Scream Me a Dream

Monday May 10, 2010
9:00am

Soya groaned as she peeked her head out from under her covers, growling when she saw a camera lens in her face. Ignoring Josef persistence, she reached around him for her cell phone, which had been the original cause for waking her up, bringing it up to her ear before crawling back under the covers.

“Hello?” Soya asked hoarsely, clearing her throat.

“Oh Soya, I’m sorry to wake you up.”

Soya rubbed her eyes. “Brooke?” Why in the world would her receptionist from the dance studio be calling at, she pulled her cell phone away to look at the time, nine o’ clock in the morning?

“Yeah,”

“Is everything all right?” Soya asked as she pushed her way back out of her covers, glaring at Josef once more, before covering the lens with her hand and pushing it away from her. “Get that blasted thing out of my face Josef!”

Josef smirked, standing at the end of her bed still pointing the camera at her. Soya glared but listened to Brooke on the other end of the phone. “It’s just Anya isn’t able to make it in today,”

Soya rubbed a hand tiredly over her face, “What time is her first class?”

“At eleven, Anya’s usual sitter has finals and because her daughter is sick Anya can’t take her to day care.”

“Yeah, of course.” Soya looked at her clock again, she was really hoping to sleep in, but she had told Brooke to call her any time now that she had the time off. “Give me an hour.”

“Thanks Soya,”

“It’s not a problem Brooke.” Soya said kindly, before hanging up the phone.

Josef turned the camera towards him with a disappointed frown. “I know dedicated fans, this is not the Soya Show that you are use to, but never fear, I’m sure Soya will not disappoint.”

Soya shook her head as she got out of bed, slipping her feet in her slippers. “If I see that damn camera in my face one more time Josef, I swear it’s going to the bottom of the Hudson with you still attached to it!”

“Ah! And there she is!” Josef laughed, before he stopped recording.

“How is it you party all night and still you’re up at the crack of dawn to annoy me?”

“Miláček, I haven’t even been to bed!” Josef laughed. “I just got in.”

Soya shook her head again as she padded her way to the kitchen, happy to see the coffee already brewing.

“Forgive me now?” Josef laughed as he set the video camera down.

“Getting there.” Soya admitted. “So other then sleeping, do you have any plans for the day?”

“Not really.” Josef said with a yawn, “I was just going to stay home, why?”

“Just wondering.” Soya said, pouring herself a mug of coffee. Josef walked to the refrigerator, handing her the Half and Half, which she poured into her mug before handing it back to him, getting a spoon and stirring, before bringing the coffee up to her lips.

“Good?”

She nodded with a small smile. “I have lunch with the boys today, I’m not sure what time yet, but I’ll probably be home late.”

“Going to send your boys off?” Josef asked as he yawned again.

“Yes,” Soya laughed as she kissed her friends cheek. “Go to bed, hunaja (honey). I’m going to get ready and head to the studio.”

Josef nodded. “All right, I’ll be here.”

Soya smiled at him as she went to her room with her coffee, watching in amusement as Josef dragged his feet to his room, she closed her door and grabbed her towel from the hook behind the door, setting her coffee on her nightstand before going to the bathroom to take a shower.

Forty-five minutes later she was getting out of her car, dressed in her black boot cut knit pants that she tended to work out in and a grey Julliard sweatshirt. Grabbing her black bag from the backseat, she waved at some of the younger girls going into the studio.

“Miss Soya!” the girls squealed as Soya walked closer to them.

“Hello girls.” Soya smiled.

“Are you back for good or are you just here to practice?” One of the girls asked as they walked into the building.

“I’m here until Miss. Anya is able to come back,” Soya told them. “But next month I’ll be back to teaching my regular classes.”

“Really?” Another girl asked.

Soya nodded as she waved to Brooke and turned to the girls. “Really really, now go get ready I’ll meet you girls in there in about five minutes. Jenny, why don’t you choose a CD and start warm ups?”

“All right!” Jenny said as the girls rushed into one of the studios.

Soya smiled at the girls, breathing deeply as she felt the excitement at being back and teaching again coursing through her body. Their excitement reminded her why she loved teaching. She turned to Brooke and smiled, “Anything new?”

Brooke shook her head. “Anya said that she may be out the rest of the week and should be able to come back on Monday.”

Soya nodded, “Then I will definitely take over her classes for the week.”

“Are you sure Soya?” Brooke asked. “Because I can find a way to spilt the class between Megan and Evie.”

