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She changed into some comfortable cloths which fit her like a second skin and some ballet shoes she had bought. She intentionally bought used ones, so they would give in more than brand new ones.
She walked up some stairs into another, a little bit smaller dance studio, where an older lady, probably Miss Patty, was sitting by one of the large windows.
“Oh you are here, honey. Get in here and show yourself to me.” She said after spotting Parker at the entrance. Miss Parker was taken aback by the friendly voice that greeted her, she had expected someone entirely different.
She made her way over to the woman, stopped a couple of feet away from her and let her bag sink to her feet.
“Now turn around, Schatz.”
Parker knitted her eyebrows but complied and turned 360° before facing Miss Patty once again.
“Very well, do you have your resume with you?”
Parker nodded and fished a sheet of paper out of her bag and handed it over. Miss Patty was silent for a moment, reading through the made up list of schools she attended and the various top notch employers Parker supposedly has had.
“Impressive Mrs…” the older woman asked the younger.
“Antonia Parker, but people just call me Miss Parker.” Miss Parker answered in perfect German.
“I will call you Toni then.” Miss Patty stated.
“But I really must…” Parker started, but was interrupted.
“Toni honey, your German is really good. Show me some of your repertoire.”
Parker wanted to roll her eyes, but reminded herself, that she wanted this job and that it wouldn’t be wise to piss her potential new boss off.
Now came the part that would show if all the hard work with Sydney had paid off and even more important, if she could still dance.
She positioned herself in the middle of the studio and waited for the music to begin. It was a slow piece from Tchaikovsky. Great, as if dancing ballet again after over a decade wasn’t hard enough, Miss Patty wanted to see a swan lake piece.
She closed her eyes for a second to remember all the important steps and how it all starts, but after just second she remembered and took her first steps.
She danced with closed eyes the whole time, forgetting where she was or who.
About ten minutes later, it could also have only been two, the music was stopped and Miss Parker ended her last move and looked up at Miss Patty with surprise. The woman looked intently at Parker and took her time to say something.
“You are sure you want this job? You could do more than this you know. You would teach little girls and some eager teenagers some moves, you will not earn a fortune and you would only be a fill-in anyway.”
“I’m sure, are you saying I got the job?” Parker said and smiled with joy, she never imagined she could be so happy about the approval of an old lady who was neither rich nor influenced at all.
“I am saying that, yes. Daniel sweetheart, would you show Toni around?”
Taken aback about the sudden decision and end to their conversation, Parker pulled a towel out of her bag and hung it around her neck.
“Thank you Miss Patty, I am very happy with this and I hope I’ll be needed often. Not that I want your instructors to be ill a lot, but I want to be here a lot.” She turned to Daniel and followed him out the door.
“Now we are colleagues.” Daniel stated. “Can I still ask you out for a drink tonight?”
“Sorry I can’t. I have someone waiting.”
“Oh I’m sorry, so you are married?” he asked a bit disappointed, which was very cute in Parkers eyes.
First she hesitated a little bit, but decided that the near truth was the best way to go, Elias would always be part of her pretends after all. “No, my one year old son is waiting for me at daycare.”
“I have a little girl in that age; you are very in shape for having such a young child, my ex-wife still hasn’t lost all her baby weight.”
“Oh I like to keep in shape. Though I haven’t danced in a couple of years.” Not a lie.
“I don’t believe you; you dance as if you were training regularly.”
“Thank you.”
“Why are you taking the job? It’s not well paid. I’m sorry if I’m getting to personal, I’m nosy by nature.”
“Don’t worry about it. This will only be a side job, I’ll find a second one.”
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Jarod stretched his naked feet out in the sun. How nice it was not to worry about sweepers and the Centre for a while. The Italian sun really did wonders for him. The last couple of month he had been off the radar. He still did pretends, but they were all low key and not within the United States.
But as the time went by, he started to worry about Sydney. And even Miss Parker a little, though he was still pissed off with her about the way she acted after the Isle. He decided to call Sydney and make sure he wouldn’t worry. He pulled his new mobile phone out and dialed the well-known number.
“Hello, this is Sydney.”
“Hey Syd!” Jarod said, excited to hear his old mentors voice.
“Jarod, my god! Where have you been, we have all been worried sick!”
“We all?”
“Yes Jarod, Miss Parker and Broots were concerned as well. A lot has happened here Jarod. You’ll be happy to hear some stuff, but probably angry at yourself for not calling earlier as well.”
That caught Jarod’s undivided attention immediately.
“Is Parker okay?”
“Yes she is ok for all I know, is this a secure line?”
“It is, tell me what is going on and don’t leave anything out!”
“Miss Parker has left the Centre and she wanted your help to leave, but you were nowhere to be found.”
“Why? What happened, what changed her mind?” Jarod asked, very confused and Sydney volunteered to give him every piece of information he had.
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One week later she still hadn’t found a main job. The money wasn’t the problem, but she needed something to do, she was a doer and she had to keep busy in order to stay sane.
She was sitting with Elias on her lab in her big reading chair, when the phone rang.
“Hello this is Tom from Miss Patty’s Dance Studio, I came down with a cough and I need your help.”
“Finally!” Parker exclaimed. “I’m sorry. I hope you’ll feel better soon.”
“Yeah sure.” He said and she could hear him snicker through the phone, followed by a nasty cough.
“I mean it, you sound like hell. Bye Tom. And lie down, drink some tea.”
“Yes ma’am. Thank you.”
Miss Parker smiled and ended the call.
She dropped Elias off and was fast en route to the Tanzstudio in no time.
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To be continued...

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