The music hit Lucy the moment she stepped out of the dressing room. Heavy beats, flashing lights, and the thick smell of perfume and sweat filled the air. She moved past a crowd of sweaty bodies, her heart beating faster, not from the music but from the storm inside her.
She had missed this chaos. Not the work, not the stares, but the noise, the way it drowned out the voice in her head. The voice that kept whispering that Barry had stripped her of everything, even her choice to dance.
She found herself by the shadows near the far wall, half hidden. From here, she could see the girls on stage, moving with practiced ease. The crowd cheered, men threw money, the lights painted everything red and blue.
Her chest ached. Not because she wanted to be on stage, but because she wasn’t allowed to
