Bloody affairs (18+)

004

ZYLITH🩰✨

I pose; stiff as a board while still trying to look effortlessly elegant. I grind the toe of my ballet slipper into the floor, adjusting myself to keep from falling. I arch my back as far as I can, lifting my right arm and letting my left arm reach for my back leg. I then angle my shoulders, one pointed towards the ceiling and the other at the ground.

" Good, keep it right there. " the photographer orders as she snaps away at her camera. With each picture taken she moves, catching a new angle. Finally, she pushes herself off of her knee and examines her work. I drop from the pose, rolling my neck and wincing as it cracks. " Looks like we're done for the day. You're good to go, I'll have your portfolio sent as soon as possible. "

I stand and walk over to the bench in the corner. I pick up my bag without saying a word, taking my rinky dinkity phone from its side pocket. I then untie my sneakers from the strap of the bag, slipping them on my feet. As I exit the room, I give the photographer a wave of my hand bidding goodbye.

I scroll through my phone as I walk, stuffing my AirPods into my ears. As the classical music flows through my ears, I practice the choreography in my head. I'm stuck in my own little world, my head moving with each dance step I think off; but then I come across a news post that makes me stop what I'm doing completely. My eyes widen as I read through the post.

It's about some new club downtown. It's all the critics can rave about after its exceptional opening day. The owner, Grady Gomez, apparently made a brief appearance before disappearing with a woman on each of his arms.

Grady. The club.

I totally forgot about the club. I've been so busy with ballet that it completely slipped my mind. I swipe off the news app, clicking on the icon labeled ' contacts. '
I scroll until I get to the G's, tapping on Grady's name. I hover over the call button, a billion ' what if's ' swirling through my head.

But before I can convince myself otherwise, I press the button. I lift the phone to my ear to hear the calling noise. It rings three times before I hear the dial tone click, insinuating that someone one the other line has picked up. A sharp inhale, and a deep husky voice barks out a ' hello? '

" Is this Grady? " I ask meekly, not sure of what to do, because quite frankly this whole situation was bonkers. A long drawn out silence on the other side almost makes me think he hung up, but then a deep sigh of what sounds like relief says otherwise.

" Yes, is this Zylith? " He asks, a ring of sarcasm and resentment lacing his tone. Before I can answer, he continues " Been a while, no? You missed the opening day. " He states coldly, his voice growing fainter. I imagine him moving away from his phone, taking care of whatever business he does.

" I'm sorry, I forgot. " I weakly excuse myself, lifting my shoulder to hold my phone as I rummage through my bag for my keys. " I saw a news article about it though, it's looks fun. " I say, trying to continue the conversation as best as I can.

" Hm. " is his only response. We sit in silence, the slight sound of shuffling from his side the only sound audible. " Well, Zylith, I have things to do so I'll catch you later. " He finally says, giving no air of promise to his words. He wasn't going to ' catch me later ' and for whatever reason, that made me feel.. upset?

" Wait! Uhm, I'm free tonight? If the invitation to the club still stands, I'm free tonight. " I propose, my knees growing weak at the possible chance of rejection. Another round of silence causes me to want to pull my hair out in frustration.

" Yeah. Yeah, okay. I'll send the address eventually but I have things to do. See you later. " He snaps, and before I can get another word in, the line goes dead. He hung up on me.