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Hayley shook her head. “I’ve always been a hard worker. And Icarus was very good at developing talent. But there was no interest in you as a person.”
Linda jotted something down. “Would you expect some kind of personal development program here at Vivez?”
“No,” Hayley said quickly. “This is a dance company. I’d be here to dance.”
I’d just want you to care,she added silently.
“Well, it looks as if Cyd was letting you do more than enough of that.” Linda said the name of Hayley’s old boss with weary familiarity. “Why did you leave?”
Because she’d had to, as surely as she’d had to join Icarus in the first place. She’d been sitting at the kitchen table on a Tuesday afternoon, staring blankly into a tepid bowl of canned chicken noodle soup, because driving home for lunch was better than spending one extra second at the theater. The rest of her day was looming in front of her, a series of tasks steadily becominginsurmountable obstacles—and then Kevin had stormed into their house, all worked up about how unappreciated he was, so certain Cyd would regret taking him for granted once they joined a theater he knew about in Columbus. Just like that, escape became a reality—and because it was Kevin’s plan, they’d never had to talk about how supporting him was a convenient way of saving herself.
“Kevin and I needed a change,” Hayley said. “We were getting burnt out.”
Linda nodded. “I don’t think the work is any easier around here.”
“I wouldn’t want it to be. But I think the culture would be better.”
“What makes you think so?”
For starters, she’d been treated with more consideration in the last three hours than she had in the last three years. Cyd Garland didn’t have armchairs in her office. She preferred to conduct meetings in the theater, even one on one, so she could look down on you from the stage.
“I think you care about people,” Hayley said.
Linda smiled. “And Cyd doesn’t?”
Hayley winced, backpedaling. “The thing about Cyd …”
Linda waved away the reply. “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I know Cyd. I even saw you and Kevin dance together a couple of times.”
Hayley sat back, surprised. “At Icarus?”
“Yep. I try to steal as many good ideas as possible.”
Hayley laughed. “What’d you bring back with you?”
“The café, for one thing,” Linda said. “What’d you call it?”
“The Menagerie.” Hayley felt embarrassed just saying the name.
“The Menagerie, right. Why’d she call it that, do you think?”
Hayley had wondered that herself, with every shift she’d spent bartending at the café that also served as a waiting area forIcarus patrons. Had Cyd meant to evoke thoughts of caged animals?
“I wouldn’t be surprised if she just liked the sound of it,” Hayley said.
Linda laughed. “I’ll bet you’re right. At any rate, having a place where people can get food and drink before the show is a stroke of genius. We get paying customers who come in for a drink and never see the show.”
“How’d you name your café?” Hayley asked.
“Adagio?” Linda winked. “I liked the sound of it.” They laughed. “And a slow tempo is appropriate, you know, for a place where people are supposed to relax.” Linda walked the clipboard over to her desk. “I’ve just got one more question for you.”
Hayley smiled. “I’m ready.”
“What do you hope to find here that you didn’t find at Icarus?”
Peace,she thought immediately. “I’m hoping that giving my best to Vivez doesn’t mean giving everything.”
Linda perched on the edge of her desk. “Then I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.”
