2019-08-14 - Renting Space

In front of the barre and mirrors in the dance studio half of the space, Cole is dressed in a pair of sweat pants, a white t-shirt and ballet shoes, moving to the music that is being piped through the area. He moves with the skill of a professional dancer, his spins precise, his leaps gaining impressive height, but every so often when he comes down, it would be clear to a practiced eye that the strength in his left side isn't quite what it is on the right. He pauses, rubbing his face a bit and running fingers through his hair, pushing it back and wiping sweat from his brow with his forearm.

The door opens, and Zoiya darts in so that the cooler air isn't lost to the humidity outside. She looks out of place here, and she's well aware of it, but she is here with a purpose and she's not going to chicken out now. There is a duffle bag held loosely in her inked fingers, and she's wearing a pair of stretchy black dance shorts and a matching sports bra, her long hair pulled into a simple pony tail. She casts a look around, watching the gymnast and the dancer, her lips pressing together when the latter spins and leaps. She might have called out to ask a question about membership or joining, but the dance makes her quiet for now, she'll watch and try to be unobtrusive.

When the music begins again, Cole begins the entire routine again, clearly repeating the steps he had just gone over, attempting to get it right, trying to put more weight on that left leg. This time, he comes down on it at a better angle, and there isn't that slight tremor that there was the first time. That seems to satisfy him as he finishes up the second pass, nodding a little to himself. It's only then that he notices that someone had come in. Lifting a hand, he gives a wave to her and a friendly smile, "Oh, hey. Can I help you?" He wanders across the floor toward the entrance.

"Yeah, I mean, that was a great routine. Wow. Uh, could you point me to the person I could talk to about a membership?" Zoiya aims a friendly smile in his direction as he approaches, shifting on her feet nervously. Her hands fist around the handle of her bag, waiting for a response, her eyes darting to the gymnast again before they settle back on Cole.

Cole grins, "Thanks. Just trying to get it right." He glances ove rtoward the gymnast and then back toward her. The gymnast seems to be in her zone, just going through her own routines, not really paying attention to Cole, Zoiya or anything else at the moment. He smiles and says, "That'd be me. Hi, I'm Cole. I'm running the place now. What sort of membership? Do you need practice time? Looking for dance classes?" He nods toward the office and grabs up a towel, wiping off his face and neck as he heads that way.

"It looked spectacular." Zoiya enthuses quietly, following his glance to the gymnast briefly before she remembers not to get distracted. "Hi, Cole. I'm Mae. I'm looking for a place to practice, and I don't think I would say no to dance classes if you're teaching people to do what you were doing when I walked in." Her eyebrows raise slightly, a slight grin tilting her lips. "More practice though, the place where I work is kind of open and brash, and sometimes I wanna work on something in front of mirrors that don't talk back." She moves with him toward the office, setting her bag down outside the door.

Cole wanders into the small office and settles into a seat at the desk behind the computer, pulling up a screen to fill in new member information. He grins a little bit at her and says, "Thanks. Nice to meet you, Mae." He nods and says, "We have open practice times. I'll just need to schedule you in around the classes. Once we get your membership set up, I'll pull that up and we can schedule you some time." He asks, "Driver's license?" then says. "I do teach ballet. Most of the classes are for kids, but there's been some interest in adult classes. So I've been thinking of starting those."

Zoiya watches him settle behind the computer, nodding at his words until he asks for her license. She holds up a finger and darts back out to her bag, coming back with her wallet. She fishes the card out and hands it over, identifying her as Zoiya Mae Molinari. She takes a seat on a chair on the other side of the desk, wallet resting in her lap. "That's fine, that's great. This place seems very nice. Usually can't find one so clean and well run in the bigger cities, well.. unless it's run by a professional dance company. They usually don't share their space though." She peeks outside, her eyes drawn back to the gymnast, but she drags her attention back after a few moments. "Ballet is beautiful, I always was fascinated by it."

