Studio 22

Chapter 2:

Beca:

When I turned around during my show, I saw her again. Her red curls stood out. She was standing directly in front of the stage, her eyes glued to me and my dancers. A few steps into a new song, I heard one of my dancers cry out in pain. I turned around to look at her. She was lying on the ground, holding her ankle. I motioned to close the curtain and hurried to get to her.

"Call an ambulance!" I ordered while kneeling by Jo's side. "What happened?"

"I don't really know.. Somehow I slipped and twisted my ankle. It hurts really bad, Beca. I think it's something serious...", she explained while I helped her to sit on one of the chairs. I went to get an ice pack and carefully pressed it against her ankle.

A few minutes later the paramedics arrived. One of them carried Jo outside and into the ambulance. I followed them with her bag. I handed the bag to one of the paramedics, they closed the door and drove away. I went back inside, straight to the bar to prepare myself a strong drink. I needed something to calm my nerves.

Jo had broken her foot and ankle and was out of business for at least 8 weeks. Despite my worries about Jo, we had to keep the shows going. Thursday to Sunday when the curtain opened I saw Chloe in the audience. She had become a regular guest. Often she brought Aubrey and some of her other friends. Sometimes she even came alone.

                                                             

                                     ~

Eight weeks after the accident, Jo entered the club. I was just busy behind the bar- I really enjoyed mixing drinks some nights- when she came over.

"Jo, hey! How are you?" I asked while drying off my hands with a towel.

"Hi, Beca. I'm okay, but I come bearing bad news.", she sadly told me, leaning against the bar, placing her hands on it.

"What is it?" I asked insecurely, still hoping for the best.

"I won't be able to dance again. I can't wear heels anymore and I'm not allowed to jump...The fracture was complicated, the doctors fixed it as well as they could, but it will never fully go back to normal."

"That's terrible! I'm so sorry for you." I let her know while placing a hand on her arm soothingly. Together, we decided that Jo would still be working for me. Not as a dancer, but she would be supporting me with the books. It was exhausting to keep track of everything alone. Jesse wasn't much of a support either. It bothered me and I had told him over and over, but nothing ever changed. Lately things weren't running so smooth between us anymore.

Later that night, when everyone had left, I let myself fall onto one of the chairs with a drink. I sighed heavily while my thoughts drifted to finding a new dancer to replace Jo. I would have to hold an audition. I opened the website of Studio 22, went into editing mode, and created a new announcement, stating that an audition would be held on the 5th. Additionally, I posted the announcement on all the social media accounts I had created when I had opened Studio 22.

I went to bed at 4am in the morning. As I crawled into bed next to Jesse, who was sleeping, my brain was clouded with thoughts about how I would replace Jo, about my difficult relationship with Jesse, about the audition and if I had made the right decision to open a nightclub. It wasn't exactly easy business.

I woke up seven hours later. I stretched myself in bed, when Jesse entered the bedroom.

"Morning, peanut.", he said and crawled into bed next to me, leaning in for a kiss. He had given me the nickname because apparently, I was the size of a peanut. I always told him I hated that name, but secretly I thought it was very sweet. Despite our differences, we made a good team most of the time. We were a part of each other's lives for 4 years now.