Breaking Away Read online

  The girl was a showstopper.

  When the song ended, Claire dropped her arms, her chest rising and falling with each breath as she looked at Reese for her critique. “The part is yours.”

  Aria threw her hands up. “That’s not fair! I am the other senior in the dance! If Mallory is out, I should be in! I don’t know it all, but I can learn. It’s not hard.”

  “If it wasn’t hard, you’d know it. If you want to ever succeed in this business, you learn everything at every moment. You never know when the chance of a lifetime comes up, but you can’t take it because you don’t know it, and the girl beside you does. Let this be a lesson to you all.”

  Everyone nodded but Aria. Her eyes clouded with tears as she screamed, “I can’t believe you are giving the part to her! I am a senior!”

  Reese shook her head. “I’m sorry, Aria, but Claire will take the solo.”

  A tear rolled down Aria’s cheek before she turned and rushed out of the room. Looking out at the girls, Reese shrugged her shoulders. If Aria needed a minute, that was fine, she could have it, but there was no way in hell Reese would go out and coddle that girl. No one coddled her when she was in the industry, and no one would Aria when she left this studio. Call it tough love, but Reese was preparing these girls for the dance world… and it wasn’t a pretty place to be in. It was cutthroat and scary, and Reese did her hardest to prepare the girls for it.

  Letting out a breath, she said, “All right, let’s do it again. Hopefully, Aria will be back in a moment.”

  The girls all nodded in agreement. Her gaze met Claire’s, and she smiled. Claire smiled back, getting in position, but before Reese could hit play, the studio door slammed open. Judith Chapmen stood there, looking like a mama bear coming out of hibernation to find that you ate her baby bears.

  Shit.

  “Are you kidding me?” she screeched.

  Reese stood up and came towards her but, before she could even say anything, Judith was in front of her, her finger in Reese’s face. “You’ve got to be kidding me! Aria is a senior and the best in the class. How dare you put some sophomore in her spot?”

  As calmly as Reese could, she said, “It wasn’t her spot, Judith. Can we please take this to my office?”

  “No!” she screamed. “It was! You are playing favorites with this girl! We all know it! She is not better than my daughter, hell she isn’t anywhere near the caliber of anyone in this studio!”

  Oh, to be able to punch this bitch’s teeth in and get away with it, but since that wouldn’t happen, she shook her head, pointing to the door. “Judith, that is enough. I will not have you talk down my students. Let’s go to my office and continue this.”

  “I don’t want to go to your fucking office. I want to get this over with now. Aria will have the lead.”

  Reese scoffed. “With the way you are acting, you’ll be lucky if you guys are still in this studio.”

  “What? Are you kidding me?”

  “No, I’m not kidding, haven’t been since you waltzed in here.”

  She glared as she took a step towards her. “That’s how you are, huh, Reese? Cold, a bitch, you don’t joke, you don’t even care about any of us. All you care about is winning. That’s all it is here. Strictly work. What do I have to do to get through to you that my daughter is the best? She has the heart, the technique, and she is the fucking best. What do I have to do… sleep with you?”

  Reese took in a harsh breath. No, she fucking didn’t. “That is enough.”

  “What? Is that how this girl that has only been here for a couple months has solos, duets, and now leading a group of senior and juniors? Are you sleeping with her dad? Is that how she is getting all this? We all know how you are.”

  Her throat was tight, and she had to look away to collect herself before she decked this bitch in her face. “I don’t have to explain myself to you because if you didn’t know, the sign outside says, ‘Reese Allen Company’. I’m Reese Allen, and you are no longer a client here. Take your daughter and get out, or I will call the police.”

  Reese guessed that Judith didn’t expect that, because her mouth dropped as Aria cried out behind her. This obviously wasn’t what they wanted. They wanted to steamroll Reese into doing what they wanted, but that wasn’t going to happen. “Leave now.”

  “You fucking bitch. Let’s go, Aria,” she said, turning and grabbing Aria roughly by the arm.

  “But Reese, please, I don’t want to leave,” Aria cried. That almost did Reese in, but she kept strong before turning to the rest of the class. Claire stood with her arms crossed across her chest, looking down at the ground. Even though Reese wanted to run to her and comfort her, she wouldn’t. She couldn’t. Or she’d lose it.

  Clearing her throat, she went to the iHome and then looked out at the girls. They were off, the lines looked like shit, but Reese didn’t want to deal with it. It was taking everything out of her to hold it together because, not only was she hurt, but she was embarrassed. Was that what people really thought of her? That she was a cold, heartless slut? She cared so much about each of her dancers, trained them to be stars, and she tried her best to keep her shenanigans out of the light.

  Damn it.

  Taking in a deep breath, she turned towards the iHome and looked down at her phone. She wanted to reach for it so bad and dial Phillip’s number. She wanted to hear his voice. Damn it, she wasn’t going to be able to pull it together. No, she had to. Pulling her hair up, she took in another deep breath before turning to the girls.

  “Okay, let’s fix this dance.”

  After doing what needed to be done to the lines, Reese was happy with the final product. It was a tad bit rough, but the girls would pull it together before Chicago. Releasing the girls, Reese reached for the phone and then slid down the mirror until her butt hit the ground. She needed to talk to Phillip. She didn’t understand why him and not her sister but, before she could stop herself, she was hitting his name and sending a text.

  Busy?

  “Reese?”

  Reese jumped, not realizing that she wasn’t alone. Putting her phone in her lap, she looked up to find Claire looking down at her. “Hey, I thought you left.”

  “I wanted to apologize for all that.”

  Reese raised an eyebrow. “Huh? Why are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong.”

  “Yeah, but Aria should have been the lead because she is the senior.”

  “You’re better. We are a winning studio—we go for platinum. Maybe I am a cold-hearted bitch like she said, but I put the best on the front because they are the ones that are going to succeed. You can have all the heart in the world but if you aren’t good, you won’t make it. It’s how hard you work and you work hard, Claire. That’s why you are where you are in this studio. Everyone is going to hate you. Get used to it, but know it’s because you are the best.”

  She looked down and took in a deep breath. “I know I’m the best, but I was worried you’d be mad at me because of the claims she made about Phillip and you, and playing favorites.”

  “I’m not. It’s nothing to me. I’m used to being hated. It’s nothing new,” she said and even though it was true, this time it hurt. She was used to people hating her for how great of a dancer she was, not for the reasons that Judith had said.

  “I don’t hate you.”

  Reese smiled. “Thank you. Don’t worry, okay?”

  “Okay, are you okay?”

  Reese tried to smile but she knew it didn’t reach her eyes. “Fine.”

  When her phone went off, Claire looked down and then back up at Reese. “Harper is outside. I’m gonna go.”

  “All right, see you tomorrow.”

  Claire left with a wave and when Reese heard the front door close, she looked back down at the phone to see that Phillip had texted her back.

  Nope, sitting in the hotel room, watching a movie. What are you doing?

  Can I call you?

  Absolutely.

  She hated how much she needed hi