Living the Dream

Seven - Riley

"James, hey, what's going on?" I ask him as I followed after him when he stormed off outside. I don't know what just happened between him and Nate but I was going to find out. I know the two of them didn't like each other so I wasn't about to buy Nate's lies that quickly.

"I'm not doing this, Riley," he huffs, clearly stressing. It wasn't often that he got agitated over something, so I knew I had to talk to him in order to calm him down. "I'm not going to try and compete against someone who is so much better than me again. I'm not going to lose to someone more successful like I did before."

I furrow my brows, confused as to what he was talking about. It was difficult and hurt my feet but I run in my heels to move to stand in front of him, blocking his way before he could get inside his car.

I place my hand on his chest, stopping him from going anywhere. I could feel his heart beating beneath the palm of my hand and it was rapid which wasn't good.

He used to have anger episodes in times when no one else would notice but me. It was the exact reason why he first started drumming. It was a way for him to release his emotions, but I doubt he turned to drumming anymore so now all those feelings were locked up inside of him.

"James," I whisper softly as I stood in front of his car, stopping him from entering it. If he was to drive his car in the state he was in now, it wouldn't end well, and I wasn't about to let him put himself in danger.

"You aren't competing against anyone," I tell him as I take hold of his spare hand and I rub my thumb over the back of his palm. "There is no one else in the picture."

"But Nate-"

"Nate is nobody," I cut him off, biting my lip. "We met in business school and partnered together in a few projects but there's nothing going on between us. I promise you."

He seems to calm down when I tell him that and he allows his eyes to latch onto mine. I don't know why I was allowing myself to get so close to him, but seeing him storm out like that, I had to do something. I couldn't let him leave that quickly.

Plus I need him as the choreographer and I know he needed it too.

"Will you please come inside? I left the dancers in there and they have no clue what they're doing. I promise I'll fill you in on everything later, okay?" I tell him. I move my hand from his chest once I was able to tell his heart rate had slowed down and I send him a small smile.

"Okay," he mutters.

I don't know what went down in his life in the last four years, but it wasn't good...

Anyone would be able to tell that.

. . .

Later in the afternoon, the dancers left early. I was supposed to have been in a meeting with the board about how I was approaching the plan I had set out for the studio but there was something I needed to do before that.

James was still here but was in the main dance studio currently, putting together a small piece to get him started. I left him to it while I went to go and talk to Nate in my office.

The moment I open the door and walk inside, I find him sat at my desk behind my laptop which causes me to scoff. "What are you doing?"

He jolts slightly before looking up and folding his arms. "I was responding to the e-mail you've neglected for the past week. Aren't you supposed to be in a meeting right now? You don't want to taint a bad image for yourself, Riles," he begins to rant.

The amount of times I had to suffer from his lectures was beginning to get draining. I went into business with him because he was good with IT and we both shared a love for dance. Now I'm beginning to wonder if partnering with him was the best idea.

"My image is perfectly okay, thanks for your concern," I retort as I move to sit on the edge of my desk. "What I need to know first is what you said to James earlier."

He looks at me, waiting as if to check if I was being serious, then after a moment or so he chuckles, closing my laptop shut. "You're being ridiculous, right?" he questions, to which I shake my head. "

"No," I reply sternly. "I told you he's going to be our head choreographer so you need to play nice. Not once did I tell you to undermine him-"

"Okay, Riles, do I need to remind you of the current situation?" he cuts me off, standing up. He moves away from sitting behind my desk and blocks the doorway, stopping anyone from getting in or out. "You just hired your ex-boyfriend as the head choreographer for the studio when there are so many other professionals out there-"

"James is a professional-"

"No, he's not. He's won a few competitions, big deal," he mutters sarcastically.

"Riley, you might be the studio head, but you and I are still working together on the same team. I don't need things to get to the point where you end up getting all distracted again because of a bunch of boy drama and I end up being the one to pick up the pieces. If you want to go far, I'll be the one to help you get there. But you can't have small inconveniences, such as James, showing up out of the blue to ruin things for you. Understood?"

I look down as I move my foot around in a circle, fiddling with my ring. I hated to say it but he was right. I'd failed once in the past, I couldn't let myself fail again. Otherwise I really would be the failure daughter while Emily's off thriving back home.

"Understood," I mumble, looking up at him.

He smiles and moves over to me before placing his forefinger beneath my chin, lifting my head up. "I'm only doing what's best for you, Riles. It's out of your best interest that you leave him be and focus on your future, not his."

I sigh as I look at him and nod. "Yeah," I mumble, standing back up again and patting myself down. "I need to head over to that meeting or I'm going to be late."

I grab my car keys and purse before making my way out, walking as fast as I possibly could in my heels, although it wasn't very fast. I had to pass the studio James was in and managed to catch a glimpse of his routine. I wanted nothing more to compliment him on it but when Nate's words repeat in my head, I find it was better to say nothing at all.

"Going so quickly?" he calls out to me when I head towards the exit.

I turn to face him and force a smile. "I've got a meeting to go to-"

"I can drive you?" he suggests, but I shake my head. "No, it's okay. It's quite a distance, I'll be alright. I'll see you later," I say quickly before heading out.

The moment I turn my back to him, I instantly regret it but I didn't have much of a choice. It was for the good of my future. I didn't need anyone tying me down.