Chapter 5

Sleep dance, eat dance, breathe dance.

The usual 5:30am alarm clock tickers as Blaze jumps straight out of bed. She spends a good 45 minutes core training on her mat with small weights before a further 15 minutes of stretching.

Still yawning, she reaches the kitchen to switch on the blender before downing a quick protein smoothie. 10 minutes later Blaze is showered, changed and ready to go.

"Come on Charlie! Let's go!" An excited brown and white Springer Spaniel leaps forward as she places the lead and harness on him. They leave the apartment and enter an elevator, saying good morning to two elderley neighbours. Today is bright and sunny when they step outside opposite the park to start their daily run.

On the way back to the apartment, Blaze buys a quick hot chocolate at the drinks stand on the sidewalk, still on the go like she is every morning.

Another quick change of clothes into her dance sweatshirt and leggings before it's time to leave for the studio and onto the next stage of their morning. This includes barre practise, technique and planning choreography for the next 3 hours.

After lunch, Blaze does a mixture of teaching 2 or 3 classes followed by evening rehearsals for a team she has put together and choreographed for in order to perform at a local musical. For the past 5 years, life has been this way. She has had to work hard, starting from scratch on her own with only the future to look forward to.

After a long day of exercise, dance, teaching and rehearsals she glances down at her watch already displaying 9pm as the time. She switches off the lights then locks the door once all of her students have left.

"Goodnight" she smiles at the last one, putting her keys away as Charlie waits by her side.

"We need to talk!" The production manager who is also her boss calls her from the other side of the building. His name is Mo Gray, a man in his late 40s and is a fellow workaholic, leaving the building every night after dark.

"Can't it wait til the morning?" Blaze sighs.

"Look, I love the production and the routines you've created, I really do! You've done a great job in putting this all together…"

"But..?" Blaze finishes his sentence, folding her arms.

"But I'm gonna have to let you go. I'm sorry." He replies with regret.

"What?! You of all people know how hard I work and how creative I am! You're just gonna use my hard work so close to our launch date now that the choreographies are finished then drop this news like that on me?! I don't think so…. Did Hitchcock put you up to this?" She refers to the deputy stage director.

Mo remains silent. "He did, didn't he? That asshole hates my guts and is always trying to cause trouble!" She paces up and down the corridor with anger.

"Well I got news for you! I have rights and I'm not going anywhere yet!"

"Yes, you have your teaching and workers rights and you can keep your own studio here until the lease is up. But as one of our principal dancers, the director or his deputy can decide any time if they want to keep you on or not as a performer!"

Blaze bangs her fist against the shutters with frustration, understanding that he has a point.

"Why are they letting me go then?" She queries, this time calming herself down with a deep exhale.

"It's clear you are overworking and are burnt out!" Mo says observing the purple bags under her eyes.

"That's bullshit! Since joining this company I've busted my ass for over 5 years every day as I do now! What's changed huh?" She squares up to him.

"You understand our company and production are expanding.."

"Yeah! Thanks to me" she smiles with sarcasm.

"Blaze, you're an illegal. You don't even have a passport or ID card. I took you on because of your talent but knew that if we came to this stage, we'd have to let you go. Plus there's the dog… you can't keep bringing him to the studio!"

"But he's an assistance dog, wherever I go, he comes with me" she insists.

"I'm sorry Blaze, I have no choice in the matter…. It's the board's decision."

"Fuck you and fuck the board!" She angrily shouts. "Both of us know the real reason why they're letting me go!" She drops her studio keys to the ground for him to pick up before walking away and quitting.

When the day is up, Blaze returns to her empty apartment after 10pm, kicking off her shoes before running a cold shower. Her and Charlie sit up watching TV together on the couch whilst she delves into her packaged ramen noodle box wearing comfortable shorts, vest and a hooded sweater.

"Stay.." she says as the dog cutely frowns up at her with big brown eyes.

She enters the bathroom then ties her brown hair back and finishes brushing her teeth in front of the mirror.

"What happened to me?" Blaze questions herself, trying her best to remember anything prior to the last 8 years.

She unzips her hooded sweater, revealing several scarred burns at the top of her left arm next to her shoulder. She then turns away from her reflection, lifting the bottom part of her vest whilst lowering her shorts an inch further down below her navel, revealing another large scar.

The furthest back she is able to remember is waking up on the operating table with doctors surrounding her. "Blaze? Can you hear me…" their voices echo. She also vaguely remembers hearing a crying baby in the background before slipping into and out of consciousness.

She glances back at her reflection in the mirror as Charlie pushes open the door with his nose. "Hey you" she smiles patting him on the head. "What's wrong….?" Blaze worriedly asks as he frantically sniffs the air before he wildly runs around circling her.

Blaze immediately reaches for her phone to call 911… "emergency! I'm about to have a seizure..".

Her head begins to painfully throb, her heart races and her vision blurs before Blaze collapses on the ground.

Adam races forward in his new Subaru Impreza, speeding and weaving through the traffic. He anxiously glances at his watch knowing that the end of the school day is fast approaching. He pulls up his car right outside the gates instantly alerting a traffic marshall.

"Sir this is a restricted area, I'll have to give you a ticket for parking here!" Adam keeps his shades on as he enters the school grounds, passing the traffic marshall whilst holding up his police badge in the air. "No you won't" he casually replies. The other parents gaze over at him in amusement "I didn't know he was a cop!" One of the moms remarks. Her face blushes as Adam smiles at her when he walks past with only a minute left to spare until the final bell.

