Irresistible You

by Celeste O. Norfleet

  Taylor sighed heavily. “I realize that, just be patient. Now it’s time for me to make a confession.”

  “What kind of confession?” he asked curious as to what she might say.

  “I have never meddled in you romantic life…” he nodded the truth in her words. She paused, “until now.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Remember when I suggested that you take me to lunch last week,” he nodded. “…and the playbill and invitation to the ballet,” he nodded again. “That was my very subtle way of getting you and Juliet to meet. But it was apparently unnecessary, since the two of you had already met months ago.”

  “You were matchmaking?”

  “Yes.”

  J.T. chuckled. “So all this time I was focused on Mamma Lou, and it was you I should have been looking out for.”

  “Louise helped me plan a few things. But as I said, it seemed fate had already done the job. I guess you and Juliet were just destined to be.”

  “At this point it doesn’t matter. She’s no longer interested. And you know that I never pursue something or someone who’s not accessible and obtainable. She doesn’t want me.”

  “Do you want her?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then it’s not over, encourage her.”

  He began laughing. “And how do you suppose I do that?”

  “Simple I went to Crescent Island and Louise helped me. She can help you too.”

  “Mamma Lou?” he groaned inwardly bemoaning the fact that he was actually considering asking Louise Gates, an avowed matchmaker, for help with his love life. “She’s the last person I’d talk to about this.”

  “Who better to match you up with Juliet again than the matchmaking queen herself? Avail yourself of her vast knowledge. Listen to her, she knows what she’s talking about.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  Taylor kissed J.T.’s forehead, picked up her briefcase and said goodnight. Alone again J.T.’s mind whirled. He was in love with a woman he’d just dumped. She was in Florida with another man, his only recourse was to go to Crescent Island and talk to Mamma Lou. How did his life get so complicated?

  “Damn,” J.T. said knowing he was never going to live this down at the next poker game with the guys.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Juliet and Richard had been dancing in the studio for nearly five hours. Sweat dotted her brow and her knitted leg warmers were soaked. She changed clothes during the last break, but now even that outfit was drenched. The intense rehearsal was one of the last few they expected to have before her final performance and Richard’s eventual return to London. She changed clothes again during their break, while Richard met with Phillip and Peter.

  Juliet’s retirement and the date of her final performance had already been announced in the beginning of the season. What management hadn’t expected was to lose Richard at the same time. His contract was up and he had decided to accept a limited engagement with the London Ballet Company next season. There were a number of companies vying for the honor of sponsoring his last performance with the CBC. But he had requested that his last performance coincide with Juliet’s and keeping her same sponsor, E-Corp.

  Phillip, Roger and Peter were all stunned when Richard told them of his decision earlier in the day. They had met with him and his agent anticipating that he would continue on with the company long after Juliet had left. Much to their chagrin he had rejected their offer. His reputation in the ballet world was highly esteemed. His performance linked with Juliet’s guaranteed a full house.

  After changing Juliet walked down to the main stage just as the chorus rehearsal had ended. Since the entire company and crew had been assembled, the stage was essentially packed. Juliet found an open space and sat down in the rear of the stage just as the daily dance troupe meeting commenced. Announcements and notices were usually ignored as most of the troupe used the thirty minute down time to rest, keep warm and stay limber. A quiet chatter among the dancers continued as Roger read his usual notes.

  “How did they take it?” Juliet asked as Richard came in and sat down beside her.

  “Disappointed, but they’ll live.”

  “You’re gonna be a hard act to follow,” he said.

  “You’re absolutely right, Love,” Richard said, “ditto.”

  From the wings Peter and Phillip walked onstage and stood next to Roger. He looked at the two men and nodded. A hushed silence rippled through the crowded stage at the sight of Phillip at a daily meeting.

