Page 78 of Mafia Scars

“A grand feast combo of French and Italian food.” He looked proud of himself.

It sounded heavenly.

He set down the basket and pulled out a tartan-patterned blanket first, laying it down for us to sit on.

Luc then took my hands and ushered me to sit.

When he started setting out the food, I saw that it was indeed a heavenly feast.

There was French bread and a selection of cheeses, which included my favorites; Brie and camembert. There were slices of honey-roasted chicken and beef. Little pots of different dishes here and there that looked interesting even though I didn’t know what they were.

“Luc, you made all of this this morning?” My eyes grew wider the more I looked and saw the love and care that had gone into everything.

He nodded and gave me a satisfied smile. “Yes, doll, made the bread too.”

“You make bread?”

“Sure do.”

“You’re the perfect man, you know that?”

“As long as you think so.” He winked at me.

We tucked in, eating the truly amazing food and enjoying each other’s company.

Time was non-existent to us, and the only thing that mattered was us. Us right here and now.

I didn’t even know how it happened, but I ended up talking about dancing. But here I was doing it.

“Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake is a magical ballet that tells the story of the doomed love of Prince Siegfried and Princess Odette.”

“Really? Just looked like a bunch of swans to me. Or rather people trying their best to look and move like swans, for the most part.” Luc grinned resting back on his elbows.

I’d been sitting before him on my knees talking non-stop.

“Luc, that’s what you thought?” Incredulous and ridiculous, but I guess to a guy who didn’t exactly go to ballets, that would be what he’d think.

“Yes, so you’re saying ballets are stories, not just a dance?”

I couldn’t believe he didn’t know that. I gasped at the remark with my hand clutched to my chest. There was so much to tell. How would I begin to describe all the innovation behind creating a ballet?

“Oh, Luc, they’re all stories of all sorts. Love, hate, loss, death. Forbidden love, betrayal. Swan lake is my favorite.”

He looked intrigued, and the minute I said that, he sat up, looking on with fervent keenness to hear more.

“I gotta hear now why it’s your favorite, doll.”

I pulled in an excited breath. It wasn’t difficult for me to recapture what I loved about Swan Lake. After all, at one time I was the Swan Princess. Princess Odette.

Me.

“Swan lake is an epic love story that mixes magic, tragedy and romance to create a masterpiece.” That was it in a nutshell, but to call it a masterpiece didn’t seem like it was quite enough. It was one of the ballets that had been around forever but still held that magic that made it a legendary classic. “It’s about Prince Siegfried and the swan princess, Odette, who’d been turned into a swan along with her companions by the evil sorcerer Baron von Rothbart. Prince Siegfried met Odette one night while out hunting. He started chasing some of swans then one of them transformed into her. She told him about the spell and that it could only be broken if someone who had never loved before swore an oath of undying love to her, and promised to marry her. They fell in love very quickly so it was easy for Prince Siegfried to declare his love to Odette and promise to be loyal forever. However, on the night of the grand reception he was fooled by the sorcerer who sent his daughter Odile to trick him into thinking she was Odette. The prince asked for her hand in marriage.” I stood up remembering the moment in the piece where that happened.

Madame Bouglaise spent hours with me working on this part. She wanted to make sure I showed the right emotion.

People showed emotion in their face and body language. Sure, you could do that on stage. I could do my best to look as sad as possible, but that part would just be for me.

Emotion in dancing was expressed through movement. Different steps, different actions. They told the story in tandem with the music.