Prima - Alta Hensley Page 0,15
room.
Shit. I tried to settle my nerves as I reached up to tighten the towel around me before following him out the door. I’d had my chance at redemption for a half a second, and I’d already blown it.
Would an apology be enough?
Would I be able to talk myself out of this one?
I wasn’t used to talking my way out of things anymore. It had been a very long time since I’d had to answer to a choreographer.
Since I had to answer to anyone.
“I’m sorry,” I started instantly, wanting to get my words in first. “That should never have happened. I know I need to earn your trust and respect, as well as theirs.”
“No.” He shook his head at me, causing my heart to sink. Was it already too late? “I don’t want to hear anything about trust. I don’t really give a fuck what you did in the past as long as it doesn’t bleed into my theater. I need you to work your ass off and prove we made the right decision in investing in you.”
Huh? That wasn’t what I was expecting at all…
“When our mother was alive, Volkov Ballet was known to be an amazing theater. Our reputation was that our productions have dancers who outshine the very stars in the sky. We had the very best in the world begging to be in our company. Then she died and, a few weeks ago, our principal goes and gets pregnant. Costs are rising, dancers are getting lazier and demanding more money and more fucking time off while we are working our asses off to make sure we don’t lose the respect and reputation our mother spent her life building. I need you to help me with this. You’re an amazing dancer, though out of shape and in need of some fine tuning. I’m sure it goes without saying I don’t need any bullshit from you, but I’m not stupid enough to believe that isn’t going to happen. As long as you’re not the one to start the crap, I’m willing to cut you a break.”
“I promise—”
“Don’t bother making promises you have no idea if you’ll be able to keep. Just suck it up and take whatever the others dish out. If you can’t do that, then do us all a favor and leave.”
He waited silently as several long moments passed, neither of us making a move. Finally, I shook my head.
“I’m not leaving,” I said as my heart made the decision for me.
“Good. Then go get dressed and get that contract signed with my brother.”
I did my best to ignore the others as I headed back to the showers to get dressed. My mind spun with the fact that I was being brought on to dance with Volkov Ballet. Luckily, after Yuri’s small telling off, everyone else avoided me, too, which made me think maybe he had it right. Maybe he needed to act like a dick and to have a firm fist to control all of these diva-wannabes.
Dropping the towel onto the floor, I reached into my bag and froze when my fingers wrapped around something slimy. Withdrawing my hand and the soaking wet washcloth someone dumped my shampoo on before shoving it into my duffel, I gritted my teeth and dropped it on top of my towel. They might be too timid to face Yuri directly but evidently weren’t afraid to fuck with my belongings. It was the juvenile prank of a coward. I ignored the dampness of both the panties and leggings I pulled out of the bag, brushing off the bit of suds that had developed, and pulled both on, adding a tank before rubbing my head vigorously with another towel. Once my hair was somewhat dry, I drew a brush through it and pulled it up into a high ponytail. It would be better to completely dry it, but I didn’t want to take the time. All I wanted was to get the hell out of this room and back into air that wasn’t threatening to clog my lungs with pure hatred.
Tucking my toiletries bag back into the duffel, I zipped it and dropped down to sit on the bench. I put off leaving for another few moments by giving my feet a quick massage before slipping them into a pair of ballet flats. That menial task had me smiling again at the memory of doing the exact same thing at every rehearsal and after every performance.
The slamming of a door had