Page 66 of Dance for Me

“Thanks, Dad?” She didn’t mean for it to sound like a question, but she couldn’t help it. “I um… I really like it. Well, liked it I should say.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, it’s a long story but… something happened, and I don’t know if I could continue to work there.”

“But you’re happy there?”

Vanessa didn’t know how to answer that question, was she happy working at Pink Lace, yes, but after what happened with Jack, she wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to face him every day. “Yes I am. I mean, I love designing the clothes,” she glanced up at her mom and she knew her mother was thinking, what clothes? “Despite what you guys may think, the people are great, and I made some really good friends. Sure, they dance and take their tops off for money, but it’s more than that.”

“Then, you will find a way to make it work. You were always a dedicated, hard worker Vanessa. We might not have always told you that, but you are. I’m sorry that you felt like you could never come home to see us and I’m sorry if you thought we weren’t proud of you. But we were and we are. The reason we pushed you so much was because we knew that you could achieve anything you wanted. We knew that you were so brilliant that you could be so much.” Vanessa swallowed as she fought back tears, but hell, it didn’t work. The water poured out of her eyes. It was everything she always wanted to hear. Between this and Jack, she couldn’t hide her emotions anymore.

“So,” her dad squeezed her mom’s thigh. “You will figure out some way to get through this, to work past it. Because it sounds to me like you put too much effort into this job to just throw it away because there’s a little bump in the road. You’re too strong for that.”

By now, Vanessa felt her shirt getting soaked from her tears and her dad stood up and pulled Vanessa into another hug. “We love you sweetheart, truly we do.” He pulled her away to brush the hair out of her face that clung to her wet cheek. “Just give your mother some time,” he whispered to her.

Vanessa nodded, “Thanks Daddy.”

She spent the next couple days at her parent’s home. Her mom even took her shopping, something she hardly ever did with her as a teenager.

Her mom never brought up her job again and she didn’t blame her. She was just happy that she didn’t fight her on it. Her heart was pieced back together after leaving her parents. Not fully, obviously, because the thought of Jack still made her chest hurt but it was a step in the right direction.

Vanessa walked back inside her apartment and saw a note on the counter. Her heart dropped into her stomach thinking it was from her stalker. Which she decided to leave that piece of information out of her family reunion. She relaxed when she saw it was from Michelle.

* * *

Sprinkles was well fed, litter box is poop free, and I might have slipped some wine into her water dish. I was always curious what cats were like drunk. Kidding! Kind of.

Vanessa rolled her eyes with a chuckle.

Anyway, hope your trip back home went smooth. I will be here when you are ready to talk! Love you! Shelly.

Vanessa smiled. She never told Michelle she was visiting back home, but that’s why she was her best friend because she knew her. Sometimes better than she knew herself.

Vanessa decided to take a long hot shower, throw on her night shorts and a tank top and drink some merlot. She needed to go through her grieving process and she had a few days left to her vacation, so she needed to get her shit together before seeing Jack again.

He didn’t text her anymore after a text he sent her before she left her parents saying that, he was willing to give her a couple days.

Just as she sat down, was getting ready to turn on Netflix to watch some cheesy romance, when she heard a knock at her door.

“Ugh… Jack, please, I don’t think…,” she swung open her door but on the other side it wasn’t Jack. She really needed to start using her peep hole.

---