Scream Me a Dream

“Soya.” He breathed, looking down at the hands that were still resting on his stomach, small, feminine, and neatly trimmed unpainted fingernails. He turned in her arms so her hands readjusted and settled on his bare back, her pinkies hooking onto the belt loop of his jeans. “You’re here.” He said softly looking down at her.

“I am, is it all right that I’m early?” she asked just as quietly, ignoring the fluttering in her stomach as her fingers came in contact with his bare skin.

“Perfect.” Ville smiled, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “Where are your things?” he asked, noticing that she didn’t have any bags with her.

“Out in the car,” Soya answered, reluctantly loosening her grip on his waist. “Josef’s waiting.”

“Come on, I’ll go help you.” Ville said, his hand going to the small of his back as he led her towards the door, only to notice Dunn standing there, with a smirk.

“Two days man.” Dunn laughed.

Ville shook his head as he and Soya went towards the front door, with Dunn following them. “You should have called.” he told her. “I would have gone to pick you up.”

Soya shrugged. “Josef didn’t give me much of chance and I wanted it to be a surprise.” She said nudging his hip with hers as they stepped outside.

“Finally!” Josef groaned as he pushed off from the side of the car only to put his hand up. “Hold up, scruffy.” He said pointing at Dunn. “I’ve seen the show; you stay away from the car.”

Dunn laughed, “I promise I won’t do anything,” but he stayed by the door watching them.

“I’ve already taken your suitcase out.” Josef said. “Your bag and phone are still in the car.”

Soya nodded as she went around the car and grabbed her messenger bag from the floor and stuffing her phone in the pocket of her skirt. “Do you want the iPod?” she asked.

“No, I’ll survive without it.” Josef called back just as she unplugged it and put it in the side pocket of her bag before she closed the door.

She saw Ville standing by the door with her suitcase, biting her lip she went over to Josef and hugged him.

Josef sighed as he hugged her back. “Call if you want me to come get you.” He whispered. “If you don’t call I’ll be here Sunday night to pick you up, all right?”

“All right.” She murmured into his chest, before she pulled away. “Have fun with Russell tonight.”

“Have fun this week Soya, don’t stress about what’s going on in New York, everything’s getting taken care of, all right?”

“I trust you guys.” She leaned up and kissed his lips softly, patting his chest. “Go, I’ll see you in a week.”

“See you later Soya, love you.”

“Mm, love you too Josef, and be good.” She warned. “I don’t care how much of an idiot this girl is, you need to stop making her cry.”

Josef rolled his eyes. “Tears just mean they’re not up to snuff Soya.”

Soya shook her head. “So glad I don’t work with you in this.”

“Have fun.” Josef sang as he closed the door, starting the car, backing out of the driveway and zooming down the drive. Adjusting her bag on her shoulder, she walked over to the door and stood next to Ville.

“I’ll go put your things in my room for now.” He told her. “I’ll ask Bam which room you can use after dinner.”

“All right.” Soya nodded as she followed Dunn and Ville back into the house.

“Have you eaten yet?” Ville asked.

“Not yet.”

“Ape’s making dinner, so that should be ready in a few.” Dunn said as he took the suitcase from Ville. “I’ll take it up to your room.”

Ville raised an eyebrow. “Don’t go through it Dunn.”

“I won’t.” Dunn laughed, motioning for her messenger bag.

“Oh…” She bit her lip and slowly slid the bag off her shoulder. “My laptop is in there…” she trailed off.

“I’ll be careful, jeez, she’s not here two minutes and she already doesn’t trust me.” Dunn muttered.

“Oh no, it’s not…”

“He’s kidding.” Ville assured, cutting off her apology as Dunn walked away. “Come on,” he said putting a hand on the small of her back and leading her towards the kitchen where he knew April was. “April’s been dying to meet you.”

Soya rolled her eyes. “The way you probably talk about me she’s expecting some sort of saint.”

“How do you know I talk about you?” Ville asked. “That’s a bit egotistical of you.”

“I know you Ville,” she teased. “Apparently you, Linde and Mige wouldn’t stop talking about me to Gas and Burton, with the others not around, you make up for it by talking for all three of you.”

Ville laughed as they walked into the kitchen, Novak looked up from his place at the counter as Bam looked away from the stove where April was cooking.

“Hey, you’re back!” Novak laughed.

“Hi.” Soya waved with a smile. “Hi Bam.”

“Hey.” Bam greeted, going and sitting next to Novak with a bottle of water. “It looks like shit Ape.”

“Well then you can starve.” April said, looking over her shoulder at her son, before her gaze went to Ville and Soya. “Hello.”

“Hi.” Soya greeted.

“April, this is my friend Soya, Soya, this is Bam’s mother April.”

“It’s so good to meet you.” Soya said as she went to shake April’s hand only to be pulled into a hug. They pulled away and Soya grinned. “Ville has wonderful things to say about you.”

“And he has just amazing things to say about you.”April pointed out.

“Ville exaggerates.” Soya said, glaring over at Ville as he grinned. “Especially when it comes to me, they all do.”

