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I saw it on his face at the party. How lost he was. And after. God help me. I saw it, but it never registered.
He never had a mother. Never had a family. Barely had a father. And that was being generous.
The warrior, the witch, the mother, the siren.
What could I give him that I hadn’t already?
The siren, he knew well. Hell, he awakened her.
The witch drew his admiration and captured his attention. Entranced him. Enthralled his mind and his heart as he hid behind the lens of his camera.
The mother, he’d witnessed, but didn’t know.
And this mother was ready to go to war.
My cell phone rang, pulling me from my mental musings.
Please, let it be him.
I didn’t recognize the number. My heart leapt then plummeted just as quickly. Because the number was local.
He must have landed by now. Why hadn’t he texted?
I pushed away the uncertainty. There were things I had to do, and uncertainty would only slow me down.
Take the good.
“Hello?”
“Hope?”
“This is Hope.” I perched on the side of the bed. No one ever called me this early.
“This is Jaycie. From dance? I hope it’s not too early to call.”
“No, not at all.” Jaycie was a relatively new addition to the group. Maybe she needed Victoria’s phone number? “Are you looking for Victoria’s phone number?”
“Uh, no.” She paused. “I, uh, I left the group.”
“You left?”
“Yes. I didn’t agree with how Victoria handled things. Didn’t agree with the vote to begin with, actually.”
“Really?” My heart lifted at the knowledge I was not so easily dismissed by everybody.
“There are a few others who feel the same way. Sunny left as well. Before me.”
That didn’t surprise me when I really thought about it. Sunny was the oldest in the group, and the only one of all of us who ever danced professionally. She was also an excellent choreographer.
“Tilda and Isabel are still on the fence. They don’t want to give up dance, but they’re not thrilled with how things went down. Tilda and I didn’t even get a chance to vote because we couldn’t make the meeting. Which is ridiculous because we all have lives, kids, and jobs. Victoria didn’t give all that much notice. She wouldn’t accept a vote over the phone. Said it had to be anonymous. Whatever. My blood is beginning to boil just thinking about it.”
“Well, you’re not alone there,” I laughed. “It’s good to know the vote wasn’t unanimous, at least.”
I did the mental math. With ten ladies in total, at least three or four didn’t want me gone. That went a long way toward making me feel better about the amount of effort I’d expended on the group over the past ten years. If I’d been allowed to vote, which maybe I should have been, it might have been a tie.
As it was, all I had left was a binder, the routines owned by the troupe which was mine, and my contacts. I didn’t know what good they’d be to me at this point, but I wasn’t handing them over.
“I really appreciate you calling to let me know. I felt pretty bad after getting Victoria’s email.”
