Chapter Six: Taken For A Ride

	As Layla had suspected, their flight was delayed due to weather 
concerns, but fortunately only by an hour, so they didn‘t have to wait long. 

	Yuri had never been so happy to board an airplane in his life. He 
couldn’t think of a worse trip and wanted nothing more than to just go home. 
Fortunately, Layla had been assigned the seat in front of him, avoiding the 
awkwardness of sitting side-by-side on the long transatlantic flight back to 
California.

	Instead, his neighbor was a pretty Frenchwoman in her early twenties 
who kept trying to hit on him. Yuri half-heartedly flirted back with her for 
a while, but she eventually lost interest, turning her attention to the in-
flight movie. As he had already seen the movie on his trip to Paris, Yuri 
asked a passing flight attendant for a newspaper to read instead.

	He regretted it almost immediately when he flipped to a page at 
random and saw Sophie’s obituary, accompanied by a picture of her and Leon 
at one of their performances. Yuri tossed the paper aside and swore so 
loudly that even his seatmate, who was wearing headphones to listen to the 
movie, turned to stare at him.

	“Pardonnez-moi,” he said in a softer voice, reaching again for the 
scattered newspaper, which had fallen into the aisle.

	Somebody else began helping him to gather up the paper. Yuri assumed 
it was the flight attendant and glanced up to thank her when their hands 
brushed together, only to find himself staring directly into Layla’s blue 
eyes. He quickly averted his gaze from hers and muttered, “Thanks,” before 
snatching the rest of the paper from her hands and handing it to the man 
sitting in the seat across the aisle from him, who asked if he could read it 
if Yuri was no longer interested.  

	Layla seemed like she wanted to say something, but at the last 
moment, she changed her mind, turning back around in her seat to face the 
front. Yuri did the same, his fingers digging into the arms of his seat as 
he stared straight ahead.

	Apparently bored by the movie, the Frenchwoman took off her 
headphones and again turned her attention to Yuri. “Nervous flyer?”

	“What?” he asked, startled.

	“Your hands,” she said. “You look like you’re holding on for dear 
life.”

	Yuri loosened his grip. “No, I’m fine,” he said. “Just anxious to 
get home, that’s all.”

	“To your girlfriend?”

	His eyes briefly flickered back to the seat in front of him, 
wondering if Layla was listening in. Not that mattered. “Don’t have one.”

	“Really?” The woman reached over and placed her hand on his knee, 
slowly sliding it up his thigh. “A guy as good-looking as you?”

	“I’m not exactly boyfriend material,” Yuri said, sucking in a breath 
when she had reached his package and began rubbing him through the material 
of his pants.

	She smiled, pleased by his reaction. “Perfect. I’m not exactly 
girlfriend material either.” She abruptly pulled her hand away and stood up. 
“Excuse me, I’m going to freshen up some,” she said, squeezing by him to get 
to the aisle. Before heading to the lavatory, she bent down and whispered 
seductively into his ear, “If you want to have some fun, no strings 
attached, knock on the door in two minutes. I‘ll be waiting.”

	Yuri watched her sashay to the back of the cabin. Though not 
initially interested in the woman‘s offer, the uncomfortable bulge in his 
pants had other ideas. Besides, some truly no strings attached “fun” seemed 
like a good way to get his mind off Sophie and Layla for a little while. 

	It sure as hell beat sitting around and doing nothing but thinking 
of them, in any case.

	When he sensed that a couple of minutes had passed, Yuri slipped 
away and headed to the back, where he knocked on the door to the lavatory. 
It opened a few seconds later, the woman pulling him inside the tiny room. 
She locked the door behind him and immediately reached for the buckle of his 
belt to unfasten it.

	“I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist the thrill,” she said as she 
unzipped his fly.

	She had already unbuttoned her blouse before he had arrived, 
revealing the lacy black bra she wore underneath, and a matching black thong 
lay discarded in the sink.

	The lavatory was barely large enough for the two of them, 
necessitating some creative maneuvering. Yuri pushed her up against the side 
wall, gripping her butt as she hooked her long legs around his waist and 
wrapped her arms around his neck. Her lips crushed against his, and she 
moaned into his mouth as he entered her.

	“I don’t even know your name,” he realized.

	“Does it matter?” she asked. “I‘m whoever you want me to be, baby. 
Oh, yeah, a little harder…”

	Save for grunts, moans, and the occasional gasp, that was the extent 
of their conversation. The sex was fast and frantic, physically satisfying 
but devoid of any real emotion, which suited Yuri just fine. He lost himself 
in the moment, his breathing becoming more shallow as he felt himself come 
closer to his peak.

	She climaxed first, her orgasm sending Yuri over the edge. He 
shuddered in ecstasy, a word escaping from his lips which he immediately 
forgot.

	“Wow…” the woman said after Yuri had let go of her, allowing her 
feet to once again touch the floor.

