Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 95431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
“So you plan to wait for him to come back for you? What about making friends or having a boyfriend. You’re very pretty. I don’t think finding someone who’s interested will be so hard.”
“I will make friends, but I don’t want a boyfriend. I have a husband. I will not dishonor my marriage.”
“I just thought—”
“Please keep your thoughts to yourself. Good night.”
I turn to leave the kitchen. I want to go to sleep. This day has been long and confusing.
CHAPTER 20
Choosing Pointe
Symphony
I walk the halls at school, waiting for my practice hour. I need to get lost in the music. Everything has been so melancholy since my family left me.
Michael has kept to his word and calls me every day, but I still miss him and want to be with him. When I play, I feel like I’m closer to him.
I turn toward the dance rooms and breathe deeply as their music floats into the hall. The dancers are all so beautiful. I have tights and a leotard beneath my jogging suit because I love to sneak into their practice rooms after my practices.
I pass the ballet rooms and excitement fills me. The ballerinas are dancing. I’m always fascinated by how they lift on their toes.
Stopping, I watch their movements, planning to try them later. I have purchased a pair of their shoes. I have a black pair.
They spoke to me when I saw them. I slip my backpack with the shoes inside off my back and hug the bag to my chest. I believe I could move as gracefully as they do.
I’m so lost in my awe of them, I don’t notice when the instructor starts for the door. She opens it and peeks her head out. I look at her with wide eyes.
“I’m sorry. I will leave,” I murmur.
“If you are late you don’t stand there and watch. Come inside and join in.
“I do not punish my dancers for tardiness by turning them away. Your punishment will be to perform the piece as a solo for my critique. If you don’t want to be in the spotlight, you will be on time.”
“Oh, no, ma’am. I’m not one of your students.”
“Nonsense, I saw you practicing. Now come, stop wasting time. Put on your shoes and dance.”
I see arguing with her is useless, so I open my bag and take my shoes out. Stepping into the room with her, I peel off my jogging suit and then place on my pointe shoes.
When I stand and move to the center of the room, the instructor gives me a smile and starts the music. I move into position just like I’ve watched the others do countless times.
Then I close my eyes and let the music guide me. I dance through the routine I’ve watched them perform over the last week. Moving with the gracefulness I have watched the dancers use, I dance until the song comes to an end.
I end with a leap through the air I’ve been practicing, then place my arms over my head and bow my head gracefully. My chest is heaving as applause fills the air. I lift to straighten as my cheeks heat.
“Bravo, magnifique. I haven’t seen this piece performed so flawlessly in years. What is your name? Where have you been? Why do I only see you in these rooms after hours?”
“My name is Symphony. As I have told you, I am not one of your students. I am a pianist. I wanted to learn, so I have been watching and I come to practice what I have watched after my practices,” I respond.
“A pianist? Ha. And I am Mozart,” she scoffs in her French accent.
“I assure you, ma’am. I play Mozart. I am a music student, not a dancer.”
“No, no. This can’t be. You are a dancer.”
I giggle and shake my head. She looks back at me with a mix of awe, confusion, and excitement. I think that’s what I see.
“Class is dismissed. Symphony, you and I need to go see the dean of dance.”
Michael
My phone rings as I sit scowling at the screen before me. It is midnight, but I can’t sleep. I am waiting for my time to call Sim before I call it a night.
I have been irritable since leaving Symphony in Boston. I don’t know what these feelings are that I’ve begun to have concerning her. I know I’m protective of her, but this has gone beyond that.
“Hello,” I answer, feeling frustrated with myself and my thoughts.
I should be going through surveillance for my next job, but I’ve seen nothing as I sit here looking at the screen in front of me. My thoughts are far from here. I pull a hand down my face.
“Michael, it is me, Symphony. I had to call you with my good news,” Sim sings on the other side of the line.