Watch Me

Chapter 16

"Ok, everyone," Robert said as everyone gathered for the usual morning meeting. "I know it's been a long week, especially since we didn't get to rehearse on Monday, but it's Friday, so I want everyone here after lunch so we can see how everything is looking so far. I doubt we'll be staying too late, but I'll know better when we see what we have so far. Any questions?" The group was quiet. Robert nodded his head and left.

"I swear, that man pushed us hard this week," Colton said as he continued to stretch.

"This is why we don't take days off during the week," Davis said as he laughed. "Or it could be all that extra exercise you've been doing during the week." Adam and Mack started laughing as Colton smiled.

Colton stood up and saw Zoe stretching with Sarah and Nadine. She had taken off her sweater and was putting on her pointe shoes. His eyes ran over her body. Her leotard was a dark shade of green, her chest pushed up by the pleating detail around her chest, her back completely open, making him smile as he thought of how soft her skin was. He watched as she stood up and tested out her shoes, bending over to adjust one of the laces around her ankle before standing on her toes.

"Colt? You ok?" Adam asked causing Colton to turn his head away from Zoe and focusing on his friends.

"Yeah, spaced out for a second there. We ready to go up?" he said grabbing his bag off the floor.

Mack laughed and threw an arm around him as the four of them started to leave the rehearsal hall. "Man, have you got it bad."

Colton let out a soft laugh. "That obvious?"

Adam laughed. "Since day one dude. But, it's all good."

"Really?" Colton said as they walked up the stairs.

All three men laughed. "Oh yeah, but to be fair, it was obvious from both of you." Davis said with a grin. "I saw the way she looked for you at the club."

Colton laughed at the memory. "Man, I stood there for at least a minute trying to get over her comeback. There was just something about her then. Now..." he trailed off and shrugged.

"Oh yeah, he's got it really bad," Davis said as they reached the studio, the rest of the company joining them shortly.

"Ok," Robert said as the company stood on the stage in the rehearsal hall. "We're going to do it in this order. First the opening group number, Zoe and Colton's first number, Kristen and the rest of that group, Andrea and that group, Mack and the guys then Zoe and Colton's second number. There's about a 45 second gap between songs, with the exception being the beginning. We also have a few special guests watching this rehearsal, so make it good guys. I'll give you 15 minutes to stretch out."

As the group started stretching, Colton walked over to Zoe. "Special guests? Is that code for something?"

She smiled as she removed her sweater. "No, he means special guests. Probably an older sponsor or two coming to see what we're doing. They're used to your typical ballets, so, they may be a bit worried." He smiled as she stretched her arms over her head. "Come on, you'd better be limber. We've got a bit of work to do now."

"Robert really likes throwing us in the deep end of the pool, doesn't he?" Colton said as he started stretching. "I mean, he invited people to watch and we just got part two down."

"We've got it down pretty well, I think. I'm more worried about the emotion I put in it." She kicked her leg up and stretched it over her head. "Maybe we should fight so I can get into the right head space." Zoe said laughing.

Colton smiled at her. "That only gets us back to part one, because I'll only be thinking of makeup sex." He started to stretch out. "Ok, here's a way to get to the Landing Phase. A sandwich walks into a bar and orders a drink. The bartender says 'Sorry, we don't serve food here.'"