Leila means a young Russian ballet dancer. Yum.
They were so graceful...so beautiful. Her pencil caressed her paper, weaving the lovely forms of the ballerinas on stage... it was a rough sketch, but she planned to put it into watercolors later.
The local ballet was rehearsing for a presentation of Swan Lake and Mr. Riley had noted that the ballet was looking for an amateur artist to design the flyers. Leila had offered her services. Actually, now that she thought about it, she was glad she'd taken the job. She enjoyed watching the graceful--and sometimes not so graceful--movements of the dancers. She'd been coming for a week, now and then sketching poses and assembling possible ideas.
She was getting an idea by now who some of the ballerinas were and which of them were long-time veterans of ballet. Several of the younger girls were still a bit awkward, but the Swan Princess was magnificent...and so was the Prince. Leila smiled despite herself. He was a fine dancer, and, from what she could see of him on the stage, quite handsome. Would he be rehearsing soon? He was not on the stage now, but he had a large part...
A hand on her shoulder nearly made her jump out of her skin. She turned her head quickly to see who...
"You must be the student artist, da?"
She stared into the face that looked down at her-- blond hair, blue eyes, and a kind expression. She swallowed.
"Yes...I am...you're..."
"Sergei Vladikov. I dance the Prince's part. And your name?"
She blinked, then put out her small, white hand to shake. "Leila...Mackenzie. You're...you sound...are you Russian?"
Instead of shaking her hand, he kissed it smoothly, then looked up, answering, "Da. I am studying ballet in America for a few years. This is my first performance in the Swan Princess. I love it, but it is much work."
Leila was about to go into spasms, but tried desperately to remain calm and talk coherently. "I'll...I'll bet...uh...why aren't you...uh... rehearsing?"
He half-smiled, half-grimaced. "Sprained ankle. It is not bad. I will be fine soon."
"Oh, that's too bad...about spraining it, I mean... you were so good...better than the Swan Princess..."
His grin made Leila blush. "I have... what do Americans say...an unfair advantage, da?"
She looked at him quizzically but he did not enlighten her, only smiled esoterically.
Leila was smitten. She couldn't help it, stand it, or hide it. The smile, the Russian accent and the blue eyes were too much. She blushed rather brightly, which only seemed to make his smile brighter.
"I should go-- you look like you are rather warm."
Still smiling, he turned and walked away, leaving Leila to her artwork. She buried her face in her hands, mortified at being caught in a full blush, but the rush of puppy love was as fresh as ever. Then she frowned.
"Why is it always Russians?"
Danika was going to have a field day with this...
