Mixtape

The Freshman

We fell through the ice when we tried not to slip.
-Jay Brannan (cover artist)

"I'm obviously walking on incredibly thin ice right now!" Peta exclaimed, pacing around a small square of the home that she shared with her husband, Maks.

"Hey!" He placed both of his hands on either shoulder of her's. "Stop this!"

"Stop what?" Peta asked. Tears from all the stress filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.

Involuntarily, Maks' fingers went to dry the tears on her face. "This. All of this." His fingers were still working on brushing away Peta's tears that kept coming as he continued talking. "You're going to stress yourself sick, My Love. But, I understand where you're coming from. This industry is not an easy one to be in."

"Yeah, and I know that!" Peta's voice cracked on the verge of tears once more. "But you don't get this." She protested. "You don't get the feeling of screwing up so badly that you could possibly lose your job!" She shrugged free of Maks' hands on her shoulders and slumped onto the sofa.

Maks followed after and sat next to her. He brought his arms around her and held her tightly. "You screwed nothing up." Maks reassured her. "It wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was! It was my fault, Maks! I'm the teacher, I'm supposed to teach!" Peta fought against his hold on her, but quickly realized that that's what she needed. Peta settled into the hold, so much so that Maks could feel her individual shaky breaths.

"Hey, you got stuck with a trashy partner, you can't control that." Maks ran his hands through her hair and kissed the top of her head.

"Not even that, I could barely figure out opening! All I'm doing is hurting the team." She fought hard not to start crying again. Peta lost that fight as tears started to soak into Maks' sleeve. "I'm going to lose my job."

"You will not lose your job, Peta Jane!" Maks exclaimed. "It's six now, they've already sent out the callback emails, so go check your email. I promise you that you didn't lose your job." Maks kissed her lips as she went to check her phone.

Peta-
We're sorry to say that we will not be having you in our line up of pros this season. You've been granted a place on our troupe in place. I'm sorry for the bad news.

Best wishes,
Brian: Producer, Dancing With The Stars, ABC

Peta threw her phone down and walked back to Maks. "I lost it. I freaking lost it!"