Off Pointe

Just One More Time With Feeling

On Point

Post Gala Interview

By Rena Rouge

EXCLUSIVE!

Following the Agreste Christmas Gala, we will be having the chance for a rare interview with Gabriel Agreste. The famed choreographer will be telling all about the trials and tribulations of running one of the world's most famous dance schools, along with the continuous top class performances from the company. There will also be a chance to question Gabriel on his son's original choreography and the future of his legacy. All will be revealed soon.

*****

The usual nerves that came with time spent in Gabriel Agreste's office seemed to have evaporated, and all Adrien could feel now was annoyance that his father had stopped him from running to Marinette, or shoving his contract up Gabriel's ass.

He was done. Well and truly done – with the school, the company and his father. As far as he was concerned he wasn't an Agreste anymore. He didn't want to be. The name meant nothing to him anymore, and he was sure it never would again. Adrien had rung his lawyer as soon as he left the studio to check over the contracts one more time – it was so tightly wound Adrien was almost sure the unravelling was going to be one hell of a spectacle, and he couldn't wait to begin.

The ins and outs had been circled and highlighted, and there were more revision notes on it than his textbooks for his baccalaureate exams. They had his escape plan set out and unfortunately they'd have to move faster than expected

"Are we done now? I have things to do." Adrien stood leaning against the door, step one was to play aloof, to make sure Gabriel couldn't see he was getting under Adrien's skin. It was hard but one flashback to Marinette's defeated face and his strength built, he was doing this for her.

"Things?" Gabriel asked. "Like what? Wasting your time with that girl?! What the hell have you two been doing all this time? You were meant to be rehearsing, not swanning off to sleep with her. Sometimes I wonder where your mind wanders off to."

What had they been doing? Adrien could have laughed, long and hard. Apart from the hours and hours they were putting in both in and out of the studio, it was simple; they had been living.

They had been sharing memories and creating new ones. They had had fun, he'd learned to love dance again, he'd learned to love life again. She had been an angel when he'd needed one the most, his silver lining, and his future, and as far as he was concerned, the end of the gala would be the end of any relationship he had with his father and this company.

On his journey from the studio to his father's office he began to think about how to play this, because as juvenile as this was now, it had become a game — and Gabriel Agreste never lost a game. His father still treated him like a child, and for years he'd succumbed to it, it had made his life easy and his father happy. But not anymore. Time had passed and he was done. His own happiness was just as equal to Gabriel's.

"Try all you want to knock her down, father, but you know, as clear as I do, the reason you're not putting her on stage is for what she represents."

"Represents? And what would that be Adrien? The inability to complete a routine."

Adrien laughed, really laughed, right in his father's face. "I've seen you watching her, father. You look at her the way I did when I first saw her on that first day of training. You know, as well as I do, that she dances exactly like my mother. She's fluent in so many styles and you can see that coming through with each and every move she performs. Yes, it hurt me too the first time I saw her, but I never would have gone as far as ruining her future because people would compare them and see she is better."