Aya
(Feel Good - James Brown)
Wo! I feel good, I knew that I would, now
I feel good, I knew that I would, now
"YAAAAS! Turn it up that's my jam!" I shout at Nathi as I slide into the car.
"Since when?" He asks with disbelief.
"Boy you talk too much!" I reach forward and turn up the volume to it's maximum capacity.
I feel nice, like sugar and spice
So nice, so nice, I got you
"I Got YOOOU-OOOO" I shriek at the top of my lungs.
"Damn Aya, you tryna make me go deaf or what?" Nathi shouts over my horrible singing. I know I can't sing and I don't care. I suck my teeth and give him the hand.
If you can't tell I'm in a FUCKING AMAZING mood. Why you ask? Well we're headed to Tapped Out Dance Studio today! It does get better than this baby. Having a little amnesia? Let me remind you why this is so life changing, a) I get to work on a solo project and impress Julia, which I've been DYING to do, and b) possibly more exciting than the first is that I am FAR AWAY from the evil twins for a WHOLE month!
"Are you on drugs?" Nathi side eyes me.
"Whaaat?! No!" I scoff.
"Well you're acting hella bipolar. You're usually sulking on the way to work but today you're walking on sunshine? What changed?" Nathi questions me.
"Well damn is it a crime to be happy?" I realise I've forgotten to tell him the great news. "If you must know I am delighted to be getting away from Satan's spawn for one whole glorious month to work on my first solo project for Blue Box Interiors." I announce proudly in my fake British accent.
"Oh great! Congratulations! I was wondering why you wanted me to take you to the other side of town, thought maybe you were sick or something." He frowns at that last part.
"Aww you worry about me?!" I tease him. "I'm great, everything is great." I smile at Nathi as I rub my hand up and down is arm and give it a reassuring squeeze. Damn is he working out more?
The rest of the drive is spent in comfortable silence and soon we are pulling up to an industrial looking building in a neighborhood bordering the "wrong" side of the tracks.
"Uhm are you sure this is the place? Doesn't look too um...Blue Box-like." Nathi questions worriedly, observing our surroundings.
"Hahaha wow Nathi, you're such a snob!" I playfully slap his arm. "People live here too."
"Hey I'm just concerned about your safety." he scoffs back.
"Relax, I'll be working 24/7 and you'll pick me up whenever I'm done so I won't really be out and about, okay?" I try to ease his mind.
"Okay. Be safe and enjoy your day. Text me when you're ready to be picked up, yea?"
"Yea but if it's too late I'll just Uber or something." I shrug as I open my door to leave.
"Hey, it's never too late." Nathi grabs my hand and I look up at him. "Seriously text me, okay?"
"I will" I nod with a reassuring smile. "See you later!" I exit the car, waving at Nathi and watch him drive away.
I walk up to the entrance. I am strong and worthy, I chant to myself as I take a deep breath and walk into the Tapped Out's reception.
"Hello, welcome to Tapped Out Dance Studio. I'm Cindy, how can I help you?" A perky blonde with crystal blue eyes and an athletic body (clearly a dancer) greets me.
"Hi, I'm Aya Mbeki. I'm an Interior Designer from Blue Box Interiors and I'm here to do your renovation."
"Oh super! We've been expecting you. Unfortunately our Director, Raphael Romero is not in at the moment. He had to attend to an injured student, but I'm part owner and the head instructor here so I can show you around in the meantime and brief you." Cindy speaks quickly as she comes around from behind the reception desk.
"Oh not a problem. Shall we get started?" I ask, getting out my phone.
"Of course! Follow me. So this is our reception area obviously." she gestures around the room we are in.
The reception is a rectangular-shaped space which felt too long with a shabby wooden reception desk across from the door and a couple of beat up leather couches placed in a square formation to the right. All along the beige walls are posters and newspaper clippings. The place definitely needs a facelift.
"So what did you guys have in mind for the space?" I ask as I open a new page on my phone's notepad.
"We want it to be very clean and modern. Black and white maybe? Oh and Rafael wants to keep all the clippings and posters up." Cindy makes a face at the last part.
"Okay...got it. What's next?" I write everything down.
"Next we're going to see our dance studios, we have three; the main studio for all the senior classes and the two small studios for the junior and specialty classes."
Cindy leads me through swinging wooden doors behind the couches, into a long corridor lined with identical wooden doors with glass windows.
We walk into the doors, the first being the main studio. It's what you would expect of a dance studio. A room lined with mirrors on the front and back walls, scuffed wooden floors, metal handlebars, other equipment lining the back wall and the instructor's desk with the sound system in the back corner. The two others are the same just smaller in size.
"So the floors clearly need to be fixed up, we can't have dancers with splinters anymore. We want a surround sound system in all of the studios and to brighten up the place. These beige walls are a downer." Cindy speaks animatedly.
"Alrighty...floors, sound, walls. Got it" I type furiously on my phone.
"What's left are the bathrooms, change room, costume/store room, staff lounge and Raphael's office. Those mainly just need some paint and organisation I think." Cindy points as we pass said rooms.
"Alright. So is there a specific colour palette you want? Any special requests?" I ask.
"Well Raphael likes the whole black and white thing." Cindy chews on her bottom lip as she ponders my question. "I like a little bling, maybe some gold wouldn't hurt."
"Okay, I totally get you. Thank you so much for your time Cindy." I shake her hand "I'll just head back to the office, draw up mock ups and I'll be here bright and early tomorrow." I speak cheerfully as a million ideas swirl around my mind and head for the exit.
"Oh my pleasure! This renovation has been loooong overdue. See ya!" Cindy waves me goodbye.
I'm going to crush this...
YOU ARE READING
Tapped Out
RomanceAyanda Mbeki is a dancer...or more accurately she's a closet dancer. Aya loves dancing and she's pretty damn good. But being a big girl she has faced harsh criticism and cruel words from childhood classmate and dance instructors which put her off da...
