Dance With Me (Norminah & Camren)

Chapter 6: Booty Pop Madness

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Normani's POV

On our third rehearsal, Dinah was on time.

"Sup ManManz," Dinah said, sidling into the room, glued to her phone, "How's your day going?"

"Good. How about you?" I said quietly, doing my stretches.

"Not as good," Dinah said, dumping her stuff and coming to sit next to me.

"How come?"

"Cuz my dance partner just lied to me. You see, she's having a bad day, but she's trying to cover it up."

"How can you tell?"

"Usually you're full of a strict disciplined energy, but today you just seem mellow. You didn't even roll your eyes at my usual question before answering it. And speaking of eyes, they're all puffy and red, so I can tell you've been crying. Plus, you're usually 15 minutes early, but I just saw you walk in a few steps ahead of me," Dinah said to my surprise, "What's wrong, Mani?"

I'd been trying to keep myself composed, but as soon as she'd said those words, a fresh wave of tears formed in my eyes, threatening to spill over. I wiped my eyes, sniffled, and shook my head to indicate that I didn't want to talk about it.

Dinah inched closer to wrap her arm around my shoulder and said, "Hey, it's okay if you don't wanna tell me. But just know that I'm here for you, okay?"

I buried my face into the groove of her neck and broke down into fresh sobs.

Dinah wrapped both arms around me, pulling me close till I was snuggled tightly against her body, and said, "It's okay, Mani. Everything's gonna be okay..."

"No, it won't," I sniffled, sobbing into her shoulder, "I didn't get the shift manager position that I applied for." Sniffle. "I was so confident I was going to get it too cuz I've been there the longest, you know?" Sniffle. "I even gave my 2 weeks resignation at my other part time job." Sniffle. "But they promoted someone else instead, because they think I'm over ambitious. They think I don't work well with others because I micro-manage everything." Sniffle. "And now, I'm stuck in the same position, and I just foolishly quit my other job, so I can't leave this one anymore."

"I'm so sorry, Mani," Dinah said, rubbing my back soothingly, "Those people are assholes for not picking you. You're the best person for management."

"Really?" I sniffled, "You don't think I'm difficult to work with?"

"You? Difficult? Nah."

"Are you lying to make me feel better?"

"Maybe a little."

I couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter and Dinah joined in. I didn't mind so much when Dinah called me difficult.

"Can I give you my honest opinion?" Dinah asked.

"Didn't you just do that?"

"I meant about this entire situation."

"Okay," I said, pulling away from Dinah to wipe my eyes.

"I think this is for the best, Mani. You didn't need two part-time jobs to begin with, so now you have more free time to just relax. And as for staying at the job that didn't give you a promotion, it's only a matter of 6 more months before you graduate and join a dance company, so it's not too bad, is it?"

"I guess not..."

"Besides, it's more stressful being the manager and having to deal with shitty people. This way the only person stressing you out for the next 6 months will be me."