Chapter Five: The Morning After

	Yuri awoke the next morning with the worst headache of his life. It 
felt like a hundred tiny drummers were simultaneously pounding on his skull. 
It hurt even to open his eyes, the morning sun filtering in through the 
blinds of the window almost blinding. He slowly rose to a sitting position 
and looked over at the other side of the bed.

	Layla had stayed with him through the entire night. She was still 
asleep, curled up on her side, her long hair splayed over the pillows in 
golden waves. Yuri didn’t want to wake her, so he pushed the blankets aside 
and quietly started to climb out of bed.

	His plan was foiled, however, by the sound of the alarm clock going 
off, causing Yuri to let out a string of profanities as he covered his ears. 
“Who the hell set that thing?” he asked as Layla woke up and rolled over to 
shut off the alarm. He certainly hadn’t.

	“Sorry, I did,” she apologized. “I didn’t want to oversleep.”

	“It’s fine.” Groaning, Yuri sat back down on the bed and began 
rubbing at his throbbing temple.  

	“Hangover?”

	“The worst.”

	“That’s to be expected, the way you were knocking them back last 
night,” she said. Layla, on the other hand, seemed to be free of any of the 
unpleasant aftereffects of drinking.

	“Yeah.” Yuri let out another groan and laid back down. He wasn’t 
quite ready to face the world just yet. “You stayed,” he said in a soft 
voice, turning on his side to look at Layla. “You didn’t have to do that.”

	She reached over and brushed back a strand of his hair. “I didn’t 
think you should be alone last night.”

	He grimaced. “Layla, about that, I‘m so--”

	Shaking her head, Layla brought a finger to his lips. “You don’t 
need to apologize, Yuri. You didn’t make me do anything I didn’t want to 
do.”

	“That was your first time, wasn’t it?” he asked. She nodded, 
confirming his suspicions from earlier. He rolled over on his back and ran a 
hand through his messy hair. “Damn it, you really deserved better.”

	“It was…fine.”

	Yuri scoffed, knowing better than that. “You don’t need to lie to 
make me feel better.”

	“Okay, if you want the truth, it sucked,” Layla said, sitting up and 
crossing her arms over her chest. “Big time.”

	He chuckled and sat up as well. “You never were one to pull punches, 
were you?” 

	Sighing, Yuri reached up and stroked the side of Layla’s face. She 
looked lovely even first thing in the morning, like some kind of beautiful 
angel from heaven. An angel… That’s what she was, to have forgiven him for 
being so selfish the night before. She had stayed with him through one of 
his darkest hours, offering him comfort that he hardly deserved. He 
appreciated it more than words could ever express.

	Still, he hated that he had ruined what should have been a special 
moment for her.

	“Let me make it up to you, Layla,” he said, brushing his lips 
against hers and lifting up the blankets to rejoin her underneath them.

	“Yuri…”

	“Please.”

	Yuri gently pressed Layla back down to the bed, situating himself 
between her legs. Layla’s eyes went wide, but she didn’t protest when he 
kissed her once again, her lips parting to allow him entrance. She let out a 
soft moan as his mouth traveled southward, down her slender neck and 
collarbone until he reached the valley between her breasts.

	He turned his attention to the left one first, swirling his tongue 
over her areola a couple of times before flicking it across her nipple. For 
the other breast, he lightly used his thumb to trace circles around the 
nipple and felt it harden under his touch. Yuri took the erect nipple into 
his mouth, causing Layla to suck in a breath. She moaned, begging for more.

	His mouth traveled even further south, leaving a trail of wet kisses 
as Yuri moved down her flat abdomen to his final destination. Layla let out 
an audible gasp when his tongue slipped inside her, her legs spreading 
further apart in invitation. Her breathing became fast and shallow just 
before she hit her peak, upon which she shouted out his name.

	Once her orgasm subsided, Yuri pulled himself back up. He had only 
intended to focus on Layla’s pleasure to make up for the night before, but 
he had inadvertently become aroused as well. He silently cursed his lack of 
control as he looked down at a flushed Layla, who was still struggling to 
catch her breath.

	“What’s…wrong…?” she asked between gasps. “Why are you…stopping?”

	“Do you want me to continue?”

	In response to his question, Layla rolled him over on his back and 
straddled him, kissing him with a passion he had until then only felt from 
her on the stage. Yuri was taken aback by her sudden aggressiveness, but 
pleased with the turn of events, he had no reason to complain.

	“Wait,” he said, breaking apart momentarily to grab a condom from 
his stash.