  Juliet, having already known about the upcoming announcement waited patiently as Phillip began his speech congratulating the dancers and crew on another superb season. Ten minutes later he asked Richard to come up front. Once Richard arrived, Phillip grasped his hand and thanked him personally for his dedication and excellence. He had done the same when Juliet told him she had decided to retire. He finished by announcing that Richard intended to return to London at the end of the season. A collective gasp swept through the dancers.

  Afterwards the stage was sectioned off into two areas—one for the two principal dancers and one for the rest of the troupe. The principals took center stage and began the routine as members of the dance troupe stood around discussing the choreographer’s latest ideas.

  Juliet crossed the stage in a flurry of pirouettes, jumping high and higher each time. She soared into the last jump and came down hard. Her weight pulled to the side and a popping sound echoed. She crumbled to the hardwood floor in pain. Richard rushed to her side along with Roger, Peter and Phillip.

  “Get an ambulance,” Roger called out to the back stage crew.

  Nadine immediately picked up the phone and dialed for emergency services. After the call was made she hurried to the now crowded floor. “Everybody stand back please,” she ordered then told her assistant to bring her a pillow and several ice packs. “Give her some air.” She knelt down to assess the injury. “Where exactly does it hurt?”

  Juliet took a deep breath and exhaled raggedly, “My ankle, I think I twisted it when I came down.”

  Nadine nodded. Having had the same career ending injury she gently grasped Juliet’s leg and felt around for any broken bones. Satisfied that there were no broken bones she took the pillow and placed it under Juliet’s leg to elevate the foot then placed ice packs on Juliet’s quickly swelling ankle.

  She leaned down to Juliet. “It looks like a slight sprang. I didn’t feel any broken bones. Hopefully you’ll just have to stay off of it for a few days.”

  Juliet, having never been seriously injured nodded then bit at her lower lip in pain.

  Peter immediately canceled rehearsals and dismissed the dancers. Only he, Richard, Nadine and Juliet remained on the stage.

  “Right this way,” Juliet heard Roger say as he directed the EMT to the stage. “She fell,” he said stating the obvious.

  The medical team instantly took over as soon as they arrived. They commended Nadine on her quick thinking by elevating her ankle with a pillow and the ice pack. They rolled a stretcher next to Juliet, then gently placed her on it and rolled her out to the ambulance. Nadine followed.

  Wasting little time, Vanya marched into Peter’s office and announced that she was prepared to replace Juliet in that evening’s performance. Before he could open his mouth she continued with her list of qualifications. “I am the only one here capable of replacing her. I’m as good as she is, even better some say. I’m a soloist, second lead. I know the routine. I can even dance with Richard.”

  The callous way she presented her case gave Peter pause. “Vanya, I know you’re looking at this as your big break. But we haven’t even heard from the hospital yet.”

  “Why?” she asked in all seriousness. “What can they possibly say that you don’t already know. Juliet will not be dancing tonight, that much is obvious.”

  Peter winced. Vanya’s attitude was cold and calculatingly. “As soon as Nadine calls with a report, we’ll know what our options are. Believe me we realize that as
soloist and Juliet’s primary understudy you are the likely choice to replace her for tonight’s performance. But before we make that call, we need more information.”

  Not nearly as satisfied, Vanya was on the verge of a full-fledged tantrum. “What exactly are you waiting for? Juliet left here on a stretcher. There’s no way she’ll be dancing tonight. It’s simple, she’s out, and I’m in.”

  Peter stood and came around to face Vanya. “As soon as we know for sure we’ll call you.”

  “This is absurd,” she complained, “I’m the only possible dancer you have.”

  “I’m not saying you’re not. Vanya, please, we’ll let you know one way or another.”

  A quick knock on the door turned both of their heads as it opened and Phillip came in. Looking from Vanya to Peter, Phillip asked Vanya to excuse them a moment. She huffed and marched out.

  When the door slammed loudly, Phillip turned to Peter. “I presume Vanya wants to dance tonight’s performance.”

  “You presume correctly. She was just about to have another one of her full-blown fits before you came in.”

  “Can she do it?”

