“Callum, I’m sorry.” That was all I could manage to say. I knew what he wanted to hear. The standard run of the mill ‘I’m paying for my dying grandmother’s medical bills’ or ‘I’m putting myself through college’.
He was looking for a noble answer. I didn’t have one, though.
It was simple and unromantic.
At one point in my life I was training to be a professional dancer, and then I woke up in the hospital after a horrendous car crash. I’d broken my ankle in three places, shattered my knee, and fractured my tibia. It was a miracle I could walk right now. Dancing professionally? Never again.
The most I’d ever be able to do was what I was doing right now. Learning to swing on a pole built up other muscles and made me feel empowered again.
It was something I never thought I’d do again. Something I’d never anticipated feeling again.
“You lied to me, Mel. Right to my face.”
“If you lied about this, for all this time, what else have you lied about?”
I assumed that he didn’t actually want me to think about that and give him an answer. So I stayed silent. It only took another twenty seconds of head shaking for him to storm away from me.
And I stood stoic as I watched him go.
What could I have done? This was me. I couldn’t change that.
My heart cracked, but my head - the voice of reason - stood solid with my decision. Getting me fired up. Who was he to look at me like that? Who was he to try to change me? No one was worth changing who I was. My head was a cold-hearted bitch, put simply. But I hoped that she was leading me in the right direction.
Six years later...
“What are you up to tonight?” Emilia asked, lifting my attention from my diary.
She was fully dressed with her tote slung over her shoulder; she looked to be heading home. All the other girls had rushed out of there like their tails were on fire. I didn’t take that too personally. I felt confident that all my girls loved working here, but I also understood that to them, this was just their job. To me however, this club had become a very big part of my life.
And yet, I was rushing to get out of there as well.
I wanted to go home. Everyone would be fast asleep, but I felt comfort being in my own home, under the same roof as my family.
“I’m taking Hallie and Ava to see Disney on Ice. What about you? Any big weekend plans?” I tried to keep the excitement from my voice. We’d had tickets for what seemed like ages, the kids’ enthusiasm had begun to seep its way into me. That was my story, and I was sticking to it, but I wasn’t willing to confess to the perky twenty-two-year-old in front of me that I was in fact excited for my weekend plans.
Yeah, no way was that happening.
“Sadly, no. I can’t believe it. My first weekend off in over a month and I have no plans. Oh, how far I’ve fallen.” She giggled, which reassured me that she wasn’t actually too upset.
I felt so bad that the thought of inviting her along to Disney on Ice with us floated through my mind. But I knew that I couldn’t, not only would that have been inappropriate, but I knew whatever she ended up doing would have definitely been better than being dragged out with her boss to a kids show.
Emilia had only joined the crew about two months ago. As far as I knew she didn’t have much family around her, she’d never spoken about a boyfriend and every time I saw her she was always by herself.
My girls were solid, nice girls, we were a family atWith The Melodybut I wasn’t naive. I’d been there and done that, and unfortunately no matter how much of a family we were, I knew there were still cliques amongst the staff. I had just hoped that someone would’ve stepped forward by now and have taken Emilia under their wing.
She was new in town from what she’d told me, and she hadn’t been dancing very long. She wasn’t our youngest dancer, but I still felt that a mentor would’ve been good for her. Something that I’d have to talk to Frankie about on Monday.
The thought actually made me wish that I could’ve been her mentor. Back in the day, I would’ve been all over that shit. But I was her boss. It was a different kind of support that I offered now.
“Would you mind coming in early on Monday?”
“Oh. Did I do something wrong?”
“No, no, no.” I rushed out, panicked that I’d scared her. “Nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to talk to you about how things are going. Honestly, it’s pretty standard for all our new girls.”
“Okay, sure. I’m heading out now. Hope you enjoy your weekend.” She smiled as she began backing towards the door.
“Have you got a ride home?”
