“They lie,” Ana said. “Ten bucks says you’re here tomorrow. I’m familiar with Sal and his miscalculations.” In actuality, Ana was in no hurry to have Natalie move home, something she wasn’t fully ready to admit to Natalie, or maybe even herself.
“Yeah, well, I’m not sure that’s a bet I want to take. But we’re off topic. How many injuries have you had in your career? I mean, if we’re swapping stories.”
Ana whistled low. “Okay, so three majors resulting in two surgeries, and so many minors I’ve lost track. But I’m not complaining. It’s what I signed up for. When you’re a dancer, you get up in the morning and make a checklist of everything that hurts and then head to work. There’s no stopping and reveling in the pain or you’ve just been beaten out by another dancer who’s mentally stronger than you and can rise above it.”
Natalie took a seat on the couch next to Ana and turned her body to face her. Ana had come to recognize Natalie’s thoughtful face, which she had on now. Knitted brow, downcast eyes, pursed lips. Almost like she’d pulled into herself to think things over. “Yeah, okay,” Natalie said, finally raising her gaze, “but there have to be limits.”
“No. Limits are for people who don’t want it bad enough. Very few people make it to where we are. You do what you can for your body to make it to the next rehearsal. I take vitamin C, vitamin D, magnesium for fatigue, and Advil as an anti-inflammatory. Every day. You do it too. I’ve seen you.”
“Well, yeah, but there’s still going to be a day that I can’t dance anymore. Regardless of what I tell myself, that day exists on a calendar somewhere in the sky and is headed my way. Injury is always possible, and it’s the reason you have to have a plan B. For example, I plan to get by on my sexy lips. Look what happens when they get all pouty. I really think I could be an honorary Kardashian if I work hard enough. Or maybe not work hard at all. That might be the key.” She demonstrated her pout, which made Ana smile in spite of her troubling afternoon.
Honestly, she admired Natalie’s ability to remain lighthearted about a subject matter that had her panicked, terrified even. That was yet another way they were different. “I don’t have a plan B. Dancing at this level is my everything.”
“I get that, but—”
“Can we talk about something else?” Ana asked, the discomfort of the dicey topic getting to be too much. The news she’d received today was jarring enough, and she needed a way to divert her attention. “Maybe we could watch TV again.”
Natalie stared at her. “You’re starting to resemble a regular person over there. It’s freaking me the hell out.”
“Goal achieved,” Ana said and grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch, tossing half to Natalie. She remembered waking up in the early morning on this very couch, lying very much against Natalie. The physical closeness and the way her body had thrummed still played vividly in her memory.
“Perfect,” Natalie said. “Let’s veg.”
After flipping through several other mindless options, they settled on the Home and Garden channel, and enjoyed heckling the overly pretentious couple shopping for a vacation home to purchase in St. Thomas.
Natalie shook her head ominously at the screen. “Oh no. He’s not happy. This is not good. This house will require him to walk an extra fifteen feet to the beach.”
“The fifteen feet will crush him,” Ana said. “How can he possibly be expected to spend time in a place like that?”
“He can’t. It’s preposterous to imagine he could. I don’t know what that realtor was thinking. Fifteen feet is too far to walk. Those people need sand under their toes yesterday, damn it.”
Ana laughed and turned her head against the couch to face Natalie. “Why is it when I spend time with you, I forget everything else?” It was a legitimate question, but not one she meant to voice out loud. She felt the pink hit her cheeks almost instantly. “You don’t have to answer that, it was entirely rhetorical and probably not—”
“I don’t know,” Natalie said anyway, meeting her gaze. “I’ve never really had a friend like you before.”
“Like me how?”
“Someone so different from me and frustrating as hell.”
“Hey,” Ana said, and bopped her with a pillow. “You’re the frustrating one. Trust me.”
Natalie caught the pillow and pulled it from Ana’s grasp. “I’ll amend. Frustrating as hell and dangerous with fluffy weaponry.”
“Yeah, well, don’t tempt me.”
