Living the Dream

Two - Riley

All the dancers who had shown up today were a lot better than I had expected them to be. They were either highly technically skilled or they were extremely talented in hip-hop. I could see it just through the small sections they performed during their freestyle audition. 

It was going to be hard to cut forty people to twenty, especially when they were all so young. 

They were here to start their paths for the future, and I didn't want to be the person to reject them or cut their dream short, but there wasn't much of a way around it. 

I sat in my office with Nate and James, James having wormed his way into all of this somehow. I still had no idea what he was doing here or why he was lingering around but I didn't have the heart in me to tell him to leave. So long as he wasn't complicating things or causing any havoc, I'll let him stay for a while. 

"I don't know," I mumble, looking over the first cut we had made as we discussed the performances. I had a clipboard with each applicant's picture and name along with a few brief notes I made on their freestyle, but looking over it all, it felt brutal to turn them away. "They're all so young. I don't exactly want to reject them straight of the bat." 

"So don't," James says as he shrugs his shoulders casually. He was sat on the new sofa I had brought in, his legs sprawled over it with his shoes on my pillow. 

I glare at him until he notices, then he sits up properly. "Why don't you keep them? Create two troupes. This isn't exactly a competitive dance studio, is it?" he asks me, to which I shake my head. 

"No. It will be more of a school almost, or at least a dance company for now." 

He smiles at the idea of it. "Exactly," he grins. "So why don't you have four to five categories? You can have the hip-hop dancers, contemporary, ballet, jazz, acro-"

"Dancers need to be all-rounded," Nate cuts in, causing me to turn my head around to face him, considering his idea also. "They should be able to balance it out, not be highly skilled in one thing and not the other." 

"Okay, so why don't you make it a little more competitive and base each troupe on their ability," James suggests. "That way it will be a bit cut-throat but everyone will be given the chance and opportunity to grow and improve themselves." 

I hated to say it, but I really did like the thought of that. James may have been out of my life for a while but he hadn't changed. He still came up with good ideas even with that big head of his. 

"I don't know," Nate mutters. "I think it's a terri-" 

"Great idea!" I cut him off, smiling at James. 

"Really?" Nate questions as I nod my head. 

"Yes, really. That way I can get them all together sometimes and switch things up every now and then. And it will create rivalries here and there which they will need to face in the dance world." 

"Okay, so what are you going to do about these cuts?" Nate questions harshly, his eyebrows furrowed. He clearly didn't like James's idea, but I was going to stand by it. Sometimes Nate wasn't always right, and that was something he had to learn to deal with. 

"Nothing," I say confidently. "I'll get them all to do duets and take it from there. Then tonight I'll go through it all and organise them into four troupes of ten. Obviously the top two will be the better dancers and the lower two will be the ones who need to progress more." 

"Fine, whatever. Let's go and get this over with," Nate huffs, standing up and walking out as he takes his clipboard with him. 

I was about to head out too but I'm stopped by the sound of James's voice. "Ri?" he calls out softly. 

I turn to face him and he offers me a smile. "I don't know when you became such a business lady, but I think I like this new you," he says. 

I roll my eyes at him, crossing my arms over my chest. "Something tells me you won't like it for long. I can get real harsh when it comes to things I'm passionate about," I sneer.

He takes a step towards me, smiling down at me with those big brown eyes of his as he continued to wear that ridiculous cap over the top of his curly hair. "Is that supposed to be a bad thing?" he asks in a soft tone. "I'm sure I'll be able to get a glimpse of the old Riley too. She can't be gone completely." 

I shake my head, straightening my face again. "I guess you'll just have to keep looking until you find her. But no promises she's still there," I tease him as I bite my lower lip. 

He hesitates as he looks over me, but before he can say anything else, Nate knocks on the window of the office, causing James and I to turn to face him. "Come on," Nate groans. "We don't have all day." 

I roll my eyes before grabbing my coffee and clipboard, then I head back out to the main studio as James follows suit.