Taken and Misused.

This time Vaughn handed his keys over to the valet and got out of his car with me instead of peeling off the minute I closed the door like he had the first time he had dropped me off in front of my new home. He grabbed my dance bag out of the back passenger seat as I slowly got out of the car, gingerly putting my feet on the ground, I’d have to bandage them up before I could dance on them. Ballerinas are a tough breed of dancer, ever since I graduated to pointe shoes my feet have gone through hell. I’m not much of a sandal person anymore.

“Coming?” Vaughn asked, slinging my bag over his shoulder. I straightened and nodded, following beside him over to the elevator. When we got in I leaned against the wall of it and tipped my head back against the paneling, closing my eyes.

“Tough day?” Vaughn asked as the elevator slowly passed the lower floors, I opened my eyes to see his gaze directed at me. His eyes made me feel like he was trying to figure out any secrets I had, they held a depth of intelligence but also sincerity.

“Very” I muttered in reply, smiling lightly to myself. “Both physically and ummm….. Psychologically” I added, struggling for the word. I had very good English but sometimes I got stumped on words I didn’t use regularly.

“Psychologically?”

“As in mind boggling” I reiterated, smiling to myself again when he chuckled.

“How was it mind boggling?” Vaughn asked, his voice holding no judgment, it made me feel comfortable.

“How about we continue this over a nice cup of tea?” I asked as the elevator doors opened, I wanted to get off of my feet and my stomach was growling but I didn’t feel like cooking.

“You’re just going to invite some stranger into your home? What if all of this has been a plow to break into your house?” Vaughn asked, although I knew he was teasing me, I could see it in his smirk.

“Then you’re a very bad burglar because you just explained your whole plan to me” I said, with a grin.

“I guess I should have waited until I was in your apartment huh?” he said, following behind me as I walked towards my door.

“There’s always next time” I said, unlocking my door and smiling as Vaughn let out a hearty laugh. I opened my front door and closed it again when he was inside.

The living room was still the same, the same tall windows lining the opposite wall, showing a beautiful view of New York City. The white couches still sat in the middle of the hard wood floor with a tan carpet between them. The kitchen was connected to the living room, an island separating the two living areas. It was all stainless steel appliances and marble counter tops. Vaughn set my stuff down and came over to the kitchen with me. He sat down at the island and watched me pour some water through the coffee maker, my stomach growled loudly during this process and suddenly Vaughn was shuffling through the contents of my fridge.

“Excuse me?” I asked, it was alright if he made himself at home but he was being a bit too comfortable right now.

“You’re hungry, go grab a shower, I’ll make something for you to eat” he said, pulling out a few items from her pre-stocked fridge. All healthy food of course.

“You were just talking about me trusting you too much and now you’re telling me to go take a shower and leave you alone in my apartment?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Trust me” he said, facing me straight on as he said it, the full weight of his gaze falling onto my crystalline eyes.

For some reason I did.

I sighed and went to my room to grab some pajamas and then I went back to the bathroom and started the shower. I let the warm water roll over my body I couldn’t help but wonder why Stephen disliked me so much, it bugged me and made me annoyed which I had found out today didn’t do well to make our partnership friendly. Maybe tomorrow I could try harder to be nice and maybe he’d return the favor. Or maybe he’d just continue being a jerk. Thinking about Stephen made me remember I had to call my mom and ask why she hadn’t told me about him, and also explain why I hadn’t been here when my driver arrived to take me to dance class. Now I’d be in trouble I thought with yet another sigh.

I sighed once more and continued rinsing the conditioner out of my long hair, closing my eyes to keep the soap from getting in them. My feet hurt so much, they weren’t bleeding, they were just raw in some spots. I knew they’d be tender when I got out, the soap had agitated them. I turned the water off and dried myself off with one of the fluffy white towels folded on top of a small table by the shower. I pulled my cotton shorts and black tank-top on once I was dry and slipped my arms through my robe, I didn’t feel like getting dressed in something else, I’d be going to bed soon anyways. I brushed my hair out and left the bathroom.

The smell of chicken and rice met my nose as I walked into the living room and saw Vaughn in the kitchen by the stove. I walked up next to him and smiled at the food he was cooking, my stomach growling in anticipation. “How about you come cook for me all of the time” I joked, taking his spoon and taking a bite of the rice.

“It’s hot” he warned quickly but I’d already taken the bite. The rice scalded my tongue and I quickly opened my mouth and waved my hand in front of it, trying to cool the rice I’d shoved into my mouth carelessly . Vaughn sat me down on one of the bar stools and handed me a glass of water, laughing the whole time.

“It’s not funny” I muttered after taking a drink.

“ Do you always act without thinking?” he asked, a chuckle still in his voice as he bent down to pick up the spoon I had dropped on the floor and clean up the small bit of rice that had fallen too. His eyes caught my feet, I had forgone any slippers or socks since they would have rubbed against the raw spots on my feet.

