"Thank you for my tea set by the way, it's lovely."
Lacey snuggled further into her bed, her phone pressed tightly against her ear. After their hot chocolate, Lacey and Danny couldn't get home and ready for bed fast enough, both of them looking forward to another phone call.
"I'm glad you like it."
"So tell me about your family." Lacey asked smoothly.
"Is this our second date then?"
"Let's see, another family backstory, yes, yes it is."
"My father is in jail."
"Whaaaaat?"
"Embezzlement. He is just generally a piece of garbage. He's been in federal prison since I was five, which sounds horrible, but really, I started dancing at three and he hated that. The break from his taunting has been really nice."
"Jesus, Danny. When does he get out?"
"At least ten more years I believe, I really don't know."
"What about your mom? What's she like?"
"My mum is a very driven person. She's the life of every party, event, whatever. She has a lot of priorities in her life, I'm just not really one of them."
"Are you from the city?"
"No, I am from New York though. Green Grove, about an hour south of the theatre."
"Does she come up for your shows?"
"No, not often. Don't get me wrong, she's thrilled that I'm successful, I just don't fit in with her lifestyle. I think she started me in dance because she wanted to be seen as unconventional or sacrificial, then she realized I could go for the entire day so she encouraged me and used it as a way to not have to be there for me. Freed her up for other things."
"That's awful."
"Don't get me wrong, I love my mother. She was a single mom most of my life so I know she had to do what she had to do."
"I don't want Clara to feel that way. I want her know she has family who loves her and would do anything for her, with her."
"I wanted my mother's approval so much, I tried to be the best. She'd be happy, but then push me harder to invest more time. When I realized she wanted nothing to do with me, I started using ballet as a way out instead of a way to bring us closer. I eventually got a spot with the theatre and I haven't looked back."
"Do you have siblings?"
"No. I don't know what I'd do if I knew there were more Desai's out there being neglected."
"Well you're a natural with Clara."
"You think?"
"She adores you."
"She gave us her blessing tonight, I wasn't expecting that." Lacey could hear Danny's happiness on the other end of the line, it warmed her.
"Me neither."
"Did you find a place yet?"
Lacey blew out in frustration.
"It's the city, you know? I don't feel confident enough yet that my clients will truly all follow me and keep me afloat if I go with a nicer place. I have to be smart. Smart in the city equals a shitty fucking apartment, so then I'm compromising Clara's safety, her quality of life, I have to think of all of it."
"So that's a no?"
"I haven't found a place."
"Listen, I'm sorry about earlier, about asking for something more too soon. I heard Clara's approval and just went for it. Can I ask, do you feel what I feel when we're together or am I imagining all of this?"
Lacey's belly fluttered, "I think so. I don't recall ever feeling this way or feeling this good, but I need more than one date before I can commit to a new relationship like that."
"It's our second date now."
"Danny—"
"Hear me out?" Danny sounded nervous.
"What's up?"
"I—I'm wondering if maybe you'd like to stay at my place? Just temporarily, you know, until you find the right spot for you guys."
"Danny—"
"It's less than two weeks before Christmas and he wants you out like next week and Clara doesn't need that shit, and neither do you and I don't want this to be weird, I'm not like some scary psycho or something, you can do a background check on me—"
"Whoa, whoa, Danny. It's a nice offer, thank you. I just—"
"Won't even consider it." Danny said flatly.
Lacey took a moment to reset, why was she not considering it? Sure she liked Danny and had all the feelings, but she had other things to think about before herself. She needed a place to live like ASAP.
"Where do you live?" Lacey decided to at least hear him out.
"I have a townhouse directly across from the theatre. After I finished the academic program I had to move out of the dorms. My mother actually found it for me, probably so I wouldn't think of coming back home. Anyway, she bought it and I paid her back."
"You own it?"
"I do, and it's a three bedroom."
Lacey couldn't believe how perfect it sounded. Maybe this really could be an option. She wondered if her mother's spirit was in any way guiding this whole thing.
"Come by and see it tomorrow? I have practice in the morning and then I teach the lifts to the male pas de deux students on Fridays so I'll be busy in the afternoon, but maybe you have time somewhere in between?"
"This is going to sound so insensitive, but can you text me your info so I can literally do that background check in the morning?"
"Done. No worries. Does that mean you'll check it out?"
"Honestly? Yes. How about ten?"
"I can do that."
"Morning Whitney, got you a coffee." Lacey smiled as she walked into the office first thing the next morning.
