I'm Just a Nameless Side Character in a Vampire Romance Novel

Chapter 35 - The Pull Ups

After a few moments I remembered why he was here. The pull ups. My heart sank. Doubly so when I noticed how cold and distant his eyes were towards me. Instinctively my feet stopped. I knew this was coming since that meeting but actually experiencing it was another matter. We were at the barracks. This was all just a show but try telling that to your poor little heart. After a deep breath, I joined them. "Heinrick," I smiled kindly at him before turning a glare at Eclis. Two can play that game. It didn't appear to have any affect though.

"He's here to see your progress lass. Donna disappoint him will ya?" Whenever Heinrick was angry, or happy, he fell into a thicker brogue. While he wasn't smiling, the laugh lines around his eyes were. Out of the three of us he was the only one enjoying himself.

"Then, shall we?" It didn't escape my notice that the knights were currently off the field. Normally, training would be in full swing this early in the morning. Instead, they had this morning off, and we passed many of them in the halls. They were meant to see this.

Our silent walk to the gym gave me plenty of time to guess at what they were planning with this display. I very well could've fulfilled this promise in the relative safety of the palace, away from prying eyes. Instead, I had to suffer through this awkward 'we don't like each other' atmosphere. This was either a practice run for us acting coldly to each other, or this was intended to send a message to the Dominion, though what sort of message in particular still escaped me.

Once we entered the gym, my immediate problem changed. We walked to the far wall where the pull up bars were. The door had closed behind us, but half the room was windows overlooking the training fields. Scanning the fields and pews turned up nothing, though I knew the knights were skilled enough that someone like me would never spot them if they didn't want me to.

"Then Jasmine, lets see your progress." Eclis' voice was ice cold and distant. His eyes held nothing but apathy for me. My immediate reaction was to glare back at him. Alphonse was right. When I'd discussed this plan with him about Eclis treating me like all his previous Roses his first concern was that I'd struggle to handle facing rejection like this. Objectively I knew it was all pretend but seeing someone with such apathy towards you after you'd gotten to know them as a friend? My chest tightened. Be strong Jazz. You can do this.

"This is the most awkward exercise I've ever had to do." I forced a grin.

I took position under the bar, but my arms wouldn't move to grab it. "Could you like, not stare at me like that?"

"I'm looking at you like I normally do." Heinrick answered.

"Not you. Honestly, this is really uncomfortable."

"Why are you grinning if you're uncomfortable?" Once again my first reaction was to snap back. Fortunately, I kept that under control and focused instead on mimicking his mask.

"Forcing a smile is a way to trick your mind. You can force it not to focus on how uncomfortable you are, and if you're sad you can force your mood to change to." My brows came together in a glare, "And you staring like that is making me uncomfortable. I'm not a performing monkey."

"If I can't look at you, how am I supposed to see you uphold your end of the bargain?" For a moment, his mask slipped, and I saw the corner of his mouth twitch up. The pent up uneasiness began to ebb away. Right, this really is just pretend. That is still Eclis.

I changed my demeanor. My awkward grin was replaced with a teasing one. The tension I was holding in my limbs released. "I said I'd do the pull ups, I never said you were allowed to look."

I kept my teasing demeanor and didn't shy away from Eclis' eyes this time. Vaguely I wondered what this scene looked like to the knights watching. It certainly was entertaining Heinrick. He was failing spectacularly at controlling his grin.