Page 85 of Forbidden Dance
“So he is planning to come back here?” I ask.
“Yes, but I don’t see how he is going to have time,” Bennett says. “The filming for the bonus episodes is already set. The only variable is which girl he picks.”
“What if he doesn’t pick any?” I ask. “Would there still be episodes?”
Bennett is quiet a moment, and Danika looks down at her hands.
“What?” I say.
Bennett speaks first. “Livia, he has to choose a girl. His contract is very specific. And there are fail-safes in the show ensuring that one is chosen.”
Danika sighs. “So a girl will be chosen.”
I lean forward. “I’m sure he knows that. So he’ll try to get fired. By being the jerk the show has made him out to be.”
Everyone is quiet again.
“What do you propose we do?” Danika asks me.
“I can call him, I guess,” I say. “Talk him out of doing something rash.”
“He might do it anyway,” Bennett says. “He was pretty anxious to get back to you.”
My heart swells at this, but I won’t let him lose everything when we can find a way. “So take me out there. If I’m at the finale, watching, he won’t do it. I know he won’t.”
“Can you get away?” Danika asks. “Your father is pretty strict.”
“I’m taking the SAT on Saturday,” I say. “I can just skip out. That will make it hours to get there before anyone knows I’m gone.”
“Will he call the police?” Bennett asks.
“I’ll go over there,” Danika says. “We can talk to him together.”
“No,” I say quickly.
My father moved our entire family once to avoid our shame. I don’t know what he might do with this.
“I’ll leave them a note. They will know I left.”
“We can call them from the plane,” Bennett says. “And I’ll have someone alert law enforcement that you just went on a trip.”
“This is crazy,” Danika says. “That boy is a mess.”
“But he’s our mess,” I say. “We’ll help him.”
“I’ll send a car to your SAT site,” Bennett says. “Have Danika forward the information to my driver. We’ll get you to Blitz.”
“Thank you, Bennett,” Danika says. “And what was it that Blitz told you when he asked for the plane?”
I can hear the smile in Bennett’s voice as he says, “That he’s madly in love with the most perfect ballerina and nothing will stop him from coming back to her.”
“I thought so,” Danika says. “Thank you, love. Kiss my daughter for me.”
“With relish,” he says.
Danika cuts off the call.
I feel like all the air is out of the room. Blitz said that? About me? That he’s madly in love? I grip the sides of the chair. I want him now. I want to get to him right this moment.
