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“Oh,” she replies. “So you were?Jesus, Emma. You can’t spend all your life daydreaming. You know that Faith looks up to you, right? She wants to be a dancer, just like her favorite auntie, but she can’t know that you spend more time imagining shit than dancing.”
“She wants to be a dancer on social media,” I correct. “Not on a stage, but in front of a screen in her bedroom in front of an algorithm.”
“But you are a good dancer, that’s what I’m saying,” Diana replies. “You can teach her a thing or two. I know you’ve told me you’re scared of performing in front of other people, especially friends, but you’ve got to get over that if you’re going to audition for any bird shows in the future.”
“Again, the show is called Swan Lake. It’s very famous, Diana.”
“Whatever. You get my point.”
“I haven’t danced foryears,” I mutter.
“What about your little late-night sessions here at the hospital in the empty rooms?” Diana asks.
I immediately shush her seriously and look suspiciously around at the people streaming past us.
“That’s meant to be a secret,” I whisper. “I’d get into so much trouble if management finds out I’m doing something like that. Hell, if anyone hears about it, then I’m epically screwed.”
“Well, talking aboutscrewed,” Diana says, “have you seen the hot new pediatrician?”
“Who?”
“The new doctor at the hospital. God, he’s gorgeous.”
“You’re talking about a man?” I ask.
“Yeah, a really dreamy man.”
“I don’t fraternize with doctors,” I say. “If they even bother to come down from their high horses to speak to us in the first place.”
“They’re notthatbad, Emma.”
“They are a whole different breed to us cleaners,” I reply. “I’ve learned that lesson the hard way. They’re professionally trained medics and we’re merely lowly cleaners mopping up sick on the ground beneath their feet. Stick to your station in life, that’s what I’ve learned.”
“Damn, that’s so defeatist,” Diana replies. “Anyway, you should check out the new hospital heartthrob when you get the chance. I think you’ll change your mind about doctors then.”
“Nope, I won’t, it’s the truth,” I say before heading down the hospital hallway to clean up my first puddle of sick for the day.
* * *
A few hours later, in the middle of my shift, I’m mopping an empty doctor’s office when I decide I need a little music to cheer up my day. I dart over and cheekily lock the door. I slot on my headphones and turn on the band Ravaged. They’re a rock group originally from Crystal River. They’re just a couple of years older than me, but I never managed to meet them. Crazy to think they went to the same high school and lived in the same small town, and now they’re performing packed-out stadiums all around the world whilst I’m down here reorganizing a disorganized doctor’s office.
Hell, Crystal River. What a town. It’s been a long time since I’ve thought about that place. It’s been a long time since I was there.
The last time I stepped foot in that town must’ve been that day when we were kicked out of the Penmayne family mansion all those years ago. Mom and I hopped on a bus with all our belongings and never looked back. We crisscrossed away around the country from then on for the next few years until we ended up in this city. I could never enroll in a dance class again – couldn’t afford to. I took a job at this hospital to make ends meet and to maybe save for dance school. And that’s where I’ve ended up.
As the rock music plays and I scrub the floors, I think about that horrible day Mom got fired. I think about that small town. I think about Irina and the classes that changed my life.
And, most of all, I think about that handsome boy I once pledged my heart to...
23
EMMA
I look at the time on my phone and let out a long sigh of relief. End of shift.
Finally.
I’m in the doctors’ break room - a place where other staff are barred from unless they’re cleaning like I have been doing until I’ve finished my work. I pick up my broom and bucket full of cleaning products and start to head to the door, on my way to clock out, but a doctor dressed in scrubs comes barging into the room, nearly knocking me over. He takes one single glance at me and visibly scowls.
