Out of Hiding Spotlight!

After graduating from high school early, twenty-year-old Philippe Bergeron spent the past several years lost among the stars while fishing off the New England coast. A shoulder injury ends his dream of living reclusively on the water, and he finds himself lost among the bright lights of New York City. His older brother, Henri, has asked Philippe to chaperone his seventeen-year-old niece, Sophie, on her tours of the city's legendary dance programs.

Sophie meets with professional dancer and choreographer, Dario Pereira, to prepare a routine for her college auditions. Dario’s cool perfection and immaculate style contrast with Philippe’s awkward scruffiness, but it wakes desires Philippe thought he’d left behind. When the attraction is surprisingly returned, Dario’s confidence won’t let Philippe remain invisible. Unsure but curious, Philippe relaxes his rule of isolation, and as the summer progresses, his relationship with Dario leads him to a surprising discovery of his submissive sexual tendencies and a greater sense of self-awareness.

Tragedy threatens to destroy the connections Philippe has made and forces him to retreat into the shadows of his past, far from the radiance of Dario’s love. Ultimately, he must decide if it is time to stop hiding and set himself free.

Just being teenagers.

“You’re crazy about her, aren’t you?”

Once again glad for my beard because I was sure that I was blushing to an embarrassing shade of red, I nodded. “You caught me smiling at her, huh?”

“She’s very lucky to have an uncle who cares so much.” Dario sipped his tea, seemingly a bit caught up in his own thoughts.

“Believe me, I’m just as lucky.” I had already scarfed down two cookies and was contemplating a third.

“I believe you.” He looked at me very directly, meaning his words.

Tonight Dario’s hair was what I’d call messy and boyish. It seemed that he hadn’t taken the time to gel it up into its usual tuft-thing. Honestly, he looked hot both ways, like he was a runway model for two different fashion lines, but his hair falling softly around his face like this made me want to touch it.

 “Sophie says you’re from Somerville.”

“She’s correct. But it was not the best time of my life, so I don’t talk about it a lot. Foster care was… was challenging for me.”

“You were in foster care? How’d you ever manage to get trained so well in dance? I mean, my brother spends a fortune on dance for Sophie. How’d you manage to pay for it as a foster child?” As soon as the question was out of my mouth, I regretted it. I’d been too bold. On impulse, my hand lifted to cover my overly loose lips.

Our eyes met, and I braced myself for his expected annoyance, but he surprised me. His stare was actually less prickly than usual. “Scholarships, mainly. First off, I was very good, and second, boys at ballet schools are always heavily in demand, for partnering.”

Dario wasn’t the world’s most humble man, but if he’d been meek and modest, he probably wouldn’t be where he was right now. “So what are you doing now, besides lessons with Sophie?”

I watched as Dario’s spine stiffened. He was as every bit as unwilling to share his private life as I was. “In short, I’m doing whatever it takes to make it.”

“To ‘make it’?”

“I want to end up in a top modern dance company. I don’t have enough training yet, and I cannot afford out-of-state college tuition to get it, but the only place I want to be is in New York City so I can audition for all of the notable modern companies. So I share an apartment in Harlem with a number of other dancers, and I work my ass off to pay for it. And in my free time, I take classes. Been at this since I graduated high school a few years ago.”

“So when did you graduate from high school?”

“Three years ago in June…and I’ve been working to build a name for myself here in the city ever since. I’m nearly twenty-two years old, though many people say I look younger.”

“You act much older.”

Dario smiled at me knowingly.

“Do you have any family support at all?”

In an effort to slam the door on that topic, the man shook his head hard a couple of times. “There’s just me.”

 

         

Mia Kerick is the mother of four exceptional children—all named after saints—and five nonpedigreed cats—all named after the next best thing to saints, Boston Red Sox players. Her husband of twenty years has been told by many that he has the patience of Job, but don’t ask Mia about that, as it is a sensitive subject.

Mia focuses her stories on the emotional growth of troubled men and their relationships, and she believes that sex has a place in a love story, but not until it is firmly established as a love story. As a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with romantic tales of tortured heroes (most of whom happened to strongly resemble lead vocalists of 1980s big-hair bands) and stuffed them under her mattress for safekeeping. She is thankful to Dreamspinner Press for providing her with an alternate place to stash her stories.

Mia is proud of her involvement with the Human Rights Campaign and cheers for each and every victory made in the name of marital equality. Her only major regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology.

My themes I always write about:

Sweetness. Unconventional love, tortured/damaged heroes- only love can save them.

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