"Thanks? What do you want from me?"
"Can't I just do something nice for such an amazing emplo—"
"No. What's up?"
"I need a favor, a quiet favor." Lacey slid Whitney a piece of paper, "I'd do it myself but I have a client meeting and I need the info right away."
Whitney looked over the page, "This is all Danny's info?"
"Shhh." Lacey looked around, "Yes, I need a background check, criminal, civil and financial. Anything you can find. I just don't want Archie to know."
"Okay, well, he's not here yet and I'll keep it quiet."
"Thank you, Whitney, I owe you."
"Not gonna lie, I am dying to see the results myself."
Halfway through Lacey's meeting she received a text.
Whitney: Public school until age six, youth ballet program and school at the American Ballet Theatre every waking moment since. No arrests, no court dates of any kind. He has a valid driver's license, no entries on any sex offender registries, no parking violations, no speeding tickets. No vehicles registered in his name. His mother is the special events manager at the Green Grove Country Club. Dad is in federal prison on fraud charges and will be until he's 85. Yikes. No siblings. He has two credit cards, one with a zero balance, the other with a two hundred and eighty dollar balance and a five thousand dollar credit line. No other debts, home is in his name, taxes are paid. Credit score 825. Honestly, I'm bored. Congratulations.
Lacey's butterflies were back as she dragged Whitney along to see Danny's apartment.
"Why do I have to go?" Whitney protested every second of every minute.
"You yourself said he was boring, it's always the squeaky clean ones you have to worry about. I just want someone else there, okay?"
Lacey rang the doorbell of the absolutely charming brownstone a little after 10 am. Danny opened the door enthusiastically.
"Hey!" He gave Lacey a quick hug before he spotted Whitney, "Hi Whitney, I didn't realize you were coming too, please, come in—" He held the door open for the girls and they walked in together.
"I hope you don't mind, we were out running around for a client." Lacey lied.
"Not at all, you're both welcome any time." He smiled politely, "So this is the kitchen, the living room—" Danny walked around, arms outstretched and his hands doing that ballet thing they did naturally as she glided around his space.
It smelled like Christmas, warm and slightly spiced. There were simple garlands of evergreen, dotted with white lights and accented by strings of cranberries and dried orange slices. Everything was clean and organized, but also felt warm and lived in. Cozy. A home.
"One bathroom over there, this room here is my office, but really it's where I play video games, not gonna lie." Danny opened the man-cavesque room and quickly shut the door again.
The girls followed Danny upstairs.
"This is the primary bedroom, it's where I sleep. There's a bathroom in here, closet."
Danny's bed wasn't made, his bathroom was clean but you could tell he just got ready every morning and paid no attention to where he would set things down, deodorant was just out on the sink, towel half hanging out of the hamper. He was normal.
"There's a bathroom out here in the hallway, the second bedroom is over there."
Danny opened the door to a smaller bedroom with a daybed and several totes stacked in the corner, the room obviously doubling as a storage space. Lacey tried to imagine her or Clara sleeping here.
When they walked back out of the second bedroom Lacey looked around a little confused.
"I thought you said this was a three bedroom?"
Danny smiled and continued around the corner from the smaller bedroom to a small staircase, solid wood and full of character. They all climbed up to a loft bedroom with two skylights. The space was smaller, but very unique. She knew Clara would love it.
"The skylights are nice, you can watch the stars at night while you're lying in bed." Danny watched Lacey imagining Clara's future, he hoped she approved, "The basement is finished, there's a barre down there of course, and a mirrored wall. It's my work out space, Clara's welcome to use it to practice any time. I have a desk in my bedroom, the office can be cleaned out so you'll have a place to work from." Danny suggested as he lead them back downstairs.
"Wait, is he showing you his place because he's offered to have you move in?" Whitney whispered, finally connecting the dots.
"Do you think I'm crazy for considering it?"
"Nope." Whitney smiled big.
"That's pretty much it." Danny said as they made their way into the living room. Danny pointed to the corner, "I figured we could bring your tree over and set it up there, have it be familiar for Clara, so she knows it's her place too."
"I'm gonna wait outside." Whitney excused herself before her own heart exploded.
Danny reached for Lacey's hands, a physical step he hadn't tried before. In fact, the hug Danny had greeted her with today was their first one. He didn't pull her close, but chose to lovingly massage the backs of her hands with his thumbs.
"What do you think?" He asked hopefully.
