by Ellie Danes
I headed over to the dance school and went straight to Gwen's office. I knocked on the door, and she called out from within.
“It's open, come on in.”
I walked in, and she immediately smiled at me. “Hi, there, Skye! You're here for your first class, huh? You must be so excited.”
I had been excited – but now I was heartbroken. However, I had to do this; it was the only way I would be able to get the money I needed.
“About the classes... I need to have a word with you, Gwen.”
“Sure, have a seat. You look worried... what's troubling you?”
There was no way I could tell her the truth about stealing the money from my father and running away from home, so during the walk from the subway station to the dance school I had come up with a story. I hated having to tell more lies, but there was no way I could tell her what was really going on.
“There's been an emergency,” I said.
“Oh, no!” exclaimed Gwen, concern written plainly across her face. “What's happened?”
“My dad – he's in California – he's been diagnosed with late-stage cancer.”
“Oh, my God,” she murmured. “I'm so, so sorry to hear that. Do you need to go over there to visit him? I can give you as much time off as you need.”
“No, well, uh, I might need to take some time off, yeah,” I said, stumbling over my words as I did my best to maintain the integrity of the fib, “but the main issue right now is money. He doesn't have any health insurance, and the specialist has recommended some pretty aggressive treatment if he's going to have any chance of surviving. The problem is, of course, without health insurance, you can imagine how much this is going to cost.”
She nodded. “I know someone who was in a similar situation. It almost bankrupted them.”
“So, you understand... Well, my whole family is trying to pull together right now to help out with the cost of this treatment. I don't have a whole lot of money saved, but, um, I know that the classes I won are worth about 7500 dollars...”
She nodded slowly; she knew what I wanted to ask.
“I understand,” she said softly. “I can give a refund on those classes, since you haven't taken any yet, and transfer the money to your bank account.”
“Oh, my God, I'm so, so grateful Gwen,” I said, tears stinging the corners of my eyes – tears of relief, of course. “Thank you so much. You don't know what this means to me.”
“You're a good kid, Skye, and a talented dancer, and I'm happy to help in whatever way I can,” she said with a warm smile. “Is there anything else I can do to help?”
“Um, if you could give it to me in cash, that would be a whole lot better than doing a bank transfer.” I didn't even want to begin to try to explain to her the reasons behind me not having a bank account.
“Cash? That's a bit unusual...”
“I have an uncle who's flying out to California tomorrow. He said if he takes cash with him, it'll save on bank transfer fees and um, uncomfortable tax questions and such, if you know what I mean.”
She nodded. “All right, sure, I understand. I'll visit the bank first thing tomorrow and get that 7500 dollars for you in cash.”
“Thank you so much, Gwen, seriously... You don't know how much of a life saver you are. Seriously. You're saving my life right now.”
She got up and gave me a hug, and I hugged her back... guiltily. But at least it was done – I now had the seven thousand dollars I needed to make up the ten thousand. As soon as I left her office, I headed out of the school and went to a payphone, getting the napkin with the bald man's number out of my handbag.
He answered within seconds of me dialing, and his tone was aggressive and gruff. “Who the hell is this?”
“It's Skye.”
He chuckled slowly and evilly. “Well, well, well, now there's a nice surprise. I take it you have something for me?”
“I've got it. All of it.”
“That's what I like to hear. Well, I guess there's no point in waiting around now, is there? You've got what I want, and I want it now. Where are you?”
I told him where I was but said that I didn't have the cash just yet. I explained that I would be getting it the following morning.
“Hmm, well, you got me all excited for nothing there, sweet-tits,” he growled. “But still, it'll be before the deadline, so even though I'm pissed right now, I'll let it slide. So where are we gonna arrange our little rendezvous?”
I obviously didn't want to meet this guy anywhere near the dance studio in case someone from the studio saw me giving him the money and figured out that I was giving the 7500 dollars to a gangster instead of an “uncle”.
“All right,” I said. “You know the restaurant I work in? There's a little alley behind the restaurant. Meet me there at nine forty-five tomorrow, okay?”
“I'll see you there,” he said. “With my ten grand, all of it. And I'm gonna be bringing my little UV scanner, just in case you think you can pull the wool over my eyes with counterfeit bills or something, so don't think you can try anything with me. And if there's anything less than ten grand in the bag you hand me – if one single penny is missing – I guarantee you there will be hell to pay. And I'll take it out on your rich, pretty-boy boyfriend, too, so it's not only your own life that's at stake here Skye... remember that.”
There was a click as he cut the call off, and my heart sank. Now I really had lost absolutely everything; my dance lessons, my money, and, most importantly, Colin. The only things I hadn't yet lost were my jobs, and I figured I would have to work like a freakin' hamster on a wheel now just to keep my head afloat. I had been hoping to move out of the shelter in the next few months, and up until that bald asshole had found me, it had started to seem like it could be a real possibility – but now I understood that that had all just been one big, stupid illusion. No, I was stuck in the muck at the very bottom, and I wouldn't be able to drag myself out of the swamp any time soon... No, not for a couple of years now at least – and even then, that was only a slim possibility, contingent on me working pretty much around the clock and pretty much not having anything even resembling a break for years on end.