“We’re proud, kultaseni, allow us to brag.” Ville said with a smirk.

“Brag!” Soya laughed pushing at his chest, though it didn’t move him. “Is that what you call it?! They’re tall tales!” she looked over at April, who was grinning as she cooked. “I’m not half as amazing as the boys make me out to be.”

“Oh I doubt that, I’ve seen you dance.” April said.

Soya blushed. “Oh, I must have been horrible.”

“Wonderful actually.” April said. “I’ve never seen anyone dance the way you do. All the reviews, they don’t do you justice.”

Soya felt her cheeks heat up even more. “Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it. Which one did you get to see?” Soya asked.

“Oh, I dragged my husband to ‘The Love of the Gypsy., even Phil was entranced by the ballet, and he can barely make it through a movie without falling asleep.”

Soya laughed. “It was fun to dance.” She thought about all the sleepless nights she had gone through, the long hours and the pain. “Very glad it’s over though.”

“I bet,” April turned to Bam, who was sitting quietly at the counter with a frown. “You’re quiet.”

Bam shrugged. “Don’t feel like talking.”

“Well why don’t you go gather the guys for dinner, it’s done.”

Bam stood, grabbing Novak’s arm and dragged him up the stairs to get the rest of the guys.

“I should probably go change.” Soya said looking down at her leggings and skirt with a frown, only to look up when she heard Ville chuckle and April laugh.

“Sweetie, if anything you’re overdressed for dinner.” April said. “I’m lucky if the boys put on pants,” she looked over at Ville and rolled her eyes. “Or a shirt.”

“You look fine.” Ville laughed very amused by Soya’s etiquette.

“Well in that case, do you need any help Mrs.-”

“Its April sweetie,” April smiled, cutting her off. “And no, its fine, why don’t you and Ville go and sit, I’ll be out in a minute.”

“All right.” Soya turned to Ville and followed him up the stairs. “En usko, että hän pitää munusta hyvin paljon.”(I don’t think he likes me very much.) She said quietly, speaking in Finnish so she could have a semblance of privacy with Ville.

Ville frowned. “Kuka?”(Who?)

Soya stared at him in disbelief as she sat down at the large black dining table, with him sitting beside her. “Kuka?! Tiedätkö, kuka!”(Who?! You know who!)

Ville rolled his eyes, “Anna hänelle aikaa, hän vain ei tunne sunua. Hän on hyvin suojaava.”(Give him time, he just doesn’t know you. He’s very protective.) He looked behind him as he saw Bam and the rest of the crew consisting of Raab, Dunn, Dico and Novak coming down the stairs. “Aivan kuten mina olen teidän kanssanne.” (Just as I am with you) he whispered in her ear causing Soya to sigh.

“Who’s the chick?” Raab asked as he sat across from her.

“Hello milady.”

Soya jumped as she heard the exaggerated British accent come from behind her. “Hello.” Soya laughed, looking at the slightly balding man.

“That’s Brandon DiCamillo.” Ville said.

“Sir Dico, at your service, milady.” He said bowing and kissing her hand before sitting next to her.

Ville pointed across from her. “And that’s Raab Himself.”

“Hey.” Raab waved.

“This is Soya, she’s a friend of mine.” Ville introduced as April came out with the food, followed by Phil who was carrying another tray. “She’s going to be staying here for a week.”

“Nioce.” Raab grinned as he grabbed one of the corncobs that was on the tray and put it on his plate. Once all the food was passed around, conversation came to a halt when April directed her attention on Soya who had been talking to Ville quietly.

“Soya, Ville says you’re on break right now?”

Soya looked up and nodded. “I am, I have a little less than six months now before I have to rejoin the company to start rehearsals on the next ballet.”

“Do you know what you’ll be dancing?” April asked curious.

Soya shrugged. “I’ll probably find out around Christmas time what we’ll be doing; I think Josef will be choreographing again.”

“Again?” Ville asked.

Soya bit her lip and nodded. “He’s doing this one right now and he had a large part in choreographing this last one.”

“Who had the other part?” Ville asked suspiciously.

Soya sighed. “I may have helped.” She replied hesitantly. “But Josef did most of the work,” she added quickly, “I refuse to work with him in that capacity. The man’s a genius, but he’s an evil one.” She said with a shake of her head.

“Every day, something new with this girl.” Ville muttered with a shake of his head.

“Any plans for your time off?” Phil asked.

Soya shrugged. “I own a small dance studio in New York, one of my teachers takes a month off around this time of year to spend time with family in Russia, so I take over her classes. Other than that just some loose plans.”

“April took me to that ballet you did last week, you’re good.” Phil said with a kind smile.

“Thank you.” Soya blushed, just as the theme song to ‘Psycho.’ filled the air in the room. Both Ville and Soya reached for their phones only to laugh. “It’s mine.” Soya said, reaching into her pocket and looking at the ID, already knowing who it was. “I’m sorry I have to take this.” She said starting to get up.

“You can take it here.” Bam said, causing everyone to look at him.

“Oh…” Soya bit her lip and looked down at the still ringing phone.

“Let the girl talk in private Bam.” April said hitting his arm.

