Entranced

Christian comes up to my apartment with me. He gathers up his things and starts for the door. He puts his hand on the doorknob but then stops. He turns around and rushes back to me. He kissed me with both hands cradled around my face. My mind says to stop him, but my body kisses him back. He pushes me back, further into the apartment. He pushes me against the wall in the hallway and kisses my neck. He works his way down as he unbuttons my blouse. He kisses me on the lips again as he fiddles with the buttons on my long skirt. My mind keeps screaming for me to stop this, but my hands work their way around the buttons on his shirt. I pull his shirt off of him and trace his muscles. He lifts me up and carries me to my bed.

He throws me onto the bed, and then takes off his pants. He climbs on top of me and I can feel every bit of his body screaming for mine. He moves his body against mine, and I let out a moan. He slowly reaches for my hand and intertwines his fingers in mine. I wrap my legs around his waist and turn our bodies over so that I am on top of him. I move back and forth on his body as he lets out a few moans. I bite his collarbone softly, and he tangles his hands through my hair. My body shivers through each stroke I feel inside me.

I lay on the bed next to him, tracing over his tattoos. "What do they mean? You said they were all important to you?"

"Yeah, this one on my heart is a lock. It means to protect your heart. I got that after the situation with my mum. This one is an E for Eastman. The soaring eagle stands for bravery and courage and honor. The treble clef note is when my first song went viral." He continues on explaining each one of his tattoos. "And lastly, this one is for my brother."

I sat up, shocked. "Brother?"

"My father didn't tell you?" I shake my head. "Right. Well, before my parents had me, they had a boy named Justin. My mother was supposed to be watching him, but she was on the phone with her boss. Justin made his way to the pond and drowned. Six months later, she had me." He pauses and furrows his brows. "Hmmm. I hadn't thought of it until just now, but maybe that's what caused my mother's downward spiral." I lay my head on his chest and let out a sigh. "This might sound weird, but I feel like I miss him sometimes. But, how do you miss someone you've never met?"

"I'm so sorry that happened. I don't think it's weird to miss your brother. You grew up with this shadow behind you. Your dad's care for you and your success makes a whole new level of sense now." He tuts. "I mean, I saw how he was with you at the wedding. He has high expectations, but I feel like he just wants to see you do more good in the world."

"You're very insightful." He kisses me on the cheek.

"I've gotta ask though. Why do you do the songs you do?"

"It's what the contractors want. My manager thinks that my bad boy image is more successful. You don't think I want to share my real songs with the world? All the Girls Come was my first song, but you have to understand... It was a joke! Then, all of the sudden, it goes viral. Some guy named Scottie called me up and says he wants to sign me on. I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. They write my songs. They tell me who to date. They tell me how juicy and disgusting my break-ups have to be in order to maintain this 'bad boy image'." He scoffs and shakes his head.

"I can't believe that." I sit back up and look at him. "I can't believe how wrong I was about you."

"Yeah. It's alright. Most people are." He rolls out of the bed and puts his clothes on. He starts heading for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Home?" He turns and looks at me and furrows his brows again.

"You can stay... if you want." I stand up and walk over to him. He smiles and pulls me in for a kiss.

The next few days are filled with personal stories, food, and sex. A lot of sex. I can't put my finger on it, but I feel like there's something about Christian that makes me feel entranced by his presence. I haven't felt like this since Trevor. I glance at the photos of Trevor every once in a while, and instead of feeling guilty, I smile. Christian asks me if I miss him.

"Everyday." I say. He asks me questions about him, and I answer him honestly.

"Wait, seriously? You waited until marriage?" He laughed at me. "I've corrupted you, haven't I?" He laughs even harder, now.

"Oh, get over yourself!" I throw my pillow at him.

We laugh and continue our life stories. Some sad, some funny, some that make us angry, and others that make us feel happy. I learned a lot about him and his family. His father is rich because his family comes from a long line of noblemen. I tell him about my mom becoming a successful life coach and giving her TED talks all over the country. I tell him about some of the experiences I've had in my travels. I tell him about the situation in Iran, and that's how I started working for the president. We become more and more impressed by each other.