Soya shook her head. “No need, I’m here and not busy for the next month, I really don’t mind taking the classes.” She shook her head with a laugh. “And shouldn’t I be the one to decide to designate who gets what classes? Am I not the boss?”

Brooke smirked. “I guess I’m on a power trip.”

Soya laughed as she took the mail that Brooke handed her and gathered her bag up from the floor. “Well I’m back; it’s my turn for the power trip.”

Brooke giggled. “Deal, I’m tired of the stress anyway.”

“Trust me, this type of stress is a relief compared to the stress I’ve been under these past few months.” Soya said before she went upstairs to her office. Dropping her bag next to the door inside her office, she flipped through the envelopes, tossing them on her desk, before grabbing her worn ballet flats that lay on the top of her desk.

She toed off the Uggs she had pulled on, on her way out the door before pulling on her ballet shoes, tying the pink ribbons around her ankle. She winced when she saw the tape around her left ankle and tied the ribbon a little more loosely around that ankle, she pulled off her Juilliard sweater leaving her in a white lycra spaghetti strap tank with a built in bra, so the under-wires wouldn’t dig into her skin when she stretched.

She grabbed a bottle of water from her mini fridge before leaving the room and going downstairs to meet her class.

XxxxxxX

“Try her again.” Linde said as he zipped up his suitcase sitting on the edge of the bed, watching as Ville dialed the phone, putting the phone on speaker so Linde could listen.

You’ve reached Soya, I can’t get to the phone right now, but leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!

Ville flipped the phone closed and stared at Linde. “That’s the fifth time I’ve called, she’s not answering.”

“Didn’t she give you other numbers to reach her at?”

“Josef’s and the studio.” Ville admitted.

“Call Josef, maybe he’s with her.”

Ville sighed, as he searched his phone for the number. It was nearing four in the afternoon and he’d been trying to get in touch with Soya since around noon to see when she wanted to get together for lunch. While he wanted to see her, he knew that he would probably see her throughout the month since he was staying in the area, but Linde and Mige were dying to see her before they headed back home, wanting to continue talking to their friend, since they didn’t know when the next time they would see her would be.

He pressed send on his phone, the ringing on the other side echoed around the room, before it cut off, replaced by a rough voice.

“Talk.”

“Josef, it’s Ville, I’m lo-” He was cut off by Josef before he could even finish the rest of his sentence.

“She’s at the studio” Josef said before hanging up the phone. Ville raised an eyebrow in surprise at the man’s attitude before dialing the last number Soya had given him.

“Soya’s Dance Studio, this is Brooke speaking, how can I help you.”

“Hello, I’m looking for Soya.”

“Soya’s in the middle of a class right now, but I can take a message if you want.” Brooke answered, Ville could hear the smile in her voice.

“No, no, do you know what time she’s done for the day?”

“Yeah, she’s done in about an hour.”

“All right, thank you.” Ville said before saying good-bye and hanging up.

“Kidnap?” Linde asked with a smirk.

“We haven’t done it in a while and I do miss kidnapping Soya.”

Linde laughed. “You do realize that she probably just forgot.”

Ville nodded “I know, you and the rest of the group go to the airport and I’ll go get Soya.”

“Why can’t we just all go?” Linde asked.

“Because I’m not the one with a flight to catch.” Ville pointed out with a smirk.

Linde sighed, “Fine, we’ll meet you there.”

Ville nodded as he grabbed his beanie off the couch, grabbing his wallet before leaving the room. Making his way down to the lobby he hailed a cab and gave the directions to Soya’s studio to the cabbie before leaning back in his seat, his eyes trained on the passing buildings.

He really hated the anxious feeling he got when he thought about seeing Soya. The way his leg would start jumping, the way his palms would actually sweat or the way knots would form in his stomach. He felt like a teen about to go on his first date, something he hadn’t even felt during his first date.

But something with Soya was different, he’d known the minute he’d seen her exasperated face when she entered his father’s sex shop with two other giggling girls. He had stared at her, thinking her another little girl who had just turned eighteen wanting to see the scandalous items. Instead she’d stayed near the door, her arms crossed over her chest, glaring at the other girls as they picked up items and giggled before rushing to the next display.

When he had told her that none of the items would bite, teasing her, she had turned her glare on him, said ‘I know’ in a snappish voice before turning back to the girls. She then admitted that she wasn’t eighteen and probably shouldn’t even be inside. Which had been true, at the point Ville should have kicked her out, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it, instead he’d motioned her forward so she would stand closer to where he had been sitting and coaxed her into a conversation.

