by Amy DeMeritt
I groan and open Symone’s thread. Its full of texts that make her look like she has a split personality. Some of them are very sweet and make me smile, but others are just crazy jealousy stuff about Jaime and telling me that I better not be messing with Jaime because she’s first in line.
Me: Thanks for all the nice things you said. And about all the other stuff – chill out, woman. I’m not messing with Jaime and I never will be.
Symone: Hey, baby. I don’t like the way you look at each other. You don’t look at me like that.
Me: I’m just really happy tonight and she’s a part of that happiness.
Symone: You didn’t look at me like that when we won the competition in New York.
Me: Because I was pissed off at you. Do you remember what you did while I was sleeping the day before? How far would you have gone if I hadn’t woken up and realized what was happening?
Symone: So, if I stop being so aggressive, you might look at me like that?
Me: Look at you like what? Smile at you? I smile at you all the time.
Symone: Baby, don’t play dumb with me. You two were looking at each other like you’re in love and wanted to kiss each other.
Me: Stop reading into it. We’re friends and we’ll never be more than that.
Symone: Do you like me?
Me: Sure, but sometimes you’re a pain in my ass.
Symone: I don’t mean as a friend.
Me: Why are you doing this? Why won’t you just set your sights on a new trophy?
Symone: I can’t.
Me: Why, because you can’t accept that some trophies can’t be won?
Symone: I don’t want any more trophies.
Me: I’m confused. What am I to you then?
Symone: I’ll talk to you later.
Me: Symone, wait. What’s going on? Talk to me.
Symone: It wouldn’t make a difference to talk to you about this. You’re not hooking up with anyone that doesn’t have one of your rings, right?
Me: No. And before you ask, no, I don’t have any extra rings sitting around to give Jaime or anyone else.
Symone: Ok. Have a good night.
Me: Thanks. You too.
“Symone is being weird.”
Madison turns to look at me quickly and Sam leans forward and takes my phone. I look back at her as she leans in towards Awenasa and they read the thread together. When they reach the end, and look up at me, it’s hard to read their expressions.
“Kayla, this isn’t good. If she has developed actual feelings for you, is she going to be able to work with you still?”
“She doesn’t have feelings for me. She just hates that I won’t give into her.” They shake their heads and Awenasa hands me my phone back. “She’s falling for you and may already love you.”
“What do I do? If we can’t work together, we forfeit the money and the music video. We can replace her for the Giz Anderson video, but not the R&B video. It will be such a bad blow to the rest of the group if that happens. Sara’s gotten so many new jobs because of that competition. If we forfeit, it will be bad for her career.”
“You need to talk to Symone.” I look at Sam with a little shock. “You are seriously telling me to talk to Symone? You hate that Symone is in my life.”
“You guys can’t lose that job. You and Symone need to work this out.”
“How do I work this out, Sam? I can’t give her what she wants.”
“Just text her. You always seem to figure out what needs to be said.”
Me: Are we ok?
Symone: Worried that I don’t want to talk to you anymore?
Me: Yes
Symone: Why?
Me: You’re my dance partner and I was just starting to be able to call you my friend.
Symone: We’re in a group. I’m not your dance partner. And do you really need a friend who’s a pain in your ass?
Me: We might be in a group, but I always talk about you as my partner. Because she is such a hot topic tonight – that’s how I described you to Jaime the first day I met her when she told me she remembers you. To be honest, most of my friends are a pain in my ass in one way or another.
Symone: Why do you think of me as your partner? We’ve never done a couple’s dance.
Me: Because, we work really well together. I like dancing with you and creating choreography together. I like that we seem to know what the other one is thinking. I hope this doesn’t come out weird, but I like how you feel – our bodies fit well together and flow well together. Jade and Tonya are really great dancers – but they don’t feel the same in my hands and against me. I have good chemistry with them, but not like I have with you.
Symone: Why are you telling me all of this now? You debuted your partnership with Jaime tonight. You don’t need another partner.
Me: I share a bed with four women. Why can’t I have more than one dance partner? I want you as my partner.
Symone: We’re not partners if we don’t do couple’s dances together.
Me: Then we’ll do couple’s dances.
Symone: You’re serious? You want to be my dance partner?
Me: Yes. Will you please be my partner?
Symone: I’ll think about it.
Me: Damn. I thought you’d say yes. Do you have to think about it because I’m not as experienced and don’t have any formal training?
Symone: No, you’re a fantastic dancer.
Me: Then, why do you have to think about it?
Symone: I don’t know. Just try to convince me of why I should be your partner.
I laugh hard and all of my girls look at me with small smiles.
Me: You’re going to make me beg you? Ok, fine, I’m not above it. PLEASE be my partner!! I know I’m not worthy of your level of skill and experience, but I promise to work hard so I don’t embarrass you. I’ll even wear silly matching jump suits or something with you. But nothing girly – you’re not getting me in a leotard. You can wear those and I’ll be your man in real clothes.
Symone: You’ll be my man? Baby, you’re hilarious. I’ll be your partner, but you have to do couple’s dances with me.
Me: I will. Do you have any in mind?
Symone: Yes. It’s a couple’s pole dance.
