A/N: To inspire myself I started trying to cast Holly and Chris. I succeeded with Holly. To see her search for Lizzie Wicks on Google and Youtube. She's an England-born, Australian dancer who is, for lack of a better word, freakin' awesome! Oh, and, enjoy the chapter! ;)

Chapter Six;
Hey Mister Boss-Man

Holly was sticking her fries into her McDonalds sundae when her phone went off, causing her to nearly drop her dessert, but she put it down on a nearby wall as she fished out the cell. "Holly." She frowned as the woman read the message in a monotone voice before she decided to clarify. "So, I'm coming in again, what, now?" A stiff 'yes' from the woman Holly guessed to be the stern woman in the audition. "Okay, um, be right there."

Moose wasn't far away. After separating from Holly at the nearest McDonalds, he'd headed back to his hotel with his cell phone pressed to his ear, trying once again in vain to reach Camille. After the fifth attempt he sighed and lowered it to take a bite of his cheeseburger when it went off again. Pulling it out he answered it without looking at the Caller ID. "Chameleon?" When the woman, incredulous tone to her voice, said 'pardon me' he knew it wasn't. "Sorry, hi, this is Robert."

"I'm calling to inform you that you've been chosen to meet with the head of Eckhardt Academy regarding your application for employment."

Moose frowned at the stern tone and then immediately recognised it. "Ms. Sylvester?"

"Yes. Now, you're going to have to be here in the next twenty minutes, he's very busy."

"Okay, great, thanks." Snapping the phone shut Moose shook his head slightly at Ms. Sylvester's monotone and completely impersonal message before he snapped himself back into reality and started at a jog back towards Eckhardt.

…

Chris stood in the doorway of Eckhardt, his arms crossed and leaning against the frame, just waiting for the two new arrivals. At twenty-eight Chris had seen enough of the dance floor himself to last him a lifetime. During his teenage years he'd been runner-up in plenty of dance contests and, as for street battles well, he had a rep or two, but now he'd resigned himself to teaching. It was the best connection he had to dance without the stress and aches of competition. Scruffy in appearance, Chris didn't exude confidence and his easy-going smile made it seem like he was a walkover, but he could hold his own in any situation and he had a sharp wit that was the perfect defence.

"You probably scared them away with that welcoming tone of yours Prue," he shot back at the stern-looking woman behind him. "Maybe we should've got Ella to make the calls."

Ms. Sylvester just frowned. "They have ten more minutes. You shouldn't be so impatient." She turned and walked off.

"Great," Chris muttered to himself. "I'm getting 'stress less' advice from 'Lady Uptight'."

"Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness." Chris turned back to find Moose standing there. "My g…" he paused, a sad look crossing his expression. He edited his sentence. "I was told that once." He held out a fist and Chris pumped it. "What's up man?"

"Final two Curly Sue." Moose grinned at the hair reference. "But you have to appease the boss-man first."

"Talking is suddenly my forte." Moose popped his collar with a comical smile. "I totally have this."

"You'll have to get past me first sunshine." Holly stepped into the school behind the two guys. "So what pushed me over the edge? The dance or the great speech?"

"The fact everyone else sucked." Chris gave her a warm smile.

"Oh, that's cute." Her smile fell into a frown. "When your back's turned you'll pay." She held up a fist and pretended to stab away like Norman Bates.

"Come on Psycho, this way." He ushered them down the hall. "The boss is Mr. Eckhardt's direct descendant. If you didn't do your homework then listen carefully. Arthur P. Eckhardt founded Eckhardt Academy in 1921. The war was over and the 'good times' were starting up. Back in his native England he'd been a soldier, seeing the war when he turned eighteen in 1917. He wasn't around enough to be traumatised forever, but he did learn from war that doing what you loved was paramount. Following the war he came to America where his brother lived. Together they got into dance, but where his brother thought it some part-time fun and a way to pick up girls, Arthur saw it for what it really was. In his first interview after opening the Academy his first words about why he did it, why he opened a dance school, were 'dance crosses boundaries that others fear to'." He glanced at the two beside him and saw Moose grinning at the words. Holly was frowning a little at the floor as she walked. He looked away from them again, returning to his story. "In 1939 the Second World War began and while Arthur was no longer a Brit by law, he felt obliged to return to war. He died in 1939 not from war-related injuries but by choking on a peanut. His brother took over the Academy until 1941 when, on December 7th, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour and sent America into war. He joined the army as soon as possible. While he fought his wife and son managed the Academy until he returned. He, Thomas Eckhardt, died in 1971 aged 74. His son Paul took over long before that however. Paul led the Academy from 1956 onwards. Paul was so caught up in the Academy that he never married and never had children. Thankfully Arthur Eckhardt did have a family line. His girlfriend back in England, who he'd lost touch with before he went to war, had a son. On Paul's deathbed in 1998, sick from pneumonia, he went looking for someone to carry on the family legacy. That was when he found Arthur's great grandson, a young American himself living in Florida. And that is the man you're about to meet."

"Wow, now that's a story!" Moose shook his head in disbelief. "And this Arthur guy sounds off the charts. He really said that about dance?" Chris nodded. "That's why I dance. It's all about the hope and togetherness that comes with dance. Nothing else inspires like it."

Chris nodded in appreciation. "You got it man." He glanced at Holly. "You've been uncharacteristically quiet."

"Just listening." Holly looked up from the floor. "So this boss, he anything like his great grandfather?"