“That sounds like a challenge,” Natalie shot back, her eyes flashing amusement. “But you’re pretty cute when you’re aggressive. So, bonus.”
The comment landed, and Ana had to take a moment. Natalie thought she was cute. Unsure what to do, Ana did what she did best. Deflected. “We should get back to the show,” she said, gesturing awkwardly at the television. “Fifteen feet hang in the balance. Kind of a big deal.”
Natalie nodded and the amusement dimmed on her face. “Fifteen feet it is.” But then a few moments later, “Stop hogging the blanket, Frozen.” And a laughter-filled tug-o’-war ensued.
*
Natalie checked her watch and took a long pull from her water bottle. She had time for a two-minute break to catch her breath and hydrate before stealing another thirty minutes of rehearsal before class that morning.
She’d never been an early riser and almost didn’t recognize herself as she stumbled into the rehearsal studio at seven that morning. But the motivation had been simple. The work Ana had done with her had been golden, and the adjustments she’d made to Natalie’s dancing had made a huge difference, but it would take work for them to have full effect. Maybe listening to Ana, who knew a thing or two about formal ballet, wasn’t such a crazy idea.
Because, okay, she could work harder.
Get up earlier. And stay later.
She was seeing exciting changes, not just in her dancing, but in her understanding of the whole ballet world, and that had her motivated to make her mark. She would do whatever it took to get better and do the best possible job she could. The more she saw her work pay off in rehearsal, and it was, the more of herself she wanted to give.
“That ballet is going to be gorgeous,” Helen said from the floor of her apartment, later that night. Natalie and Audrey lay flat on their backs alongside her, dead to the world from their long day at work.
And it had been a day.
“You think?” Natalie asked, with barely enough energy to move. “Once I get so far in, I can’t see the show as a whole anymore. It’s hard to tell if it’s going to be good. Forest for the trees. That kind of thing.”
Helen shook her head. “Better than good. It’s going to pull a ton of buzz and put you, Ana, and Jason on the map in this city. Trust me, Roger is a visionary and the musicality of the ballet is genius.”
“You know what else would be genius?” Audrey said from her spot on the floor. “If someone would bring me a bucket of ice so I could soak my poor, overworked ankle.”
“I’d get you some, but that would require movement,” Natalie said. “I’m against movement in all its forms at present. I’d take movement to court and sue its ass off if I could.”
“Who can we call to bring us ice?” Audrey asked in full pitiful mode.
“Ana,” Natalie said matter-of-factly. “I was on in the run-through today, so she should be extra fresh. I can get her ice tomorrow when she’s me. I’m nice that way.”
It had been five days since they’d moved out of the studio and begun rehearsals with the larger cast of Aftermath. They were now running the show in its entirety onstage each day and had just two weeks before opening. Natalie had rehearsed with the cast earlier that day and Ana was on tomorrow. She would watch Ana and take notes through rehearsal. Watching Ana, Natalie had found, was not exactly a great thing. Watching Ana tended to lead to thoughts of Ana, which led to the occasional daydream of Ana…which she had to figure out how to stop, because it continued to escalate and there was only so far one could—
“Text her!” Audrey said, pointing at the ceiling in lieu of Helen. “She’s been extra cordial lately, saying hello first and everything. She smiles and it’s really quite pleasant.”
“On it.”
“You’re rubbing off on Ana, you know,” Helen said. “I think you guys are good for each other. A yin and yang kind of thing.”
“We’re just friends,” Natalie said, perhaps more emphatically than necessary.
“What more would you be?” Helen asked, eying her slyly.
Helen, she was finding, didn’t miss much, and Natalie might have just shown her cards. Wait—there were cards? What cards? She had no cards. She had Morgan, who was her girlfriend. And Ana, who was her…Ana. She shook off the entire, disturbing line of thought.
“I was in awe of you during the run-through today,” Audrey told Natalie. “It’s like you’re a professional or something.”
Natalie laughed. “Aww, you noticed.”
“Seriously though,” Helen said, pushing up onto her elbow. “Like everyone else, I was a little skeptical when they brought you in. But after the last few days, I get it. You’re the real deal. More untamed than the company’s general fare, but that’s why you work so well for this show.”
