Cirque De Soleil, woooooooooooo [romance book recommendations .TXT] 📗

target” I said with a large smile on my face.
Cathy looked in their direction.
“What’s the plan?” she asked with a little giggle mixed in.
“Complete and utter mockery” I commented. “Come on guys. We better get going”
We all stood from our perch’s on the play equipment and headed out of the park. I took one more look back at them from the gate. It had appeared they were watching us as well.
I was sure these were circus performers. Why would they be in such big groups if they weren’t? And why were ten grown men hanging out in a park in the middle of autumn? Either they were a new rebellious group in the town or they were circus performers.
In the evening I decided to take a walk. Nobody fancied coming along with me, and I wasn’t one to force them out of the door so I left them alone. I walked back to my usual alone time spot, a little den that me and Amelia made about ten years ago, in times before I met Alec and the rest of Cirque De Soleil.
However, when I got there I found my spot was taken by one of the park invaders. He heard my approached as so stood as I entered the opening in a special sort of bush that provided shelter above and around us. I stood still, at the only entrance when I spotted him. He smiled in my direction, but I stopped a smile from coming on to mine, a frown took its place. He coughed awkwardly.
“Hi” he squeaked. His voice was definitely one of a man, but his eyes sparkled like a young boy. He was the one that reminded me so much of Bradley, though I knew Bradley should be at least six years older than the person that stood in front of me.
“Hello” I replied, rather coldly. I was sure he was a circus performer. I was never courteous to a circus performer.
“Do you live near here?” he asked, ignoring the bitterness in my voice.
“Yes” I replied icily.
There was a silent moment that I used to get as much bitterness into my eyes as possible.
He coughed awkwardly again. “I suppose I stole your spot”
“It’s not necessarily my spot, it’s free country” I replied.
“Urm... I was hoping to bump into an old friend here. She brought me here a long time ago” he commented.
I stayed silent. Why was he talking to me? To him I was just a stranger.
“Perhaps you’ll know her. Her name was Lamia” he said.
My breath caught. He seemed to hear it and looked at me puzzled.
“You do know her?”
I nodded.
“Can you tell me where she is?” he asked.
I shook my head from side to side. It couldn’t be Bradley. They couldn’t be back after all these years. Surely they didn’t expect me to be waiting for them.
“Why not?” he asked, his smile fading.
“She’s gone” I replied in less than a whisper.
“Gone? Gone where?”
I shrugged my shoulders, not trusting my tongue to answer in the way I wanted it to.
“When she did go?”
“About six years ago”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, but I should go. I’m going to be late” I said turning to head back out.
“Wait...” he called.
I turned back to him.
“What’s your name?”
“Alex” I lied, ducking out of the hedge.
He quickly followed. He grabbed me and hand and turned me to face him.
“My name’s Bradley” he said.
I was right. He was the Bradley that I knew. The one that was with the Cirque De Soleil that had left me behind without even saying goodbye. That meant that Alec was back in this town. The man that I thought I could trust, just to be abandoned by him.
“I really should go” I blurted out.
The people who built up my hopes and then destroyed them were back. My anger grew. My anger towards those that hurt me burned under my skin. I couldn’t believe they had the guts to come back. To come back after what they had done.
“Won’t you stay?” he asked.
“No” I growled at him. “Leave me alone”
He recoiled at my sudden ferocity.
I stormed off away from him. I could just hear him mutter under his breath as I walked away.
“Women!”
How dare they come back. How dare they. After all this time, after what they ‘d done, they still have the guts to perform here. They were mocking me. Mocking the fact he had left without me. Mocking the weakness that had been brought out in me.
As I walked back to the orphanage I came across a performer pinning up a poster. He had his back to me as he attached it. But then he turned. My breathe caught. It was Alec. My anger left me at the sight of him. He looked not even a day older then what I last saw him six years ago. It almost seemed like a memory. He caught sight of me, and I swore I saw some sort of recognition in his eyes.
I realised then, that I had stopped walking. I averted my gaze to the floor as I carried on my walk. I had to walk past him. I had to bite the side of my cheek to stop myself from running in his direction and jumping on him to give him a hug and welcome him back. I stopped next to him, almost hesitantly and looked at the poster he had just put up. He followed my gaze.
“It’s on for a month.” He said gently.
A month? He was going to be here for a whole month? Not if I can help it. After all he had done, he was staying in my town for a whole month. I looked at the poster for indication of where it was. It was in exactly the same field. I narrowed my eyes at him.