As it had turned out, while she was embarrassed to be in the sex shop, that was her own personality, she embarrassed easily anyway. She was more bothered by her friends reactions then the shop itself, even at fifteen she knew that the items that hung in the shop were more than just to be giggled at. He had taken to her instantly.

When he’d found out that she was a student at the ballet school just a couple of blocks away from the shop and that she was there every Wednesday afternoon, he couldn’t stop from going and meeting her the next Wednesday. He had waited for her across the street, leaning against the building’s wall. It was when he had caught site of her that he realized that he had actually become nervous. When she came to a stop in front of the dance studio and stared at him in surprise, he couldn’t help but stare at her either. But he’d snapped out of it before she had and crossed the street and before he could censor himself he admitted that there was something about her that he couldn’t put his finger on, but he wanted to try.

She’d made a smartass comment about her not being that type of girl, before he laughed and admitted he just wanted friendship. After that, everything had fallen into place, every Wednesday for a month he would pick her up from the studio and they would frequent a little coffee shop. After that month, Mige and Linde had gotten curious and followed him, which had ended up in them picking Soya up two times a week from dance practice and even a few times after school.

Even after the year, he still couldn’t figure out what it was about Soya that had gotten his attention. She was so different then the women he had usually dated or even caught his attention. She was a classic beauty, the soft lines that made up her face, the way her hair was always perfectly made up in a tight ponytail or braid, not a hair out of place. The way she walked, as if she floated across the ground, to the way she talked, her Finnish so proper and her English so exact as if she thought out every single word before she said it.

Linde and Mige had always told her that when around them she didn’t have to censor herself, to Ville she had admitted that she didn’t know any other way. It was difficult to stop doing something she had become so accustomed to doing.

“Twenty-eight fifty.”

Ville blinked. “I’m sorry?”

“Twenty-eight fifty pal.”

Ville looked at the meter seeing the twenty eight and the fifty blink at him before he looked out and saw Soya’s dance studio outside the window. “Right, sorry.” He said before taking forty dollars out of his wallet and handing it to the cabbie. “Keep the change.” He muttered before getting out of the cab.

He walked to the door, and just as he was about to open the door, it flew open letting out a group of girls in different colored leotards that almost ran him over.

“Girls, slow down!” A woman yelled as she walked out behind them. “I’m sorry sir.”

“It’s fine.” Ville chuckled as he followed the women back in.

“I’m Brooke.” She said as she took her seat behind the reception desk. “Something I can do for you?”

“Is Soya in?”

Brooke raised an eyebrow. “You the guy that called earlier asking for her?”

“I am.” Ville nodded.

“She’s still in class,” she said slowly. “You a friend or something?”

“I am, do you know when she’d due out?”

The girl looked down at her computer before biting her lip. “About ten minutes ago. She’s in room three with the girls if you want to go in.”

“Oh no, it’s fine, I’ll wait.”

Brooke laughed. “Apparently you don’t know Soya very well.”

Ville winced; he knew that while he didn’t know this Soya, he did know the old one pretty damn well. But it still hurt a bit to be reminded that he didn’t know Soya very well anymore.

“If someone doesn’t go in there and interrupt then she’ll never stop. I was about to go in, but you can do it.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive, she really won’t mind.”

“Room three?” Ville asked as he walked towards the studio rooms.

“Three.” Brooke teased as she watched him go. Ville looked and heard the music coming from one of the open doors, he walked over and peeked his head in, smiling when he saw Soya on the floor in front of a wall of mirrors, her legs open in front of her as she tapped the palms of her hands on the floor to the beat of the music.

“One, two, three, four!” she shouted over the music. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight!”

He looked at the group of five girls and three boys as they moved to the sound of the music, just as one girl went tumbling down. The music stopped as the girl was helped up, Soya walking over to her. He expected there to be exasperation in her voice as she stood behind the girl. He could tell by the way some of the kids breathed heavily that they had been at it for some while. Instead she smiled at the girl and bent down, fixing the girls feet.

“Remember Lisa, keep to the balls of your feet not your toes, all that’s doing is hurting your feet. Remember the ball exercise?”

Lisa nodded. “Yeah.”

