CHAPTER 6
Remy
I sat up all night thinking about Danica. I had the feeling that she hadn't turned me down because she didn't want to go out with me. No, rather, I was convinced she’d turned me down because she was really afraid of losing her job.
I didn't want to get her in trouble, of course – and I figured that if I came clean about Anna not actually being my daughter, that would mean I wasn't a client – just some guy off the street who wanted a date with her. Perhaps that would change her perspective, and then she would be allowed to go out with me without getting into trouble.
It was worth a shot. I didn't want to give up my chance to take this stunning girl out on a date. After all, she had awoken something in me that had not been active for quite some time... a deep, burning desire. I really hadn't felt this sort of intense, magnetic attraction toward anyone for a very, very long time. Many years, in fact – and when fate hands you something like this, you'd be a fool not to do your best to grasp it.
The next morning, I called Carly to say I'd be a little late coming in to the office. After thinking about Danica all night, I knew that there was no way I could wait until the end of the day to go back to talk to her – I had to do it right now. I knew that the studio opened at nine, so I planned to walk in at around a quarter after nine, or maybe twenty after – I wanted to give her a few minutes to get settled in and didn't want to totally overwhelm her.
So, at twenty after nine, I walked in – only to see that she wasn't there. I sighed with disappointment, but as I turned around to leave, she came rushing through the door, looking terribly stressed and worried.
Her manager stepped out of her office at this very moment, and she did not look happy.
“Danica!” she snapped. “What the hell is going on? You were supposed to be here almost an hour ago!”
“I'm sorry, Gwen, I'm so sorry, there was just, I was—”
“I don't care about your excuses, Danica,” said the woman coldly. “I told you how many people applied for this job, didn't I? And I turned them all down and took a chance on you. And now you do this to me? I should fire you right now.”
“No, no, please, Gwen, please. I need this job more than anything,” begged Danica. “I swear on everything I hold dear that it will never happen again. Please just give me one more chance, please.”
Gwen stared coldly at Danica for a few moments. “One more chance,” she said eventually. “But this is the one and only time you ever get to slip up. One more mistake and you're gone. Do you understand me?”
Danica nodded, her face clouded over with shame and guilt. “I understand, Gwen. Thank you. Thank you so much.”
Gwen turned around and walked stiffly back into her office, and Danica scrambled to get things together behind the counter. It was only then that she noticed me.
“Oh, uh, Remy, was it?”
“That's right, Danica.”
“There aren't any kid's classes right now... And anyway, I mean, shouldn't your daughter be in school right now? I know that you're a really great dad, so I assume that you aren't lax about making sure your daughter is at a good school, right?”
Damn it. I had wanted to tell her that I wasn't Anna's father, but now she was making it difficult for me to confess. Feeling cornered, I kept on lying.
“Oh, she is in school. I just wanted to say that um, her mother is going to have custody of her for a while, and she'll be bringing her to classes. And since everything is paid for and settled, and with her mother bringing her here for a few weeks, well, that technically means I'm no longer a client, so you won't get in trouble if you go on a date with me.”
She sighed. “Look, Remy, I'll be honest with you – you're really good-looking and I have to admit that you're pretty charming, but I just don't have time in my life to get involved with a guy right now. I'm working two jobs just to get by, and I'm doing my best to put a few dollars aside every week to save up so that I can actually take classes here at the studio. I just don't have time, and I'm so exhausted from all of this. I'm sorry, it's not you, it's just the situation I'm in right now.”
I nodded. “Well, what if I helped you out with some of that?”
She looked up at me. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I'll pay for your dance classes. That'll be one less thing for you to worry about, so then you'll be free to go on a date with me,” I said with a smile.
She chuckled, somewhat awkwardly. “I don't think you realize how much classes cost at this school.”
“I do. I paid for Anna's classes yesterday.”
“And you'd pay that much money for someone you don't even know?” she asked, looking somewhat shocked.
“It's a couple of dollars,” I said with a shrug. “It's nothing.”
“It might be nothing to you, but to some people that's a fortune,” she said defiantly. “And I'm not a charity case. I'm sorry, but I don't take handouts – even if it is 'just a couple of dollars' to you. I mean, I don't even know you! How can I accept that kind of money from someone I don't even know? Look Remy, it's a kind gesture, and I appreciate that, but... but no, I can't. I can't accept it.”
I nodded. I could understand why she was turning me down.
“All right, fair enough,” I conceded. “But I'm not giving up just yet. You told me before that you wanted to enter this fundraising auction, but that you couldn't think of what to enter, right?”
“Yeah, kind of,” she admitted.
“Well, how about this – I'll put together a little something for you to enter into the auction. I promise you it won't be extravagant, and it won't cost a lot of money. If it wins the most money at the auction, your end of the bargain is that you allow me to take you out on a date. How about that?”
She considered this for a while... and then she smiled. “All right. That I can accept. The deadline is the end of the week though, so you'd better come up with something quickly.”
“I'll get it to you before the end of the week, I promise,” I said. “So, it's a deal then?”
“Deal,” she said, and we shook hands – and again I had the feeling of raw electricity passing from her skin to mine as we touched.
I walked out with a grin on my face that stayed there for the rest of the day. Things were looking up on the romance front... they were definitely looking up.