Page 54 of All That Lies Ahead
CHASE
“What are we doing here?” Addison asks as I pull into the parking lot of the old dance studio.
“We’re making a short pit stop before we go skating.” I wink at her and turn off the ignition.
“At the dance studio?” Willow chirps from the back seat of my truck. She undoes her seat belt and pops her head up between me and Addison. She’s cheerful today, so I’m taking advantage of it and hoping we can have a good day without any dark clouds hanging over us.
“Yep.” I turn to ruffle her hair and then pull a key chain with a single key out from a compartment in my door. “Mom called me yesterday. She got a hold of the owners, and they’re willing to sell. They overnighted a copy of the keys last week. Thought you might like a tour.”
She stares at me in excited disbelief. “Oh my god. Yes! Let’s go.”
Addison and Willow hurry out of the truck just as the second part of my surprise drives into the lot. Indira hops out of her car and comes around to scoop Willow into a hug.
“Oh, my girl. It’s so good to see you.” Indira pulls away, still holding Willow by the shoulders, and then moves in for another hug. Willow groans good-naturedly as Indira squeezes her one final time before letting her go. “Okay, okay. Be free, my beautiful butterfly.”
Addison laughs beside me. “Hey, Indira.”
“Hi. I’m so excited you’re finally getting to see the place.”
“Me too.” Addison gives Indira a hug and then turns to the building. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?”
“Well,” she pauses, looking between me and Addison. I nod at her to continue. “I was thinking about your concerns for running the studio with a newborn in tow, which led me to think about how I could best support you, and then it spiraled from there. I hope it’s okay that I talked to Chase first, but I didn’t want to step on any toes. He thought it was a good idea to at least approach you about it.”
“Okay,” Addison says tentatively.
“I was wondering if maybe you’d consider going into business together. Now, I don’t know anything about dancing, but I’m a smart cookie when it comes to business. I’ve been managing Blue for years, and I love the business aspect of things, but I’m so sick of dealing with employee turnover, inventory issues, and all that jazz. I’m ready to find something that still allows me to do what I love while not taking over my entire life. I was thinking I could handle more of the business side of things, while you could be the creative brains—teaching classes and stuff.”
Addison looks dazed, and Indira rushes on. “If this is something you need to do on your own, I completely understand. You don’t have to worry that it will affect our friendship at all. And if you need time to think it over, that’s fine too. Of course, we’ll sit down and go over things with the correct paperwork and figure out how we want to handle everything, but yeah, that’s my very unprofessional business proposal.”
“Wow,” Addison breathes out. “I’ve been so nervous about this venture because I’m completely clueless on running a business, but wow, yes, this would be perfect. Oh my god!” She wraps Indira in her arms once again as the two of them start gushing details.
“Um, ladies,” I say after a bit. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but maybe we should head inside and check things out first, and then you two can start planning.”
“Oh, right. One sec.” Indira races to her car and comes back out with a notebook and a pen. “So we can keep track of any ideas that might come to us,” she says.
Addison laughs. “Look at you being so prepared.”
“Well, I was really, really, really hoping you’d be on board. I haven’t been this excited about anything for a long time.”
“How are you going to break the news to Mom about leaving Blue?” I ask as we walk along the sidewalk that leads into the building.
“Yeah, that’s going to suck,” Indira says. “I’m sure we won’t have this place up and running for a while, so I’m thinking I’ll have time to help train a replacement. Maybe I’ll still work part-time at Blue for a while after this place is open. I guess it depends on how much interest we garner at first.”
“Hmm, a stress for another day.” I look out over the trimmed grass and bushes as I unlock the front door. “Well, at least the owners kept up on the lawn maintenance for the most part. But some good landscaping would spruce it up, and a fresh coat of paint. I’ve already walked around the entire building and checked things out. There are no major issues like broken windows or anything else needing repairs, but I’m sure the inspection will tell us more. Let’s hope the inside is the same.”
I hold the door open for the three of them, and they immediately begin scoping the place out. The front desk is off to the left, and it’s surprisingly still in good shape. I move behind it and press down on the top, shaking it, but it’s sturdy and doesn’t budge. It even has a nice cubby system on the inside.
“What do you think about a color scheme?” Indira asks, looking over the open room.
“I was thinking a main color of maybe lavender, with white and black accents.”
Willow’s face perks up at that. “Ooh, pretty!”
Indira laughs and nods her head. “It does sound great. I know a graphic designer who can help us without designing a logo and business cards and whatever else we may need.”
“That sounds great,” Addison says. “We’ll need new carpet, definitely.”
“Yeah, this is gross.” Willow scrunches up her nose.