bestat
said.

“
That’s not what
his
date
for the
night said,” Katia said. “And she was there.”

Bestat reached into her pocket and took out
a USB drive.

“
It happened in front of
my home,” Bestat said. “This is the security tape. You can see him
hesitate, and then make a decision. You can also see that Sabrina,
the ballerina you referred to, was hysterical. You should also know
that she’s been deemed an unreliable witness by the
NYPD.”

Katia stared at Bestat.

“
You have awoken a
sleeping dragon,” Bestat said through her teeth. “Be careful that
you do not get eaten.”

The elevator doors opened. Bestat walked off
the elevator, leaving Katia in her wake.

Why are you
here?

Friday early morning — 2:12 a.m.

New York City, New York

Sissy awoke with a start as a wave of pain
came over her. She automatically looked to the couch where Sandy
had been sleeping, and glanced at the chair where Delphie had sat.
For the first time since she was admitted to the hospital, Sandy
and Delphie weren’t there. Abi was gone, too. The doctor had said
that, in order for Sissy to be released early, she would have to
make it through a night alone. After all, if she couldn’t make it
through the night alone in the hospital, where she had twenty-four
hour care, how would she make it at home?

Sissy was determined to get out of this
hospital. She stared straight ahead. Counting the holes in the
sound tile above, she tried to figure out why she wanted out so
badly. Leaving the hospital meant she was leaving New York. Leaving
New York meant leaving her dream of being an apprentice ballerina.
Sissy heard her door open and close. She pressed the button on the
bed so she could see.

“
Don’t,” Ivan said. “You
need to be flat.”

In typical Ivan fashion, he took the control
from her and laid her flat. She touched his hand.

“
I’d rather see you,” she
said in a low tone.

His eyes flicked to her face.

“
Why are you here?” she
asked.

As if it were working out the question, his
left eyebrow moved up and down.

“
I. . .” he
stared. He set the bed control down. He gave her a slight smile.
“I’m sorry. I treat you like a child.”

“
You do,” Sissy said
almost as a sigh. “I’ve been a child most of the time you’ve known
me.”

Ivan eyes scanned her face.

“
And you are not a child
anymore?” Ivan asked.

Sissy looked away from him. Unsure of what
to do, Ivan watched her face.

“
I don’t feel like a
child,” Sissy said after a few minutes. “I. . . remember
dying — being outside of my body, and my dad. . . Delphie
and Abi have done these. . . shows of your
life.”

“
My life?” Ivan
asked.

“
Some of it.” Sissy made a
small nod. “I’ve known you my whole life, and I don’t know you at
all.”

“
Big mysterious Ivan,” he
grinned. “I am, at my very heart, completely boring.”

She smiled.

“
I. . . I feel
like I used to see things as they related to me,” Sissy said. “Now,
I’m starting to see bigger things. I’m starting to understand the
world outside of me. You, me. . . I mean, for all the
times I thought about dying, tried to kill myself,
and. . .”

Sissy shook her head with such fervor that
she gasped in pain. She panted for a moment before her eyes
returned to him.

“
I don’t want to die,”
Sissy said.

“
I’m glad,” Ivan
said.

“
I want. . .”
Sissy’s eyes flicked to his face and she stopped
talking.

They looked at each other for a while. Sissy
looked away first.

“
Are you coming to
Denver?” Sissy asked.

“
I cannot,” Ivan
said.

As if she were in pain, Sissy gasped. Tears
fell down her face. As he’d always done, Ivan grabbed her hand to
stabilize her.

“
Why?” Sissy
whispered.

“
I took a contract that
would ensure I would be able to stay here with you,” Ivan said. “It
never occurred to me that they would dismiss you,
and. . .”

“
Kate,” Sissy
said.

“
How did you know that?”
Ivan asked. “Did Delphie. . . They were not supposed to
tell you anything.”

“
It sounds like her,”
Sissy said. “She hates me.”

Sissy’s eyes flicked to his face.

“
I’ve always known that
Kate hated me,” she said after a moment.

“
She has married well and
is on the board of many ballet companies,” Ivan scowled.

“
Is that why no one would
take me as an apprentice?” Sissy asked.

“
Da,” Ivan
said.

“
I knew it didn’t have
anything to do with Charlie.” Sissy looked away from
him.

“
Charlie? Your brother?”
Ivan shook his head. “No. It was Katia.”

“
Just as well,” Sissy
said. Tears rolled down her face. “I’ll never dance
again.”

“
Sissy,” Ivan
said.

“
No one will say it,”
Sissy said. “But I see it on their faces. I’ll never dance again,
and you. . .”

She started to cry outright. Unsure of what
to do, Ivan glanced at the door before bending over the bed to wrap
her in his long arms. Sissy pressed her face into his shoulder.

“
There is no certainty,”
Ivan said in Russian.

