Free A Stormy Spring by C. C. MacKenzie

colour of honey.
    Tobin poured a two of fingers of the water of life into a couple of chunky glasses.
    ‘Who cares? It’s Saturday and you look as if you need one or four. Wanna tell me about it?’
    ‘I fucked up.’
    ‘Yeah? There’s news. Join the fucked-up-club, pal.’
    Lucas shook his head, knowing where this was going.
    ‘What happened with Sophie was not your fault.’
    Tobin gave him wide eyes and pointed at him. ‘ You know that and I know that. But try telling her that.’ He knocked back half the whisky and crossed his eyes. ‘Whoa, get that down you, my son. Here’s to women. Cheers!’
    Two hours later, listening to ‘Coldplay’ blasting out of Tobin’s iPod deck and feasting on New York’s finest pizza, Lucas felt almost human. Almost. Luckily, they’d moved onto beers after Tobin had offered cognac ‘ Never mix the grape and the grain ’ his father’s words played hazily in Lucas’s mind.
    ‘So, whatyagonnado?’ Tobin demanded.
    ‘Give her space.’
    Tobin passed mighty fine wind.
    ‘Sounds like a plan.’ He slitted his eyes as he looked at Lucas and shook his head. ‘Why does that face tell me you’re up to something dark and dastardly?’
    Lucas sucked on his beer, met his eyes.
    ‘I am going to woo her.’
    Tobin grinned. ‘Yeah? And would this wooing entail gifts of a sparkly nature, silky underwear, flowers etcetera?’
    ‘Nope. It entails my PA and a Blackberry.’
    Tobin’s shoulders shook. ‘You’re going to unleash Margo on Becca? Christ, you’re a dog, Lucas. I like that about you.’
    ‘Margo adores me.’
    ‘She’s too old for you.’
    ‘I am godfather to her youngest child,’ Lucas said in a silky voice.
    ‘I’m taking the piss. Wind your neck in, my son.’
    ‘What I mean is that she will do anything for me. Margo is a sensible woman. She will help me with Becca.’
    Baffled, Tobin simply stared.
    ‘Observe me amazed at the intricate workings of your complex mind. What’s with the Blackberry?’
    Lucas smiled. ‘Becca is resistant to technology. I need to keep in touch without seeing her and without calling her. She said nothing about email.’
    ‘I suspect Becca meant do not contact her using any form of communication in the known universe.’
    Lucas gave him a contented look feeling much better about himself and the world at large.
    It always helped to have a plan.
    ‘She has not yet met Margo.’
    Tobin gave that statement some hazy thought before he clinked his bottle with Lucas’s.
    ‘True, very true. Here’s to Becca and heaven help her.’
     

CHAPTER SIX
    ‘For the love of God, Becca. Concentrate!’
    The horrible hollow feeling in Becca’s belly wound even tighter and brought her out in a cold sweat. Justin’s handsome face was flushed with annoyance.
    When he was in one of his moods he could be difficult.
    She swallowed, bent from the hips and placed her palms flat on the floor.
    The transition in this dance was a complicated one and today it appeared her brain was refusing to co-operate with her body.
    A body that was supple, toned and flexible. It was also relentlessly trained, obedient and resilient with an endurance that would put a Special Forces commando to shame.
    And it had never let her down, except once. But she’d bounced back, stronger, harder and tougher.
    Over the years of learning her craft she’d dealt with the misery of rejection by a relentless work ethic to improve.
    She wasn’t afraid of long hours or paying her dues.
    If some said she got to where she was because of her mother, she’d pushed herself even harder to prove them wrong. Fame was a burden for the children of the famous; constantly being judged, analysed and compared, made true success harder to attain.
    Life was not fair.
    Becca understood that particular rule. She had the battle scars, emotional and physical to prove it.
    Dance was her life – it enriched her body and her mind. And if her heart was dead what did it matter? What use was an organ that