I literally choke and drop my phone, as I bend over coughing. Jaime places her arms around me and rubs my back.
“Kayla, are you ok?”
I grab my phone off the floorboard and sit up beet red. I clear my throat and try to speak, but it won’t come out. I cough again and look around.
“I was winning, but she got me. Damn.” They look confused and I quickly summarize the conversation. “She wants me to do a couple’s pole dance.”
They smile and release involuntary moans, making me blush beet red again. I put my face in my hands between my knees and they laugh. Jaime rubs my back and pulls me up.
“Tell her that won’t be good for the brand you’re trying to create. Parents will be leery about allowing their children to take dance classes from a pole dancer. You’re too much in the spotlight right now to do that.”
I smile and rush to respond to Symone with what Jaime just said.
Symone: Fine. You have valid points. I’ll pick a different event.
Me: Thank you. Ok, I have to go. We just pulled up to the restaurant. Thanks for agreeing to be my partner.
Symone: Thanks for asking and finally acknowledging that you like me in your life.
Me: I do. Have a good night.
Symone: You too. Congratulations on winning tonight. That was a painfully beautiful dance and you were a titan out there in that tux.
Me: Titan, huh? I like that.
Symone: Goodnight, baby.
Me: Goodnight.
Chapter Sixteen
I’ve had a few days off from dancing and have way too much energy to burn up, so I’m in the spare bedroom doing an intense workout to train my muscles for endurance, balance, and strength. I have my music on kind of loud to try to get into the zone and to mask the
sounds of my heavy breathing so hearing myself breathing hard can’t make me feel like I need to slow down.
I have a pull up bar installed above one of the closets that I use a lot, mostly for things it wasn’t really intended for. I currently have two acrobat straps attached to it that I have my arms resting in on my triceps and I’m slowly pulling my knees up to my face and then pushing my legs out in front of me, straightening my body so I’m lying flat in the air. This is extremely difficult and engages my entire core, thighs, and ass muscles. I slowly lower my body and repeat the exercise a few times.
With my eyes closed, I let my body hang for a few moments to catch my breath and allow my muscles to rest. I feel sweat drip down my face, down my chest, and down my abs, which spurs me along to continue my workout. Without allowing my feet to touch the floor, I pull my arms out of the straps and grab onto the pull up bar. I turn around facing the closet and lift my legs up to lock my feet between the pull up bar and the door frame. I let my body drop and I do fifty hanging sit-ups. I rest for five seconds and then do fifty twisting sit-ups.
I sit up grabbing onto the bar with both hands and pull my feet free. I take a deep breath and look down at the floor. I count to three and completely release the bar. I fall upside down, land on my hands, and hook my feet along the doorframe to balance myself. I walk out to the center of the room on my hands and slowly split my legs forwards and backwards, doing splits in the air. I finish seven reps and feel like I’m swaying too much to do anymore, so I straighten my legs above me and walk over to the wall on my hands.
I turn to face the wall and rest my toes against the wall for a little extra balance, and start doing handstand pushups. I finish thirty reps before my shoulders are burning too much to go any further. I allow myself to drop and roll to stand back up.
I wipe the sweat off my face and turn to grab my water, but immediately jump backwards about three feet in shock. Sara, Keira, Symone, and Tonya are standing just inside the room with all of my girls standing behind them. I quickly grab my phone to turn the music off.
“How long have you been standing there like creepers?” Sara laughs and smiles really big. “You were hovering like a fucking possessed person in your straps.”
“I thought you weren’t coming till tomorrow?” Sara shrugs a shoulder. “I lied. I wanted to surprise you to catch you off guard. I expected you to be in the middle of some wild family moment when we showed up. I didn’t expect you to be working out like a fucking Olympic gymnast. Are you ever normal? Can’t you just work out like regular people?”
I laugh hard and shake my head.
“Shut up and give me my water that your ass is blocking.” Sara laughs and tosses me the water bottle. “Don’t I get a hug?” Sara shakes her head. “You’re all sweaty and gross. Get your ass in the shower.”
I gulp down about half of my water and look around at the others and smile. Symone is looking at me like she wants to eat me and Keira and Tonya are wearing impressed smiles.
“Where’s Jade?” Their smiles drop and they look to Sara to answer. “Go get your shower and then we’ll talk about it.” I feel like the blood drains from my head. “Did something happen to her? Is she ok?”
“Yeah, she’s fine, but she won’t be able to get out of another project in time to help with the Giz Anderson video, so we need to figure something out.”
“She’ll be there for the other video though, right?”
“Yeah, she’ll meet us in California for that. Go get your shower. You stink.”
“Shut up. No I don’t. You’re just jealous that my six pack is better than yours and you want me to put it away.” They laugh and Sara smirks and runs her fingers through her short hair. “Get your ass in the shower.”
“Damn, you make for a rude house guest. Go away so I can wash off my awesomeness glisten.” Sara laughs hard and starts to turn to leave, repeating between bursts of laughter, “awesomeness glisten, oh shit.”
After they leave, I gulp down the rest of my water and jump in the shower. I take one of the fastest showers I’ve ever taken so my girls don’t have to be stuck entertaining alone for too long. I put on a pair of shorts and a tank top.
