CHAPTER NINE
Opening day was looming ever closer and my stress levels seemed to be climbing through the roof! Especially as everything seemed to be going wrong...
First of all, there’d been a problem with the rental of the building.
It had seemed for a while that the owner had changed his mind and decided to sell the converted barn instead of renting it out.
Having already set my heart on it and imagined it transformed into a gorgeous dance studio, I was devastated by this, and there followed a few nail-biting weeks while we waited to hear one way or the other.
To my relief, the news was good and finally, the rental agreement was signed. There was no going back now and it felt at once scary but very exciting.
But then we had a disagreement with the landlord over my need for sprung flooring in the two dance studios.
He’d already agreed to it when we’d originally discussed leasing the building for an initial five-year term, but now he was backing out and saying there was nothing in writing.
It was only after I promised we’d return the floors to their original state at the eventual end of the lease that he capitulated and I was able to get the sprung flooring I wanted.
The whole wrangle over the flooring left me exhausted.
And as if that wasn’t enough, I’d hired a woman who I’d thought would be perfect to manage the Little Duckling Café but then she’d phoned a week later to say she couldn’t take the job after all.
To my growing horror, I was starting to wonder... would we even be ready to open on that day? It didn’t look like it.
But the flyers had already gone out.
A local company had designed them and they’d been so eye-catching, inviting everyone along to the grand opening of this fabulous new dance centre, and how marvellous it was going to be, with displays of all different styles of dancing, and performers direct from the West End stage!
After that kind of build-up, the thought of postponing launch day and having to re-do the flyer with the new date made me feel sick every time I thought about it.
And then, to top everything off, Rory and I had a massive row.
It was over something really silly.
Lois had asked us if we wanted to go to the cinema to watch a film she’d been looking forward to seeing. She hated going alone. She said she didn’t like the idea of people staring at her and assuming she must be lonely and have no friends.
‘Oh, I love going to watch movies on my own,’ I confessed with a smile. ‘Especially during the day. It just seems so deliciously naughty somehow.’
Lois had snorted. ‘You definitely need to get a life, Clara, if that’s your idea of naughty. So are you and Rory coming with me or what?’
I had a million things on my to-do list before opening day, but I told her we’d come if we could.
As it drew nearer the time, though, I knew it would be impossible. There was still so much to do over at the dance centre, so I had to tell Lois I couldn’t make it and we’d have to reschedule for another time.
‘That’s fine,’ she said cheerily, and I thought no more about it.
The next job on my list was cleaning up after the various tradesmen had done their work, and Rory had said he’d help me as soon as he finished work at the stables.
He’d wanted me to get a firm of cleaners in to save me some work, but I was conscious that I’d already spent a huge amount on adapting the building, so I was intent on cutting costs wherever possible.
I spent the entire day scrubbing out and I was absolutely exhausted by the time Rory came over soon after six. I was so relieved to see him, I almost felt like crying.
‘Don’t come near me,’ I laughed. ‘I’m all sweaty and horrible. I kind of wish I’d taken your advice now and got the cleaners in.’
He hugged me anyway and said my hair smelled like bleach.
I chuckled. ‘Not surprised. So I reckon if we get going straight away, we can get all the cleaning finished tonight – which is just as well because I’ve got so much to do tomorrow, my head is already spinning.’
Rory glanced at his watch. ‘Right, well, you’ve got me for... an hour and a half?’
I frowned, confused. ‘But I thought you’d be helping me until it was done? What’s happening in an hour and a half?’
‘I’m meeting Lois at the cinema, remember?’
I stared at him. ‘But I told her we couldn’t make it because there was too much to do.’
‘Did you?’ He frowned. ‘She phoned me and said you couldn’t go, so she was counting on me to go with her.’
‘And you said you would? Knowing how frantically busy I am, getting ready for open day?’
He sighed. ‘I feel sorry for her, Clara. She’s heartbroken over Mark. I didn’t want to let her down.’
I swallowed hard, suppressing my irritation.
Lois could be such a little sneak!
She’d known when I’d spoken to her that I’d meant neither of us could make the cinema. But she’d gone and phoned Rory anyway. And he’d played right into her hands...
‘Come on. You deserve a break,’ murmured Rory. ‘You’re working far too hard. Why don’t you come with us?’
‘Rory, I can’t! ’ I stared at him in disbelief. How could he be so calm with this deadline looming? ‘You just don’t understand.’
He moved closer. ‘Hey, I do understand. Of course I do. And we’ll be ready for the opening day, I promise you. Even if we have to work all night. But why not come with us tonight? It’s just a few hours and it might help you to relax a bit.’
‘You mean because I’m getting hysterical ?’ I demanded, my voice rising to a panicky squeak.
Rory sighed. ‘No, Clara. That’s not at all what I mean. But it’s just a few hours...’
‘Look, it might be just a few hours to you, but those few hours could make all the difference between Magic of Dance actually being ready to open in a couple of days or having to reschedule.’ I made an exasperated noise in my throat.
‘Oh, just go to the cinema with Lois! Don’t worry about me.
I’ll manage here myself.’ And I turned away, picked up a nearby broom and started sweeping the floor, bashing the brush against the skirting board in my fury.
I couldn’t believe Rory was pandering to Lois tonight of all nights, instead of choosing to help me!
What sort of a boyfriend wouldn’t want to be at his girlfriend’s side when she was clearly going through hell?
He tried to placate me and pull me into a hug but I was too angry to budge.
‘Just go, please, Rory,’ I muttered, moving away from him.
‘Right.’ He lost his patience then. ‘I’ll come straight back after the film. So I’ll see you later,’ he said shortly, striding out to the car.
‘Enjoy the movie with your best friend!’ I called after him, my tone loaded with heavy sarcasm.
After he’d gone, I sank down on the floor and ran my grimy hands through hair that was flattened to my head with sweat. I was trembling and I felt sick. Rory and I argued so rarely.
But why didn’t he understand that seeing him spending so much time with Lois these days was adding to my stress and making me feel vulnerable and less certain of our future together?
He and Lois were together long before he fell in love with me.
And I knew my sister only too well. She was lonely and at a loose end now that she and Mark were over.
And it was all too clear to me that she was using Rory as a substitute.
How long before spending time together as friends reignited the spark between them?
Tears pricked at my eyelids as I cautiously sniffed an armpit. I couldn’t really blame Rory for deciding to go to the cinema with Lois.
I was sweaty and smelly and yes, behaving a little hysterically these days... a proper mess, in other words. While Lois would no doubt be looking her very best for Rory, fitted jeans showing off her slender figure, her long blonde hair blow-dried and gleaming.
I looked around the entrance hall in despair. This should be such a happy, exciting time for me, seeing my life-long dream come true at last. But without Rory by my side, the future would be bleak and colourless.
I hated myself for losing my temper with him like that. It was so unlike us to argue, it truly felt like the end of the world...
*****
The days after my row with Rory were so hectic, I barely had time to think, which was probably just as well.
We had to move on after ‘cinema-gate’ as I’d begun thinking of it, but relations between Rory and me were strained, to say the least. I didn’t ask him about the film he’d seen with Lois and he didn’t volunteer any information about it.
We were polite to each other whenever we were together and I got the feeling Rory was stepping around me cautiously, as if I were an unexploded bomb that could go off at any minute.
But amazingly, by the morning of opening day, we were all ready to receive visitors.
After what I’d been through, it felt like nothing short of a miracle...