The Last Dance

09

The studio was blasting with hip hop music today, louder than its usual volume. That alone let Mariah know that something was going to be different about practice today. When she walked inside the studio, a group of people were free-styling and she would have said she was in the wrong room until she noticed Janet off in the corner talking to Gil.

When the singer noticed Mariah had entered, she walked over to her with Gil following. "Hey Mariah."

The dancer smiled and waved. "Hey Janet. Hey Gil."

Gil smiled brightly. "Hi Mariah. Ready to work? We brought the kids in today just to see how and where we want the new choreography that you gave to fit in with the transition. That's cool?"

"I know I should have ran it by you, but it was last minute. Sorry." Janet apologized sincerely. She forgot that Mariah wasn't really a social butterfly... at least not yet.

"Oh no, it's fine. What ever is cool with you all is cool with me." She replied truthfully.

"See, I told you she wouldn't be upset Dunk." Gil threw it in his best friends face. "Now come on, let's rally the kids up."

Janet motioned Mariah to follow her and they walked to the front of the room as Gil turned the radio down. "Alright Kids!"

Everyone stopped goofing around and gave the trio their full attention. Mariah noticed that Denzel was one of the dancers and they waved at each other.

"So, let's run through all of the Rhythm Nation choreo real quick then you all can go if we don't have changes to make. By the way, this is Mariah Hilliard, she's choreographing the I Get Lonely number in place of Aisha. You all can chat with her after practice because it's time to work."

Three hours passed as Janet and the kids danced through the Rhythm Nation dance. Either Janet got distracted by Mariah staring at her or the kids missed a step and it was noticeable. Either way, the practice was long and gruesome so when it was over most of the kids hung back to cool down for a bit.

Arms wrapped around Mariah and she yelped. "Boy! Let me go. Your ass is sweaty."

Denzel picked Mariah up anyways and spun her around. "I missed you."

"I missed you to Denzie." She called him by the nickname she'd given him.

He placed her on her feet. "You remember that?"

"Duh. It was only like a year or two ago. I called you Denzie and you called me—."

"McFlurry." He finished for her and they nodded to each other. "Look at you, choreographing for Janet. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you, but not as proud as I am of you for actually booking this. I've always told you that you were going to make it."

Mariah and Denzel had met two years prior, having danced in the same studio multiple times during a dance clinic. Mariah wanted to do some things outside of heels for a few and Denzel was just strengthening his already up to par dance skills in the hip hop genre. They ended up doing a duet together for one song and bonded over their love for dance. They might have been there for two different reasons but they still became close friends but lost touch once the clinic was finished.

"I lost your number," He told the woman. "You gotta give me it again."

"I got a new one..." Mariah mumbled back. "How's your fiancé? Did you two ever get married?"

Denzel rolled his eyes. "Dropped that girl, she was a hoe."

"Aw, I'm sorry to hear that." The dancer placed a hand on his shoulder and rubbed it for comfort. "She was a sweet girl."

"She was a hoe Mariah, ain't nothing sweet about that."

The woman laughed at that as she nodded. "True, but where's your phone? I'll put my number in." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. She put her new number in and saved her contact. "There you go. You're all set."

"Alright bet... how's your boyfriend doing? What's his name? Clifford?"

"Clarence." Mariah corrected softly just to roll her eyes. "Dropped him. He was a sleaze ball. I didn't have the energy to keep up with that man who couldn't keep his pants up and probably just wanted me for sex."

"Well you know, I wouldn't just want you for sex."

"Boy bye." She passed rather quickly.

Denzel put a hand to his chest. "Ouch." He stepped closer to her. "But I'm serious Mariah, you know I've always had a crush on you."

"Denzie... I'm flattered really, but I'm talking to someone, a woman in fact. Plus you're like my big brother. So back your ass up out of my space bro." She widened her eyes in humor as she rolled them afterwards.

He lifted his hands as he backed up some. "Aw damn. I'm too late. Some chick then got her hands on you and now you about to be stressing over two fingers."

Mariah laughed. "Bye. You know I wouldn't cross that line with you."

"I was just playing with your ass." He took a moment and smirked. "Unless you don't want me to be playing."

"And this is where we stop the conversation." She pointed towards the exit, where all the kids were now leaving. "Join the crowd. Bye Denzie."

He chuckled as they hugged briefly again. "Alright McFlurry, I'll catch up with you later."

"See you later, D." She waved him off as he left the studio.

The dancer hadn't really noticed, but Janet was standing in the corner of the studio with steam blowing out of her ears. How in the hell did Mariah just bluntly entertain Denzel after what happened last night? They had a conversation about the contract and everything. Maybe this was Mariah's way of saying she didn't like what happened... but she would have said something. Or at least that's what the singer thought.

Gil, whom noticed his friends silence and watched the ordeal go down as well, hugged Janet once he saw Mariah making her way over to them. It was none of his business and he planned to stay in his lane with this situation. "I'll catch you later, Queen."

She nodded back as she got on her phone. "Bye Gilly."

He waved at Mariah who waved back as he left. The studio only held Janet and Mariah now and instantly the dancer could feel that something was off. She spoke to Janet. "Wanna run through the dance or wait til tomorrow?"

"We can wait." Janet mumbled as she walked away from Mariah and grabbed her dance bag.

"Okay... what about the contract?"

The singer shrugged. "Don't worry about it."

She went to exit and Mariah called out. "Hold on, did I do something?"

Janet opened the door to leave and replied. "Nope. Nothing at all."