“Why? She should get use to the lack of privacy, its non-existent here.” Bam said with a smirk, looking over at Soya.

Soya smiled kindly and sat back down, knowing he was testing her. With a sigh, she answered. “Yes?”

“Where in the world are you?!”

“I’m out of town.” Soya replied, knowing if she said where she was exactly, Rebecca would drive down and get her.

“I called at the studio. You never called me back.”

Soya shook her head and gave a small laugh. “My secretary is very incompetent Rebecca, I was there all day, you should have just had her patch you right through.”

“You’re avoiding me.”

“Whatever gave you that idea?” Soya said with a roll of her eyes. “Did you need something other than interrupt my vacation?”

“You need to come back now!”

Soya sighed and rubbed her temples. “Does this have anything to do with Josef making the dancers cry?” she heard a few chuckles around the table and couldn’t help but blush at the attention that was on her.

“It has everything to do with him making the LEAD dancer cry.”

“I hear she’s not that great Rebecca,” Soya said with a shrug. “If she can’t deal with Josef’s standards she has no place in the company.”

“This girl is amazingly talented Soya! Even better then you, if I do say so myself!”

Soya straightened. “Better?” Soya asked with a raised eyebrow. “Josef has made even me cry Rebecca, countless times, if this girl is better than me, then she would have tougher skin. I’m not coming back.”

“You’re the only one that can stop him! If he continues on the warpath he’s been on…”

“I wouldn’t call it a warpath Rebecca, especially if it’s just one girl that has the problem. Why do you even care?” Soya asked, finding Rebecca’s worry off-putting. “You don’t even care about me and Josef this much and we’re the two most highly paid dancers in the company. What is this girl to you?” The minute she said it, her eyes widened and she gasped. “Oh Josef is going to be so mad.”

“You tell him Soya and you’re off the company!”

“I doubt it.” Soya laughed. “Get her out Rebecca, or the next call I make will be to your father and you know he won’t be happy with you putting your niece as the lead to one of the largest recitals of the year. Get her out and I won’t tell Josef.” She couldn’t help the large smile the overcame her face as she heard Rebecca hesitate. “Really it’s your choice…I’m just thinking of your niece. If she stays and Josef finds out, he’s just going to go harder on her since she has so much more to prove then the other dancers.”

“You won’t tell him?”

Soya shrugged, “Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. It really depends on your next move Rebecca because I’m not coming back.”

“I hate you Soya.” Rebecca growled into the phone.

“Oh how I adore you Rebecca.” Soya said sweetly. “I expect a call from Josef tomorrow, telling me he has a new dancer, I also expect your niece to be placed somewhere else in the company.” Before she had a chance to say goodbye, Rebecca had hung up causing Soya to frown. “What in the world was she thinking?” she muttered.

“What the hell was that?” Bam asked, having trouble understanding what had just happened from the one sided conversation he’d heard.

Soya shook her head, now that she had successfully diffused the situation, annoyance was creeping in. “Excuse me, I have another call to make,” she eyed Bam. “This one in private, unfortunately.” She left the table and walked out of the room into the privacy of a hallway as she called Josef, hoping she wasn’t interrupting anything.

XxxxxxX

“What the fuck was that?” Bam asked again.

“You know,” April said looking at her son. “I’m use to you being rude, because I know at the end of the day we raised you right, but making her answer that call, which was obviously business, was very rude Bam.”

“Whatever.” Bam muttered.

Ville shook his head, amused with the situation. He should have expected Bam to do something like this. “You’re testing her Bam, and I should warn you, Soya doesn’t crack easily.”

“She doesn’t?” Bam asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No, she doesn’t.” Ville said with a smirk. “She may seem innocent, but trust me when I say that she’s dealt with a lot worse then you. You’re a kitten compared to her parents.”

“I’m sure they’re not that bad.” April said with a frown.

“The elder Toivonen’s can be very cold-hearted when they want to be.” Ville said, thinking of some of the moments he had witnessed with Soya and her parents. She was so strong willed when she was around her friends, talkative, happy. The minute her parents appeared, Soya shut down and became meek, a shell of the girl he knew her to be. He couldn’t help the bitter laugh that escaped him. “Much worse then you Bam.”

“You sure she won’t break?” Bam asked, matching Ville’s smirk with his own.

“I’m positive.”

“Then I guess this is a good time to tell you that all the guest rooms are full and she’ll have to room with you or one of the other guys.”

Ville chuckled and nodded. “That’s fine, we’ve shared a confined space before, I’m sure we won’t have trouble adapting again.”

Bam’s smirk turned down; at the same time Soya came back into the room finishing her call. “Thank you Ben, I’m sure everything will work itself out…. Yes, see you in a few weeks.” She laughed. “Bye.” She hung up the phone and sat back down. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” April smiled.

Ville put a hand on hers, getting her attention. “Bam’s informed me that we’ll be sharing my room, unless you want to sleep with one of the other men.”

Soya looked around the table, then back at Ville. “I’m fine sharing with you.” She grinned. “It’ll be Linde’s couch all over again.”

Ville grinned back then turned to Bam with a smirk.