	They then resumed where they had left off. Whereas the previous 
night had brought Layla nothing but pain, she responded much more positively 
the second time around, moaning and sighing with almost every touch Yuri 
gave her. Yuri enjoyed himself more as well, taking as much pleasure in 
Layla’s reactions as he did in the act itself.

	They were right in the middle of things when his cell phone on the 
bedside table started to ring, causing Yuri to swear aloud, breaking the 
mood. Sex had managed to make him mostly forget about his headache, but the 
ringing made it return with a vengeance. Though he would have rather ignored 
it in favor of Layla, he wanted the ringing to end, so he crawled back over 
to his side of the bed and answered. “Hello?”

	“Yuri, good, you’re already up,” their manager Jared said. “I just 
wanted to remind you that we’re leaving for the airport in a couple of 
hours. Make sure you’re packed and ready to go by noon.”  

	“Noon? Yeah, sure thing.”

	“Will you pass the message along to Layla as well? I tried calling 
her cell earlier, but she didn’t answer. I guess she‘s still asleep.”

	“Consider it done.“ Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Layla 
sitting back up and pulling on her robe. “Hey, wait --” he sputtered, 
forgetting for the moment that he was on the phone. He turned his attention 
back to the manager. “Thanks for calling. See you later,” Yuri said before 
quickly ending the call and turning to Layla, who was sitting on the edge of 
the bed, her back turned to him. “Is something wrong? Why are you getting 
dressed?”

	“That was Jared, wasn’t it?” she asked, avoiding his questions.

	“Yeah. He wanted to remind us that check-out is at noon.”

	“Then we should start getting ready to leave. I still need to pack.” 
She tied the belt of her robe, still not turning to face him.

	Yuri glanced over at the alarm clock. It was only about 9:30. “We 
still have some time to spare,” he pointed out. “Come back to bed, and let’s 
--”

	“Let’s forget about last night,” Layla declared in a low voice, 
interrupting him mid-sentence.

	He crawled up behind her and tugged down her sleeve so he could kiss 
her shoulder. “I’m all for that,” he said, feeling the same. If there was 
ever a day he wanted to erase from existence, yesterday was it. 

	“No, stop it.” Layla pulled the sleeve back up and rose to her feet, 
finally turning to look at him. “I mean, I don’t think we should continue 
this… Whatever this is.”

	“I don’t understand.” She had seemed pretty into it just minutes 
before. “Did I do something wrong? Did I hurt you again?” he asked, noticing 
Layla wiping away what appeared to be a tear from her cheek.

	She shook her head. “No, it’s not that. You were great. It’s just… I 
don’t think this is such a good idea, Yuri. I got caught up in the moment, 
but I don’t want to be a replacement for Sophie.”

	Yuri climbed out of bed and placed his hands on Layla‘s arms. 
“Sophie? Listen, Layla, you’ve got it all wrong. Sophie -- she didn’t…”

	He had been about to say that Sophie hadn’t meant anything to him -- 
at least, not in the way she thought -- but the last thing he wanted was for 
Layla to learn about the role he had played in Sophie’s accident.

	“Besides, I have no time for a boyfriend,” she continued, composing 
herself. “I have to remain focused on my career and Kaleido Stage. Dating 
would just be a distraction, so let’s go back to being partners only on 
stage, okay?” Without waiting for an answer, she headed to the door. “I’m 
sorry, Yuri.”

	As soon as the door closed behind her, Yuri turned and punched the 
pillow in frustration. He had made a complete and utter mess out of things. 
Things were bound to be awkward between him and Layla now, and if problems 
arose because of it, Yuri knew Kalos would favor Layla. If she said the 
word, Kalos would fire him in a heartbeat, ruining any chance of getting his 
revenge. That’s why he had made it a rule not to sleep with Layla in the 
first place.

	“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!” he swore, still punching the pillow. 
“I’m a freakin’ idiot.”

	And he was still aroused, too. Without even thinking about it, Yuri 
pulled out the pair of Sophie’s panties he had kept, inhaling her scent 
while he jerked off. It wasn’t until he had finished that he realized what 
he had done.

	“I’m the absolute lowest,” he said, staring down at his sticky hand.

	Yuri tossed the panties in the wastebasket, then fell back on the 
bed, staring up at the ceiling. For a long time, he just lay there until he 
managed to find the will to take a shower and finish packing. At about five 
minutes to noon, he headed out to the common room. Layla exited her bedroom 
at the same time. The two of them stared at each other awkwardly until Layla 
broke the ice.

	“Are you ready to go?” Her voice was cool and professional.

