The next day, the police freed Svetlana.
No one ever discovered who attacked the artistic director. He ended up being blind and severely scarred.
Akiva better think about that story.
I stopped at his office door and knocked.
Dressed in a designer suite, he opened the door, took in my rehearsal gear, and shook his head. “Ava, you should go change—”
“I’m fine.” I pushed past him and walked into his office.
My nerves flared on edge.
I did my best to push the anxiety away.
Three men stood at Akiva’s personal bar tucked in the corner. They’d been pouring themselves drinks and having a grand old time in discussion.
When they turned to me, their expressions changed. One looked pleased. Another straightened his face to show indifference. And the last, glanced up and down at my clothes and then returned to his drink.
Akiva tried to save the situation. “Always hard at work, our new prima ballerina is ahead of schedule. But you have time to change.”
“I won’t be able to do lunch today.” Smiling, I stopped a few feet in front of the men. “I just wanted to personally apologize.”
“Well.” Akiva cleared his throat. “Whatever is on your schedule can be canceled.”
“Yes, but not a doctor’s appointment.” I pointed to my crotch. “Everything is itching down there. It’s all types of puss and scabs and shit moving around. I’m sorry for saying too much, but—”
“Ava!” Akiva held up his hands. “Let’s go talk outside.”
The man that had been drinking from his glass, had shifted to coughing.
Another hit his back to help him.
That’s right. Come get some of this STD pussy! How much everybody want to pay?
The other guy put his back to me.
Yeah. I didn’t think so.
Anger covered Akiva’s face. “Ava, can we talk outside?”
I made a big show of scratching my crotch. “Yes, but can we hurry.”
He reached out his hand as if to grab my arm, noticed my scratching, and then gestured to the door. “Let’s go.”
“Whew!” Yanking up my tights a little, I wiggled my hips and headed off with him. “I hope it’s not AIDS!”
More coughing ensued behind me.
When we got outside of Akiva’s door, he slammed it and turned my way, pointing his finger at me. “I do not know what you think that was, but never again will you embarrass me like that! Never!”
I straightened my expression then boldly scratched my crotch again. “What did I do?”
He gestured to my crotch. “Stop it! Stop scratching that! This is not the behavior of a prima ballerina!”
I dropped my hands to my sides. “What’s the problem, Akiva?”
“You have nothing going on down there.”
“It’s none of your business, if I do.”
“You’re just making it up.”
“How would you know?”
“Because Mikhail wouldn’t have his face all in your pussy, if there was even a hint of something being wrong!”
A deep voice sounded from down the hall. “You know a lot about me, Akiva.”
My body stiffened.
Akiva’s face reddened as he backed away from me.
I looked down the hall. Misha headed forward. My grandmother was on his right. The black man that he seemed to always be around was on his left.
A smile covered Misha’s face, but he didn’t look pleased. “So, what are we talking about?”
Silence filled the space.
I was embarrassed to talk about it in front of my grandmother. And Akiva looked like he was going to piss his pants.
With a trembling hand, Akiva wiped the sweat at his face. “Well. . .we are done. There is no need for lunch, Ava. Not today.”
He marched off.
Glaring, Misha followed each of Akiva’s steps with a deadly gaze.
A shiver ran through me. I had never seen that much rage on Misha’s face.
“Ava,” my grandmother spoke up. “What’s going on?”
Everyone turned to me.
“It’s a long story. . .and.” I exhaled. “Let’s just talk about this later. I have everything under control.”
Misha placed his hands in his pockets, but he didn’t look calmer at all. “What needs to be under control?”
“Let’s go. We’ll talk about it later.” I headed off, not wanting to bump into the three men again. I doubt they would pay for anything between my legs now. “Trust me. I’ll talk to you both about it later.”
They followed.
No one said anything.
The walk to my dressing room remained quiet.
Those three kept behind me, but I could feel them trying to process what had happened.
The hallway felt tight and cold.
I glanced over my shoulder.
Misha’s face remained decorated in rage.
Grandma didn’t appear anywhere close to being pleased.
And the black man. . .
well he just looked high.
Chapter 19
Ava
Once in my dressing room, they gathered around the box of ballet shoes and stared at me.
“Look. We can discuss this later.” I gave them a weak smile. “Why are you here right now?”
Rage remained all over Misha.
It radiated from him.
“We came to surprise you for lunch,” Grandma said. It was in that moment I realized she wore a new wig. Short and curled near her chin.