When mid-semester grades came out, James’s GPA fell below the cutoff at 1.94. He had the opportunity to appeal but officially he was out of the fall concert. To make matters more complicated, his understudy was injured, which meant Marie now had to scramble her casting and find someone to partner Daisy in No Blue Thing.
Daisy was ten scrambles ahead. No stupid girls were in ballet and she was not about to get saddled with a third-string cavalier. As she soaked in the claw foot tub, her eyes were hard and far away. Shaving at the sink, Erik looked at her through the mirror. He noticed when she was in her personal war room, all the green seemed to leach out of her irises, leaving them a flat, steely blue. The eyes told the truth. In any other situation, she might have more compassion. But when it came to dance, Daisy had no use for people who didn’t pull their weight. She had thrown all useless mouths overboard and was intent on sole survival.
“Two weeks until the concert,” she said. “This is going to be tight.”
Erik rinsed lather off the blade. “I take it Will can’t sub for James.”
“No. He needs to focus on Powaqqatsi.”
“Did you talk to Marie yet?” he said, looking a little cross-eyed in the mirror, upper lip pulled taut over his teeth.
“Not yet, I’m too upset. I don’t want to go in screaming and crying like a diva. It’ll only make her more nervous and she’ll pair me up with… I can’t even think who she’d pick. I need to bring her a solution, not a problem.” Daisy drummed her fingernails on the rim of the tub. “I think I’m going to teach John Quillis the part. On my own.”
“Who’s he?”
“He’s a sophomore. I’ve had him in partnering class a few times and he’s decent. And smart. He’s like James—he picks up choreography fast and retains it.” She looked up at Erik then. A bit of green was back in her eyes, and her smile was mischievous. “And he’s just slightly crushy on me, so I think he’ll take direction well. You know?”
“I know nothing about being crushy on you or taking direction,” Erik said, toweling off his face. Looking up in the mirror he saw Daisy smiling at him. “What?” he said to her reflection.
“I love this,” she said. “I miss Lucky but I love having you here all the time. And it’s not just sleeping together every night. It’s little moments in the bathroom and the kitchen. Being a couple. And being able to talk to you about anything. I love it.”
This is my life, Erik thought, gazing back at her.
Will and James were still carrying on, or whatever you wanted to call it. Erik had chosen the path of least resistance and simply removed his face from the affair. Now most of his clothes were in Daisy’s drawers and closet. His toothbrush was next to hers on the sink. They were together all the time. Not just making love at every opportunity but making a life. Entrenched in each other’s daily business: food shopping, clothes folding, dish washing, cracking the bathroom door and handing a roll of toilet paper in.
Last night in bed, she had given him his birthday present. It was a new charm to hang on his necklace: a tiny pair of gold scissors.
“Sax,” he said, remembering the Swedish word. “This is awesome.”
“Yeah?” She was chewing on her bottom lip, looking uncertain. “I wasn’t sure.”
“Why?” He put the scissors into her hand so he could unclasp the chain behind his neck.
“Because your necklace is such an heirloom. Your history. I felt kind of funny adding to it.”
“Why?” he said again, carefully threading the jump ring of the charm onto the chain.
“I’m not part of your history.”
He looked at her as he fastened the necklace again. “Aren’t you?”
She stared back.