Beauty and the Dark by Georgia le Carre

the first time Jack shocked me. I couldn’t recognize him. It was like watching a total stranger. I can still see him now. Shirtless, turning on himself, and snarling like some kind of feral animal, “Come on then. Who’s first?”
    “I was terrified. You can’t imagine how horrible it was. It wasn’t like in the movies where the bad guys attack one by one so the hero has a chance to show his fighting skills. They advanced in a group, but Jack was lightning fast. He kicked the one with the knife first. Right in the throat. Before the guy could sink to the ground he had already punched the next one on the nose. Blood sprayed out of him. It happened very fast after that. All I really remember was two more guys dropping like stones. The last one was a coward. He ran away.”
    “Wow.”
    “Yeah, he’s something else,” she murmurs.
    “You said that was the first time he surprised you. What was the second time?”
    Her eyes become suddenly veiled. Maybe even a little sad. She makes a big production of looking at her watch. “Oh dear. Is that the time? I should be going. I have a hair appointment in less than thirty minutes. Do you mind if we continue another next time?”
    “Of course not.”
    She picks up her tote bag. “Don’t bother to do any more leaflets, Sofia. Fiona will finish them later.”
    “No, it’s okay. I don’t have anything else to do until my class starts anyway.”
    She smiles. “All right then. Thanks, Sofia. See you later,” she calls as she leaves the room.
    While I finish stapling the rest of the leaflets, I speculate obsessively about what the second thing she was referring to might have been. My mind’s still on it even as I go to my classroom to prepare for my class. I open the door and all thoughts of what Lana might have been about to say disappears. Lori is waiting for me! The sight of her anxious face and unruly curls makes my heart sing.
    “Hi,” I say, grinning happily at her.
    “Hello,” she says shyly.
    “Have you come to join my singing class?”
    She nods.
    I know I must look foolish, but I just can’t stop grinning. “Fantastic. So you like singing?”
    “Only in my room.”
    I laugh. “I do my best singing in the shower.”
    She smiles.
    At that moment one of my other students comes in and immediately Lori’s face changes. She stops smiling and drops her head. For the rest of the class she does not speak a word to anyone, and when the class is over she smiles at me quickly, and slips out of the room.

Seventeen
    Sofia
    W hen I come out to the foyer I see Lena talking to Jack and my stomach does a somersault. I straighten my shoulders and walk towards them.
    My sister smiles and Jack gives me a head-to-toe look. His look makes me flush all over.
    “Hello, Sofia,” he says, his voice not full of desire like the last time we were together, but purely friendly.
    “Lori came to my class,” I blurt out.
    “There you go. She couldn’t keep away from you,” he says with a twinkle in his eyes.
    Kids from different classes and activities start pouring out of the corridor. They greet us casually by name and I experience the thrill of belonging. For the first time in my life I feel like a normal person. I’m not hiding in the castle, or being one of the whores in Valdislav’s stable.
    As they make their noisy exit through the front door, an awkward moment descends on our little group.
    “Why don’t you join us for dinner?” Lena suggests into the silence.
    Jack glances at his watch. “Where’re you guys going to?”
    “Well, we were going to Sugar. My husband’s running late so he will meet us there in about two hours,” she says.
    Jack looks sideways at me, his eyes veiled. “Sure,” he agrees.
    So we go off to Sugar and it is the strangest dinner I have ever had. The dynamics are weird. I don’t taste a thing. My sister grills Jack unsuccessfully. Then Guy comes, and he is surprisingly cold towards Jack. And Jack? He just sits there, leaning back. Cool