Thanksgiving Day passed like a dream. Maureen and her mother spent the better part of the day together baking and talking. Maureen felt as though she'd been adopted by another mother. For once, she was acting like a mom, and not a manager. They talked about everything except Maureen's run-in with Cooper. Her father arrived at four and as her mother had told her, her parents seemed to get along better than she had ever remembered.
On Monday, Maureen took the subway from her mom's home in Queen's into Manhattan. Her intention was Christmas shopping. For the entire subway ride, she absentmindedly fingered a business card that was in her coat pocket. She took it out if her pocket and took a look at the address. It wouldn't hurt to run by there, and check out the studio.
"Maureen."
She turned around. "Charlie. Hi."
"What are you doing in New York?"
"Well I'm visiting my mom for the holidays, and I figured while I was here, it might be fun to see what all the fuss about Cooper's studio is about."
"Well, why don't we walk over there together? I was actually on my way to pick up Jodie for lunch."
"Okay. So how's life with ABA been treating you?"
"Jonathan's still got something stuck up his you know what, but other than that, it's been pretty good."
They arrived at the theater as the company's morning rehearsal was finishing up. Jodie waved at Charlie from the stage, and then took another look as she realized who was standing next to him.
"Maureen, it's so good to see you." Jodie exclaimed, as she hurried down the steps to them.
"Jodie, it's great to see you."
"Are you going to join us for lunch?"
"Actually I'm going to give her the grand tour," Cooper said, as he strolled up behind them.
"Okay well, we'll see you guys later," Charlie said as he put his arm around his girlfriend.
"Maureen, what a surprise."
"I was in the neighborhood, and thought I'd stop by and check it out."
"Well, it's pretty humble now, but give it a few years."
"No, it's amazing," Maureen assured him as she took in the theater.
He took her around, showing her the dressing rooms, and the green room. Maureen could tell that the theater was his pride and joy.
"You should check out a performance while you're here," he said.
"I might be persuaded."
"So I was thinking of going to lunch."
"All by yourself?"
"I will be unless someone wants to go with me."
"Okay."
Over Chinese takeout, they had made plans for after his performance that night.
Maureen was struggling inside. Part of her wanted to stay in New York, work with Cooper every day, live in Manhattan, and spend more time with her parents. Every day her parents seemed closer and closer to getting back together. Then there was the part of her that had come too far to go back. She had fought long and hard to gain the independence she now had. However, would she really be going back to how it was before? She would still be living life on her terms. Her mother would no longer control her dancing career. Then there was her mother. How would her mother take her return to dancing, in the event that she decided she wanted to return? Would it send her running back to therapy again?
One free afternoon, she and Cooper went ice skating at Rockefeller Center. It was a bright day, the freshly fallen snow gleaming prettily all around them. "So have you given any more thought to my offer?" he asked casually as they laced up their skates.
"I have," she said, concentrating on her laces as though they were the most important things in the world.
"And have you made a decision?"
She sighed, and looked at him. "I've given it some serious thought. You'll have an answer before I go back to school if I decide to go back."
"Fair enough," he said as he stood and grabbed her hand leading her out onto the ice.
"Don't sprain your ankle now," he teased her.
"Ha, I could skate circles around you," she insisted, and took off.
Afterward they took a walk though Central Park.
"You know, I don't want to pressure you."
"I know."
"But I would really like you to come and work with me." "
"I know," she said, looking at him.
They had come to a standstill. Before she knew it, he had taken her into his arms, and kissed her.
The next day all she could think about was that kiss. She could still feel it on her lips. Cooper was incredibly busy with his company that day so she wouldn't be able to see him. 'You know there's a way to change that so you can see him every day regardless of how busy he may be,' she thought. She also thought of another option, and spent part of the afternoon doing a little research, contemplating on how easy it would be to transfer to NYU. She was ignoring a more important question of if she really even wanted to go back to school.
That night as she helped her mom put up Christmas decorations, her cell phone rang. She immediately answered it.
"Hello."
"Hi there beautiful."
Oh hi Cooper," she purred as she wandered into her bedroom for more privacy."
"I was just thinking about you."
"That's interesting because I was just thinking about you."
They talked for a little bit longer about various topics. Thankfully he didn't bring up the choreography position. She was still in an emotional cyclone about what to do with that. The part of her that longed to go back was at war with the part that said she'd be opening Pandora's Box if she did.