When I come into the living room, the couch is completely full and Awenasa is sitting in her rocking chair. I start to sit on the floor, but Awenasa stands and grabs my hand. She has me sit in the rocking chair and then sits on my lap, making me smile really big and I wrap my arms around her.
“The place is nice. I can’t believe how clean it is with you living here. It looks like a showroom apartment or something.”
“You make it sound like my bedroom at home was trashed all the time.”
“Not trashed, just cluttered with randomness.” All of my girls laugh a little and I smile at Shannon. “My baby likes a neat and clean house, so I’ve mended my cluttered habits. So, what do you want to do about Jade’s position?”
“Well, I found out last minute, or I would have tried to find a replacement. I think we just need to tweak the choreography some to make it work without her part. Either that, or one us will need to play more than one role and hope that they’ll be ok with cuts and breaks to change costumes and get into position.”
“Why don’t you just ask Jaime? She could learn the choreography quickly. That way you don’t lose anything important or make it look weird with the same faces playing multiple parts.”
They look at Madison and look like they’re seriously considering it. Well, all of them except Symone. She looks pissed. Symone slowly turns to look at me and her look slightly softens when her eyes meet mine.
“You look nice.”
Everyone looks between us and Symone’s lips curl into a big closed lip smile. Symone’s wearing a pair of army style camo capris, black low-top Converses on her feet, and a loose fit black satin tank top with zipper accents on the shoulders. It’s a really cute outfit and the green in the capris makes her beautiful green eyes look extra bright.
“Thank you.”
“Ok, that was just weird.” I look at Sara and she shakes her head and shivers. “Back to the dance, please. Is everyone ok with asking Jaime if she wants to fill in for Jade?”
No one answers. Instead, they look at Symone, knowing she’s the only one who would have a problem with it. Symone looks at me as if she’s trying to read me. I smile at her and her smile widens and she shrugs a shoulder.
“Whatever.”
“Ok. Kayla, text her and see what she says.”
I pat Awenasa’s thigh so I can get up and get my phone from the spare bedroom, where I forgot it. While I walk back down the hall, I work on typing out the text explaining the situation and asking if she’s interested. I stop at the edge of the couch and slip my phone in my back pocket.
“Does anyone need a drink or something?”
Everyone wants a drink and Awenasa stands to help me, but Symone stands and waves her down.
“I’ll help her.”
Awenasa smiles and sits back down, making Symone smile. All of my girls talked and agreed they need to try to be more relaxed with Symone so she won’t allow her feelings for me to ruin the jobs in California for the rest of the group. They’ve all grown really close to Sara because of the dance group and all of the help she gives us with our own dance business. So, they want to make sure we do what we can to make sure she’s successful.
Symone follows me to the kitchen and she leans against the counter with her hands on the counter next to her sides. She looks like she has a million things she wants to say, but she doesn’t say anything at all.
“Do I get a hug? I promise I don’t stink.” Symone laughs a little and brightens up. “You miss me or just trying to make sure I don’t go back on my agreement to be your dance partner?”
“Shut up and hug me.”
Symone grabs the front of my shirt and rips me forward into her arms. I wrap my arms around her and she inhales deeply as she lays her face in my neck.
“You’re right, you don’t stink. You s
mell fucking amazing.” I laugh hard and she squeezes me tighter. “What do you want to drink?” She snickers a little bit and kisses the side of my neck. She pulls back and looks at me with a cute grin. “Water’s fine.”
I grab a bottle of water for everyone, handing several to Symone, and then we go back to the living room and hand them out. As I’m about to reclaim my seat with my wife in the rocking chair, my phone vibrates in my pocket.
Jaime: Are you trying to pull me out of retirement and turn me into a traveling dancing gypsy again?
Me: You just made me laugh really hard. Yes. You’re too young and insanely talented to be retired.
Jaime: I guess I could cancel classes for a week. It would be cool to meet Giz Anderson and work on a music video.
Me: So, you’re in? Please say, yes.
Jaime: Yes.
Me: YES! You’re awesome! When can we meet to rehearse?
Jaime: Tomorrow morning. I have classes the rest of the day.
Me: Ok, I’ll talk to you later. Thank you!
“Jaime’s in. She has classes all day, but we can get together tomorrow morning to start rehearsing.”
“Great. So, let’s get out so you can show us around your town. Last time I was here, your ass was stuck in the hospital, so we didn’t get to explore.”
“Sure, I’m starving anyway. Oh, we should go to The Flaming Duck and get some lunch. If Dana’s working, we should ask if she would be willing to make us those amazing appetizers again.”
Sara follows us in their rental car, and thankfully, Shannon is able to find a spot to park with two empty spaces a block before the restaurant. My girls and I watch them get out of the car and look up and down Oliver Street with interest.
When we walk into the restaurant, Stacey and the same girl from a few weeks ago, are standing behind the hostess stand and they actually squeal and jump when they look up and see all of us.
“Oh, my god. You’re all here.” Stacey rushes out to stand in front of us with blushing cheeks. She looks at me and smiles. “Hi, Kayla.”