Natalie took in the compliment. “Thanks. I’m trying to rein in my technique, work on form as well. Pull back the untamed a tad. Ana’s helped.”
“I’ve helped with what?” They turned then to find Ana standing in the doorway.
“Dancing,” Natalie said. “Shelter over my head. A nemesis when I need one. All of it. You check lots of boxes.”
“Well, I suppose that’s true. Especially the nemesis part.” Ana held up her phone. “My phone reads, ‘There are people in need of ice or they’ll die. Race to Audrey and Helen’s apartment right now.’”
“That’s us!” Audrey said. “We’re the dying.”
Ana nodded. “Sure. I can help. Three, uh, ice buckets on their way.” Natalie sat up and watched Ana’s progress to the kitchen. She wore jeans and a beige Henley, which greatly contrasted with the dark hair that fell down her back. Natalie swallowed against the tantalizing visual.
“Why don’t I help?” Natalie asked. Helen stared at her as if working a difficult puzzle. “What? I’m feeling more energetic.”
“Yes, all of a sudden you are. Got my eye on you,” Helen said, raising one eyebrow. Natalie blew her off and joined Ana in the kitchen a few feet away.
“Hey, thought you could use a hand.”
Ana eyed her skeptically. “I thought you were dying.”
“I rebound nicely. So, hey. I get my apartment back tonight. Sal said they’d finish up by dinnertime. I haven’t headed up to check, but it should be free and clear. New bottom cabinets and everything.”
“Oh,” Ana said and studied the bag of ice she’d pulled from the freezer, a dancer’s necessity. “That’s great.”
“I know you’ll be thrilled to have full use of your couch again.”
“Yeah,” Ana said meeting her eyes. The moment felt charged and thick, with a lot going unacknowledged. The near week she’d spent at Ana’s apartment had been a catalyst to a palpable connection between them. Now that she was leaving, she felt…hollow. From the look on Ana’s face, she did, too.
Natalie did her best to lighten the mood. “I hate to break it to you, but I’ll still be across the hall. Ever present and ready to get on your last nerve.”
“I don’t know how I’ll manage,” Ana said simply.
“And our HGTV veg outs will have to continue. In fact, I might show up on your doorstep tonight.”
Ana focused on the ice. “I might be busy tonight.”
Natalie leaned in close. “No, you won’t.”
“Yes, I will. I have a lot going on with the show opening so quickly, and I need to take care of myself more but,” she blew out a breath as if surrendering to something unnamed, “I might have a break in there somewhere.”
“Benevolent. That’s what you are.”
“I can be other things, too,” Ana said quietly, a comment that left Natalie’s heart taking extra beats, and Ana, seemingly shocked by her own words, picked up the ice and headed back to Audrey and Helen. As Natalie stood there with half her brain concentrating on the number the workday had done on her body, and the other half on the number Ana Mikhelson was doing on it now, her phone buzzed.
“Morgan,” the readout said. With one finger up to her friends, she excused herself to the hall.
“Baby!” Morgan said. Wherever she was calling from, it was boisterous. Music and loud voices in combination.
“Hey, you,” Natalie said back. The phone calls between them had gotten fewer and farther between. Though Natalie admitted she sometimes called in the early-morning hours on purpose, knowing she’d be leaving a message for Morgan, who often slept until noon on non-diner days. “How are you?”
“Drunk. Very drunk. But in a good way.”
“Oh…well, little early, isn’t it?” She did the California time conversion and came up with just after seven p.m. there.
“Since when do you care about that?” Morgan said. She had to shout to be heard over the din in the background. “Anyway, got your message about coming for the opening. I will definitely be there. It’s going to be off-the-charts fun.”
Natalie laughed. “Great. I can’t wait to see you.”
“Put that drink down, Charlie. Huh? What did you say? Say it again.”
“Me?” Natalie asked, squinting as if that was going to help her hear better. “Or Charlie?”
“Yes, you.”