Cole takes the license and starts inputting her information -- name, address, then asks her for a phone number, and email address. He taps all of that into the screen, creating an account record. When he's finished, he hands her license back to her. "Yeah, I was actually surprised to find this place here when I came into town. Just happened to have good timing. The owner was looking to retire, and I was looking for a space to practice. Rather than see it close down, they let me take it over and keep it going." He nods then and says, "Yeah, we definitely didn't share space back in Boston. But then, there were a lot more studios out there than here." He pokes a button on the computer and a card printer spits out a plastic membership card with a little readable strip on it. He hands this over to her before pulling up the schedule. "Well, if you'd like to learn, I'm happy to teach."

Zoiya takes the card, slipping it into her wallet. "I think there is another gym in town, and I'll probably join there too for workout things, but.." She takes a deep breath and laughs softly, a hand drifting over her features. "..it's nice to have a place solely dedicated to dance. Keeps people from staring, you know?" She gives him a look, it's heavy with distrust and a little wariness, something built up over the years. "You would teach me? No joke?" She looks like she really wants to believe that, some subtle tension gathering in her form as she waits for a response.

"Yeah, I think there are a couple, actually," Cole agrees. "I haven't been to either one, though, so I don't know anything about them, really." He smiles a little curiously and says, "I haven't met a lot of shy dancers. I can see if I can find you practice times when the gymnastics team won't be here as well, so that you have the place to yourself. Just means that there will be fewer openings." He glances at the schedule, "Any days and times better than others?" When she asks if he would teach her, he raises his brows and says "Of course. I mean, it's what I do, now. Why wouldn't I?" The tension isn't lost on him, but he doesn't seem able to puzzle out what might be causing it.

"I'm not really.. shy." Zoiya lets out a laugh, gazing down at her hands as she tries to smother the amusement, her hazel eyes flitting back up to take in Cole. "I'm a stripper." Honesty is best, right? "I promise that I'm not gonna be taking off my clothing while I practice, but some of it is intimate and kind of sensual, and I don't want to disturb anyone." She shrugs and keeps eye contact, inked fingers moving to fidget with her wallet, closing it and then opening it again. "Anytime before seven at night, or after three am. I don't know what kind of hours you keep here." She exhales out some of the tension and gestures with a hand toward Cole. "Depending on who you meet, some people might not consider me a dancer. Had some bad experiences in a few places. If you're willing, I'll be a good student, but I'm really starting from the bottom when it comes to ballet. Just as a warning."

"Oh, yeah, I guess.. you couldn't really practice at the club without people being there. Does it ever close?" Cole has no idea. "Sorry, I've never actually been to a strip club," he admits with a chuckle. He certainly doesn't seem to be judging. If anything he seems only slightly apologetic that he has no idea how strip clubs actually work beyond what he's seen on TV. "I mean, I don't care if you want to take your clothes off when you practice, but if you don't want an audience, then we definitely want a block of time where there won't be others in the space." He grins at her and then says, "Okay so.. if you want to come in any time after six a.m. and before noon, you can pretty much have the run of the place any day during the week. Most classes don't start until after noon and in the evenings. Weekends during the days the gymnasts are usually here." He then glances back over toward her and says, "People are assholes sometimes. If you dance, you're a dancer. And everyone who starts out starts from the bottom."

"It closes after last call so they can clean up and lysol the place, but it opens around lunchtime again for the day drinkers." Zoiya looks amused, shaking her head at Cole's apology. "No apology necessary, honestly." She holds up both hands and laughs, a light blush showing on her cheeks. "No, I only take my clothes off at home and at work, here I just want to be able to move and consider new routines. Not be gawked or laughed at. I can be an early bird, so I'll likely slip in here around six and dance for a few hours until I go home to sleep for my night at the club." She looks more relaxed, Cole's words doing a lot for any tension she had. "I would like to learn ballet, I wanted to go when I was a kid, but it wasn't a possibility. I have never seen anyone so graceful when they move." She closes her wallet a final time, her fingers ceasing their fidgeting. "Saw the Nutcracker in Chicago one year, Swan Lake too, I don't feel like I could ever move like that, but damn if I don't want to try to learn."

Cole nods as she explains the workings of strip club hours, leaning back in the chair a bit and rocking there comfortably, at ease. "Alright. I usually open up around six after I go running in the morning, and then I'm in the office doing the office work, so you'll have out here to yourself while you practice. Then I usually do my own practice between the actual classes. Except for the days I'm off. Then I have Mandy open the place up. She'll be doing the same on the days she's here, just working in the office. I'll let her know to leave you be." He smiles, "If you want to take a couple of the days that you're here early, we can do a couple of private lessons -- see if you like it."

