Chapter Twenty-Eight The Pivot
Evie stepped reluctantly through the door to the training room, with Thorn following close behind her. His hand found the small of her back as the sound of raised voices reached them, and they both paused, looking around for the source of the argument so they wouldn’t intrude.
Thorn nodded to the left, and Evie spotted Aaron.
His black tank top and grey sweatpants highlighted his broad shoulders and narrow hips as he stood in front of a punching bag.
Paula stood nearby, her blonde hair pulled into a French braid.
She wore a black sports bra and leggings that accentuated her toned, defined physique.
Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her blue eyes were narrowed as she glared at her husband.
“Paula, Beau is flying out tomorrow morning. It’s the last time I’ll see him for a year, possibly ever.” Aaron struck the punching bag a few times and glared back at her. “Are you seriously going to stand there and tell me dinner with your mother is more important than that?”
“You always have an excuse.” Paula turned and walked away, heading to the bench along the wall and picking up her water bottle. “You just hate being around my mother.”
“You’ve known his leave date for three weeks. I added it to our shared calendar.” Aaron looked like he wanted to shake her, and Evie couldn’t blame him. If the date was on their shared calendar, Paula should’ve scheduled dinner with her mother for another night.
“For Chrissake, my best friend is about to go to Iraq and put his life on the line for this country, and I’m spending his last night with him.” He slammed his fist into the punching bag. “That’s all there is to it. I’m sure Cecilia will get over her disappointment.”
“Whatever. You can tell my mom why you won’t be there.” Paula stormed toward them, and Evie and Thorn hurriedly stepped out of her path. Aaron followed, shaking his head in exasperation.
“Sorry. Excuse us,” he said as he passed. The door closed behind them, and Evie looked up at Thorn, startled by the display.
“Are they always like that?”
“They have a strange relationship.” He chuckled bemusedly as he guided her toward a large mat on the opposite side of the room from the treadmills and weight machines.
“I am a little surprised he is holding his ground. He usually just gives her what she wants.” He began to stretch, and Evie started to copy his movements.
“Whoever this Beau person is, he must be important.” He continued as he bent at the waist and touched his toes. “And Paula is clearly not a fan.”
Evie snorted. “No kidding. The saying “if looks could kill” comes to mind.” Thorn chuckled, straightening up as Cole and Nissa joined them.
“That does sum it up, although I’m not sure who would kill whom in that situation. Aaron and Paula.” He explained to Cole and Nissa, who were giving them confused looks.
“Ah.” Cole nodded, grinning. “Yeah, we just passed them. Paula looked like the stick in her ass had been shoved up a few more inches.”
“Cole.” Nissa sighed as she reprimanded him lightly. “I’d rather you not share your opinions about the other contractors until Evie has had a chance to form her own.”
Cole just laughed and started to stretch. “She’s smart, I’m sure she’s picked up that Paula isn’t exactly a warm, fuzzy person who wants to be everyone’s friend.”
Evie nodded, thoroughly enjoying Cole’s easy, relaxed personality.
“Yeah, I kind of picked up on that during the introduction meeting yesterday. She didn’t come across as someone who wanted to be besties.”
Nissa rolled her eyes and began to stretch. “She’s an excellent operative. Very professional, competent and efficient.”
“Basically, she’s a robot.” Cole snorted as he rolled his shoulders, winking at Evie, who had to mask her giggle as a cough when Nissa raised her eyebrows disapprovingly. “But yes, she is a great operative, I’ll give you that.”
“Perhaps we should get started.” Thorn interrupted smoothly, glancing at his watch pointedly. “We have a lot to go over before we even get started on actually practicing.”
“Right,” Nissa shot Cole one more pointed look, then turned, taking Evie by the hand and leading her to the center of the mat.
“We’re not going to turn you into a fighter,” she explained gently, “because that isn’t who you are, and it isn’t what will keep you safe.
You already have something better, something that we can use to help you learn to defend yourself.
You have control, focus and discipline. Ballet taught you balance, alignment, and how to move with intention instead of panic. ”
Evie nodded. As much as she would have preferred doing hip hop instead of ballet when she asked for dance lessons, she had to admit it had helped her immensely in all those areas.
She just wasn’t sure how it would help her learn to defend herself.
“So, I’m just going to pirouette and sissonne out of harm's way?”
Cole let out a low chuckle at her dry sarcasm, and even Nissa smiled, looking like she was biting the inside of her cheek to keep from joining him.
“Basically,” Thorn told her seriously. “I wouldn’t be too dismissive of using dance as a base for learning new skills. Nissa is correct, you have to be disciplined, controlled and focused to learn those moves, and they provide a great base for evasive movement.”
“I’m sure they do.” Evie ran her hand over her braid, toying with the end. “I also haven’t done ballet since I turned twelve and my boobs grew to a C-cup overnight, so I’m a little rusty.”
Thorn, far too used to Evie’s sarcastic quips to lose focus, merely shook his head in exasperation, but Cole had to close his eyes and press his lips together, his face turning red from suppressing his laughter, while Nissa bit her bottom lip and looked at the ceiling as she tried to regain control.
