Chapter 13 Running
My leg hops in nervousness as I wait for Amelia to return with the X-rays.
I never thought I'd be the coward that I've become now, but with my whole life hanging in the balance, I've let my parents know that I'm safe and with my cousin and his wife. Then, I switched off my phone.
Because Black has my number.
And I'm avoiding Ben at all costs.
And that damn X-ray determines my entire dancing career.
I don't like the look on Amelia's face when she enters her office where I've been waiting with sweaty hands and a pounding heart.
"Is it bad?" I ask anxiously.
Amelia sighs and takes a seat behind her desk and types on her laptop."Do you want the good news or the bad news first."
"Bad." I answer immediately, even though I don't want to hear the words coming from her mouth, but there's no use running away from the inevitable.
"The bad news is that you need rest, I'm recommending at least twelve weeks."
"No!" I jump up from the chair like it's on fire, my heart pounding frantically. "I'm a prima ballerina! I cannot be out for twelve weeks!"
"I know those were not the words you wanted to hear, but you have a stress fracture in your foot, and if you are going to continue dancing, you won't be a prima ballerina for long."
I hear the words coming out of Amelia's mouth, but it feels stuck somewhere between reality and horror.
Twelve weeks are like three whole months.
Three months not at the company could kill my career.
"Listen carefully." The bringer of bad news holds her hands up to placate me. "You know I love you, and I'm only having your best interests at heart here. The good news is if you rest and wear a moon boot to protect your ankle and foot, you'll be as good as new. You can't keep popping pills to deal with the pain and discomfort. You know your parents will die if something happened to you."
I know she's right. I know I've been taking too much pain medication just to get by, and it might be the start of something really bad if I continue.
"What good will it be if you're just another burnt out ballerina?"
Amelia's words struck a chord deep inside me, and I leave her office with a rock in the pit of my stomach. I know what I have to do, but it doesn't mean it's going to be all that easy.
I gulp the nerves down when I go to the company and watch Gregory teach a class. God, he's such a master, and I want to be just like him when I eventually hang up my pointes.
Some of the girls wave excitedly at me when the class is done, and Gregory walks over to me where I'm leaning against the wall with grace only a dancer of his calibre possess.
"To what do I owe this pleasure?" He arches a perfectly plucked eyebrow at me. "You have the week off, you should be resting your feet."
I clear my throat, tears already burning behind my eyes. "Yeah, that's why I'm here."
"Mmm." He angles his body towards me while leaning against the wall next to me, his gaze going down to my feet dressed in sneakers. "Is this about that wobbly ankle?"
All I can do is nod as I too stare down at my traitorous feet.
Why now? When I was just about to have it all.
Everything is going to shit. My career, my relationship with Ben, my fucking sanity.
"So what's the verdict?"
I kick my dry lips. "I'm out for twelve weeks, it's a stress fracture."
"Twelve weeks is a long, long time."
I can hear the implications of his words without him having to spell it out for me.
"I still have two years on my current contract." I remind him, the only ammunition I have left.
"Which has terms and conditions." He chuckled sarcastically. "Come on Madison, you're a smart girl. Those kids who just left here are dying to take your place. I have shows to run, and if you can't dance, you're out."
"Just like that?" The tears I've been holding in slips from my eyes.
How many dreams have been shattered in this very place? How many hearts have been broken by Gregory's careless words.
"These days you kids are so weak." He shakes his head disappointedly at me. " Have some fucking grit, why don't you? Back in my days we fixed a sprained ankle, we fucking danced until we were broken, until our legs couldn't carry us anymore."
Those are the words he always tells us, so why does it feel like this time it's splitting me wide open.
"I'll end my career if I dance." The words come out stronger than I feel. "I'm not willing to do that for one show's glory."
A smile tilts up the corner of his mouth, and he straightens. "There's my girl. You don't let any director ever tell you what to do with your body."
I can't hide the surprise on my face. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying take the time you need to heal, but I've got a Christmas show in South Korea, and if you're not back by then and dancing better than everybody else, you're out."
"But Christmas is two and a half months away, that's not the three months that I need!" I protest.
Gregory is a hard ass, why was I even surprised?
"That's not my problem, sweetheart. I'll see you around, or not."
I watch him walk out of the studio as if he didn't just give me a difficult ultimatum.
I immediately call Amelia and she picks up in an instant. "What did he say."
"I only have until Christmas."
"We can work with that."
Fuck.
"I can't stay here, Amelia." I rush out. "I don't want the fucking pity of my colleagues, and I can't face Ben right now!"
I haven't told her the particulars about why the fuck im running away from my boyfriend, and she hasn't asked.
"How quickly can you pack a bag?"