Swan Song

"... give us a call at your convienience." The last of the message plays on the answering machine, sending a cold chill down my back. It's been a few months since the painful dissapointment that I didn't make the company so I was forced to move on. Exchaning tights for suits hadn't been easy but I had almost convinced myself that I was going to make it. Untill this moment, this message.

With a growl and slamming of the front door I make my way down to the gym, glad for the late hour, the company of my thoughts and a quick stop at my locker. The cold encases my body as I fly through the water, the action reminding me too much of the weightlessness of dancing. I don't dare stop though, convinced that I can somehow escape the sudden mess this single call has caused in my life. It's takes me almost an hour to allow myself to breath properly, still no closer to a sulution than when I left the comforts of my apartment, still pissed. One shower and restless sleep later I am once again slipping into one of the many carefully tailored suits my father gifted me with. Proud that I didn't fuck up the family name by prancing around on a stage.

"Only a few more years and then all this is yours, son." He hadn't called me that while I was dancing. I had ceaced to exist to him because I hadn't grown out of my phase like he thought I would. "You were born to do this, not prance around in tights. Lucky for us you came to your senses." How a parent could rejoice at their childs failure I would never understand. Then again, he had never understood my need to perform so he probably wouldn't count the success either. I didn't even bother with a reply, nor to tell him about last nights call. It wouldn't matter either way.

Two weeks goes by before there's another message, this one I delete before it can get past the greeting. I can't be late to dinner and that's excatly what's going to happened if I allow myself to indulge in fantasies. Despite the fact I take too long in the shower and find myself ten minutes late, taking a seat next to my younest sister while trying to ignore the look on my father's face. A glass filled with amber liquid dissapears as quickly as it appears in front of me and as it's refilled I contemplate if a hangover is worth it.

"You might want to slow down." JJ's slow drawl breaks the silence that's been hanging since I sat down. The conversation I want to have runs through my head and once again the glass is emptied as I realize I'm not smart enough to avoid the growing fight. It's not like I was ever smart when it came to dissapointing my father and I'll be damned if I start listening to commen sense now.

"Tyrece!" I don't have to look at my mother to see the dissapointment that's clear in her tone. The glass is filled a second time and somewhere in the back of my mind I note that I'll have to thank Edna for not disclosing my slight drinking problem to the new server. Catching the look my father sends the young woman I know I'm most likely cut off for the night but it doesn't matter. None of this is going to matter in a few minutes.

"I got a call today." My voice is much more steady than I feel, emotions threatning to bubble over and I'm not sure I want to keep them in check. "The same one I got two weeks ago." I figure I must have imagined the look of horror that passes over my father's face because there's no way he would know where I'm going with this.

"Is this call really worth drinking yourself into a coma?" My mother's ever dramatic side emerges and I finally will myself to look into the dark pools that match mine. Once upon a time they managed to calm me down but tonight they seem to spark the slow burn of bullshit I've been dealing with most of my life.

"Apparently." The word hangs in the air as I take a rather big sip of my glass. "Apparently there was some mistake in the selection and by some mirical I did make the company after all." Dead silence fills the room as I gage their reations. JJ looks somewhat pleased and I'm sure it's not because he's proud of me. No, he'll be all to glad to step in where I fuck up tonight. Clean up my mess, like he's been doing since we were kids. Natasha looks somewhat shocked but I know it's a knee jerk reaction and she'll have a unwanted talk with me later. Lauren is the only one who still looks at me like I haven't been treated like a major outcast all my life but even that isn't enough to calm me down tonight.

"How did this happen?" I can hear the careful contained explosion in my father's question. It's the kind I spend my entire teenage years trying to avoid without much sucess

"Error of judgement."

"So, you're suddenly good enough?" He's patronizing me, this much I know.

"I was always good enough. Some asshole just didn't see it."

"Can you just get to the point?" JJ demands, clearly annoyed that I wasn't fucking up fast enough. Every bit his father's son.

"Yes, that I can. I won't be taking over the company any longer." This is what sends my father into the rage I was hoping for since the moment I sat down.

"You ungreatful simpleton! After everything I've done for you? The best education, the comfort of this house, even indulging in your twisted fantasies. This is what it comes down too? You would rather prance around in tights than be respected by the elite of the world?" His words are punctuated by his fist slamming down on the table, the sound defening to the room.

"Everything you've done for me? The only thing you've done for me was treat me like I was some kind of fly not even worthy enough to gather shit. If it wasn't for your precious image you would have disowned me the moment you found out I wanted to dance for a living." I'm a lot more calm than I want to be but I'm not loosing it tonight. For once, this isn't going to be my fault.

"Don't you dare talk to me that way! I did you a favour by paying of that bitch. Can you imagine? My son, parading around on a stage like some sort of lap dog. Over my dead body."

"You did what?!" I'm to shocked to hear what he says to my mother, although I'm convinced it's all bullshit. I catch JJ's gaze, joker's sick smile adorning his face. Natasha looks at me with tears forming in her eyes, emotional to a fault. Lauren's hand finds mine and it's only then I realize how tight I've been clenching my fingers together. "How could you ruin his future like that? Are you insane?" I blink slowly, trying to make sense of this mess, even though it's not all that hard.

"The only future he has is taking over the company. My grandfather did not work his fingers to a bone for some ungreatful twerp to defile his name like this." My father's gaze meets mine, it sends a chill down my spine I don't think I've ever felt in any of the winters I've lived through. "This ends here, today. I will not tolarate any talk of dance in this house any longer. Define me any longer and you will wish hell was a vacation destination." Half the people around the room has their gaze set on me, the other half on my father. With slow, calculated movements I stand to my feet, downing the rest of my drink and staring the man across from me dead in the eye.

"I'll make sure to send you a post card." When I turn around I stop listening to his voice, something I realize should have happened a long time ago. I know he can't hurt me by taking away my money, it's not his to begin with so he's going to be childish and try to ruin my reputation. Something, I have no doubt, he can acomplish but it's not like I care in the first place. Sheep always follow the loudest voice, or how does that saying go?

The first thing I do the next morning is drive down to Garrison and Co. The meeting takes almost an hour and after promising not to sue them for all they're worth I finally sign with the people I've admired since I was six years old. It's almost four hours later, when I'm at home orginizing my clothes that the news come up. First born son of Newclear Inc. disowned? My face displayed on the screen, in HD glory. I almost want to laugh at this, but the sound gets stuck in the back of my throat. Then I feel my eyes flood and before I can blink the moisture away I'm tasting the salt on my lips. Warmth bubbles up inside of me, making me want to punch his face in but I quickly calm down. I'm not completely sure going out and punching him would look good for me right now. The only thing I'm sure of at this moment is that the same blood that runs through my veins runs through his and I know the thought alone is going to drive him crazy for the rest of his life. He's never going to escape the thought of me and while I shine for my five minutes of fame, I'm going to make sure I escape his.