She was a ballerina, wound as tight as the corset in her costumes. He was a hockey player determined to make a friend out of someone who didn't want any. She was willing to entertain the idea. But only because he wiggled his way past her defenses to...
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Shockingly, it had been a week and Annabel had yet to make me feel like shit for choosing ballet. Unshockingly, Andrea had no problem assuming that role. The difference with Andrea was that her anger was fueled by jealousy, which made me want to be better than her. She was actually helping me, though I don't think she'd ever realize it.
"Eleanor." Stefano barked from stage left.
I stopped, mid-pirouette, and looked at him. He was standing with four people, none of whom I recognized. Stefano wagged his finger at me and I approached.
"This is Carol Brown, from Arts of NYC." He introduced the woman standing closest to me.
She extended her hand and smiled widely, revealing a set of perfect teeth. "It's so wonderful to meet you, Eleanor, I've been looking forward to this moment since I saw you in A Midsummer Night's Dream last year."
"Thank you." I responded and shook her hand when I realized what this was. Arts of NYC was a prominent monthly magazine that featured performances of all varieties. Stefano had mentioned some weeks ago that they would be coming to do a spread on me, as well as Alexei, my Prince. "That's such an honor of you to say."
"Oh please, you were beautiful in the divertissement pas de deux. I couldn't take my eyes off of you."
"You're too kind." I responded. While we had spoken, Stefano called over Alexei, who now stood next to me. He received the same introduction I had, as well as similar praise.
"You two are to go with Carol and her crew to complete the interview and photos today." Stefano told us. "You will be excused from rehearsal, including this afternoon's, if necessary."
We went along with the plan, and followed Carol and the men with her to the second floor dressing rooms.
"Right, so since this is coming out the Monday before the show, we're going to do a street shoot." Carol explained while one of the men began unloading garment bags onto clothing racks. "We'll be going outside, you'll be in normal clothing, but performing ballet moves, alright?"
"Sounds great." I answered. Despite having lived in the U.S. for almost a decade now, Alexei didn't have that great of a grasp on the English language. He was a good guy, which is why I was willing to overcompensate for him, but it also made me realize how long the interview portion was going to drag on.
"So if you don't mind, I'll start with you, Eleanor." She pulled out a tape recorder and a notebook. "So you've been with the company for how long now?"
"Technically, almost eight years." I answered. "I auditioned for the company school when I was fifteen, and I was eighteen when they pulled me from the program in order to join the corps."
"What got you into ballet?"
"I started dancing when I was four. It wasn't until I was seven that I focused solely on ballet. I took it up because it was fun, and I stuck with it because I got good at it."
