Unfaithful

Chapter 2: Emily

I'm sitting in my office, just reading over some paperwork one last time. A Troupe auditions are next week. After the team lost regionals last year, we need to come back better than before. New studio, new studio head, new start seems to be Ms Kate's idea. And the new studio is amazing. The blues are so pretty and I think it's just what we needed. So far, no one has seen it. It's fun having a secret like this.

I glance up at the clock to see the minute hand approach quarter past. It doesn't surprise me he's fifteen minutes late but he promised he'd be punctual. Just then, an alert pops up on my phone. "Where r u? 🤔". "My office" I press send. A minute late, another message pops up. "No ur not. I'm there 🤣". "Are you in the new studio or old studio?" I ask, although I already know the answer. "On my way 🏃". I smile slightly.

And sure enough, West bursts in the door thirty second later. "Hey" I smile. "Hey" he says, bounding over to give me a hug. "It's been such a long time." "Yeah" I laugh. "Sorry I was late, Max was spamming me with pictures of raccoons and I lost track of time." "It's fine" I say. I'm used to West's weirdness by now. And it's nice to see him again.

"So, as head choreographer" he emphasises his new title, "I've been scoping out some new dancers and I've invited them to come and audition. I'm not sure how good they'll be but the more the merrier, right? Oooh, and I've come up with a piece for a choreography round of auditions if you want to see it?" I'm honestly surprised West has put so much work into this. The only thing he's ever taken this seriously is London. And I'm pretty sure that was because the Queen of England lives there.

"That's amazing" I say. "Thanks so much, I had no idea you'd have done so much preparation! Do you want to show me the routine now?" "Sure" he says, strolling out into the studio space and beginning to stretch. "What do you think of the new studio space?" I ask him. "It's nice. But it's not home. Home will always be Studio A" he replies. "Yeah, but you never know. Maybe this new space will be home for a future generation of dancers" I counter. "Yeah" West mumbled, but I could tell he wasn't really paying attention as he struggled to connect his phone to the new speaker system.

Now that West is here, everything seems more real. I'm actually running The Next Step! I have dreamed of running a dance studio since I was a little girl, and now it's come true. I have my own office, a new space, a brilliant choreographer and hopefully next week I'll have a regionals winning team.

"Yessss" West cheers as music starts playing in the studio. He begins his routine to 'Fist Pump', and I already know that this year is going to be a success. Together, we'll take the studio to internationals. But first, the auditions.