She backed out my arms, wiping her eyes. “Why did I break up with you?”
“Violet, let’s not go there.”
“We could work now.” She smiled. “The family you wanted, that house. We could move into it now, and I could be like your mom. Throw the best parties for your work friends—”
“I never wanted you to choose me because you had no other options.” I held her hands before she could touch me. “Right now just focus on healing. Don’t worry about the contract. I will handle it.”
“You’re leaving?”
I nodded, heading to the door. “I have to go to the office. If you need anything else, let me know.”
“Are you still with that waitress?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Isn’t that your type?”
I almost wanted to say yes, but she was wrong. “You weren’t complicated. You wanted to dance, so you went and danced. Now you can’t dance, and you want something to go back to, but we can’t. I can be your friend but nothing more.”
I closed the door on her, both literally and figuratively. I cared about Violet but not in that way.
Walt stood just outside, his arms folded.
“I thought I told you to start working on her replacement?”
“I know who I want to replace her.” He pushed himself off the wall, facing me. “Felicity.”
“No,” I said, already headed toward the lobby.
“Theo, you saw her—”
“We saw her do a three-minute piece. She doesn’t have the training or the time—”
“She’s one of the best dancers I have ever had the pleasure to work with.” He jumped in front of me. “No, she doesn’t have the title or background like Violet. But she learned that routine in seconds after only seeing it once and nailed it. We still have a week. Imagine how great she would be if we train? If Dancing w
ith the Stars can take random celebrities and make them dancers, I sure as hell can take a former Juilliard dancer and put her on stage!”
How did he know? “Who told you she was used to attend Juilliard?”
He looked at me like I was stupid, and I very well may have been for even listening to him.
“There was no way someone that talented and passionate in their dancing was unknown. I called one of my instructors, and you should have heard him. He could not stop talking about Felicity. He said she was a child prodigy in dance and music, and if it hadn’t been for some incident, she would be a household name.”
The very first time she played the piano at my house and then wrote it down from memory in my living room, I’d known she wasn’t just any musician. She’d been a child prodigy. She could have been a world-class pianist, but instead she’d worked as a waitress.
“I know the Gala is the one of the biggest nights for our company. I get how much pressure you are under. Hell, I get it more than anyone else. This is my very first one. I have gone over every move on every corner of that stage a thousand and two times. I wouldn’t do anything to put all of our hard work at risk. Which is why I want it to be great, and Felicity—”
“Fine.” He was almost begging, and I wasn’t the person he needed to convince. “If she agrees, then fine. But she won’t do it, Walt, so don’t set all your hopes and dreams on her.”
He frowned, his shoulders falling. “What do you mean, she won’t do it? Can’t you ask her? She made that song for you—”
“I just happened to hear the song. It wasn’t for me. Did your instructor tell you why she left?”
He shook his head. “No. He just called it ‘the incident’ and that was it. Why? Do you know?”
It had been the moment that fucked her up for life. It was the reason she didn’t want to be close to anyone. It was the reason she thought she had no right to be happy and would do anything possible keep herself grounded, even though she was meant to fly.
That moment was the wall between her and me.