	“Yeah.”

	Not knowing what else to say, Yuri turned around and pulled up his 
pants. In the mirror, he saw the woman buttoning up her blouse and tucking 
it back into her skirt.

	“So, who’s this Layla person?” she asked conversationally as she 
moved past him in the small space in order to reach her purse, which she had 
placed beside the sink.

	Yuri froze. “Layla?”

	“Oui.” The woman pulled a brush out of her purse and began restyling 
her long dark hair into a low bun at the nape of her neck. “Just now, you 
called out her name. I thought she might be an ex-girlfriend or someone like 
that.”

	“Nobody,” he lied. “She’s nobody. You didn’t tell me your name, so I 
chose one at random.”

	“Mmm.” She didn’t seem convinced.

	“We should probably get back to our seats now,” Yuri suggested, 
anxious to change the subject. “How do you want to do this? Do you want to 
leave first, or should I…?”

	“You can go first if you’d like,” she said with a dismissive wave. 
“I still need to freshen up.”

	Yuri decided to take her up on that offer, suddenly feeling very 
claustrophobic in the tight space. Without saying goodbye, he pushed open 
the door and ran right into the one person he didn’t want to see.

	“Layla.”

	The door swung close behind him, but not before Yuri was certain 
Layla had seen the woman standing inside. For what felt like an eternity, 
the two of them stood staring at each in silence until a flight attendant 
approached them.

	“Excuse me, I need to get by,” she said. “Is there a problem here?”

	“No, no problem,” Layla said as Yuri moved to let the woman pass 
through. “Sorry. We didn‘t mean to get in your way.”

	Yuri took Layla’s temporary distraction as an opportunity to slip 
away, walking faster than necessary down the aisle to reach his seat. There, 
he gathered up his belongings and searched the cabin for Jared. He found 
their manager sitting by a window on the other side of the plane, about 
three rows behind his current seat.

	“Trade places with me, Jared,” Yuri ordered, walking over to him.

	“Wha--? But I thought you didn’t like sitting by the window, Yuri. 
You always say you like being able to move around freely on long flights.”

	“Never mind. Just let me have your seat.”

	“Okay, okay, if that’s what you want,” Jared said, stuffing the book 
he was reading back into his carry-on and squeezing by his seatmate, a 
businessman who appeared to be in his early-to-mid forties. “What was your 
seat number again?” 

	Yuri pointed it out to him and took Jared’s vacated seat just before 
Layla passed by on her way back. She didn’t seem to notice him, but she did 
pause a moment when she saw Jared sitting in the seat behind her. The two of 
them exchanged a few words before Layla sat back down.

	Yuri exhaled, his body relaxing once he realized that Layla had no 
intention of confronting him about what she had just seen -- not that it was 
any of her business. They weren’t dating; he was free to screw any girl he 
wanted. In fact, why had he asked Jared to trade places anyway? He hated 
window seats.

	“This is ridiculous,” he muttered to himself, irritated that he had 
let Layla get to him. He had reacted like a guilty boyfriend, caught in the 
act with another woman.

	As the businessman seemed to have no interest in striking up a 
conversation with him, Yuri asked the flight attendant from earlier for a 
pair of headphones and settled in to rewatch the in-flight flick, pushing 
all thoughts of Layla and Sophie out of his mind as best he could for the 
rest of the trip.

*****

	It was late at night when they finally landed at Cape Mary‘s 
airport. Yuri intended to just pick up his things from baggage claim and 
leave, hoping to avoid any more awkward encounters, but as he was waiting at 
the carousel for his bags to come around, Jared and Layla walked over, the 
manager grabbing a red suitcase that passed by.

	“Long flight, huh?” Jared commented, making conversation with Yuri. 
“Paris was great, but it feels nice to finally be home.”

	“I suppose,” Yuri said, risking a glance over at Layla, who had 
wordlessly taken the spot on the other side of him.

	He might as well have been invisible for all the attention she gave 
him.

	Yuri let out a heavy sigh. Things couldn’t go on like this if they 
were going to continue to work together at Kaleido Stage. Somehow, he had to 
find a way to patch up his relationship with Layla, or else his plans for 
revenge against Kalos would be ruined.   	

	But more than that, he realized he truly regretted what he had said 
to her at Sophie’s memorial. Somewhere along the way, Layla had become his 
friend, possibly even more. He wasn’t quite sure when it had happened, and 
it was probably a bad idea --  Yuri had not been joking when he told her 
that he would only let her down again -- yet he wasn’t ready to let her go. 
He needed her, both for his plans and for himself.

	Squaring back his shoulders, Yuri turned toward her and reached for 
her arm. “Look, Layla, I know you’re mad at me, but we really need to talk. 
Let me drive you home and --”

	“Jared, you’re taking a taxi, aren’t you?” Layla asked, purposely 
ignoring him. “Mind if I share with you? I believe your place is on the way 
to mine.”

