Not only is my position in the academy secured but my reputation as a professional dancer has once again been strengthened. I should be content, but my lips are too heavy to lift into a smile.
I feel dirty.
After Alice and I danced the mambo, Aurora was nowhere to be found.
I would have preferred to drive back to Paris immediately after the decision was announced, but Madame Durand insisted on celebrating our success extensively.
Now, hours later, I sink into the passenger seat of Madame Durand's minivan, and she continues to rave incessantly about our performance.
"And that final lift," she rambles once again. "No one in the hall stayed in their seat."
I reach into my jacket pocket and feel for the contract for the show, which will mean the world to Aurora. Despite the pain, she will be happy about our success, of that I am certain. After all, it is what she had wished for with all her heart.
Once I am home and can hold her in my arms, I will be able to feel happy too. No matter how rotten the game that Alice played with me today was.
Money rules everything. I've always known it, but that knowledge has reached a new level today.
If only I had a moment alone with Alice, I would have confronted her immediately. She thought she could escape me, but by Monday, that won't be possible anymore. With clenched fists, I look out into the darkness of the night.
Madame Durand chatters happily, but I'm not listening. I occasionally murmur in agreement, and that seems to be enough.
I sink deeper into my thoughts and imagine Aurora's face, which still shines despite the tears she shed today. Bittersweet yet hopeful. It feels like an eternity until we reach Paris, and then another half an hour until the car finally stops in front of my apartment building.
Madame Durand turns to me. "Congratulations, Maxime. You were amazing."
I try to force a smile. "See you at the academy on Monday."
"Come to my office at eight o'clock, and we'll discuss the next steps," she says energetically.
"Sure," I reply and peel myself out of the seat. Then I pause. "What was going on today, anyway?"
She raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
No matter how innocent she pretends to be, I can see that she knows exactly what I mean. "What did Alice's father do?"
"Now please, why so suspicious?" She huffs indignantly. "Just because he's the CEO of France 2 doesn't mean the selection wasn't fair."
Wait, what? He's the boss?
That's... beyond words.
"That you would condone something like this," I say, and in the same moment, I realize how ridiculous that sounds. Of course, she would. After all, it's about her job.
Now she reaches out her hand and pats my forearm. "That's just how business works. You better get used to it quickly."
I need to get out of here.
I forcefully swing the door open and jump out of the car. "Well then, sleep well," I say with a sarcastic tone to the boss and slam the car door shut. Then I dig the key to my apartment out of my pocket and run up to the second floor.
"I'm back," I call into the dark hallway as I enter the apartment. I waste no time taking off my shoes or closing the door. With the contract in hand, I walk into the kitchen-living room, where strangely, no lights are on. "Aurora?"
The room lies quietly before me, bathed in the diffuse light of the Parisian night.
Could she possibly be jogging now?
It's possible; I can imagine that she wanted to clear her head.
I walk back into the hallway, calling her name again and checking the shoe rack. Her sports shoes are missing. And her neon yellow multifunctional jacket is gone too.