I wanted to cry, but I was too broken and distraught to even do that; yes, even weeping seemed like it would be too much of an effort to do right now.
I began to head back to the shelter, feeling as if an invisible storm cloud was unleashing all its wrath directly onto me. And then, surely enough, it really did begin to rain – a cold, biting rain that soaked me through to the skin and bored an aching chill deep into the marrow of my bones.
But I didn't care. I just walked on through the rain, getting soaking wet, and feeling like the last of hopes and dreams had finally been crushed into dust.
THE NEXT MORNING
I hadn't slept much, in spite of having gone to bed early the previous evening. Most of the night I'd spent tossing and turning, or lying awake and tormenting myself with thoughts of would have, could have and should have – all an exercise in utter futility, of course. I was filled now with bitterness, regret and a deep, crushing sadness. It seemed now that everything I had tried to work for over the past eight years, all my hopes and dreams had been ground to dust. There was nothing left to live for really... but somehow, I would go on. I had to go on.
I took a deep breath and walked into the dance school, heading straight over to Gwen's office and knocked on the door. She had messaged me earlier to say that the cash was ready.
“Come on in,” she said.
I walked in and almost burst into tears when I saw the paper bag on her desk. In it was not just a large amount of cash, but my hopes and dreams, which I was now giving to the man who had made my life such a living hell that I had run away to the streets to escape him. It took every ounce of courage and determination I had left not to break down.
“There it is, Skye,” she said, pointing at the paper bag on her desk. “7500 in cash. It's a real pity that you aren't going to be dancing with us; you
're so very passionate and talented. However, I know that your father's health takes preference over such things. Maybe you'll be able to join a new class next year, you never know.”
“Yeah, maybe,” I said, struggling to keep myself together.
I reached over and took the bag, “Thank you again for this, Gwen,” I said, and I meant it.
She smiled warmly. “It's a pleasure Skye. And remember, you can take time off whenever you need it if you need to fly across the country for an emergency.”
“Thanks. I'll keep you updated.”
“All right,” she said with a sweet smile. “I'll see you tomorrow morning for work.”
I stuffed the paper bag into my handbag, which contained another paper bag with 2500 dollars in it – leaving me with only a couple hundred to my name – and walked briskly out of the dance school, concentrating as hard as I could on holding myself together and not breaking down. I kept my bag clutched close to me as I walked down into the crowded subway station; the last thing I needed was for a bag snatcher to rob me and make off with my purse. Considering how awful my luck had been, I thought this to be a pretty likely occurrence.
Thankfully, however, I made it to our rendezvous spot without incident. The bald tattooed man was waiting in the alley for me. He was wearing a black leather jacket and grimy, oil-stained jeans.
“You're late,” he growled.
I looked at my phone. “It's nine forty-seven. It's two minutes.”
“I don't care,” he snarled. “You're late, and that pisses me off.”
He opened his jacket to reveal a large pistol holstered at his side. “Just so you know not to mess around,” he said with an evil grin, tapping on the pistol.
“I'm not 'messing around',” I replied. “Here. Count it.”
I opened my handbag and handed him the two paper bags with the cash in them.
He smiled greedily and snatched the bags from me, and then walked a few yards away from me and counted out the money slowly and meticulously. Finally, he turned to me and smiled.
“Well, there we go. Well done, sugar-tits, you can actually count, and all ten grand is here, just like your daddy wanted.”
I wanted to drop to the ground and simply die, but I wasn't going to do that, not in front of this monster. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
“Well, our business is done now,” I said defiantly. “So, I don't want to hear from you, or him, ever again. And stay the hell away from Colin as well.”
“Ooh, I'm scared,” he said in a mocking tone. “But, hey, you're right, our business is done. Still, I can't make any promises, I'm afraid. I'm not the boss, you see, and I don't make the rules. So, maybe you won't hear from me again... but who knows... maybe you will, sexy!”
“Don't call me that, you pig,” I snapped. “Go away now, and leave me the hell alone.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Pleasure doing business,” he said, and turned around and strolled casually away.
I waited until he had turned the corner, and then I sat down on the ground, with its cracked concrete, bits of trash and broken glass. I wanted to cry, but now I was beyond even tears. I just sat and stared at the cracks on the ground, and thought of how it had all come to this – how my life had been utterly ruined.
CHAPTER 18
Colin
I had spent another sleepless night thinking of Skye and wondering what had driven her away from me. Now that Fred had found out the truth about her father, I found it hard to believe that it had been something to do with him... yet at the same time, I felt as if it really did have something to do with him. Why couldn't she talk to me about this stuff? Why couldn't she simply tell me about it? I was a man who solved problems, a man who came up with creative, outside-the-box solutions, and I knew that if she just opened up to me, I would be able to solve whatever problem was dogging her right now.
That was the problem though, of course... How could I get her to open up to me about this stuff if I couldn't even find her?
I decided to try to find her again. I called up Carly.
“Carly, I'm not going to be coming in this morning,” I said to her.