“So I assume you have new ballet shoes?” Vaughn asked, I turned my feet away from him, embarrassed.

“I guess you could assume that” I answered, my good mood dampened. My feet weren’t very pretty, they weren’t something I wanted to show to every guy I met. He was probably grossed out, I thought as he turned the burners on the stove down.

“Well, I’ll fix them up and then we can eat. Where is your first aid stuff?” Vaughn asked, what he said threw me off for a second. He wasn’t grossed out? I was quiet for a moment, quiet dumbfounded before I realized he was waiting for an answer.

“You really don’t have to”

“Where is your first aid stuff?” he asked again.

I sighed in defeat, “I think it’s under the bathroom sink, the bathroom is the first door on the left” I said, pointing down the hallway across the living room. Of course I was just making a guess, that was where the first aid supplies had been kept in my home in France so I was guessing it would be in the same place here too.

“Alright, get comfortable on the couch, I’ll be right back” he said. I hobbled over to the couch and sat down, self-conscious about my feet still. But he had seemed so unsurprised, like he had seen feet like mine before and I haven’t met many people who could surmise that new ballet shoes where the culprit of my raw feet. This just added to my suspicions from earlier when he had known exactly where my dance school was. I looked up as Vaughn walked back into the room with a bag labeled “first aid.” Maybe he was a dancer? I thought for a moment, but the thought was gone immediately when I remembered he had tattoos and drove a very masculine car. The thought of him in tights doing a pirouette seemed insane, I shook the thought away and watched as he sat on the coffee table in front of me and gently pulled one of my feet into his lap.

“How did you know this was from new ballet shoes?” I asked, watching as he dabbed some ointment onto the raw marks, I winced as he touched a bad spot.

“Sorry” he apologized before continuing, “well… I had a… sister once who did ballet, so…” he said, seeming to be searching for words as he went. I narrowed my eyes slightly but brushed it off.

“My step-mom has not one clue about ballet and decided to throw out my broken in shoes for nice new ones the night before I left, she is absolutely overpowering with me and ballet” I said, leaning my head against the couch and watching him wrap a white bandage around my foot from the base of my foot up to my ankle. He started working on my other foot while I continued to talk. “I mean, I started as a child with my father being the only parent I had and then this, how do you say it? Oh, gold-digging woman comes in and woos him over so now I have to deal with her pushing me into ballet so I can get famous and she can share the limelight. I don’t want to be famous, I just want to dance but as you can see I get shipped off to another state to attend a dance school where I get paired up with the most insufferable partner ever, who hates me for some unknown reason. And now my feet hurt and I have to go back there tomorrow” I said, taking a long breath when I was finished. I just noticed that he was finished with my feet and was just sitting and listening to my rant. I blushed, realizing I had just spilled out everything I had been bottling in.

“You ready to eat?” he asked, a soft smile on his features. I nodded and he stood up and went back to the kitchen, I pulled the soft blanket sitting next to me onto my lap and I sat against the arm of the couch with my feet sitting on the couch too. I bent my knees slightly and rubbed my feet gently, the ointment was soothing them already.

He came back with a plate holding rice and chicken and also a glass of water. He handed them to me and I put the water on the coffee table while I dug into the rice and chicken. As I ate he just stayed quiet and sat on the other end of the couch by my feet, just humming a short tune, his voice was very soothing.

“Thanks” I said when I was finished. Vaughn stopped humming and smiled at me, “for everything” I added, setting my plate on the coffee table and finishing my water.

“Anytime, sounded like you needed to get that off your chest” he said, looking out the window.

“You know, I’m glad I split your coffee on the plane” I said out of nowhere and Vaughn looked back at me, his laugh warming up the room. I was happy I wasn’t alone in New York with no one but a cranky dance partner and a confusing dance instructor. I loved dance but Vaughn seemed to give me a refuge away from dance, I was starting to grow accustomed to it.

“I’m not sure what to say to that one Princess” he said, using that nickname again. “I’ll put the leftovers in the fridge and then I’d better let you get to sleep” he said as he took my dishes into the kitchen then returned a few minutes later.

I watched him as he grabbed his coat off the back of the couch, “how can I get in contact with you?” I asked.

“In contact? That’s a fancy way of saying it” he said, pulling his arms through the sleeves of his jacket.

“I’m not sure how else to say it” I said, frowning at him for making fun of my limited English.

“Well, I know how to get in contact with you so don’t worry your pretty little head” he said, going over to my front door.

“That’s not the answer I was looking for” I called out as he opened the door.

Vaughn flashed me that crooked grin that seemed to have become his signature, “get some sleep, I’ll see you tomorrow Princess” he said while closing the door.

His promise made me excited, tomorrow was looking better now that I knew I had a friend in this busy city.