The first week of December passed way too fast. Lost in neverending meetings and end-of-the-year reports, I hardly had time for anything else.

I did make sure to dance with Sky. We'd been going to the studio at least twice a week, making sure to practice but also having fun. Both of us needed it.

Sky was upset that Ellie had to travel home. Aiden's mood wasn't any better. The guys and I did what we could to cheer him up, but now, as Sky, Tim, Aiden, and I sat at a table in the beautiful restaurant Victor chose for our corporate Christmas dinner, I could tell Aiden was sad.

We talked to Ellie barely a few minutes ago. She was already at home, and soon my buddy would travel there as well. I kept telling him that — time did fly, especially when you had too many things to take care of.

As the waiters started to bring in the appetizers, I let my eyes roam my surroundings and smiled when they focused on Sky, chatting with my little brother.

She looked stunning in her black dress and red shoes. If it were up to me, I would ask her to leave them on while we—

"You have a beautiful roommate, junior," said Darren, who undoubtedly followed my line of vision.

I smiled. "Yeah. The girl you like looks great, too."

Darren smirked. "Oh, I know. And I may have taken your advice and made a move."

My eyebrows bunched up. "Wait, for real?"

Darren gave me a curt nod, looking in Claire's direction. "Yeah. I didn't think she'd say yes, but she did, and we went on a couple of dates. So far, so good. Let's see how it goes. I don't want to jinx it. What about you?"

"Same," I said. "We're taking baby steps and trying to make it work. We haven't told anybody, so please, don't disclose stuff before we do."

Darren winked at me. "Gotcha." I saw him take a seat next to Claire and smiled before I joined Sky, Tim, and Aiden, who already started eating.

The food was excellent, and I enjoyed talking to my colleagues way more than I thought I would. Even Aiden's mood improved. He smiled way more now and didn't look so miserable anymore.

When the dinner was over, Victor surprised all of us by saying we would play Spin The Wheel.

We gathered to the side and walked up to the wheel to spin it one by one. When it was my turn, I opened a small envelope once the wheel stopped, and saw that my prize was some excellent cognac.

"Holy shit," muttered Aiden when it was his turn to look at what prize he got.

Sky nodded at the card he was holding. "What is it?"

Aiden chuckled. "The main prize — a trip to the French Alps. "

"Lucky guy," I said, winking at him.

Shrugging, Aiden stared at the paper in his hands again. "I would be happier if Ellie and I could go there together."

***

I was still sleepy when Aiden approached me at the office the following day.

"Come with me," he said.

My friend made his way to the office kitchenette and turned around to face me.

"I talked to Ellie this morning, and we decided something. I hope you will say yes."

I frowned. "What is it?"

"It's about this thing." Aiden extended an envelope to me. "That's the prize I got, but I'm not going to use it. You have to go there in a week, and they don't let you change the date. Ellie and I think it's an excellent plan for you, Sky, and Tim. Your brother spent all dinner talking about snow, and you need to relax. So, it's yours. I don't want it to go to waste. I'd rather you enjoyed it."

"Are you sure?"

Aiden rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't offer this to you if I wasn't. So, take it. Ellie and I will be abroad anyway, and I bet you don't remember the last time you took a vacation."

"Okay, then. Thanks, man."

"Nothing to thank me for," Aiden replied with a small smile.

I reached into the envelope as soon as I could to study the information on a colorful brochure.  The place was, indeed, amazing — a snug-looking cabin in the woods, surrounded by mountains.

I couldn't stop thinking about it on my way to the studio. This week would be what Sky and I needed. I hoped we would finally get together for real and become a couple. Although we shared the bed on some nights now, Sky was still keeping her distance. I knew why she did it, but it didn't mean I wasn't dying to change the situation.

"Hey," Sky greeted me as soon as I entered the hall where she'd started the warmup routine.

I kissed her cheek and gave her a brief hug. "More Beyonce today?"

Chuckling, Sky shook her head. "It was your turn to choose music. Did you?"

"Yeah." I smiled. "But before that, I wanted to show you something."

Reaching into my jacket pocket, I pulled out the envelope and gave it to Sky.

Her face lit up when she'd read what was on the pages. "It looks fantastic. Where did you get it from?"

"Aiden gave it to me. Remember that thing he won in Spin The Wheel? Ellie and Aiden won't be able to go. Aiden wants us to travel there instead. What do you say?"

Sky beamed at me. "I'd love to."

I started to get changed into comfortable clothes to dance. Sky's phone buzzed, calling her attention. I saw her tense and hoped it wasn't her ex. The relieved smile on Sky's face told me it was someone else.

"Ava, another ex-roommate and friend of mine, is in Paris," said Sky. "She's going to stay here before going back home. She asked me if we could meet tomorrow."

"Should I worry about her being another Gia?" I asked.

Sky giggled. "No, she's a nice girl. We'll meet and have a cup of coffee. Ava is cool. I regret not having spent more time with her when I could."

"Awesome. Now, come here and let's dance."

Sky obliged, taking my hand. We started with a slow song. I held her to me and didn't miss a chance to peck her lips whenever I could.

Soon, we moved on to a faster dance we'd been practicing— a mix of Latin and contemporary.

Sky was lost in the moves and the music, getting excited each time she did it well. I was lost in her. Luckily, not too lost to miss the sound of footsteps again.

I paused the song and held a finger to my lips, making Sky frown as she stopped to catch her breath.