	“Yeah. You?”

	She nodded and picked up her large suitcase. “Well, let’s get going 
then. Jared is probably waiting for us downstairs.”

	Out of habit, he stepped forward and reached for Layla’s suitcase. 
“Here, I’ll take that,” he offered.

	She hesitated, but let him have it. “T-Thanks.”

*****

	Fifteen minutes later, Jared had finished checking them out, and the 
three of them hailed a cab to the airport, Jared taking the seat in between 
Layla and Yuri. Seemingly unaware of the somber atmosphere surrounding them, 
Jared gushed about their performance at the festival and how pleased Kalos 
would be that they had won.

	Yuri tuned out his voice by pulling out his iPod and turning up the 
volume, his head resting up against the window pane. It had unexpectedly 
begun to rain, the overcast skies covering the usually vibrant city in 
shades of dreary gray -- not that Yuri could see much through the downpour 
anyway. Still, he was doing his best not to look over at Layla, and he 
sensed she was probably doing the same.

	When they passed by the arena where the competition had been held, 
Yuri noticed a small group of people -- mostly dressed in black -- had 
gathered outside the entrance. The taxi stopped at a red light, giving Yuri 
the chance to see what was going on. From what he could tell from behind the 
rain-streaked window, they were leaving bouquets of flowers along the wall 
of the arena -- a public memorial for Sophie Oswald, whose framed enlarged 
photo he saw sitting on an easel outside the front door, protected from the 
rain by the covered walkway.

	Without thinking, Yuri tossed aside his iPod, unbuckled his 
seatbelt, and jumped out of the cab. He heard Jared asking where he was 
going before shutting the door, but he ignored the question, pulling his 
trench coat over his head and sprinting over to the arena.

	By the time he got there, the group had thinned as the mourners 
decided to go home and get out of the cold and rain. Even the girl who was 
selling flowers had begun to shut down her cart.

	“Wait!” Yuri called out to her in French, running over to her. “How 
much are those lilies?” he asked.

	“They’re free, Monsieur,” the girl replied. “The organizers of the 
International Circus Festival bought out my entire inventory for the day and 
asked me to hand them out to anybody who came by.”

	“I’ll take a dozen, then.”

	“A dozen? Okay, I’ll wrap those up for you.” The girl began 
gathering up the requested flowers. “You look familiar,” she commented as 
she wrapped a piece of cellophane around the bouquet. “Aren’t you Yuri 
Killian, who won the trapeze competition with Layla Hamilton?”

	“Yes, I am,” Yuri said, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his 
coat and glancing away. The last thing he felt like doing at the moment was 
dealing with some star-struck fan.

	“It’s nice of you to come pay your respects to Mademoiselle Oswald. 
Some of the other competitors came by earlier, but not many. Were you 
close?”

	“Something like that… I suppose.”

	“I’m so sorry for your loss. She seemed like such a wonderful 
person. I saw her and her brother perform a few times before, and she always 
had this incredible smile on her face, even when she made mistakes. You 
could tell that she truly loved to perform and make people happy. It’s such 
a shame she died so young.” 

	“Are you finished with that yet?” Yuri asked, not wanting to hear 
anymore about Sophie. “I’m kind of in a hurry.”

	“Oh, right. Just one more thing.” The girl finished preparing the 
bouquet by tying a black ribbon around the stems of the flowers and handed 
it to Yuri. “Here you go. Would you like a placard to write a message on?”

	“No, this is fine. Merci.”

	Yuri took the bouquet and headed toward the spot where Sophie’s 
picture was displayed. The last of the mourners had left, leaving him by 
himself to say a private good-bye. Taking in a deep breath, he stood in 
front of the photograph and tried to think of something to say.

	But what could he say? “I’m sorry”? Those words seemed so hollow and 
insignificant in light of what he had done to her. 

	“This is stupid,” he muttered, the hand holding the bouquet dropping 
to his side. “You don’t want my flowers or my apologies, do you? I don‘t 
know why I even came here. This was a waste of time.”

	Yet when he walked over to a nearby trash can, Yuri couldn’t bring 
himself to throw the flowers away. He once again went over to the photograph 
and placed the lilies on top of the small stack in front of it.

	“I am sorry, though,” he said in a soft voice. “I never meant for 
this to happen. I know that’s no consolation, but it’s true. I just didn’t 
want you and Leon to compete. I was afraid if you did…” Yuri shook his head. 
“No, there’s no excuse. I used you for my own selfish goals.”