	“S-Sure, I don’t mind,” he said, obviously surprised, since she 
usually caught a ride with Yuri. “What about you, Yuri? Do you need a lift?”

	“I’m fine. I have my car,” Yuri said, yanking his final piece of 
luggage from the carousel with more force than necessary. “That’s 
everything, so if there’s nothing else, I’m heading home.”

	“Wait, I have a message from Kalos.” Jared pulled out his PDA. “You 
both have a meeting with him tomorrow morning at eight. He wants to talk 
about the Festival and discuss the preparations for the next show.”

	“Fine, whatever.” If Layla had anything to say about it, though, 
Yuri doubted he would have a role in the next show. He probably wouldn’t 
even have a job. “See you.”

	Yuri turned and began heading toward the exit to the parking lot, 
hurrying through the crowd of travelers without paying much attention to 
where he was going. In his rush to leave, he managed to crash into a woman 
speaking rather vulgar French on her cell, knocking the phone right out of 
her hands.

	“You idiot!” the woman shrieked, still speaking in French. “Watch 
where you’re going!”

	“Sorry,” he said, stopping to pick up her dropped cell and handing 
it back to her.

	It was then that Yuri realized she was the woman who he had screwed 
on the plane.

	The woman recognized him as well, the furious look on her face 
softening. “Oh, it’s you,” she said. “Pardon me, I didn’t mean to go off on 
you like that. You just caught me at a bad moment.” After quickly ending her 
call, she placed the phone back in her purse and shot him a flirtatious 
smile. “I was beginning to wonder if I had imagined our fun little encounter 
in the lavatory. Where did you disappear to? When I returned, somebody else 
had taken your place.”

	“My co-worker begged me to switch seats with him. I couldn’t 
refuse.”

	“So you weren’t trying to avoid me?”

	Instead of answering, Yuri asked, “Who was that on the phone? You 
sounded…upset.” To put it politely. 

	“Oh, my friend. He was supposed to pick me up and take me to the 
hotel where we‘re staying, but ‘something came up’ at the last second and he 
won‘t be able to make it here until tomorrow evening.” She pinched the 
bridge of her nose, shaking her head. “He always, always does this! I know 
he’s busy, but I came all this way just to see him. He could at least try to 
make an effort.”

	“So you don’t have a ride?”

	“I’ll hail a cab, I suppose.”

	“I can drive you to your hotel, if you‘d like,” he offered on 
reflex. “My car’s in the parking lot.”

	“You don’t mind?”

	Yuri grabbed her suitcase. “Follow me,” he said, leading her out to 
his red Ferrari.

	She let out a low whistle as he held open the passenger side door 
for her. “Nice car,” she commented.

	“Thanks.” After sliding into the driver’s seat, he started the 
engine and pulled out of the parking lot. “Which hotel are you staying at?” 
he asked once they were on the highway.

	She pulled a piece of paper out of her purse to check her lodging 
information. “The Hamilton Hotel. Do you know it?”

	He rubbed at his temple. Of course it would be the hotel owned by 
Layla’s father. “Yes, I’ve been there a few times before. It’s very nice.”

	The Hamilton Hotel was located in close proximity to the airport, so 
it didn‘t take long to drive her there. Yuri pulled up in front of the 
luxury hotel and put the car in neutral. “Well, here you are. This is it.” 

	“So it is.“ Instead of getting out, however, the woman reached over 
and removed his hand from the stick-shift, placing it in between her thighs. 

	Yuri cocked an eyebrow. “Don’t you have a boyfriend?” he asked, 
pulling his hand away.

	She sighed. “Technically, yes, but it’s like I told you on the plane 
-- I’m not really girlfriend material,” she said, crossing her arms over her 
chest. “Besides, I’m pissed at him for blowing me off after I flew all this 
way just to see him.” She glanced over at Yuri. “Is this the part where you 
tell me that it’s not right to cheat on my lover, no matter how much he 
ignores me?”

	“No, I have no room to judge. I‘m no saint myself.” Yuri sat back in 
the driver’s seat and exhaled. “The guy sounds like a jerk, anyway.”

	“He really is,” she agreed. “I should have broken up with him a long 
time ago.”

	“Why didn’t you?”

	She shrugged. “He’s good in the sack, and he buys me pretty things. 
I guess you could say I’m addicted. He’s bad for me, yet I can’t help coming 
back for more. In any case…” The woman unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned 
over, positioning her mouth right next to his ear. “Want to come up to my 
room?” she asked in a low, seductive voice, her hand traveling down his 
chest. “I’ll give you a proper thank you if you do...”

