Afraid to love

Chapter 15

"How long have you been standing there?" Nina asks,

"Long enough"

"And what do you think?"

"Looked pretty comedic"

"Comedic? It's self-defence!" Nina protests,

"I wouldn't call that self-defence. It's how to waste time in a dire situation" he grins,

"I don't like saying it, but he's right" I mumble, "it requires more technique than a pirouette, by the time you do all that the attacker can check his emails, grab a coffee and eat a donut"

Daniel laughs, but Nina's not having it. She stands up,

"Okay, so this video was bad, but we learned a bunch of self-defence moves that actually work. Didn't we Sofia?"

"Some of them worked" I agree,

"Like the one we did yesterday, that one was good. Wasn't it?" she asks.

I shrug, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. While I do appreciate these training videos, if an actual situation was to arise, I'm not sure whether they'd be helpful. Maybe some.

"I doubt it" Daniel says,

"Because you haven't seen them"

"Okay, try them on me" he says,

"Alright, good idea! The one yesterday was really good. Sofia, you'll show him. Grasp her from behind around her waist" Daniel steps into my room, before he gets to do what Nina's telling him, I shake my head,

"No. Try it on Nina"

"But you were better at it, you practiced more. Daniel, pretend you've sneaked up on her from behind and grasp her waist" Nina instructs, Daniel nods with a smirk. He steps towards me. I shake my head quickly and step back, away from him,

"No, I don't want to" I say,

"Why not?" Daniel asks, I shrug, "I know why," he smirks, "because you know your self-defence moves won't work"

"They work, but try them on Nina"

"Why?" he steps in front of me, and, though he hasn't even touched me, immediately I feel overpowered. I shake my head again, looking up at him,

"Because, no" I say, but he doesn't listen, his slow strides have backed me up against the wall, for some reason my heart is beating fast.

"Sofia, turn towards the wall so Daniel can hold you around your waist" Nina instructs once again, before I get another chance to protest, he places his large hands around me, his fingers almost long enough to fully enclose my waist,

"let's see what you have" he says, looking into my eyes. I have to fully crane my neck to keep eye contact, he's that close.

"Okay, turn towards the wall then show him the move Sofia" Nina says,

"I don't want to" I say. Why is my pulse so fast? Why are my breaths coming in short? I know he won't hurt me, so why does his proximity affect me in this way?

"Why? Isn't it good to try it on someone that hasn't seen the video?" he asks, his eyes twinkle playfully.

"No point" I try to push his fingers away,

"Why?"

"It won't work on you"

"Why not?"

"Because you weigh a hundred kilos and you're a boxer"