Steffy Forester raised her leg up onto the wall bar and bent forward, bringing her leg to rest against her chest. She felt the familiar burn as her muscles were stretched. Even though it wasn’t comfortable, she learned to love the feeling of stretching. As a child she didn’t believe she needed to stretch until one day it came back to bite her and she discovered the pain of a Charlie Horse. Ever since then, stretching was mandatory, not an option.
After stretching her other leg she looked at the dance group behind her in the large, wall mirror. She turned to watch them do their own stretches and warm up exercises. She smiled, happy to be where she was. One of the best dancers in the group, a team of talented and supportive girls…life was good.
That’s what made today all the more unnerving. One of the girls, Nicole Avant, had to drop out for some medical procedures, and so a replacement was needed. This meant change, something Steffy didn’t like. She preferred the security of consistency, knowing what to expect, what she had to work with. It helped her stay in control. Change brought about the fear of the unknown and losing that control.
She took a deep breath, feeling her leotard expand with her chest. ‘Relax,’ she thought to herself. ‘Everything changes. You will not back down. Run headfirst into the challenge, not away from it.’ Before she could prepare herself any further a very familiar voice interrupted.
“Everyone, please join me in welcoming Hope Logan, our newest dancer.”
Her eyes had immediately gone to the source of the deep, calm voice: Eric Forrester. Head of the Forrester family and longtime leader of the company. He was the kind of man you were always happy to see, sometimes even hoping to see him on a bad day to cheer up.
As his words were registering in her mind, her eyes were immediately drawn to the young woman next to him. Hope Logan.
Steffy didn’t know her personally, but instead through her relationship to Eric. A variety of thoughts, questions and feelings rushed through her, all fighting for her attention. She pushed them away and decided to sort them out later and focus on the present. Straightening her back and lifting her head, she walked forward with a warm smile.
“Welcome Hope,” she said extending her hand out. “I’m Steffy.”
Hope had learned long ago that it was best practice to do a cursory Google search on the dance company she was joining, just to keep from looking like a total idiot on her first day. While she’d grown up admiring the Forrester company as a spectator, this was different and so she had done her research. In that hunt for information, she’d learned that while Eric tried his best to not play favorites when casting his productions, he clearly had a soft spot in his heart for his granddaughter, Steffy Forrester. She had been cast in a leading role more frequently than anyone else; though their website didn’t say it, the young woman was clearly the star of the company.
As such, when the dark-haired dancer approached her in greeting, Hope already knew her name and, for that matter, her resume (she had performed in quite an impressive number of productions and not just for the Forrester company), but the ballerina didn’t say that. It would be much too creepy to do so.
She returned the warm smile that she was gifted and took the proffered hand in her own, shaking it gently, “It’s nice to meet you, Steffy.”
“I’ll leave you lot to get acquainted,” Eric said, resting his hand briefly upon Hope’s shoulder, before heading off the stage again, calling out for his wife, Stephanie.
With their director gone and the apparent approval of their defacto leader, Hope was soon surrounded by the other members of the company, male and female alike. Several offered her kind smiles, greetings, and introductions, but then there were others who held themselves back, watching her through narrowed, skeptical eyes. It was one of these clearly doubtful people who spoke, bringing a hush to the general murmur of the entire group.
“Excuse me?” Hope asked as the group shifted to reveal the young woman with vibrant red hair who spoke. She’s going to be a tough nut to crack, Hope thought as she took in the other woman’s stance.
“Who are you?” the red-head asked again, “It isn’t like Eric to bring in a new dancer without holding auditions and getting our input as a whole, so, who are you? How did you get here? I’ve never heard of ‘Hope Logan.’”
“Sally!” One of the male dancers chided in an exasperated tone and Hope took a mental note of the name he called the woman.
“What, Thomas?” Sally challenged without looking away from Hope, “we’re just supposed to accept her instantly? Nicole worked her ass off to be a part of this company. We all have. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask about her credentials.”
“I’m sure if my grandfather,” and the casual name drop there, told Hope exactly who this Thomas was. Thomas Forrester, grandson of Eric and Stephanie Forrester. “chose Hope to join us, then she belongs here.” With that, the tall man winked at Hope and the blonde barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He was obviously the ladies man of the group and that was the last thing Hope needed to get tangled up with.
Sally made a discontented noise, pushing her fiery tresses behind her ear angrily, “Fine. Then at least show us what you can do, Barbie.”
The nickname irritated Hope. For one thing, she’d done nothing to earn this woman’s ire. For another, she hated being called Barbie just because she happened to be blonde. It was both insulting and entirely unoriginal. Pushing her irritation away, Hope shrugged, “That’s fine. What do you want? Ballet? Swing? Though I’d need a partner for that one… I also know gymnastics, but that isn’t dance.”
Once ballet had been selected and the group moved back to give her space, someone began graciously playing “Pas de Dian from the ballet La Esmeralda” on their phone’s speakers. After taking a moment to center herself, Hope began to dance. This was one of her favorite pieces to perform. She loved the music, the magical feeling of it, and the variety that the piece allowed her to showcase. While it was true that it was not the most challenging dance in her repertoire it was best for this moment.
As the music began to transition to the ensemble portion of the track, the song was stopped and Hope walked back to the group with a kind smile, “Good enough?”