	Yuri would be lying if he said he wasn’t tempted. It would be easy 
to take her to bed, using her to forget his troubles as she used him to get 
back at her negligent boyfriend. Neither had any delusions of things 
becoming anything more than what they were -- a mutually beneficial 
situation -- yet glancing over at the signpost in front of the hotel, he 
found himself pulling away from her touch.

	“I…probably shouldn’t,” he said.

	“Oh.” The woman moved back to her seat. “I guess you’re right.” She 
reached for the door handle and pulled it back, stepping out of the car. “I 
do want to thank you for dropping me off, though,” she said as Yuri handed 
her the suitcase from the backseat. “You’re a life-saver.”

	Yuri let out a bitter chuckle. “At least I managed to save one life 
this weekend.”

	“Pardon?”

	He shook his head and groaned. “Never mind. Just a private joke -- 
and not a very good one at that.”

	“I never could quite understand American humor. Anyway, good night, 
and thanks again for the ride. I really appreciate it.”

	“Yeah. Good night.”

	Once the woman shut the passenger-side door and entered the hotel‘s 
lobby, Yuri took off, though in the opposite direction of his apartment 
building. 

	So late at night, there were very few cars still on the road. Yuri 
took advantage of the sparse streets, pressing down on the gas and 
increasing his speed. He pushed down on the button that rolled down the 
windows, inhaling the salty scent of the sea breeze as the harsh wind hit 
his skin and tugged at his hair.

	I wonder if Layla’s made it home yet, he thought, realizing that he 
was driving in the direction of the Hamilton estate.

	Even if she was home, he doubted he would be very welcomed. Running 
a hand through his wind-swept hair, Yuri swore. Everything was such a mess, 
and he had only himself to blame. If only he hadn’t felt so threatened by 
Leon’s talent… If only he hadn’t seduced Sophie and tricked her into leaving 
the arena… If only he hadn’t gotten drunk and taken advantage of Layla’s 
kindness toward him… If only he hadn’t said what he said…

	If only, if only, if only!

	“No, it’s that bastard’s fault,” Yuri said, tightening his grip on 
the steering wheel as he drove by Kaleido Stage. “He’s the one who made me 
this way, who turned Yuri Brass into Yuri Killian. If only Dad was still 
alive…” He swiped a hand across his burning eyes, brushing away the drops of 
moisture that leaked from them. “Dammit!”

	He shifted gears and sped up even more, increasing to more than 
thirty miles over the posted speed limit. Kaleido Stage soon became just a 
speck in his rearview mirror. Sighing, Yuri turned his attention back to the 
road in front of him and immediately stomped on the brakes when something 
darted out into the streets without warning.

	“Sophie!”

	The car swerved out of control, unable to brake so abruptly at such 
a high velocity. Yuri snapped out of his panic just in time to prevent the 
vehicle from careening into the guardrail on the side of the road. 
Fortunately, there had been no other cars on the road.

	His racing heartbeat pounded in his ears as the car finally skid to 
a stop, having executed an almost one-eighty turn from his previous 
position. The headlights shone down on the street in front of him, 
illuminating the thing that had caused Yuri to brake so suddenly.

	It was a cat -- a beautiful Siamese with light blue eyes. Upon 
seeing the speeding car coming toward her, her fear had paralyzed her, 
freezing her in place, but once she realized the danger had passed, the cat 
quickly turned tail and ran back to the side of the road from where she 
came, disappearing into the darkness.

	Yuri exhaled, relieved that it had not been a person, then began to 
laugh, though there was little joyful about the sound.

	“Oh, God, I must be losing my mind,” he muttered, resting his 
forehead against the steering wheel. “Of course it wasn’t Sophie. Sophie is 
dead. I killed her.”

	He couldn’t even place the blame Kalos, as much as he wanted to. He 
had screwed up all on his own.

	What the hell was he doing with his life?

	Maybe it wouldn’t be such a terrible thing if Layla got him fired 
from Kaleido Stage. Yuri still wanted his revenge, but not like this. He 
glanced back up at the rearview mirror, barely recognizing the haunted man 
that stared back at him in his reflection. He had become “Yuri Killian” in 
more than just name, hiding Yuri Brass so deep inside of him, he wondered if 
that part of him still existed.

	Noticing the headlights of an oncoming truck behind him, Yuri 
restarted the car and took off toward his apartment, deciding not to see 
Layla after all. When she made up her mind about something, there was little 
anybody could say or do to make her change her decision, anyway. 

	Though Yuri never believed in such concepts as “destiny” or “fate”, 
this one time, he would leave his future in her hands. 


DISCLAIMER: Kaleido Star doesn’t belong to me.

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

Sorry it’s taken so long to get this out. I got hit with inspiration for the 
second part of this chapter just before I was planning to post the last 
chapter, and with Thanksgiving and all, it took more time than I expected to 
write. Anyway, the next chapter will be the final one, and I plan to have it 
posted sometime next week, so I hope you look forward to it!