Shadows of the past

"Deep breath." The smooth timbre of his voice fanned against her ears, sending a warm shiver down her spine. It's unsettling how he can tell she's anxious without her ever expressing it. Yet not a single word dared to leave her mouth.

Dominic latched onto her left hand, the heat of his palm seeping into her skin. Surprise tinged with hurt blooming in her chest. He raised it and brushed his mouth across her knuckles instead.

Adrenaline rushed into her bloodstream. Her skin felt soft to his touch, but six years had hardened it beneath the surface. 

'He broke your heart; you can't let your guard down again.'

The muscles of her shoulders tensed. Had Eleanor known he would appear this way, she would have prepared herself for the worst. Standing on the precipice of media scrutiny, Dominic's presence beside her was like a warm blanket, a sense of security wrapping around her. His touch, though familiar, felt like a betrayal, and the echoes of their shared past reverberated in the air.

The knot of her nerves twisted, scaling their way up her chest and into her throat. She was supposed to embody a powerful feminine aura with her every action carefully crafted, every movement deliberate, only to avoid cracking her long-maintained facade.

A dazzling diva like her didn't suffer from anxiety attacks,

A dazzling diva didn't seek therapy,

A dazzling diva was supposed to be perfect.

"Elea, excited to see me?" Her skin flared with the full weight of his imposing stare.

"Elea!" The use of the old nickname has her dead heart sparkling with recognition. A simple word, rough caress against her skin. How she had yearned to hear this name again! 

"Don't call me that." she retorted, pushing the feeling down though the tension in her body didn't release. "Excited might be an overstatement," The words shook through her chattering teeth. Eleanor finally spoke gathering every ounce of guts within her. 

His gaze flicked up, furrowing his dark brows and caught hers, heavy and emotionless, as if he was looking straight through her. Their exchange lasted only a minute, enough to rip her heart. But Eleanor pulled her attention from him to the media ready to devour them.

"Eleanor, any special announcement tonight?" one of the paparazzies intensified his questioning.

She could feel the heat of the spotlight, the scrutiny of the crowd, and Dominic's gaze intensifying. Her blood rushed to her ears and her chest started to heave as her breathing escalated.

"Not yet." she replied, the practiced smile not quite reaching her eyes. "Mr. Blackthorn and I are here as business partners, nothing more."

Dominic played along with her script. "Absolutely, Eleanor. Strictly business." His rich drawl left a trail of ice and fire down her body. 

"Now, if you excuse us?" He nodded, signaling Eleanor for something important that lurked behind his eyes. A path opened before them, the crowd parting like the Red Sea. Eleanor extradited herself from the shadows of the paparazzies as she walked through them with the fluidity of a swan, led by Dominic.

She followed him, seeing this as a good opportunity to escape from the shenanigans of reporters. Or she wanted to talk to him and get a proper closure? 

Eleanor's scarlet gown brushed against the polished marble floor as she walked beside Dominic. Her mind raced with various thoughts which threatened to spill over. Seeing him after all these years, memories reignited she thought she had buried deep. Dominic, on the other hand, maintained a stoic facade, his expressions unreadable. 

 They approached the towering double doors leading to a quieter, dimly lit corridor away from the glaring spotlight.

The click of her heels echoed in the corridor as he led her to a more secluded space, away from the prying lenses and the fake smiles they had to wear for the cameras. The distant hum of the crowd faded behind them, leaving an aching silence between them.

"Dominic Blackthorn?" her voice sliced through the silence. She sucked in a breath. 

Dominic halted on his steps, releasing a heavy breath. "I never meant to keep it from you, Eleanor. Circumstances were different back then. I wanted us to be just Eleanor and Dominic." He steeled his spine and turned to look at her before he closed the distance between them, backing her against the wall. Close enough that she could feel dwarfed in his presence and him towering over her.

The crack in her heart widened until she was afraid it might break into half. "Just Eleanor and Dominic?" An unexpected laugh rustled through her throat. "You hid your entire identity from me!" She charged forward and stabbed him in the middle of his chest with her index finger.

Dominic took a big step back, releasing a frustrated exhale. His voice softened, a trace of regret in his eyes. "I thought by keeping my identity hidden, I could protect you."

Her chest felt as if Dominic plunged a serrated knife through it, but her face remained devoid of emotions---a skill perfected over the years.

 "Protect me?" Eleanor's laughter was bitter. "You are right! Abandonment in the name of protection." Her voice boomed, every word came out loud and clear despite the ringing in her ears.

Eleanor closed her eyes for a second, before giving him her gazes, to find him watching her with an intensity that had become harder and harder by all these years.

"Will you forgive me?" He asked her, his voice rough, his words rolling over her in the quiet of the room.

No, she won't. She would never.

Eleanor shook her head, her eyes to the floor.

"Look at me, Elea" came the soft command from above her.

The invisible knife twisted, sinking deeper into her bones. 

"Stop!" Eleanor's voice rose, the pain cutting through the rawness of her emotions. "You lost the right to call me by this name since the day you walked away." 

Silence stretched between them, the weight of the past hanging heavy in the air. Dominic's eyes bore into hers, searching for a glimpse of the girl he used to know.

"What do you want, Dominic?" Her throat tightened from years' worth of repressed emotions, making her swallow difficult. And out of the hundred questions she wanted to ask him, this felt the safest one....