"It's perfect. You're perfect."
"Is that a yes?"
"Are you sure you want to take this on? I mean, there's fighting sometimes and it's not always easy. We are sisters, you know? She's not my daughter."
"I've never had that, so I'm sure I'll need time to adjust, but yeah, I'd really like to have you here. Even if it's temporary, at least you'll be able to relax and have your own space while you look for what you really want."
"Okay, yes. Thank you, Danny. I mean it."
"Awesome, in that case," Danny dropped her hands and went over to his key rack by the door, "this key is for you. Move your stuff any time. I can help, but honestly my schedule for the next couple weeks is crazy with the holiday shows and we're learning new choreography."
"Thank you." Lacey accepted the key and added it to her chain.
"What are you up to now?"
"I don't have another appointment until three."
"Perfect. Come with me into the studio?"
"Like, the ballet studio?"
"Yeah, I book a space every Friday to work on new stuff."
"Okay, I'd love to watch." Lacey was excited to watch him work.
"Great, I'm just gonna run up and grab some stuff, I'll be right back."
"Okay, I'll go relieve Whitney from her post."
Danny blasted some hip hop from the studio's speakers as he warmed up and stretched out. Lacey mirrored him in solidarity as much as she could while wearing her office attire.
He eventually stood and hopped around, shaking out his legs and further stretching his upper body.
"Did you take ballet?" Danny was curious.
"Three years."
"Why'd you stop?" Danny pulled Lacey to her feet and danced around a little.
"Well, I went from Clara's height to my height by like age six." Lacey exaggerated, "Everyone made fun of me being the tall girl in class and it just wasn't my passion."
"Three years is a long time. C'mon." Danny patted the barre, "First position." He instructed.
"Wha—no, no." Lacey objected.
"C'mon. No one's here. Show me." Danny asked playfully as he completed basic ballet moves.
Lacey opened up and played along, surprising Danny with how clean and precise she was, while still remaining fluid and soft. She was really good at this.
"You move beautifully—" Danny said as if he was in total awe, "You didn't get to do lifts then?"
"No, no way. I'm also not a hundred pounds like your partner."
"I can lift you."
"Danny, no. If I hurt you I will literally die." She shook her head emphatically.
"Trust me, please? It's not about hurling you into the air, this isn't dirty dancing. It's ballet. Let's do an easy one." Danny bent a knee toward her and held his arms out, "Step here and put your right hand on my shoulder, like you're going into a cartwheel."
"You've seen all this, right?" Lacey made reference to her backside.
"I've definitely seen all that." Danny smiled.
"Jesus."
"Let's go!"
Lacey knew he trained the other students in this particular area and put her trust in his ability to lift her. She hopped up and Danny hoisted her above himself with one hand.
"Good, let yourself hang there, relax. Good, now ballet feet, ballet hands."
Lacey obliged and corrected her positioning.
"Do you see?" Danny asked her, noticing that her eyes were still shut tightly.
Lacey opened her eyes and caught a glimpse of herself being lifted beautifully by Danny's strong arms.
"Oh god." She closed her eyes again, not exactly afraid of heights, but more from being completely uncomfortable.
"Ready?" He asked before rolling her down his body and back onto her feet, "That was great. Let's try another one."
"Oh I think one's enough—"
"Never! C'mon, this one is even easier. Grand jeté, I'll circle your waist and lift you up high, you'll come right back down."
"I can't do that."
"I just watched you stretch with me, you can definitely do that." Danny smirked.
"Well, it won't be pretty. I'm wearing like, rayon pants."
"It's just for fun. Go!" Danny pointed, his charming way of herding her along made her heart thump faster inside her chest.
She followed his instructions and Danny lifted her again with total ease, turning as she watched herself in the mirrored wall. Danny placed her down gracefully and kept her close.
Their sexual tension was killing her at this point. She loved the way his hands felt on her body and absolutely knew he felt the same way.
"That was beautiful." He said softly, his hands now coming up to cradle her face, "You're beautiful." He licked his lips and went for their first kiss.
They kept it slow, chaste. Danny wanted desperately to move faster, but Lacey enjoyed the search so they met halfway. One thing they both felt was the passion they had been lacking for years.
"I've never wanted to kiss someone more in my entire life." Danny admitted and rested his head on Lacey's shoulder.
Lacey brought her arms up to cuddle this sweet man further against her, "More please." She requested softly.
Danny pulled back and they kissed again.