“Luckily, you’ve had your boobs long enough that your body has adjusted to the new centre of gravity.
” Nissa’s eyes were sparkling with amusement as she reached out, placing her hands on Evie’s shoulders and adjusting her stance slightly.
“We’re going to use that dance background to help you learn to pivot instead of blocking a strike, redirect instead of hitting back and use your opponent's force to make them miss you entirely.”
“We’re going to build on your strengths.
Thorn will show you how to anchor yourself, Cole will teach how to react under pressure, and I -” she tapped Evie’s sternum lightly.
“Will teach you how to move efficiently and with purpose. Your first lesson is that people underestimate what looks small and delicate. Let them and use it to your advantage.”
The rest of the hour was spent having Evie show them what she remembered from her ballet lessons.
Then Nissa demonstrated how those movements could be used in defensive situations, with Thorn as her partner, showing how her smaller size became an advantage against opponents who were significantly larger than she was.
“She’s a much smaller target for Thorn to hit,” Cole explained as they watched Nissa avoid Thorn’s jabs and punches.
“He has to be way more precise and anticipate where she’ll be instead of where she is.
That’s extremely difficult, because she can pivot on a dime and make you think she’s going left when she planned on going right the whole time. ”
Evie nodded, swallowing her anxiety as she watched Nissa gracefully dodge Thorn’s massive fists. “And the more she avoids him, the more frustrated he gets.”
“Exactly, and that works in her favour, but only if she stays calm, focused, and composed. She can’t match his energy or get cocky about it.
She has to let him make the mistake.” He grinned as Nissa saw an opening, grabbed Thorn’s outstretched arm, and used it to swing herself up onto his shoulders.
She wrapped her legs around his neck and leaned back, throwing off his center of balance.
Thorn hit the mat hard while Nissa rolled neatly out of his way before he landed on her.
“We’re not expecting you to do that. Don’t look so worried.” Cole nudged her playfully with his elbow as Thorn got to his feet, looking annoyed with himself after the spar.
“That’s a patented Nissa Simon move, and you don’t have the background in gymnastics that she does.”
**********
After the training was over, Nissa informed Evie that she expected her back in the training room at the same time the next day.
She grabbed her things and headed off to shower and change, her long honey-blonde ponytail swinging behind her.
Thorn kissed the top of Evie’s head as he hurried past, muttering about being late for a meeting, leaving Evie to gather her things while Cole politely waited for her.
“Hey, I’m sorry if Lana and I came across as a little familiar with you.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he fell into step beside her. “After two years of listening to Thorn, Tommy, and Nissa talk about you, we kind of feel like we already know you.”
Evie smiled and shook her head. “I actually appreciate the way you two have welcomed me. It’s made it easier for me to relax and be myself.”
“Good.” Cole’s face lit up, and Evie could see he was genuinely relieved they hadn’t put her off.
“I also need to confess something.” His expression turned rueful as he held the gym door open for her and followed her toward the elevators.
“But if you’re gonna be mad at someone, make it Tommy, because I was just doing what my boss told me to. ”
Evie let out a low chuckle as he threw Tommy under the bus, already knowing what he was about to say. “He asked you to follow me, didn’t he?”
“Yeah.” Cole glanced at her in surprise. “How did you know?”
“Because I know Tommy.” Evie was a little annoyed that he’d done it behind her back, but she’d turned down the bodyguard he’d tried to assign her multiple times.
And after what Thorn had told her that morning about the hate mail and threats that had never really stopped, she understood why Tommy had gone to those lengths.
“You’re really good at your job. I never even noticed I was being followed.”
“Ah, well.” He smiled, looking both smug and flattered. “I tend to fade into the background. Nothing really memorable about me besides my height, and with Thorn around, that doesn’t even get questioned anymore.”
Hitting the button to call the elevator, Evie chuckled. “I remember seeing you around the Security Services training floor and saying hi a few times when I visited Thorn. So, you’re not that forgettable.” She paused. “which makes me either really unobservant, or you’re really good at your job.”
“Could be a mixture of both.” Cole pointed out as the doors opened, and he let her step in first. “But yeah, I didn’t feel right keeping that from you anymore.”
“Are you still following me?” Evie asked, appreciating that he wanted to start their friendship on an open, honest note.
“Not really. Only a few times since you moved into the tower.” He shook his head and pressed the button for the contractors’ quarters, then completed the fingerprint and retinal scans.
Evie pushed the button for her apartment and did the same as the doors closed.
“But now that it’s out in the open, if you ever have to leave the tower and Thorn, Nissa, or Tommy can’t go with you, just tell me.
That way, I don’t have to be sneaky about it. ”
“You shouldn’t have to drop everything to pick up groceries with me,” Evie pointed out. “But yeah, I’ll let you know when I leave from now on.”
“It’s only until we’re all comfortable that you can defend yourself.” He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder as the doors opened on his floor. “Then you’re free to wander the city alone again.”