“Oh.” Natalie decided to speak louder and enunciate. “I said I can’t wait to see you. Send me the details of your flight and we can—”
“I’m serious, you guys! Baby, I gotta go. These people are crazy here tonight. We miss you! See you soon!” And then she was gone. Natalie stared at the phone as a pang of sadness hit. She’d been in New York for a couple of months now, and already the world she’d left felt light-years away. She missed it, but not in the way she imagined she would. The work she was doing felt more important to her with each day that passed.
When she walked back into the apartment, she found Ana doing her best, and surprisingly accurate, impersonation of Roger’s latest meltdown, including an imaginary clipboard toss for Helen and Audrey, who ate up every minute of it. Natalie watched from the door, smiling proudly at the more outgoing version of Ana that had emerged of late. She really did seem to be coming out of her reclusive shell.
“You’ve got this guy down,” Helen said, laughing as Natalie took a seat next to Ana.
Audrey pointed at Ana as she regained her composure. “That was awesome. You have to do that for Boomer and Marcus.”
Ana covered her mouth and pink dusted her cheeks. “No. No. I couldn’t. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing.”
“They’re back together, by the way,” Audrey said offhandedly to Helen.
“Everyone’s in love at the holidays.”
“It’s my plan to be, too,” Audrey told them. “I have a date with Clark Kent in 2B on Saturday.” She covered her mouth with both hands and waited for the reaction.
“Whoa!” Natalie shouted, and pointed at her. “You did it. You’re a saucy minx over there.”
“Wait. Who lives in 2B?” Ana asked quietly.
“The man who will bear my children,” Audrey informed her.
Helen held up a hand and addressed Ana. “This buttoned-up guy that Audrey regularly drools over in the elevator. He’s cute, in that businessman with glasses kind of way.”
Audrey beamed. “We’re going to Scarlatto in Midtown and then he’s taking me to see Cabaret.”
“That’s a pretty major date,” Natalie pointed out. “That’s not just a get-to-know-you chat over pizza. He’s trying to woo you.”
“Woo away, I always say.” Audrey fanned herself. “I’m not hard to impress.”
“A friend of mine stars in that show,” Ana told them.
“You’re friends with Adrienne Kenyon?” Helen asked.
Ana nodded.
“I’ve wanted to be her best friend since I was a kid. I grew up watching her on Highland High.”
Ana nodded. “That’s where we met. My father did a guest spot on the show and I got to hang out on set with him. Adrienne was a little bit older and became kind of like a big sister during that time. When I was hired on at City, she was over the moon for me. She’s come to quite a few of the shows.”
“You’re officially the coolest person in the room,” Audrey told her. “And no offense, but I never would have guessed that.”
“None taken. We only get to see each other here and there,” Ana said, downplaying her connection to one of the most talked about and celebrated celebrities of late.
“I have to agree with Audrey,” Natalie said. “You get cool points.”
Ana smiled at her. “I’ve not had many of those. I’ll take them.” She stood. “I’m also going to take my leave, as it’s getting late.” Natalie watched her progress to the door, wishing she’d stay, but knowing Ana had a big dance day ahead of her tomorrow and needed to rest up.
“Hey, Ana,” Helen said.
“Yeah?” Ana replied from the door.
“We’re going out next Sunday following Aftermath’s opening. We figured since Monday was dark, we could stay out late, celebrate. You should come.”
Natalie watched the contemplation cross Ana’s features, knowing the internal battle that was at play. “Okay. Sounds like fun. Good night, everyone.” She made brief eye contact with Natalie before exiting the apartment.
The second the door closed, Helen turned to Natalie, eyes wide. “What in the hell was that?”
“What was what?” Natalie asked as nonchalantly as possible.
“So it wasn’t just me?” Audrey asked Helen.
“Nope.”
“What?” Natalie asked. “Is this an Ana thing? I think she’s gathering social courage, so cut her a break. It’s nice that she hangs with us more. No?”
Helen passed her a hard look. “It’s more about all the lustacular looks crossing back and forth between you two. What the hell was that?”
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