Behind The Curtain

CHAPTER 2

The next morning, I was still lying in bed when the sun started to rise, not having been able to get much sleep. I kept waking up at every little noise I heard, and for most of the night, my mind was racing, trying to figure out who could’ve left that picture there. My first guess was that it was some crazed fan who broke in somehow, but I couldn’t understand how they had gotten past my alarm. As soon as ten o’clock rolled around, I phoned the alarm company, having them send someone out to change the passcode on my door, and put in a new system with a doorbell camera. I was watching the man work when my brother walked into my house, giving me a strange look as he saw the guy changing my alarms.

“Hey, Vi. What’s going on?” I didn’t feel like telling him what happened last night, knowing he would go all big brother protector on me.

“Oh, you know, just upgrading my security system.” He gave me a sceptical look, my heart pounding. I quickly changed the subject by grabbing the coffee he brought with him from his hands.

“Coffee thanks, Will. Oo, delicious.” Before he could ask me another question about the alarm story, I kept talking.

“What’re you doing here? Don’t you have work today?” He rolls his eyes and huffs.

“Yeah, I just wanted to stop here first and see how you were doing. I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever since the company grew so big.” My brother worked alongside his best friend, Grayson Salvatore, at Salvatore Security. Grayson started the company with the help of my brother, and the two now run a very successful security company together as co-CEO’s. I knew that Will’s schedule was just as tightly packed as my own, and sometimes I blamed Grayson for the dark circles under his eyes.

“When are you going to take a break, Will. You’re pushing yourself too hard. It makes me worry about you.” He laughs and ruffles my hair a little. I frown up at him, my hands reaching to stop him.

“I’m fine, I just had a long night. We were the security detail for an ambassador in town.” My eyebrows shoot up. When they started the company, contracts were scarce since nobody really knew their name, but over the past two years, they have been securing loads more exclusive contracts, each one becoming more high-profile. It was quite frankly, just as impressive as it was nerve-racking. High profile usually meant more danger, but I try to remind myself that Will has been through intensive training for self-defence, arms training, and many more things that I cannot always remember him gushing about. Sometimes he would tell me a story, and use such foreign terms and words, that I would have to stop him and ask him to explain it to me first. One thing I can say for sure is that he is probably able to kill someone with his thumb.

“Wow, look at you, Mr. Bigshot security man. How’s the weather up there in the big leagues?” He lightly shoved me, and I laughed as a slight blush crept up his cheeks. Teasing him has always been one of my favourite things to do, considering the fact that Will has never really been good at receiving compliments and praises.

“Seriously though, I want you to take a few days off so we can hang out while I am on break.” I miss the times when we would hang out till late at night, watching movies and playing games, without having to worry about work the next day.

“I will see what I can do, but right now there are a lot of contracts lined up.” His gaze dropped to the floor. “That’s actually why I came over. I need to tell you something.” Something told me I wasn’t going to like his next words, but I listen regardless.

“I am going to Italy for a while. There’s a contact who needs a personal bodyguard for a while, some sort of heiress that’s being threatened, now that she’s about to take over the company.” I didn’t say anything at first, not wanting to sound like I wasn’t happy for him. Was I bummed at him leaving the country? Yes. Was I going to stop him from living his best life? No. I wouldn’t be a supportive sister if I kept him here out of selfishness. I take a steady breath, giving myself a few seconds to think about all this, not wanting to say anything to upset my brother. Despite my slight sadness and selfishness wanting him to stay, I was immensely proud of him.

“When do you leave?” I tried not to let the slight disappointment slip into my voice.

“I still have a few weeks this side, needing to set up everything before I go. We can still hang out until then.” I nod, no longer being able to stop the smile from taking over my features, regardless of the tiny speck of sadness trying to claw its way to the surface.

“I am so proud of you, Will. Mom and dad would’ve been proud too.” We share a look, our silence speaking a thousand words. Our parents passed away in a car crash when we were both very young, leaving Will and I to be raised by our elderly neighbor, since none of our immediate family wanted to step in and help us. Nobody in my family liked our dad, and when our mother had chosen to marry him, our grandfather cut ties with them, not wanting to keep a relationship. Ever since then, the rest of the family have been a bit estranged with Will and I, but it never really bothered me, our small family being all I had ever needed. Until I lost half of that precious family.

“Thanks, Vi. That means a lot to me.” He pulls me into a tight hug, holding on for a long while. We ended up sitting on my couch, drinking our coffee, talking about anything and everything, until Will had to leave for work. When the guy finished installing the new alarm, he showed me how everything worked, and I felt a little better knowing that I had a better security system in place. Hopefully, this was going to be enough to keep the creep from coming back.

When Will left, I tried to busy myself by doing anything and everything I could not to let my thoughts wander. I did laundry, spring cleaned my entire house, rearranged my closet, and even tried some online shopping, but nothing was distracting me from thinking about that picture. I had made sure to burn that picture along with the rose in my fireplace, wanting to reduce any traces and memories of it to ashes.

But knowing that somebody was watching me, taking photos of me, it made me feel vile. It made my skin crawl knowing that they were in my house, knowing they had the ability to somehow trespass so easily sent a new wave of chills down my body. I shake my head, chastising myself internally. I have a new system now, I changed the passcode on my door, and plus, this was probably just one freak who wanted to get my attention. I was no stranger to fans, paparazzi, and investors pulling all kinds of stunts to get even a quarter of my attention, all of them wanting to either praise me or criticize me. Unfortunately, the uneasy feeling wouldn’t seem to leave my body.

It has been four days since I changed my security system, and thus far, there hasn’t been another incident. I was currently in the studio, practicing with my instructor. Samson Winthrop was the best instructor in the business, and I was grateful that he had been by my side since I started my journey. We were running through our drills, working on new choreography for the upcoming tour, not wanting to waste any time. Every show, every performance’s success depended on how hard I worked, how well I danced, and I always made sure that I knew every step like the back of my hand.

“Good work, Violet. I shall see you at the end of the week again.” Samson turned to leave the studio but lingered at the door when I made no move to join him.

“Are you coming?”

“You go on ahead, I just want to work on my footwork a bit more.” He nodded firmly, but I could see the proud look in his eyes. Samson wasn’t really one for affection, but I’ve been working with him long enough to know when he was proud. When he left, I blast the music, repeating each step. I spent another half hour going over the moves when I decided to head home. Finally, when I felt satisfied enough with my work, I decided to call it a day. I was putting on my sneakers, getting ready to leave, when my phone dinged with a new message. As soon as I read the message, my blood froze and bile rose in my throat.

‘I love watching you dance. One day you will only dance for me.’