"Mrs Harper!" Adam waves as he approaches Elliot's mother who is also waiting outside.

"Hi, can I help you?" A blond lady in a flowery dress asks.

"Yeah, I need to discuss something with you if you don't mind".

"Have I done something wrong? One of the parents over there said you're a cop" she nervously replies.

"No! No no! I wanted to talk to you about Leon Stone, Elliot's friend - I'm his guardian".

"Oh!" She smiles feeling embarrassed. "Leon is a good kid! Elliot and the other boys really miss him when he's out of the city with his father".

"He is a good kid. This is kind of a sensitive topic" Adam sighs, removing his shades. "I don't know if you are aware but Leon's mother died when he was born. He's never met her before."

"No, I'm so sorry," she frowns.

"Elliot may have said something to him last term that's affecting Leon."

"What did he say?" she asks, concerned.

"I think you should have that conversation with him" Adam stops as Leon runs outside to greet him.

"Sup Leon?" Adam smiles.

"Nothing" he tiredly replies "Hi Mrs Harper, Elliot just went to the bathroom he should be out in a minute" he says.

"Thank you" she smiles at him, feeling remorseful.

"Mr Hunter!... wait!"

He turns around noticing the headteacher running after him".

"Yes?" Adam anxiously replies.

"Could I have a minute, alone please?" The stocky lady in her 60s requests with a stern tone in her voice.

"Sure" Adam forces a smile. "Wait over there with Mrs Harper and Elliot…" he says to Leon.

"I understand things are complicated with Leon's home life and that you have been his guardian for a while now." She starts.

"Yeah, his father is like a brother to me and I love the boy as much as my own children. What's going on?"

"Leon is lucky to have you and he is a highly intelligent child for his age, excelling in his academic and sporting abilities. Ideally, he should be studying in the year above as he is well ahead of his peers".

"That's great!" Adam smiles.

"It is, and we are hoping to move him to another class next term. But something is affecting him at the moment. Leon has appeared more withdrawn than usual and he hasn't been himself since term started. Anyway, he was extremely tired today and he fell asleep on the desk. It's really out of his character.." she says with concern.

"Oh! Last night my daughter decided to throw a house party without my consent. She's 15. The argument must have kept him awake. I'll talk to Leon and will make sure he gets enough rest before tomorrow."

"Thank you" she nods.

"You're back home early! For you school doesn't finish until 4!" Adam walks through the door, noticing Cherry with her feet up on the couch.

"I decided to come home at lunchtime" she abruptly answers.

"Leon go upstairs and start on your homework, I'll come up and check in 20 minutes" Adam orders.

"What the hell is wrong with you Cherry?!" Adam barks, trying his best not to raise his voice too high. "Unlike your mother, I trusted you and vouched for you when she complained about you going off the rails and having zero responsibility for anything. I thought, no way my girl is mature and responsible enough for her age and growing into a decent young adult unlike these punk asses that go to her school. She can handle her own and I'll treat her like an adult… but I was wrong to think that. Last night you completely betrayed my trust, your friends wrecked the house and you were supposed to look after Leon! I just got back from a conversation with his headteacher talking about how tired he was today!"

"We only let him have a little bit, it helped him sleep!" She guiltily shrugs.

"What….!? What did you let him have?" Adam glares at her.

"He wanted to try one of our drinks so Brianna let him have some of her whiskey. It worked though and he fell asleep in the end!"

"You let your friends give alcohol to an 8 year old?!"

"It was only a sip - at most half a glass. He couldn't sleep so it was my idea. Besides you were the one that said you gave me brandy as a baby to help me sleep!"

"Yeah, and look at how you turned out! Putting a tiny drop of brandy in a milk bottle is totally different! You is stupid Cherry!" He paces up and down with his hands on his forehead.

"Lord help me please…" Adam says to himself trying to stay serious.

"Is Leon ok?" She worriedly asks with guilt.

"Leon is fine!" Adam starts laughing, shaking his head. "That has to be one of the dumbest things you've ever done! Please don't ever give an 8 year old alcohol again to help him sleep…. Take him to the park, read him a bedtime story, spar with him if you have to but not that!" He sits down next to her as the two of them start laughing together.

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again!" She smiles with shame.

"So why are you bunking off school today then?" Adam asks.

Not amused, Cherry shows him her phone.

"What are those symbols?" He queries.

"They're called hashtags. So now, that little video you made last night went viral! And the hashtags #hunterdaddy, #hunterstrikes and #hunterparenting are all trending right now on the internet and the kids at my school wont stop tagging me! How the hell am I ever gonna go back to there after everyone has seen this?" She explains feeling embarrassment.

"Well, that's called karma baby girl… for your actions last night! At least those friends of yours wont show up here again in a hurry. It's a shame though, they did a great job tidying up the place, more than what I could have hoped for". The two of them burst out laughing again.

"Dad, you're still funny!" Cherry grins, feeling better than earlier.

"I'm still hot too! You should have seen the moms at Leon's school today, they were blushing when they saw me…"

"Mmmhmmm… convince yourself all you want with those shades of yours if it makes you feel better" she teases.

"Your dad's still got it, believe me!" He replies by giving her a hug before heading upstairs. "You're cooking dinner tonight by the way, until then you remain unforgiven!" he says.