“I learned from the best,” Dani says, stepping around me, letting my hand go as she does.
Victor greets us both with a hug before we sit down.
We’ve stayed close with Victor over the last year, now that he’s our lawyer and all.
He’s taken care of the contracts for Dani’s modeling agency, now named the Holden Agency, which just had its launch party last month. She’s taken great care to make sure everyone who walks through her doors feels safe. They also offer contract reviews, so models don’t get screwed over by agents, and she personally covers therapy services for all her clients.
Today, we’re here to discuss the launch of Our Place’s second location—the house in Chicago. We’ve been back and forth to visit the house and Slater over the last year, and with his help we realized that something like Our Place would do wonders there.
When I pitched the idea to my fellow partners, they were ecstatic about it. Paris volunteered to move out there temporarily to get the ball rolling, so she’ll be doing that in just a couple of months.
“Is Bailey ready to go on tour?” Victor asks while I’m signing the contracts he handed me.
My smile is wide and full of pride. “Yep, she’s all ready.” The Legends and Icons Tour is taking off this fall and she will be traveling with them as the lead choreographer. She and I have come a long way in our relationship. It’s become easier for me to ease up on her and not breathe down her neck. She’s even met the people in my group and their families, as they’ve become important people in my life as well.
“I can’t wait to be front row with all the girls at the Baltimore stop.” Dani sighs dreamily.
“Damn, just the girls? I’m not invited?”
“Oh, you can come. You just can’t sit with us. I need space to throw ass.”
Victor chokes on his water.
“Sorry, Victor.”
Once I’ve signed the last page, Dani perks up. “Okay, last order of business. Vacation. You’re due for another one, sir.” She points her fingers at Victor. We’ve taken Tanya’s memo in her letter to heart, forcing Victor to take breaks from work and enjoy his life.
He scoffs. “Tanya was always fussing. I don’t need a vacation.”
Dani and I exchange looks, a silent conversation passing between us.
“Tell you what,” I say. “Dani and I are leaving for Japan in two weeks. If two plane tickets were to end up on your desk, surely you wouldn’t let them go to waste, would you?”
“Two?! Why two?” he balks.
“Aht aht. Don’t even try it. You’ve got a niece in Jersey who would love to go,” Dani interjects.
Victor lowers his eyelids, but Dani is unfazed.
“I’ll think about it,” he concedes.
“Great! Then that settles it.” Dani stands from her chair.
“I said I’d think about it, Ms. Jenkins, not that I decided.”
She gives him a pitying glance before skipping out of his office.
We laugh the whole way to my car, knowing we’ll be seeing Victor and his niece in two weeks.
Dani
Don’t smile. Last time he caught you on the doorbell camera cheesing he teased you for hours.
Too late. It’s been two months, and I still haven’t gotten over calling Micah’s place my own. It’s surreal, I just break out into a huge smile whenever I walk inside. This won’t be our home for too much longer, though, because we’re planning to buy something new. Something with a yard so we can finally get the dog I’ve been harassing him about lately. Deux needs a playmate.
I unpack my haul from my farmer’s market run with my mom and rush to change my clothes before I set out to meet with Veronica. I’m scrolling through my socials as I lotion up my legs when I see a post that makes me pause.
It’s a video of Nigel trying to avoid looking at the cameras as he enters a courthouse. He looks awful. Like he’s lived a total of forty years in the span of ten days. The caption details how the civil cases against Nigel keep piling up. It calls for abusers to stop being able to inflict pain on others without consequence. It alleges that the seven women who have come forward so far, which does include myself, is only the tip of the iceberg. I have no doubt that’s true.