“It’s just like that.” Soya said lifting up Lisa’s foot. “You want to keep your weight right here.” She said, her fingers moving across the top of the ballet shoe, where the ball of the foot was. “If you’re on your toes, it’s not enough support hunaja.”

Lisa frowned. “Hunaja?”

Soya laughed but before she could respond one of the other girls spoke. “It’s ‘honey’ in Finnish, Miss. Soya speaks it.”

“It slips out, is all.” Soya admitted, Ville watched as she dropped Lisa’s foot gently before standing back up. “You guys are doing so well.” She said proudly, causing Ville to grin as he leaned against the door jam. Soya looked up at the wood squeaked underneath his weight.

“Ville?” She asked with a frown only to gasp and look up at the clock. “Oh! Lunch!”

“It’s fine Soya.” Ville laughed.

“Oh and I’m already twenty minutes over!” she muttered a small curse under her breath. She looked at her group of students, frustrated with herself.

“Soya, finish the class,” Ville said seeing her struggle at not wanting to just kick her students out. “We still have time before the group leaves.”

“Are you sure?” Soya asked.

“Positive.” Ville nodded.

Soya nodded before turning back to the curious expression on her students faces. “Ville is a friend of mine from Finland, why don’t you show him what you’ve been working on?”

“Will you dance with us Miss. Soya?” one of the boys asked.

Soya sighed, as if it were a burden only to nod. “Fine, you’ve convinced me, I’ll dance with you. But I better not see any of you following my moves.” She warned with a teasing smile. “You all better have this routine memorized or Miss Anya will kill me.” She walked over to the stereo and cued the music. “Ville, do you mind pressing play?”

“Not at all.” He said.

“On four.” She told him as she went and stood behind the students. “All right, ready?” she asked.

The group nodded as they all got into first position. “Ready.”

“Wonderful.” Soya said with a smile. “One, two, three, four.”

On four, Ville pressed play on the stereo and watched as the group move in uniform, Soya behind them, moving with them. He could tell that compared to Soya’s skills the routine was simple and not something she had to think much about. However, he saw the looks of concentration on the student’s faces as they glided around the floor, trying to catch all the steps.

“Rupert, loosen you’re arms, you’re too tense.” Soya said as she stopped to watch them, moving to the front of the room to stand in front of the mirrors, copying their movements. “Lisa, balls of your feet.” She reminded. “And pirouette!” she said doing her own turn before standing with her hands on her hips as she watched the students repeat the routine. She smiled over at Ville, mouthing him to stop the stereo. Ville did as he was instructed causing the students to stop.

“That’s it for today.” She said. “You all did wonderfully; you’ve come so far from when you all first started!”

“Do you think we’ll be ready for the recital next month?” Lisa asked as they started making their way to the back of the room where their bags were lined.

“I think you’ll do amazing at next month’s showcase. Miss. Anya has done a wonderful job.”

“We’ve missed you Miss. Soya.” Rupert said as he walked towards her. “Are you coming back?”

Soya laughed as she tussled the boys dark head. “Next month, I’ll be taking over Miss. Megan’s beginner classes as well yours. So you’ll see me every day.”

“Good.” Rupert smiled as he waved goodbye and left the room, followed by the rest of the group who waved and left.

Soya took a breath and turned to Ville. “I am so sorry!” she said as she went over to the stereo and started taking out the CD’s putting them in the cases.

“It’s fine Soya.” Ville chuckled.

“No,” she said shaking her head. “No it’s not, I promised you all lunch and…”

He grabbed her arms and shook her slightly. “Hey, we all realize you have a life outside of us Soya, you don’t have to apologize for it. We’ve come into your life after thirteen years; we don’t expect you to put everything on hold for us, all right?”

Soya nodded slowly. “All right.” She closed the entertainment center doors before leading him out of the room and up the stairs to her office. “Where’s everyone else?”

“The airport.” Ville said with a shrug, causing Soya to groan. “It’s all right.” He laughed.

“I’m just going to change really quick.” She said as they walked into her office. “I didn’t expect to stay so late, but I kept running over time and the classes kept being pushed back.”

Ville looked around with a raised eyebrow as she put her black bag on the mahogany desk that was littered with papers.

“Soya…” Ville smirked, trying to keep his laughter in.

“I know! I know!” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Josef has already lectured me, but I’m organized with the rest of my life so my office is the place where I just dump things.” She said as she pulled out a pair of jeans and a shirt. “I’ll be right out.” She said as she went through a door that was behind her desk that led to her private bathroom.

