Page 64 of Anton's Grace

I found the three girls standing by the warm-up barre.

“That’s quite enough out of you, Marlina,” I said, relieved my voice didn’t shake.

Carrie and Sacha paled. Marlina stiffened, a hint of fear in her eyes. Then pride kicked in, and she lifted her chin. At that moment, she bore an eerie resemblance to Darla on Jeruna. History knows what that cockiness and attitude earned her.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Marlina said, “Some people can’t handle the truth.”

“You don’t know jack shit,” I said, pointing a threatening finger at her. “My man is paying your fucking wages. My man also happens to be Braxian. You would do well to inform yourself about what happens to stupid little girls who disrespect Braxians.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, ok. Whatever.”

I fought the urge to slap her. Then it dawned on me.

“You know what,” I said, “you have a lot of growing up to do. I hope for your sake that it won’t be the hard way. But here’s another truth for you: we don’t need to put up with your shit. Get the fuck off my stage. You’re fired.”

Sacha bit her bottom lip, her eyes widening. Carrie’s throat worked as she took a couple of steps closer to Sacha, putting more distance between her and Marlina.

Marlina’s nostrils flared. “You can’t fire me! I have a contract.”

“Wrong, stupid girl.” Oh, how the tables turned. “Your contract is withme, not Anton. Second, you obviously didn’t read the contract. If you had, you would know that I can fire you at any time, for any reason, at my own discretion with no compensation whatsoever. So you can walk out with whatever dignity you’ve got left, or I can have you dragged out.”

Marlina opened and closed her mouth, like a fish out of water. She looked to the other dancers for support but both Sacha and Carrie averted their eyes.

“This isn’t over,” Marlina hissed, leveling me with a venomous glare.

She stormed off the stage, shoving the backdrop curtains aside. My blood boiled, and I could feel myself tremble within. However, it was righteous anger that fueled the fire, and… pride? I turned back to face my remaining dancers.

“Grace,” Sacha pleaded, “we didn’t…”

“Relax, Sacha,” I interrupted. “I’ve been here long enough to know what you did and didn’t say.” She swallowed hard and exchanged a worried look with Carrie. “You have a good head on your shoulders and a proper sense of priorities.”

Sacha sagged against the barre, a relieved smile on her lips. “Thank you, Grace. You’re a cool boss.”

After returning her smile, I let the warmth melt from my voice when my eyes turned to Carrie.

“Let me give you one piece of advice, Carrie,” I said. “Girls like Marlina are poison. You stay the fuck away from them or be ready to go down with them. Your gut told you what she was doing was wrong, didn’t it?”

Carrie hugged her midsection and nodded.

“Then you should have shut her down. Instead, you let her suck you in with a promise to take you to ‘cool’ places. But at what cost?” I walked towards her, my heels clicking. “When I was a couple of years younger than you, I let myself get ensnared by two girls like Marlina. I wanted to be part of the in-crowd. That almost cost me my career, if not my life. Today, one of them is dead, the other is a ruin.”

Carrie flinched, fear seeping into her eyes. Good… Fear was good. It would keep her away from naïve choices she didn’t fully understand the consequences of. I wished someone opened my eyes back then, not a boyfriend who I thought was simply trying to control me.

“Listen to your gut. You’re here to dance. Do you know how many girls would kill to be performing on Venus Hive at your young age? Focus on your career and stay out of the drama. Understood?”

Carrie nodded emphatically.

“Good. Now, we’ve wasted enough time. Let’s get to work.”

The girls agreed, happy to move on from the unpleasantness. I couldn’t quite define what it was, but during the confrontation, something changed. Not only within me but also how they looked at me. Obviously, there was some fear; losing their job with Anton’s girlfriend could get them blacklisted. But I could see more. I didn’t want to call it respect, yet… Whatever it was, I liked it. More importantly, it felt good not to let myself get pushed around.

I turned to start the music and froze. Romero stood by the curtain. My breath hitched at the look in his eyes.

He winked before marching towards the girls. “Alright, enough slacking around. We’ve got a show to prepare!”

Tonight, Anton’s behavior baffled me. It swung between curiosity and concern. It’s like he couldn’t decide if he felt worried or excited. He told me to dress in a sarong eerily similar to the one I wore on the first day. He wore similar black leather pants and dark t-shirt as he did that day. The chef prepared us a fine meal, with most of my favorite dishes. We talked about simple, light things. However, multiple times throughout the evening, I caught Anton looking at me as if trying to read my mind.

After dinner, we slow-danced in the living area, quietly, for what felt like hours. We rarely danced at home. That and his strange behavior confirmed he deliberately sought privacy for whatever he wanted to do.

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