  “She knows the moves, technically, and she’s proficient. She just needs more seasoning and confidence. Kitri is a demanding role.”

  “Maybe this opportunity will give it to her.”

  “Maybe, hopefully,” Peter said looking more concerned than assured. “Has Nadine called yet?”

  “Yes,” Phillip said, “Juliet will be out for the next week and a half, looks like she’ll be back on stage just in time for her final performance.”

  Peter walked back around his desk to sit. His brow furrowed. He had one last performance in the spring series and Juliet was his lead dancer. Vanya was the obvious choice, but he wasn’t particularly confident in her ability to carry the entire ballet. “I’ll talk to Vanya.”

  “Good,” Phillip nodded his agreement as he turned and walked to the door. “Don’t forget to send flowers to Juliet.”

  Juliet stood in the wings with a soft cast on her foot and crutches under both arms. She had insisted on returning to the theater amidst staunch warnings from her emergency room doctor and Nadine.

  She watched with anxiety as Vanya danced. She struggled with basic elements of the performance. She glanced across into the opposite wing and caught a glimpse of Nadine shaking her head miserably. She knew that look all too well. Vanya, with all her self-proclaimed brilliance, was a nervous wreck.

  Juliet sympathized, holding a performance together was difficult. She had learned that years ago. It took patience, understanding of the character and ice-water in your veins to go out on stage and dance. Knowing the technical movements was one thing. Feeling the dance in your heart and soul was another.

  In the quintessential role of Kitri in Don Quixote, Vanya’s performance was emotionless and lacked the necessary energy to make the role truly memorable. Instead of sexy and flirtatious, her movements were rigid and uninspired. The dance demanded soaring leaps and split second turns. Each movement required quickness and technical follow through. Paired with Richard in the pivotal scene, the fanciful Pas de Deux Mauesque, she should have been brilliant. But instead she was robotic and stiff.

  As Vanya’s solo began, Richard exited the stage. Juliet handed him a few tissues to wipe his face. He looked at Juliet and shook his head. “I’ve never seen her dance so poorly. She’s like a zombie on a Thorazine drip.”

  Juliet nodded. There was nothing she could say. Vanya had begged for this opportunity and she’d failed miserably. When the performance was over the audience applauded politely. But joy and exuberance was lacking in her performance and Vanya knew it.

  She had tried too hard and had failed. When she left the stage Nadine walked over to her and handed her a towel. She didn’t say a word, she just walked away. Vanya turned in the other direction and headed for her dressing room.

  Juliet congratulated the troupe and stopped a few minutes to speak with Peter and Richard before leaving. She walked to the back stage door then paused remembering this same performance nearly fifteen years ago. She turned and headed back to the dressing rooms.

  Juliet knocked on the dressing room door and waited until she heard the doorknob jiggle. Vanya stuck her head around the door and peeked out. Her eyes were red and bloodshot. She had been crying. “What do you want?”

  “To talk.”

  Vanya began to close the door.

  “Vanya,” Juliet called out holding the door at bay. The door stopped and Vanya walked away leaving the door ajar.

  “If you’ve come to gloat, make it fast.”

  Juliet walked into her small dressing room and stood just beyond the mirror watching Vanya’s reflection as she removed her makeup.

  “I didn’t come to gloat. I came to offer my assistance.”

  “I don’t need your help,” she snapped.

  “I think you do.”

  Vanya looked at Juliet for the first time. “Why are you here?”

  “I’m here because I was exactly where you are about fifteen years ago. I got my big break when the prima ballerina broke her foot. The break never healed properly and she never returned to the stage. I went out on stage in her place and I stunk, just like you did tonight. But, I was lucky. She came to my dressing room and told me something I’ve never forgotten.”

  Vanya turned around and looked up at Juliet. “What?”

  “She told me that I had forgotten something.”

  “What, some kind of good luck charm.”