“Really? But Colin, you've got that important meeting with Rockenheim scheduled for ten. You can't afford to miss that!”
“Call his PA, reschedule the meeting.”
“You know what Rockenheim is like, Colin – if you don’t have that meeting with him this morning, there probably won't be another meeting. And you'll lose out on almost 300,000 dollars of profit.”
“I don't care,” I said. “I have important personal things to take care of. I'll make it back on another deal with someone else. I always do. And it's not as if I'm hurting for money right now anyway. There will be more deals and more profits in the future, but some things are more important than that – and I'll be damned if I let them slip through my fingers for the sake of a little money.”
“Um, all right, if you're sure about it.”
“Trust me, I'm sure about it. Cancel the meeting. I'll see you in the afternoon.”
“All right, will do. See you later.”
I sighed – it was a big deal I was going to miss out on, but as I had just told her, there would be more deals in the future, and at this stage of my life, I had made plenty of money anyway; I could retire now and live off my investments if I really wanted to. But none of that mattered to me now as much as Skye did. I had to find her, and I had to get to the bottom of all of this.
I'm going to find you, Skye. I'm going to find you, and I'm going to help you...
The first place I went was the dance studio, again. The manager was outside, putting a poster on the window.
“Hi,” I said to her. “You're the manager here, right?”
“I am,” she replied. “How can I help you?”
“I'm looking for Skye,” I said. “It's quite urgent. Do you have any idea where I can find her?”
“I can give you her cellphone number if that would help?”
I shook my head. “I already have that, and her phone is off most of the time.”
“Well, she was just here a few minutes ago, but I'm afraid you missed her. She isn't working here today, but she'll be in tomorrow if you can wait that long.”
“All right, thanks,” I said. “I'll come back here tomorrow if I don't find her.”
“Pity about her father,” she said with a sigh. “Such a shame.”
I thought that was quite strange; how did this woman know about that? Still, I didn't have time to stay and talk.
“Yes, it is a pity,” I replied. “Anyway, thanks. I'll come back tomorrow if I don't succeed in finding her.”
The next place I planned to head was the restaurant, because if Skye wasn't working here, then there was at least a good chance that she would be working at the restaurant. I drove over there and parked nearby, and then got out and started walking toward the entrance. As I got closer, I saw a rough-looking character, a bald man in a leather jacket with tattoos on his hands and the sides of his neck, step out of the alley behind the restaurant. He was walking in my direction, and as he saw me, a strange look of recognition came across his face and he smiled, almost mockingly as he approached me.
“Well, look who it is,” he sneered. “Pretty-boy Colin.”
I stopped and looked at him with a confused expression on my face. “Do I know you?”
He chuckled. “No, you don't, but maybe one day you will, pretty-boy. Look at you, in your designer suit, strutting around like you're better than everyone else. Ha! You don't fool me, asshole.”
“Watch your mouth,” I snarled, my anger rising at this lowlife's attitude.
“Ooh, or what? What are you gonna do?”
“Teach you a lesson you won't soon forget. Now take a hike, whoever the hell you are.”
He opened his jacket and revealed a pistol, and then closed it and glared at me with naked aggression glowing in his eyes. “You should learn to speak to other people with a little more respect, Ri
chie Rich. Don't piss me off... That's a warning, a very sincere warning.”
He bashed his shoulder into me as he walked past, and then he strode off, not looking back.
What the hell had that been about? Who was that guy?
Suddenly, I saw someone a lot more familiar emerging from the same alley that he had just come out of. She saw me, too, and froze in her tracks.
“Skye!” I exclaimed, both surprised and overjoyed to finally see her.
She, however, looked... I don't know, guilty, ashamed, depressed... Maybe all three. Whatever it was, something was definitely wrong, and that unpleasant character was involved in some way, I just knew it.
“Hey, Colin,” she said uneasily. “I'm sorry that I haven't returned your calls or messages.”
“That's all right. I know that something's wrong, and I'm here to tell you that I can help you. I want to help you. Please, I just know that I can help you with whatever it is that's going wrong right now. Just tell me what's wrong, just let me in, and I promise I can help you.”
She sighed and looked away, and it seemed as if she was about to burst into tears. Then, however, a harder look came across her face. Was it resolve? Determination? Anger? Maybe all three? I couldn't quite tell.
“I'm sorry, Colin, it's just… it's some pretty intense family stuff, all right? And I can't talk about it, I just can't. But everything has been taken care of anyway. You don't need to worry about it, and you certainly don't need to get dragged into all of this, I promise you. It's a mess. You're better off not having me in your life... And I promise you, if you get involved, you'll suffer.”
“I don't care. I don't care what it is,” I countered. “I'll help you with it. Just let me help you. Please, Skye, just let me help you.”
She shook her head. She really looked like she was doing everything she could to hold back the tears now.
“I'm sorry, Colin, I really am. You're a great guy. Hell, you're the best guy I've ever dated. But things have changed in my life and now I'm going to be ridiculously busy. I'm not going to have any free time, not for the foreseeable future, I’m afraid.”
