First Meeting

TWO YEARS AGO

Claudette Deveraux

I walk into the campus gym with my water bottle in hand. The university offers aikido lessons and my old teacher suddenly decided to take a break from teaching.

Confused as to who I'm meant to speak to I wait to catch someone's attention and eventually a little blonde girl with a pixie haircut comes my way.

"Hi, are you here for the advanced class?" she pipes up, eyeing the brochure in my hand.

"Yes, I'm here for a one on one. I'm not sure who I should be seeing. I made a booking earlier under Deveraux." I inform her. She nods, looking over to a tall guy on the other side of the room.

"You're with Kai." She says as she leads me towards him. "I'm Lauren, by the way. We're going to have a few group classes in some of the rooms and most people usually go for those. Easier to make friends and all. Are you a first year?"

"Claudette. And yes, started this trimester actually. You?", I ask.

"Claudette? Isn't that French? And I'm on my second year. How are you liking it so far?", she waves and nods at people as she passes them.

I get her confusion. I'm not sure what background my birth parents had. What I do know is I look nothing like the racial profile of a typical french girl and society hasn't progressed enough for people to not raise the question.

"My mom is french. She named me when I was adopted. I get lost a lot but I'm figuring it out."

"Oh, do you have the campus app? It made my life so much easier when I was new. I still use it sometimes, actually." She shares excitedly.

"I don't. I'll have to look it up." It would make finding my classes so much easier. I was late to my lecture the first week.

We reach my instructor and I take him in. He's much bigger up front. Tan skin that shows how much time he's spent in the sun, full kissable lips, black hair with slight curls and dark brown eyes. The smile he had a moment ago was gone and he looked at me with boredom.

Excuse the fuck out of me? Who the hell does this bitch think he is?

As offended as I was, I didn't let it show.

Lauren stepped in before our stare off became obvious and made the introductions. I don't think she even noticed.

"Kai, this is Claudette. You'll be coaching her tonight. 7 to 8:30."

He smiled and put his hand out for me to shake.

"It's a pleasure, Claudette.", he finally spoke, his voice deep. I liked the way my name rolled over his tongue.

"Lovely to meet you", I rasp out and hope Lauren and the other girl don't notice the higher pitch in my voice.

***

Half an hour in, I'm getting my ass handed to me. I realised early on that he had to interest in helping me maintain my training thus far. This prick just wanted to bash me around. Aikido isn't about the use of brute force but rather controlling an assailant by redirecting his/her energy and movement.

Kai kept asking me to attack and taking me down. This isn't how I was taught and I'd had it with him.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I yell at him, ready to take a bat to his head for toying with me.

"What do you think I'm doing?", he asks, calm and composed. His breathing is heavier but not as much as me and that ticks me off.

"You're toying with me, breaking me down and not teaching me a damn think! I didn't come here to learn how to fucking attack people! I came here because I want to able to fend them off. Something I already know how to do. I don't need you for anything more than sparring, you prick!", I've lost my cool and it took him thirty damn minutes to make me act like this. A disgrace. I'm not one to lose my temper often or even at all but after getting tossed around like rag doll and being told to do it again and again I'm pretty sure I'm warranted a temper tantrum.

"You've missed the point entirely." The way he looks at me like I'm stupid pisses me off.

"THEN EXPLAIN YOURSELF!" I'm getting tired of his riddle talk.

He sighs.

"You have the upper hand when fighting someone with no Aikido training. But when fighting someone who knows your style, you go blank. You lose. Your impenetrable defence is useless against someone like me." He walks towards me and tilts his head to the side with a frown.

"You should have disclosed what your intentions were." I spit out.

"Tell me, Claudette, how big of a control freak are you? You must hate doing things outside your comfort zone. When things don't go as planned you abort mission and wash your hands of it because its easier to blame the situation than evolve with it.

"You're also good at things so you become complacent. You have no interest in being great because you are content with your lot in life. Content in your imaginary comfort zone of mediocrity. And the saddest thing is, sweetheart, you can't even see that that is what's killing you. That is what's got you so bored of your life. That is why you can't sleep at night the minute your head hits the pillow. You're holding back your own potential because you're good at things and you don't want to go through the growing pains to be great. You're pathetic." His tone is flat while talking down to me like I'm nothing but dirt under his shoes.

What the fuck?

I don't know what to say or do. What just happened? He can't talk to me like that. He's never met me before and he doesn't know me. Who the hell does he think he is?

I want to hit him, claw his eyes out, kick his ribs in and rip his tongue out. I do none of that though. I school what I'm sure is the most scandalised expression on my face and pick up my things. I'm going to walk out of this gracefully. No way am I going to dignify this verbal assault on my character with a response. This stranger, this insignificant fuck was not going to make me sink to his level. I'm going to push this down and never think of it again.

When I'm at the door, he calls out.

"There you go again, Claudette. Incapable of passion. Suppressed and pathetic. Scared of your own abilities."

I walk out. Fuck him.