Once again, I opened the door of the hall, noticing it wasn't completely closed. Someone opened it a fraction to watch us — someone who wasn't supposed to be in the studio. Brigitte told me we were the only ones apart from her who had the keys.

Cursing under my breath, I checked every dance hall, looking for the intruder, and didn't see anyone. Sky was frowning when I made it back to her.

"It's not a coincidence, Sky," I said. "Some creep was here, watching us."

"Maybe it's one of those ghosts that live in old buildings," Sky replied. "Or something like in that movie,  The Phantom of The Opera. We might be dancing so well it stopped to watch us."

I rolled my eyes. "Not funny, sweetheart. There's only one creep I can think of, and I don't like it. Have you heard from that dick?"

Sky stared at me. "Wait, do you really think it's Paul?"

I snorted. "Who else? He clearly cannot leave you alone, and he turns up in unexpected places. He could have followed you to the restaurant and then here."

"Liam, don't be ridiculous. This is what stalkers do. He's a dick, but I doubt he's still interested in me — not to the point of breaking into a dance studio, at least."

"Whatever, Sky. I'm not sitting around doing nothing. If something like that happens again, you and I will go to the police."

"And say a ghost was watching us dance?"

"I really want to spank you sometimes for being so damn stubborn," I huffed.  "I'm not taking chances, Sky. Ghost or not, I'd rather someone checked how they got into the building we locked when we arrived here."

Liam was grumpy all evening after our dance practice. I knew he worried, but he could also be over-the-top. Paul wasn't like that. Sure, he was enjoying making me suffer and ruining things for me, but I doubted he would be the one to silently watch me dance with a guy. If anything, he would've made sure I knew he was there. Paul loved being the center of attention.

Then, if he wasn't there, who was? The footsteps were real. I also heard them, which was alarming enough. I didn't show my fear to Liam, who would only get more concerned.

I did think about all of it on my way to a beautiful pâtisserie where Ava and I agreed to meet.

I spotted her at the entrance straight away. Ava didn't change — she had the same dark hair and the same big, beautiful eyes. Her nails were just as nicely manicured. Ava didn't like makeup that much, but I couldn't imagine her nails without nail polish on them.

"Sky!" She beamed and rushed toward me. I hugged her, and she squeezed me tightly in return.

"You look great," I said.

Ava grinned. "So do you. You seem to love living in Paris from the little you told me in your texts."

"I do love it," I said, making my way into the café. "Let's order something first; then I'll tell you everything."

A boy behind the counter took our order — coffee and éclairs— and we sat down at one of the small round tables.

"So, are you just visiting here?" I asked Ava.

She shook her head. "I'm going back home. I'm just spending some days in Paris. I wanted to take advantage of the time on my hands and see the city once again before I had to move back. "
"I thought you'd stay till summer," I said.

Ava chuckled. "Well, I've been in France long enough. My dad misses me, and I have to think about what I'm gonna do once I'm back. I have to think about college and enroll soon but have no idea what to study. I guess my dad wants me to follow in his footsteps."

"What does he do?"

Ava smiled. "He's a trauma surgeon."

"That's cool."

"And hard," said Ava. "Not only the degree but the job itself. Well, enough about that. Tell me what I missed since you moved here."

The waiter put our drinks and desserts on the table. I took a sip of my coffee and said, "You might know that Paul and I broke up."

Ava clapped her hands. "Yeah, and thank God."

I laughed at her reaction. "You don't look sad."

"I hated his guts, Sky. And then I hated Gia's when she started to spend time with Paul's crew of sexist pigs. In fact, I moved out of the apartment when you moved to Paris."

I furrowed my brow. "For real?"

Ava nodded. "Gia and I have nothing in common. Dad could pay for a small studio for me to live alone, and I took advantage of that."

"You're independent." I smiled.

Ava shrugged. "I like having my own space. I can read without anyone bugging me."

Then, my friend went quiet and let out a deep sigh. "And I also wanted to see you before I travel and apologize to you for being a bad friend."

"What do you mean?"

Ava started to fidget with her coffee cup. "When you still dated that prick, I heard rumors. I should have told you everything, but I knew you would be mad at me. You did get mad every time I told you something about him."

"And I should have listened to you. I doubt anything you say will make me mad at you."

Ava whispered, "I hope so. There were rumors that he was sleeping around. That's why I didn't want you to date him. I secretly hoped you would dump his ass as soon as he moved to Paris. Well, that and—"

"And what?"

Ava bit her lip and said, "It was after you moved to Paris. I was getting ready to move out, but Gia was still there. Some of Paul's friends were hanging out at our place. I overheard them talking about some shit Paul was in because of a girl and a video. I don't know what he did or what video it was; I was just hoping you weren't together. In fact, I knew you weren't because Gia told me he dumped you. I guess I had to tell you everything much sooner."

I smiled. "Don't worry. I'm over him and that mess. There's someone else in my life, and he treats me right. Paul is in the past, and that's where he belongs."

My words made Ava feel relieved. We ate our éclairs and had another cup of coffee before taking a walk near the Seine and visiting some bookstores I wanted Ava to see.

It was comfortable being with her. Ava was fun and easy-going, and although regrets led people nowhere, I wished we'd met sooner and became friends before I made all those stupid choices.

When we said our goodbyes and I went home, I realized something for the first time — I felt more like me in the last months than in the previous years. I was ready to leave the past where it belonged and was looking forward to my future.