I go to the dance studio to teach a few classes, and Christian joins me. All of the dancers are excited to meet him and talk with him. I dismiss him from the class so I can continue the dance lessons. After the class, I make my way into the grand theater where Christian is playing a beautiful song. His lyrics are absolutely beautiful:

"Just take my heart in your hands/ please be gentle with me now/ I know we haven't had much time/ but I just want to lay with you now/ this love could be real/ but they say it would be wrong/ I don't care because I'd feel lost without you/ I know that's how you feel/ We know that we belong/ Oh I swear, we can tell them all that our love is true."

He ends the song with a beautiful melody.

"Wow. That was great."

He flinches and hits a series of bad notes. He turns at me and gasps. "You weren't meant to hear that." He stands up quickly, shuts the cover on the keys, and walks away.

"Why not? It was beautiful!"

"Because it's- it's- ugh it was about you!" He sits down in a chair and puts his head in his hands.

I take a step back. I never really put a feeling into what I had for Christian. But hearing that song made me realize, I love him too. I walk over to him and kneel on the ground in front of him. I remove his hands from his face so he can look me in the eyes. His eyes look red like he's about to cry.

"I maintain that it was a beautiful song." I smile at him but he just diverts his eyes from mine. "What is it?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He looks deep into my eyes. He lets go of my hands and stands up. He starts pacing the stage. "God, April, for how smart you are, you're really stupid." He runs his hand through his hair. He always does that when he's in deep thought, but afraid to speak his mind. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm in love with you, April. I have been from the moment I walked on this very stage five years ago!"

I'm shocked. My eyes go wide and I gasp. "Five years ago? So, the whole time during Romeo and Juliet?" He nods and slaps his hands on his thighs. "The night you tried to help with my solo piece... That was you trying to flirt?"

He scoffs. "Yeah, alright? Then your husband came in. I realized that you were married, which I didn't know, by the way. If I did, I wouldn't have even tried." He rambles everything out. "Then I tried to keep my distance from you, and maybe that made me come off as a jerk, but I promise I was just trying to hide how I feel. Then the show was done and I knew I'd never have to see you again!"

"Then my mom married your dad, and then-"

"Then I saw you that first night at the dinner table and all of those old feelings came rushing back. I didn't even know that you were Jessica's daughter. I had only met your mother once before that night." He keeps pacing the stage. Back and forth, back and forth.

"Will you please stop pacing? You're making me dizzy!"

He stops, turns, and searches my face. "Sorry, I just... I feel like I have to tell you. When I saw you there alone, I went to my father and asked why your husband wasn't there. He told me that he'd died a few years ago. My heart broke for you. All I wanted to do was give you a hug, but then there was also a part of me that thought 'maybe this is my chance to see how I really feel about you.' Then you chucked the grape salad at me-"

"I did NOT chuck it at you, you scared me!" I interrupt.

"Anyway... you came up and you helped me change, and I saw you looking at me. I saw the WAY you were looking at me, and I thought that it was my chance to finally kiss you just to make sure that I still had feelings. And the kiss was electric. I had never felt like that before, hell, I've never felt like THIS before."

I take it all in, not saying anything. Not looking at him. Then I'm the one who starts pacing. I have so much I want to say, but I have gotten so used to pushing my emotions down, that they all seem to bubble up like lava all at once.

"Say something, please." He whispers.

I stop pacing and look him in the eyes. "Since we're laying it all out there... I was attracted to you the first night I saw you. Then I saw how everyone was all over you and you seemed to like that kind of attention, so I decided I didn't like you. You were obnoxious, but now it makes sense WHY you were so obnoxious. I was married to Trevor, and I have never even so much as LOOKED at another guy. I felt out of breath when I saw you dance. You honestly would have made a fantastic Romeo, but I knew I couldn't spend that much time with you without messing up my marriage, so I cast you as Mercutio. And when you came in that night to help with the I hate you I love solo, I just wanted to kiss you right then and there. I think that Trevor somehow knew that, and that's why he said what he did to you. Which, I did use some of your suggestions because it really did feel like I was missing something, so thank you for that."

He laughs softly. His eyes soften on his face. He smiles and walks over to me. He takes my hand in his and kisses it, softly. I put my arms around his neck and he puts his around my waist. He kisses me deeply, and then picks me up and puts me on the piano. He pulls back, and I wrap my legs around his waist again.

"So, you're in love with me huh?" I smile.

"Shut up." His face turns red and he looks away.

I grab his face to look back at mine. "Since we're laying it all out... I guess I love you too." He smiles and kisses me again.