Chapter 22
COOPER
I was never getting Benji to sleep tonight, but it was so worth it. In the whole time I’d known him, he’d never been happier or more excited than he was now, clutching his little medal in both hands, staring at it with the biggest grin I’d ever seen on his face.
Felix, on the other hand, looked like he’d taken a blow to the head. Dazed, staring off into space. As though he couldn’t believe we’d really won.
I took a step toward him, reaching out, but a woman in a navy power suit with a pink and yellow print shirt under it and one of the ubiquitous perfect hair buns beat me to it, putting a hand on Felix’s shoulder. He jumped.
“I’m so sorry,” the woman said, taking her hand away. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“Sorry,” Felix said, blinking at her. “I’m… still processing.”
The woman raised both perfectly plucked brows. “You didn’t know you were going to win? After choreographing that? You did choreograph it, didn’t you?”
“Uh. Yeah, yes. All me,” Felix said.
The woman glanced at me. I offered her a smile, since anyone who wanted to tell Felix how incredible he was definitely counted as a friend of mine.
“Then I’ll cut right to the chase,” the woman said, offering her hand. “I’m Annabelle Lewison.”
“Felix Bennet,” Felix responded, shaking her hand.
Annabelle laughed. “Oh, I know who you are. I saw you in Jewels… three years ago?”
“Four,” Felix corrected.
“Time flies!” Annabelle enthused. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Felix like she’d just realized he was a winning lottery ticket. “You were wonderful, I can still picture you in the diamond movement. The diamond of the company.”
Felix’s lip twitched. It was a tiny motion, probably something no one else would have noticed. I did, though. I also saw the way his eyes flicked away.
That hurt.
He smiled all the same, nodding in acknowledgement. “That’s kind of you to say.”
“It’s hardly kind if it’s true,” Annabelle said. “I was sorry to hear…”
Felix nodded again, swallowing. I wanted to put a hand on his back, let him know I was here for support, but I didn’t know if he’d want that. He’d freaked out about people seeing us together before, and I’d never quite found out why.
I already stuck out as an outsider here. I didn’t want to make it worse, for both Felix and Benji’s sakes.
Benji appeared beside me again as though the thought of him had conjured him up. I ruffled his hair, grinning down at him without saying anything. I didn’t want to interrupt. He didn’t say anything, either, instead turning his attention to the newcomer.
“Anyway, I said I’d cut to the chase!” Annabelle said, laughing. “And then immediately got distracted. I’m the creative director of a new ballet company operating out of Los Angeles. We’re so new we haven’t settled on a name yet, but we’ve got some exciting people on board.”
She rattled off a list of names I didn’t know, but it was obvious from the way Felix nodded along that he did.
“And I want you,” Annabelle continued. “As our choreographer.”
“Me?” Felix asked. “But I’m not—”
“You’re clearly brilliant. You did what no one else here had the courage to do, you didn’t play it safe at all. I know you likely don’t have a lot of experience—”
“I really don’t,” Felix agreed.
“—but that’s what makes you perfect. We’re trying to do something new. Something exciting. And between you and me…” Annabelle leaned in closer. “You’re too good to rot in a small-town studio. You could do so much more. A new phase of your career.”
“I…” Felix began, mouth hanging open as he stared at Annabelle.
“Cooper!” a familiar voice said behind me, a hand falling on my shoulder. “Do I get that introduction?”
Felix looked between Marcus and Annabelle, then at Benji, then at me. He turned back to Annabelle, taking a breath to speak, but she held her hand up.
“Don’t answer right away,” she said, taking a silver card case out of her blazer pocket and extracting a glossy black business card from it.
“I’m giving you my number. You call me and let me know if you wanna come down and see what we’re about.
We’d love to have you. And we’re arts grant funded for the next few years, so no kissing up to donors! ”
Felix accepted the card, staring down at it as he nodded.
“I’ll think about it,” he promised.
Annabelle beamed at him, then nodded to me and Marcus and strode off, already waving at someone else.
“Wow,” Marcus said. “Sounds like a great gig.”
Felix looked at him.
I remembered my manners, eventually, past the operating out of Los Angeles echoing in my brain.
“Uh, Felix, this is Marcus. Marcus, Felix,” I gestured between them. Marcus offered his hand, and Felix shook it, looking him up and down.
“Congratulations,” Felix said. Marcus laughed.
“Isn’t that my line? You won, and I don’t think it was even close. Nor should it have been. You’re a genius.”
Felix raised an eyebrow.
“Aaand I’m a fan,” Marcus said, laughing again. “Sorry. Cooper should’ve warned you. I just, uh. Wanted to tell you that. You were announced as principle dancer the year I got my first professional gig. I wanted to grow up to be you.”
Felix swallowed. “You’ll have to fight the new guy for it.”
Marcus chuckled. “And you wouldn’t mind if I did?”
A wry smile tugged at the corner of Felix’s lips. “I’d like the record to show that I didn’t say that.”
Marcus’ smile widened even more. He really did idolize Felix. That was obvious.
I wondered how many other people did. Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands?
Too good to rot in a small town.
“Of course not. Well, congratulations again,” Marcus said, backing away a step. “I’ll leave you in peace. And maybe see you in LA one day!”
He waved as he stepped away. Felix waved back, still looking dazed. A lot had happened in the last few minutes, so that probably shouldn’t have been a surprise.
I bent down to pick Benji up, balancing him on my hip. “Ready to go home and show that to Grandma and Grandpa?” I asked, nodding to the medal he was still clutching in his hand.
Benji nodded. Now that the excitement was over, he was flagging—and so were the other kids. If we didn’t get them home soon, we’d have five cranky first-graders on our hands.
Felix was great with them, but experience had taught me that there was only so much you could do against being overtired and in unfamiliar surroundings. All things considered, we’d gotten off light, and the kids had been on their best behavior.
“Do we need to sign any paperwork, or…?” I asked Felix.
“I’ll make sure we’re good to go. You load them into the car,” he said, clapping twice to get their attention.
Five little pairs of eyes swung instantly to him. I could almost see their ears perking up.
They really did love him.
“All of you have been amazing and I cannot wait for you to tell your parents about this,” he said. “So let’s go home, yeah?”
A chorus of slightly quieter yeahs than when I asked if we were ready to leave rose up. Felix and I exchanged a nod, and I called for the kids to follow me to the parking lot.
While I was counting heads for the fifth time in seven minutes once we reached the car, I caught sight of Annabelle heading for a tiny yellow hatchback I assumed got great mileage and couldn’t be relied on to drive uphill without throwing a tantrum. She saw me, too, and gave me a cheerful wave.
I waved back, stomach twisting as I turned around to get the kids loaded into the back.