"Who was that Maureen?" her mom asked as Maureen came back into the living room to help her string lights.
"Uh, just somebody."
"Who's Cooper?"
"Uh – well…" she picked up a wreath and started to adjust it while she thought of a good cover-up.
Her mom broke in "Maureen for heavens sake, tell me you're not seeing Cooper Nelson." "And if I am?"
"I can't stop you. You're an adult and need to make your own choices. However do you realize what a stupid choice you're making? Or have you conveniently forgotten how he was at ABA."
"He's changed since then."
"Men don't change."
"You're giving daddy a second chance."
"With your father and me, I was the problem. Not him."
"This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you. Because I knew you'd be upset."
Maureen prepared herself for the ranting she knew was about to break loose. However her mother softened. "I'm not upset. I just want to protect my daughter. I'm not going to stop you from seeing him. You're too old for me to do that. But I do hope you realize
what you're doing before it's too late."
"I'm being careful."
"I hope so."
It was two a.m. and she still couldn't sleep. Turning on her bedside lamp, she dug through one of the crates she had brought home from school that contained a notebook. Grabbing a pen off her desk, she sat Indian style on her bed. She drew a line down the center of the page, and another line across the top. At the top of one column she scrawled "going back to dance". At the top of the second one, she scrawled "going back to school." She had to decide something and fast. The deadline for spring registration was in the next two weeks. She stared at the page for a long time.
Under "going back to school", she couldn't bring herself to write that she'd have a future. Either way she would have one. She realized too, that this was not her only chance to get a college education. On the other hand, it might be harder as she got older. She might have kids some day. That brought up an interesting point for being a choreographer. She could still choreograph if she was pregnant. She had never thought of some of the benefits that she'd enjoy being a choreographer instead of a dancer. Then on the other hand, she could also counsel people while pregnant so that wasn't much help.
Yet there would come a day when she wouldn't be able to dance anymore. Someday she would be too old to pliet and jette to her heart's content. That day would come much sooner, she was sure, than her ability to help people through hard times. Under the dance column she wrote "be with Cooper." She would never admit that she was falling harder and harder for Cooper every day. Yet while they had been seeing each other there had been no agreements for anything exclusive. It might be better for her to get out of Cooper's spell while she still could.
Under school, she wrote "live on my own". While she hadn't necessarily enjoyed sharing a bathroom, or having to walk down a long hall to get to it, she enjoyed the freedom of living on her own. The rules of her dormitory had been relatively relaxed, and she answered to no one. Her mother may not have been running every move she made now, but she would definitely know about everything that went on if she moved back home permanently, and wonder where Maureen was at on nights she stayed out late. If she had been living at home that first date she had with Cooper, her mother would have freaked out. Cecilia however had gleefully pounced on her the minute she walked in, wanting to know what had made her roommate do something so "uncharacteristically cool".
In disgust she tossed the notebook aside. It was getting her nowhere really. She'd be able to live on her own with what she would earn. Maybe she could co rent a brownstone like Jody had done. Going to school would not mean an end to seeing Cooper either. He obviously knew where she went to school, and she came home at least one weekend a month.
When her alarm clock woke her the next morning she shut if off angrily, going through her mind of what it would be that she would wake up for. She then remembered that some of her ABA friends were having lunch together at twelve, and it was already 10:00. She dragged herself out of bed, excited at the prospect of seeing her friends again and dead tired from her mental wrestling match the night before.
By the time she was ready, it was too late to take the subway. She hopped into her car praying that the holiday traffic wouldn't be too horrific. While parking was scarce in Manhattan, it became nearly extinct during the season. She was pleasantly surprised to find that the chic restaurant was on the outskirts of the city, and she was able to find a parking place within five minutes. She was a few minutes late and discovered she was the first one to be there. Charlie and Jody were the next to arrive, and Maureen was suddenly wishing she had Cooper with her to make it less awkward. Luckily Anna also arrived single, and full of tales about ABA that Charlie hadn't been privy too. As soon as Eva and Eric walked through the door, Maureen could tell that Eva hadn't changed. She still spouted off whatever she felt like, regardless of who might have been listening and what they would think. In spite of herself, that was one quality about Eva that Maureen had always admired.