"Oh god no." He shook his head. "He's stingy and constantly trying to cut classes from the curriculum. Quite surprised he wants any new staff actually."

"Really?"

"Tried to ban chips from the canteen last year because he thought they were making the dancers fat!" He twisted a finger around his ear in the widely recognised 'nuts' move. "That said, he's a pretty experienced dancer himself and despite his naturally cold demeanour, he knows his stuff."

"Great, we get to do an interview with a crazy ex-dancer trying to live failed dreams through others." Moose muttered. Chris just gave a non-committal shrug.

"Oh come on, can't you just do the interviews? This is clearly some old fogey who knows nothing about the real world whereas you seem to have some sort of grasp on reality, plus you've seen us dance, you know us." Holly looked up at Chris with wide puppy dog-like eyes. "Please?"

"No," he motioned to a hallway before them. "Right this way." As they reached a deep brown doorway with 'Head of School' written on it, Chris knocked. There was no response. "Okay, probably in a good mood as usual." He smiled back at Moose and Holly. "We'll go in anyway."

"I'm not going in there without being invited. He could kill us!" Holly exclaimed in a tone that convinced Chris she wasn't joking.

"I'll go first then. Look, just remember a few important details: heir to the throne, ex-dancer and," he held his hand out and curled his fingers like he was strangling the air. "Vice-like grip."

"I'm right, he's going to kill us."

"Just impress the boss and you've got it," Chris said with a smile.

Moose rolled his eyes. "Yeah, easy like ABC."

Chris just motioned to the door. "Let me warn him then I'll call you in." With a completely unreadable smile he stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

Holly glanced sideways at Moose. "Maybe you should've brushed your hair."

He cast his eyes skyward as if he were trying to look at his hair. "What do you mean? I did!"

Holly smothered a smile. "Oh, okay, yeah, I see it now." She stuck two thumbs up just as Chris called from inside. They headed in, Moose holding the door open for Holly, and saw Chris sitting behind the desk looking very much at home. "Uh, where's the boss?"

"Surprise!" Chris cried, casting his arms wide. "I'm the boss!"

Moose failed to hold back a snort as Holly just narrowed her eyes at the man behind the desk. "You said the boss was an heir to the company, an experienced dancer who runs this place with a vice-like grip. You said he was callous and somewhat unrealistic."

He held up a hand. "Hold up, I never said anything about callous and unrealistic."

"You implied it." Holly protested back. Chris glanced at Moose and the younger man nodded slowly.

"Okay fine, everything I told you was a lie, so sue me." He paused. "No, wait, don't, I can't afford it." He leant forward on the desk, crossing his arms. "Anyway Miss Given, did you not say you'd rather I did the interviews than some old fogey who, what were the words? Oh yeah, 'knows nothing about the real world'?"

"That was before I knew that you were said old fogey." Chris gave a warm smile at her biting tone. "So now what?" Holly continued. "You know us, do you really need to go through all this?"

He shook his head. "Not really. I made my decision a long time ago. You're both hired." He paused. "Really I just hate breaking bad news."

"Well, I think it's awesome that you're the boss," Moose leant forward and shook Chris' hand. "And I can't wait to work with you."

"You don't have to kiss up anymore, you already got the job." Holly muttered. Moose just shook his head and took his leave, slinging his backpack over his shoulder as he went, a slight spring back in his step. As he shut the door behind him Holly looked back at Chris. "You're really the heir to this place?"

He nodded, leaning back in the armchair and putting his feet on the table. "Great grand-dad established it. He was a dancer, very different to the popping and tutting people do now though, but he knew what dance could do for people." He motioned to a black and white photo on the wall and Holly moved towards it. The man in the photo was only about her age. "It brought our family back together after a lot of heartache. At one stage there were two brothers, four cousins and an aunt working here all together." He sighed. "Of course that's all gone now. I'm the last of the Eckhardt legacy." Holly was still looking at the photos when he asked her a question. "So why do you dance?"

She looked up. "What?"

"Why do you dance? Moose dances to find hope in the world, but you never answered earlier." Holly looked at the floor. "So?"

"To escape." She didn't lift her head as she answered. "I began dancing after my mum died, it was something to do instead of just crying, and because when I was young mum used to do all the housework while listening to music. I remember her turning up the radio when I came from school and asking me to come work with her. She was a dancer," she gave a small laugh, "an absolutely atrocious one though. Couldn't hold a beat if she tried. But she did it because it was fun. When she died that was all I could remember of her, so I'd sit there and watch music videos just thinking about her, pretending she was right behind me dancing along while dusting a vase or something. She was mad my mum, completely nuts." She crossed her arms in a very defensive pose. "That's why I dance."

"So you dance for your mum?"

She shook her head. "No, I dance for me. I don't dance to impress anyone, to achieve anything; I just do it because I can. Some people can write, some can sing, some can deal with a job where all they do is sort files, but that's not me - I dance."

"I understand that," Chris nodded. "I'm absolutely atrocious at filing." He grinned and Holly broke a smile. "You start eight o'clock tomorrow morning. Go get some sleep." He flipped open a folder on his desk and starting reading it.

Holly nodded and began to leave, but turned back when she decided to ask one last thing. "Hey, why do you dance? Apart from because you're awful at filing?"

Chris shrugged. "I don't know. Probably just in the blood." Holly nodded slowly. "See you tomorrow."

"Night." Holly called back. She shut the door behind her with a soft thud.