“
What?” Sissy pulled back
to look at him.

“
There is no certainty,”
he said in Russian. “We don’t know that you won’t dance
again.”

“
I don’t speak Russian.”
Sissy shook her head.

“
Why is that?” Ivan said
in English and smiled. “It is the language of the Gods.”

“
Greek.” Sissy sniffed at
her tears. She dabbed her eyes with the edge of her sheet.
“Hebrew.”

“
Yes, this is true,” Ivan
laughed. “Greek and Hebrew are the languages of the
Gods.”

Ivan scanned her face, and she gave him a
watery smile.

“
Will you tell me what you
said?” Sissy asked. “Please.”

He looked into her tear-stained face.

“
I said that we don’t
know,” Ivan said with a shrug. “We don’t know if you will dance
again, and we don’t know that you won’t. Even the Oracle will not
hazard a guess. But I. . .”

He smiled at her and set her down onto the
bed.

“
I know you,” Ivan said.
“If you wish to dance again, you will dance again.”

“
Not without you,” Sissy
said. “I’ve only ever danced my best when you were with
me.”

“
Not true,” he said. “You
were a spectacular Irish dancer.”

“
How do you know about
that?” Sissy asked.

Ivan grinned.

“
You saw me Irish dance?”
Sissy asked. “I thought you were in New York!”

“
There are planes,” Ivan
said.

“
Will you come to Denver
to help me dance?” Sissy asked.

“
Nothing could keep me
away,” Ivan said. “Two days a week and holidays. When you are
ready, we will work. Your sister has asked if I will help Charlie,
too.”

Ivan nodded.

“
Would be my pleasure,”
Ivan said.

“
Oh,” Sissy said. She
stared at the ceiling for a moment.

“
What is it?” Ivan
asked.

“
I. . .” Sissy
sighed and looked back at him. “You’ll be here. With
Nadia.”

“
Nadia?” Ivan
asked.

“
And I’ll. . .”
Sissy said. “I don’t know if I can. . .”

She felt a flash of irritation with
herself.

“
Why are you here?” Sissy
asked again.

“
I came to ask
you. . .” Ivan stumbled. His words seemed to get stuck in
his throat. “Would you. . . I mean, I would understand if
you didn’t, of course, but I thought I should at least
ask. . .”

Sissy turned her head to look at him. She’d
always known him to be sure of himself. Tonight, he seemed almost
frightened.

“
What is it?” Sissy
asked.

“
I wondered if you could
ever see me as anything other than your teacher,” Ivan
said.

“
What do you mean?” Sissy
asked.

“
I wondered if you might
want to explore a different kind of relationship,” Ivan
said.

“
I love you.” Sissy felt
the words burst out of her. “I’ve
always
loved you.”

“
You have?” Ivan
asked.

“
Yes,” Sissy said. “But
you had Kate and Nadia and Lisa and Yolanda and Camille and
Kathleen and Maria and the other Mary and Terry and Janet and Diana
and Liz and Adele and Jen and Jenni with an ‘i’ and Jennifer
and. . .”

Sissy stopped to catch her breath.

“
A whole bunch more,”
Sissy said. “That awful Sabrina just the other day.”

She looked at Ivan, and he gave her a
sheepish grin.

“
What did you mean a
‘different kind of relationship’?” Sissy asked.

“
More romantic,” Ivan
said. “Less teacher and student.”

“
Why?” Sissy asked. “You
have all of those. . .”

“
I have always loved you,
as well,” Ivan said. “Always.”

“
No,” Sissy shook her
head.

“
It is true,” Ivan said.
“Always.”

“
You’re so formal with
me,” Sissy said. “Mean. Controlling.”

“
I am trying
to. . .” Ivan said. “I don’t know. I want you
to. . .”

Ivan shrugged.

“
I don’t want to be the
old guy who takes advantage of the young, naïve girl,” Ivan said.
“I wanted you to grow up free of the burden of my. . .
want for you.”

“
You don’t want to be the
pervert,” Sissy said.

“
Yes,” Ivan said. “They
called me a ‘pervert’ at your first eating-disorder treatment. That
is why your mother sent me away.”

“
My mother sent you away
so she could pocket the money for your lessons,” Sissy said in a
wry voice.

“
Oh?” Ivan asked. “That is
why?”

Sissy nodded. He reached for her hand
again.

“
Did you starve yourself
to be perfect for me?” Ivan asked.

“
For you?” Sissy burst out
laughing. Imitating his voice, she said, “Ballerinas must eat for
strength.”

He grinned at her imitation. For a moment,
they smiled at each other. Ivan’s smile fell, and sorrow filled his
face.

“
Why, then?” Ivan
asked.

“
I. . .” Sissy
shrugged. “Sandy found a book that says that starving creates a
kind of insanity that supports starving. Once I was in the starving
zone, the mental illness took over.”