	“I’m not a good person, Sophie,” he continued after a short pause. 
“I’m filled with hate and consumed by thoughts of revenge for my father‘s 
death. I could lie and tell you that what happened to you has caused me to 
turn over a new leaf and become a better person, but it probably hasn‘t. I 
still plan to get my revenge on Kalos, and if that means I have to hurt more 
people along the way…” He clenched his hands into fists at his side. “Well, 
I will just have to learn to live with the guilt.

	“But I am sorry I hurt you…and Layla. Neither of you deserved to be 
treated like that. If I could take it all back, I would, but that’s not 
possible, is it? Layla can say we should just forget about last night all 
she likes, but we both know we never will.” Yuri let out a sigh and ran a 
hand through his damp hair, thinking about Layla. “Maybe she’s wrong, you 
know? Maybe we shouldn’t try to forget about what happened. They say that 
everything happens for a reason. I’m not sure that I believe that, but what 
if it’s true? What if --”

	Yuri shook his head, realizing at that point he was rambling. He 
didn’t even know what he was saying anymore. “Anyway, I know I don’t deserve 
your forgiveness, Sophie,” he said, “but you truly did have the heart of an 
angel, and I’m sorry you and Leon never had the chance to perfect the 
Angel’s Maneuver. I would have liked to have seen it. You may have even been 
able to awaken my Angel Heart, if such a thing exists. I guess we’ll never 
know now…”

	Unable to think of anything else to say, Yuri turned to head back to 
the cab, startled when he saw a blonde-haired woman standing about a hundred 
feet away from him underneath an umbrella. “Layla?”

	“Have you finished saying your good-bye?” she asked, walking over to 
join him and pulling out a handkerchief from the pocket of her coat. “Look 
at you, Yuri, you’re soaked.” She used the handkerchief to wipe his wet 
face. “If you wanted to visit Sophie’s memorial, you could have just asked. 
You didn’t have to jump out of the taxi like that. For a moment, I thought 
you might --”

	“What?” he prodded when she stopped mid-sentence.

	“Nothing. It’s not important now,” Layla replied, averting her gaze 
from his.

	“Sorry, I just… How long have you been waiting here?”

	“Not very long. Even though I told him it would likely be delayed 
due to this weather, Jared was worried we would miss our flight, so I 
offered to go find you. The taxi is waiting for us in the parking lot.” 

	“So you didn’t hear anything?”

	“I’m not one to eavesdrop. You know that.”

	“Right,” he said, letting out a sigh of relief. He had no idea what 
he would have done if she had heard anything she shouldn‘t. “Well, I’m done 
here, so I guess we should head back to the cab. Let‘s go.” 

	“Wait.” As he started to walk away, Layla reached for his arm. 
“Yuri, are you going to be okay?”

	“Why wouldn’t I?”

	“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I just have this feeling there is 
something you‘re keeping from me.”

	“I don’t have to tell you everything,” Yuri said somewhat bitterly. 
“I’m not your boyfriend. You made it perfectly clear this morning that you 
just wanted us to be partners on stage.”

	“That doesn’t mean I can’t worry about you. We’re still friends, 
right?”

 	He scoffed. “Friends? You don’t want me as a friend, Layla. I’ll 
only let you down again. I guarantee it.”

	“I don’t care. You’re one of the few people I can actually call a 
friend, and I don’t want that to change.”

	“But it has.” Yuri turned back around to face Layla directly. “We 
can’t forget what happened here, pretend that it never happened. It’s 
impossible. We‘ll always remember.”

	“Perhaps that’s true, but --”

	“Stop it. Stop giving me these mixed signals, okay? If you want our 
relationship to remain on a professional level, fine. I can deal with that. 
If you want to date, I’m open to that idea, too, although I’m telling you 
right now that things probably won’t end well between us. But friendship… I 
don’t want to be your friend, Layla,” Yuri said, a slight ache in his chest 
when he saw the hurt in her eyes at his words. 

	“I…see.”

	She started walking toward the parking lot.

	“Layla, wait,” he called out. It seemed he had made things even 
worse between them, instead of better.

	She continued walking without taking even a glance behind her.

	“Layla!”

	Yuri jogged to catch up to her and grabbed her by the wrist, 
stopping her.

	“Let go of me, Yuri,” she said. “There’s nothing more for us to say 
to each other.” 

	He released his hold on her and followed Layla silently back to the 
cab, not even caring when he got drenched again by the rain.



DISCLAIMER: Kaleido Star doesn’t belong to me.

AUTHOR’S NOTES: Any comments and criticisms can be sent to me at 
ElysionDream@aol.com.