reputation

Rehearsal

January 8, 2018.

Six - Emma

The door to the dance studio was unlocked when Emma pulled the handle. Dean sat in a cushioned chair on the other side of the one way glass windows with a large black computer perched on his lap. His fingers typed away angrily at something, darting away every couple sentences to push away the dark hair that fell rhythmically in front of his face. He looked up at Emma the second the small bell attatched to the door rang. His hands slowed to a stop and his eyes darted to the drink tray full of coffees in Emma's left hand. "Who are those for?" He asked.

"One is for you. Are you doing homework?"

"Yeah. I'm just finishing this essay for my psychology class," he confirmed. Dean was in his last semester at New York University working towards a bacholers degree in criminology. How he managed to do university work and work for Taylor was beyond Emma, even if he only worked as a bodyguard part time.

Emma picked up the black coffee and handed it to Dean. She watched as he took a drink of the bitter liquid he preferred, something that was also beyond Emma. "Is Taylor in there? She said they'd be taking a break soon."

"She is. I think they are running this one a few more times before a break. You're free to go wach if you want."

"Thanks, Dean. You probably should lock that door, just to be safe. I could have had a weapon." They generally worried less about things like this while in London, but an unlocked door was a safety rist regardless of location.

He laughed and stood up to lock it. She wasn't really joking, but he had done as she wanted and it would be futile to argue. She pushed open the heavy door to the dance studio to find Taylor on a platform dancing around a giant inflatable snake. Taylor looked over towards the door, her voice wavering with light laughter after seeing Emma's shocked expression. They finished the number less than a minute later. Taylor said something before she climbed down and ran over to Emma to throw her arms around her, almost causing the remaining drinks to spill. "Hey, Tay."

"I missed you."

"It's barely been three hours."

"Shut up and let me introduce you to everyone."

"Whatever you want, honey," Emma laughed and let Taylor loop her fingers through Emma's free ones and pull her over to the corner of the room where everyone had gone to get a drink of water.

"I have someone I'd like to introduce you to," Taylor said, her voice loud enough so that everyone could undoubtedly hear her. "This is Emma, my girlfriend."

Every single person in the room smiled at her. Some of them offered their own name in response, others simply offered a slight nod. Emma smiled back at them, a bit taken aback by the introduction involving the word girlfriend even though this was the second time Taylor had referred to her as such in front of people other than family and exceedingly close friends, before turning her full body to face Taylor's. "Can I ask about the snake?"

"It's great, isnt it? The one on stage is going to be so much bigger. Thank you for the coffee." Taylor bounced slightly as she spoke, an undisputable indicator that she didn't need any more coffee.

"That didn't really answer my question."

"You didn't really ask a question."

Emma sat on the floor and patted the spot next to her for Taylor to sit down, but she just shook her head and continued to bounce on her feet. "Has the dance practice not tired you out?"

"No. I'm ready to go for another ten hours."

"Ten hours, huh? I'm sorry to disappoint you, honey, but I think it ends in thirty minutes."