  Juliet bit at her lip but decided to be patient with Vanya. “No, she reminded me of why I was out there on stage in the first place. I’d forgotten that I loved to dance more than anything else in the world. And that the next time I went out on stage I needed to remember why I was there. I needed to feel the dance in here, in my heart, in my soul.”

  “I was horrible,” Vanya said as a slow tear crept down her thin face.

  “Yeah, you were. But you forgot why you were out there. Try remembering that next time. It’s not the dance that makes the dancer, it’s the heart.” Juliet turned to leave. Just as she opened the door and passed through, Vanya called out her name, she stopped and turned.

  “Who was the dancer, Lena Palmer?”

  Juliet smiled. “No, it was Nadine Palmer.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The doorbell’s chime sent her heart racing. She already knew who was standing on the other side, J.T. She’d been avoiding him for days with one excuse after another knowing of course that one day she’d have to face him. Apparently today was the day. He called earlier and said to expect him later that day and he refused to accept any more excuses.

  She hobbled to the foyer door, placed her crutches behind it and cautiously limped to the front door. The doctor in the ER told her to stay off her foot for the next week or so and she should not have problem.

  Juliet opened the door. Her mouth suddenly went dry as they each stood staring. “Vanya?”

  “Hi Juliet, I hope you don’t mind. Richard told me where you lived a long time ago when he and I were,” she flushed red looked away and shrugged, “together.”

  “Come in,” Juliet said finally getting over the shock of seeing Vanya standing in her doorway. Vanya took a few steps and waited for Juliet at the entrance of the foyer. “And for the record, there’s no need to be embarrassed about your relationship with Richard. I think it was pretty obvious at the time. The two of you seemed well-suited.”

  “I know,” she stuttered quietly. “It’s just that you and Richard are…were…”

  “…Are the best of friends and that’s all we ever were and ever will be. There was never anything physical or romantic between us.”

  “But, I just assumed that… well you know… I mean Richard never actually said anything… I mean I thought that since you two were so close… doesn’t everybody think that you and he…” she spoke in half-broken sentences and never actually completed a single thought.

  “Van
ya, you haven’t been at this company for very long. There’s a lot you have to learn and not all of it takes place on stage. You’ve been a dancer for a long time I’m sure, but being a dancer and knowing the business of life are two different things.”

  She nodded understanding. “I know I should have called first, but I wasn’t sure that you’d talk to me.”

  “Why wouldn’t I?” Juliet motioned for her to continue walking through the foyer and into the living room.

  Vanya slung her dance bag over her shoulder, turned and walked into Juliet’s house. She stopped short in the living room admiring the wall of mirrors and the dance barres on both sides of the room. “This is magnificent,” she remarked with added enthusiasm. She grasped the barre, looked at her reflection in one mirror then turned slightly and looked at herself across the room. “I love this idea. How did you do this?”

  Juliet watched as she continued to observe her body in the mirrors. She was like a kid in a candy store. “Simple, I hung mirrors, seemed like a good idea at the time.”

  “Aren’t you gonna miss this?”

  “Yes, terribly. But lately I’ve realized that life goes on, yes, even off stage,” she paused for a second then shook her head slightly and smiled. For the first time in a long time she actually believed it. She knew that she’d survive her last performance on stage just as she had survived her first. The new life awaiting her, whatever she chose to do would be just as exciting as the nightly ovations.

  “Is there something I can help you with?”

  “Yes,” Vanya said. “I just wanted to thank you for the other night. I guess I was pretty bad out there. It was just so hard. I thought that…”

  “…It would be easier?”

  Vanya nodded.

  “It depends.”

  “On what?”

  “On how prepared you are.”

  Vanya nodded. “Anyway, thanks for afterwards. It really got me thinking. When I was growing up my mother and father were very strict. I had to practice for hours and hours every day. I never had any friends. I was always too busy and,” she paused in moment and shrugged, “scared. Ballet is all I know. It’s all I ever wanted to do. But when I realized that I couldn’t do it.”