Ville nodded as she closed the door, looking around. She had built in bookcases that surrounded the three walls, all of which were filled with books. He looked at some of the spines and couldn’t help but smile when he saw that she had a collection of Edgar Allen Poe’s short stories next to “The Ballet Companion: A Dancer’s Guide to the Technique, Traditions and Joys of Ballet”. Shaking his head in amusement, his Soya was definitely a unique one.

Between some of the books, there were spaces where framed pictures sat. Most of them of her and Josef in costumes, smiling at the camera or each other, a few others of her and her little sister in various places around New York though one was on the Golden Gate bridge, while a few others were of Soya herself mid-dance. It was one she had on her desk that caught him by surprise, as he didn’t even know the picture existed. It was one of him with Soya, they were sitting at a table, Soya was laughing at something while he grinned at her.

“You’re mum sent that one to me.”

He turned and nearly groaned when he saw what she was wearing; tight black skinny jeans that seemed like a second skin, with stitching on the legs that made them seem like motorcycle pants. She wore a tight white shirt that was nearly see through and a small grey vest that just pushed her breasts tighter.

She’s trying to fucking kill me he thought as she put her other clothes back in her bag and took the picture from his hand setting back on her desk with a smile.

“My mum?” he asked with a frown as she grabbed a small clutch from inside her desk, opening it and checking inside before grabbing a black hat from inside as well and leading him out.

She closed the door behind him as she led him back downstairs. “The first company I joined after Juilliard, we had a short run in Helsinki, I was eighteen.” She said as she walked over to Brooke who was gathering papers off the desk.

“Done for the day Brooke?”

Brooke nodded. “Megan just left, I just have some things to look over for tomorrow, by the way, the provost called from Juilliard, he says he’s very interested in the applicants you’ll be producing this year.”

“I bet he is.” Soya muttered. “Don’t work to late Brooke.”

“No promises.” Brooke teased as she waved them away.

“How’d you get here?” Soya asked as she looked around the street.

“Cab,” Ville said grabbing his beanie from his pocket and sticking it on his head. “The boys took the limo to the airport.”

“We’ll take my car then.” She said leading him around the building to the small parking lot where a light blue mini cooper sat.

“You expect me to fit into that?” Ville asked, clearly amused.

Soya rolled her eyes. “The seat’s already adjusted for Josef’s height. You’ll fit.” She said sliding into the driver’s seat.

Ville shook his head as he folded himself into the small car, even more amused when he saw the CD case that was resting on the center consol. He lifted it up and watched as Soya blushed taking it from his fingers.

“So I’m a fan.” She said putting the CD case in the glove compartment. “Sue me.”

“I think it’s nice that you’re a fan.”

“It’s just your pretty face I’m a fan of.” She teased as she started the car, only to blush deeper when Ville’s voice floated over the speakers.

Ville laughed as he turned off the stereo. “Also nice to know you listen to me on your way to work.”

“I listen for Linde’s awesome guitar riffs.” She said with a roll of her eyes causing him to laugh.

“Of course you do, now tell me about that picture you have on your desk.”

She backed out of the parking space and shrugged. “Like I said I had a short run in Helsinki when I was eighteen,” she bit her lip. “I had a free afternoon, and I guess I just wanted to see you so I went to your house.”

Ville frowned. “You did?”

Soya nodded. “You weren’t there though, you guys had just started a tour, I had missed you by two days.” She admitted. “But I saw Anita and Kari and had lunch with them. I think I may have said something along the lines of missing you guys. I didn’t have another free afternoon unfortunately, but when I returned to New York a couple of weeks later there was an envelope and it was the picture. You’re mum sent it to me with a note saying that you missed me just as much.”

“I did.” Ville muttered, only to frown again. “My mum knew where you lived?”

“I was still living in the dorms, she sent it to the school and they gave it to me.”

“How long did you live in the dorms?”

Soya shrugged as she merged lanes, “We’re going to JFK right?” at Ville’s nod she answered his question. “I left when I joined Rebecca’s company; since I danced year round I didn’t really have an apartment, just hotels rooms. It wasn’t until Rebecca started giving us breaks in between that Josef and I talked about getting a place together and that was about five years ago.”

“You and Josef have lived together for five years?”

Soya bit her lip as she thought about it, “Five sounds about right.”

“You’ve lived with your boyfriend for five years?” Ville asked with a raised eyebrow.

Soya looked at him quickly, before turning back to the road. “I…”