Page 198 of Lovers' Dance: Vol. 2

“No more. It is easy to replace those who do not have the hunger. There are many young, eager dancers always willing to take your place. I expect better,” Francois stalked across the space. “I demand it. If I do not see it from you, you will be replaced.” He gave us all his back and added. “Permanently.”

The heads of my dance corp swivelled in my direction. I did not return their incredulous looks, instead I rolled my neck around my shoulders before stretching my arms upwards.

“He’s joking.” Dante was quick to assure our people. “Let’s go over our moves from the second act.”

The uneasiness running between our dancers didn’t abate and I knew Liam’s beady eyes were searing holes into the back of my head, his reflection in the mirror was crystal clear.

The fragile blend of ballet and contemporary dance we’d created for Sinners and Saints had been problematic from the start. It lacked fluidity in some places, Dante and I knew this. Francois had whittled away at our initial choreography, his artistic imprint was much more visible in this production than the previous. Of course, he wasn’t under my employment when The Ice Queen and Princess had first been created, and his input had been blessedly light then. This production was different. I was different.

Dante glided over to have a quick word with Francois while I continued to ignore the disquiet amongst the others. It wasn’t me being mean, which I’m certain a few believed me to be; there was simply no more space in my head for any further problems. I had neither the energy nor the urge to soothe their worries. Bri and Lisa sashayed to my side, impish grins in place even though their eyes told a different story.

“I know we’re finishing around noon,” Bri began. “But do you want to head to that new Thai place for something light to eat before we come back here for tonight’s show?”

“No.” My one word reply had Lisa slinging an arm around my waist.

“What’s up with you?” she asked quietly.

I stepped away from her hold and called to Francois. “Shall we start our warm up now? Time’s getting on.”

Bri touched my elbow. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” I shrugged. “We were shit last night.”

“We weren’t that bad,” Bri argued.

“Let’s start our warm up.” They finally accepted the coolness of my tone and edged away to take up their positions.

After the warm up we went over the 2ndand 3rdact until Francois was satisfied, grudgingly satisfied going off the still present furrow between his eyebrows.

I stood at the back of the large space, eyeing my dancers as they exchanged sweaty high fives and hid their grimaces of pain. Lifting up the t-shirt I wore over my leotard, my own grimace formed. Bloated, my stomach definitely looked bloated. Or was my body beginning to show the inevitable evidence of my mistake? There was time yet, time before the UK’s 24 weeks limit passed and took all choice away. Was I trying to fool myself? How idiotic. The choice had already been made. I dropped the material and caught Dante’s eye. Someone needed to head over to where Francois and Gerrard stood. They couldn’t be heard from this distance but I knew whatever was being said neither man was happy.

Then we both noticed the bustle of Gloria’s form outside the fishbowl. She opened the glass door and gave a quick scan of the room, I tried to make myself disappear behind shoulders and backs of lean bodies as people started gathering up their discarded stuff before leaving.

“Madi,” She had spotted my ineffective ducking attempts and beckoned me over with a vigorous wave. “Oi. I can see you. You’ve got a visitor in reception, a Mr Collins.”

“Ok,” I figured dealing with a visitor could be no worse than dealing with Francois and Gerrard, plus that name sounded familiar and not in a good way. “I’ll be there shortly.”

Ten minutes later with a necessary change of clothes, I walked intoreception. Collins. Shit. It was Matt’s lawyer. Although we had never met face-to-face, the moment he spoke I recognized his voice from the few conversations we’d had. Oh no. What had I done now to deserve his presence? Mr Collins was the big gun, loaded and deadly.

“Mr Collins, this is a surprise. Is something wrong?” My wary question followed our brief handshake.

He looked around the reception, gaze lingering for a moment on Gloria’s bent head. The click clack of her keyboard was sharp and fast.

“Is there somewhere we can speak in private?” he asked.

I tried not to grimace. “Yes. Just follow me, we can talk in my office.”

The suited lawyer followed me in silence to the office while I worried about the reason for his visit. Had Matt decided to renege on our agreement concerning my building? I hadn’t broken any terms of the non-disclosure contract either. Shit. I needed to get my own divorce lawyer. Why had I left it this late in the day? Stupid, stupid, stupid. In less than a month we could legally apply for a divorce. I opened the door to my office and ushered Mr Collins in. Regarding him with blatant suspicion, I took a seat behind my cluttered desk as he also sat down.

“Is Matt suing me or something?” It was best to jump right in with lawyers. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”

Mr Collins placed his briefcase on the edge of my desk.

“We had an agreement,” I added coolly, then the nervous babble commenced. “Has he told you I plan to waive all rights to any form of settlement? This building is legally mine. I don’t want any financial restitution. Matt knows this, we, uh, talked about it not too long ago. Did he tell you that? I just want this over with as quickly as possible.”

He opened the briefcase.

“I’m not signing anythingnow,” I hastened to clarify.

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