Oceans and Mountains Between Us Chapter 2

The director confirmed it. Iain was there, right by Sienna’s side, celebrating her victory.

I stared at the television, at the thousands of glittering diamonds sewn onto Sienna’s gown, a dress that shimmered with every triumphant breath she took. Then, I looked down and touched my own legs. Lifeless. Numb.

So, it was all a lie. The tight finances, the desperate struggle to pay my medical bills.

A sharp, painful breath hitched in my throat. I blinked back tears. “Director,” I said, my voice surprisingly steady, “could you send me the video of the competition? The one from the day I fell.”

There was a stunned silence on the other end. I had refused to watch it, refused to even speak of it. The memory alone was enough to make me shatter. But now, I had to know.

A wave of nausea washed over me as I fast-forwarded the clip, my finger hovering over the screen. There it was. The moment my world ended.

I watched it in slow motion. My turn in the air was flawless, my form perfect.

But on the ground, Iain faltered. Just for a split second. His body tensed, and the hands that were meant to catch me froze, hovering just inches from my body.

Then, the impact. A sickening crunch as I hit the stage.

The video captured his horrified gasp, the frantic way he scrambled to my side. To anyone watching, it looked like a tragic accident. No one would ever know, unless they heard the words from his own mouth, that he had let me fall.

For Sienna, he had crippled me. He had destroyed my life.

And he was the one who had ignited my dream in the first place.

I met him in college, after a Latin competition where I’d bombed, again. I was ready to quit, to hang up my shoes for good. After my final, defeated dance, I heard a single, thunderous round of applause from the empty seats. It was Iain.

Two young dreamers. One lost, the other a beacon of encouragement. He convinced me not to give up.

I put my dance shoes back on. After graduation, we met again.

But life is never that simple. Just as my career was taking off, my mother was diagnosed with a sudden, aggressive illness. The years of winning competitions had left me with a decent nest egg, but I was still short for the final, life-or-death surgery. The prize money from the next competition, just three days away, would cover it.

But instead of a check, I was met with a brick wall. I was suddenly, inexplicably blacklisted from the industry. Even my closest friends wouldn't help. After days of frantic calls, I found out why. Sienna, Iain’s ex-girlfriend, had pulled strings to shut me out.

Time was running out. My mother was fading. I swallowed my pride, my dignity, everything I was, and knelt before Sienna.

She didn’t demand I leave Iain, like some villain in a soap opera. She just gave me a long, cool look, a look that wordlessly communicated the vast, uncrossable chasm between our worlds. Satisfied by my humiliation, she made a call and my blacklisting was lifted.

But it was too late. The competition was over. My mother had missed her chance. She was gone.

I hated Sienna with a fire that consumed my soul. At night, I would clutch my mother’s old clothes and weep until I had nothing left.

After Iain and I got together, I told him the story.

He was silent for a long time.

“Are you sure it wasn't a misunderstanding?” he finally said. “Sienna can be a little spoiled, but she’s not a bad person. You shouldn’t be so prejudiced, so… jealous of her.”

I stared at him, my blood running cold.

He continued, his tone patient, as if explaining something to a child. “You two are from different worlds. Why would she target you for no reason? Maybe your performance just wasn't up to par back then. Maybe you should stop blaming her. At the end of the day, it was your failure as a daughter that led to your mother’s death.”

Iain was my rock, the person I trusted most in the world. Hearing him say it with such conviction shattered my already fragile confidence.

I started to believe him. I started to believe it was all my fault.