“No circus has stayed for the amount of time they have planned” I hissed.
“Yes, I heard about that. Perhaps we’ll be the lucky circus” he chuckled.
He chuckled? Did he think this was a joke? It wasn't a joke. It was a warning.
“That wasn’t a joke” I sneered.
He looked at me with a somewhat confused expression. Recognition sparked in his eyes. I stood anxiously hoping he hadn’t recognised me as Lamia.
“You don’t like circus’s?” He said it as more as a comment than a question.
He hadn’t recognised me, he just recognised what I was indicating. I slowly let out the breath I didn’t know I was actually holding.
I shook my head, “No, I don’t”
“Why not?” he asked, more like a supportive father more than anything else.
“Why do you care?” I sneered.
“I would have thought that would have been obvious” He chuckled. “I am a circus performer, and I wonder why you have grown to dislike my kind”
“Dislike is a bit of an under statement” I replied holding my head high. May as well let him know what I really think of his kind. “I hate Circus performers...” I nodded towards the poster “Especially Cirque De Soleil ones”
“Why?” he asked, in half the volume as before.
“That is none of your business” I sneered at him. I started walking but he easily kept my pace aside me.
“Tell me, why do you hate us so much? What did they do to you?” he asked.
“They?” I sneered back.
“The circus performers, what did they do to you?” he asked.
Did he really not have any idea. I stopped and faced him. He stopped, eyeing me suspiciously.
“Do you mean what did you do to me?” I hissed at him.
Now recognition sparked in his eyes again. Shock and sadness filled his face as he recognised me for who I am. He recognised the little girl that his dog knocked over.
“Lamia?” he whispered.
I gave him one brief and fixed nod and then started walking again.
He was too shocked to follow. He stood there watching my retreating figure. A mix of emotions tainted his face.
When I entered the orphanage Cathy was waiting in the common room for me.
“What’s up?” she asked on first glance at me.
Was the pain that was already resurfacing really that visible? The pain that I had felt when they had left came rushing back like a tidal wave – knocking over every single strong structure.
“They’re back” I said simply. I didn’t have to say anymore. She knew.
“The men at the park, they are part of them, aren’t they?” she asked, already knowing the answer.
I nodded, starring down at the floor.
“Well, time for revenge then” she cheered, hoping back to her seat.
“I don’t know” I whispered.
“What?” she asked.
“I want an explanation from them before we scare them away” I replied. “I want to know why they just left. And I don’t care if it hurts. In fact, I hope it does. It’d make the revenge feel even better. Tomorrow night, we’ll do it”
She nodded, complete understanding on her face.
I waited until, dark had fallen, and the carers were asleep. I snuck out as quietly as I would have if I was vandalising a circus. I walked slowly to the field. I kept stopping, ready to turn back but then starting again.
When I finally reached the field, I felt six years younger. The big top looked exactly how it did the last time I visited. The caravans were even parked in the same place. I worked my way around the maze of caravans, trying to find Alec’s, when I came across a bonfire. Sat around it was all of the performers. I hid – kneeling down – behind the closest caravan. I could hear them talking. I was expecting it to be a story telling session, but it wasn’t, it was a meeting.
“She hates us” Alec sighed with anguish in his voice.
“She has good reason to. She was an orphan, Alec, she had already gone through so much. She looked up to you like you were her father. The father she never had. She saw us all as her family and we just left her” replied Tammy.
“For her own good” growled The Great Samuel. “She was too young. We couldn’t take her”
“She would have adored to have come with us” sighed Bradley.
They didn’t know the half of how much I had wished to go with them.
“We should have brought her with us, whether she was old enough or not” said Gareth.
“Yeh, she was family. And you should leave behind family” agreed Liam.
“Did she really say she hated circus performers?” asked Gareth sulkily.
“Yes” whispered Alec.
There was a silent moment.
“Well, what do we do?” asked The Great Samuel, “How can we make this up to her?”
Alec shrugged “I don’t know if we can”
Typical of circus performers to think it was over and done. Typical of them not even try.
“Huphmm” I grunted, a bit too loud.
They had heard me.
“Who’s there?” shouted Alec.
There was no point hiding. I came here for an explanation and I wasn’t going to leave without one. I stood and walked into view.
“Lamia” gasped Alec.
“Lamia?” I couldn’t help but notice the shock in their voices.
They all looked me up and down, trying to find any hint that I was still the little girl that they had met six years ago. I hoped they found none. I would not be the weak child that they met ever again. I would not let anybody make me that weak, especially a group of circus performers.

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