"Running.." Zoiya mulls that over for a few moments, a thoughtful look on her face. "Never tried that, help you build endurance?" She glances around the office now that she's not on edge, explaining herself the first time always makes her a little tense. She nods at Cole. "Is it fine to bring my own music player with me? When I practice the music might be slightly different from what you use for ballet, so I hope you don't mind some noise. I need to lose myself in the beat a bit for me to get truly creative, so.. this is mostly why I don't do more practice at home. That and I don't have the room for it." She smirks and leans back against the chair, folding her arms over her chest. "I'd like the private lessons, if I can get an idea of what it's about before I show others how truly bad I am at ballet.." She clears her throat, hazel eyes on her wallet again. "How much is all of this going to cost?"

"Yeah, and I just like to run -- kind of meditative," Cole says before nodding and saying, "We have a sound system and you can plug whatever you bring into it. Everyone uses it, and we're pretty used to a wide range of music." He sees her gaze fall to her wallet and knows what question is coming next. He pulls up a calculator and he writes down a couple of prices on a piece of paper and says, "Here's the prices for renting the space per hour for the entire venue. Since I have no one else wanting that time slot right now, I'm going to give you half off for that. As for the private lessons -- I'm going to be here anyway hanging around and I'd normally be practicing then anyway. I'll give you the first couple free so you can see if you like it. If you do and want to pursue private lessons, we can talk price for that after." He slides the slip over with the pricing.

Zoiya pulls the slip closer, her eyes on him while she does. When she finally does look down, there is almost a sigh of relief, it was a little less than she was expecting. "I hope you don't mind singles and small bills, you know, occupational thing.." She clears her throat and makes a face, a slight smirk on her sculpted features. "I'm in the process of opening an account, so then my payments will be by check, a little less scary of a prospect." She gazes at him, a smile bright on her face. "That's really generous of you, the private lessons, and I will want to persue it and I'll pay. It isn't exactly a dream of mine, but it's something I've been very keen on." She puts the slip of paper in her wallet and pulls out money. She has singles and fives wrapped in bundles of fifty and a hundred, caught in rubber bands. "I'm glad I finally got up the nerve to come check this place out."

"Cash is fine," Cole says, not seeming to have any problem with that. When she pulls out the money, he unlocks a small drawer beneath the computer that contains a cash box, and he pulls up the billing screen on the computer, entering in the information for the bill for the rental and he takes the cash before printing out a receipt for her, handing it over. "I'm glad that you did, too. It's nice to meet you. And I promise, you're welcome here. Nobody's going to bother you."

"You're amazing." Zoiya beams across the desk, setting them money in front of him, taking the reciept and folding it to stow in her wallet. "So I can come tomorrow morning?" She asks, her head tilting to the side as she closes up her wallet again. "I work until last call tonight, after breakfast, I'll just walk over here. A lot easier than going home and taking a nap and then waking up and trying to accomplish that. I don't think I'd be able to manage." Now that the scary parts are dealt with, she can turn and watch the gymnast again, pointing in that direction. "I do something similar, but my bars are all vertical, not horizontal."

"Yep, you can come tomorrow morning, no problem," Cole says with an easy smile. He glances over in the direction of the gymnast and grins and nods toward the studio where the bar along the mirrored wall is. "My bars are horizontal, too. Though, I have seen some male pole dancers, and those guys have some truly impressive upper body strength. Maybe I should get a couple of poles installed here."

"Thanks, I'll see you then." Zoiya gets to her feet, pausing when he mentions male pole dancers. "One of my best friends in Chicago was a master at the pole. He taught me a lot of what I know, and he would drag my ass to the gym with him three times a week. It takes a lot to haul yourself around on one of those things, they're great for exercise." She points at him, a grin quirking her lips. "If you install one, I'll certainly use it to keep in shape." She pauses, glancing around one more time before the smile comes again. "Thanks again, Cole. I'll see you tomorrow."