Mirrors

The next day thoughts of Corinne littered Noel's mind. Who was this girl, he thought to himself. At a glance he thought her knew exactly what she entailed. Though what happened in the parking lot, proved to be much different. Corinne was like a two way mirror, only one aspect of her shown clearly. The other, hidden in the shadows—but ultimately still there. Noel yearned to know more about this girl. He had to after one encounter she'd left him confused, captivated, and horny as hell.

After a hearty breakfast of soggy Cheerios, that Loral insisted preparing him, Noel decided to call Corinne.

Good sign he thought, she answered after the second ring.

"Hello?"

Corinne sounded as if she had just woken up. Noel imagined her yawning as she wiped the sleep from her eyes.

"Hello sleepy head, it's me, Noel. You know the poor fellow you made run alongside your car."

Corinne sat up in her bed, preening herself though she knew Noel could not see her through the phone.

"Hmmm...no I don't recall."

She uttered between giggles.

He was trying make her laugh, a good omen she thought. She didn't want to be perceived as callous in the way she treated him the other day. A little teasing was all it was.

"Pitty. Because I happen to be completely free today and was going to grace you with my presence."

The smile on Noel's face could be heard through his voice.

"Oh...GRACE me with YOUR presence? I'd be gracing you with my presence. Besides Sundays are my only down time." Corinne snidely retorted.

"Right, part time brat, full time ballerina."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before Corinne had realized they had been on the phone for nearly two hours. Noel was incredibly easy to talk to, with his fresh wit and flirtatious nature.

He on the other hand, also enjoyed talking to Corinne. Her cheeky remarks kept him on his toes. Never had a girl, especially as young as Corinne, stimulated his mind so much. The way she spoke each word so self-assured turned him on beyond compare. It was the thing he found so sexy about her, that the other women he had been with lacked. Even the women his age had nothing on her.

It was astonishing how quickly she had bloomed for him. In one conversation she seemed to be such a different person than he had first made acquaintance with. She was the women who made him race alongside her car for just her number now through-and-through. So this was what it was like to peak beyond the two way mirror. An invitation to her secret world. It was too enticing of an offer to give up.

"So what's the verdict? Am I worthy of thy company?"

He asked mockingly.

She pretended to ponder.

"Hmmmm...I guess you'll do. Though it will have to be after class on Saturday or on next Sunday my next day off."

At lease He would have something to look for this week he thought to himself.

"See you Sunday, the honorable Corinne."

She chuckled inaudibly.

"See you Sunday lord Noel of whatchamacallit, England."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With the coming of Monday Corinne's life slithered back into routine. Her 9 AM class was first on the agenda then a day full of rehearsal for the studio's Midsummer night's dream show.

Ballet was time consuming and demanding but, she loved it. She didn't think of it as losing her friends she thought of it as gaining a whole family of dancer. Spending so much time in those four walls of her studio helped her find herself. To think that soon she'd be leaving the place she'd come to call home worried her immensely.

Just seeing the smiling and inviting faces of her friends twisted her stomach and hurt her heart.

"Hey Corinne! Someone looks deep into thought?" Her friend Charlotte said jokingly. When Corinne walked in only three people were there already beginning their stretches. Her three best friends liked to arrive early to get in some girl gab time.

Kayla and Jenny turned towards Corinne noting her unusual expression.

"I'm just going to miss you guys so much." Her eyes glassy and her face sullen as she spoke.

Kayla moved towards her friend comforting her.

"It's okay Cori, at lease one of us should make it. You deserve it the most."

Jenny chimed in, "Yeah you literally, eat, sleep, and breath ballet girl...Do it for us, do it for you! I mean how amazing would it be to say you made it out of Spindlehill?!"

Corinne hugged her friends. The sense of security she felt here would be hard to give up but hopefully worth it if it meant following her dream.

Just then, others from the class begin to file in taking their respective places shortly followed by the ballet instructor.

Corinne's ballet instructor was a retiree from American ballet theatre herself, and had already surfed the wave of being a soloist is such a prestigious organization. Though the feat that Corinne would have to face would be much more than her instructor's, being a young black woman. Few had traveled that road of being a colored ballerina in American Ballet theatre. Among them was Misty Copland, Corrine's inspiration and role model. If Misty could start late in ballet at the age of thirteen and eventually ascend to the role of soloist, surely she could too. These were the only thoughts her mind could afford to think at the moment. She had to focus, putting Noel and all the other non ballet related thoughts aside. Success was her fuel, and with dedication, it would be more than a goal, it'd be certain. Tirelessly Corinne worked her young body. She tested her strength and endurance with each pasting day. Though she already had a guaranteed spot at Juilliard there was no time for letting up. When everyone else was at home in bed, Corinne was continuously doing pliés, to the point where she could barely make it to her car at the end of the night. When people her age were out at a house party, she was perfecting her fouetté.

By the end of the work week Corinne's body was as limp as a rag doll. When she arrived home, she dragged herself up the stairs. She flung her limp body into the cool sheets of her bed. Slowly her eyelids grew heavy and the calmness of sleep swept over her like a thick fog.

Without warning her cellphone blare out its factory set ring tone. Life jolted back in to her body. Her eyes open now and as big as saucers. Sliding the screen across, Corinne lifted the phone to her ear. She did not speak a word just breathed shallow slow breaths into the receiver.

"Hello, Corinne? It's Sunday, just wanted to know if you are still up for going out.." Noel trailed off.

Tiredness swallowed Corinne's words to the point where she was barely coherent.

"Tired...long...week." She said verbalizing her affliction. Noel felt instantly sympathetic her. Though he barely knew her, he desired to take her into his care.

"Darling, you sound terrible. Allow me to come over at once to take care of you."

With the last of her strength she tried to object but Noel wouldn't let her. Twenty minutes later, he was outside of her house, retrieving the key from under the mat, and climbing the stairs.

There Corinne lie, motionless except for the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she gingerly inhaled and exhaled.

"Hey." Noel said approaching her bed. Her eyelids fluttered open.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you."

She gave him a faint grin. Corinne had never known a perfect stranger to be so kind to her after such a short time of knowing her. Though there Noel was, removing her pointe shoes.

Blisters and callouses were scattered on Corinne's over worked feet, this didn't faze Noel. He took her small feet in his hand and begin gingerly massaging then. He kneaded into the tender skin, releasing tension from the muscles. After he continued on to the small of her back. He was a little more firm her but equally as careful. She was so tiny compared to him. Just one hand alone could expand across her back.

Noel enjoyed taking care of her this way though it was incredibly frustrating. Her involuntary moaning, in response to his massaging, combined with the smell she emitted, aroused him. How he'd love to just spread those thick muscular brown thigh right before him. In her regular state she was quite sassy and he could only imagine how she was when it came to sex. She was such a sexy fucking contradiction. Her face so youthful and innocent but on the inside... On the inside she was so wicked in all the right ways.

Swaddled in his thought, Noel had just realized that Corinne he fell again. After pulling the covers over her he lie next to her and drift off to sleep as well.