Always Into You

Redemption - Chapter 7

Tanya's POV

The morning after the bar, I woke up to sunlight streaming through Joanna’s apartment window and the faint smell of coffee.

My head pounded slightly nothing bad happened, just a reminder that I had actually let myself relax for once and forgot all the problems.

I groaned and rolled over, only to be met with Joanna standing in the doorway, while holding her toothbrush, wearing her signature silk bathrobe.

“You have a visitor,” she announced.

I squinted. “If it’s another one of your weird artist friends trying to ‘read my aura, and telling me that I'm gonna have some 3 babies next year, tell them I’m unavailable and don't need some shakra or whatever that is.”

Joanna snorted. “It’s not them. It’s Maico.”

I sat up. “Maico?”

“He says, and I quote, ‘Tell Tanya to get her ass out of bed because she has two options: be miserable or do something fun.’”

"Why would he find me, and who is him to make me get out of my bed..

I groaned. “I hate him already.”

Joanna grinned. “No, you don’t. Now get dressed.”

I had no excuse not to do it. So, thirty minutes later, I found myself in Maico’s beat-up car, driving to God knows where.

“Are you gonna tell me where we’re going maico?” I asked, while my arms are scratching my forehead.

Maico smirked, one hand on the wheel, the other tapping against the dashboard. “Nope.”

I sighed, leaning back against the seat. “So you make it a habit of kidnapping depressed and miserable women?”

He chuckled. “Only the interesting ones.”

After a half hour drive, we pulled up to a massive old warehouse.

My confusion must have been obvious because Maico just grinned and got out of the car.

“Come on,” he said, waving me forward.

Inside, the space was transformed. The high ceilings and exposed brick gave it a raw, electric energy, but what caught my attention was the large, open floor covered in people dancing.

It wasn’t just any kind of dancing, though.

The music thrummed with life, bodies moving freely, no structure, no rules just rhythm and beat that could serenade your brain.

“What is this?” I asked.

Maico excitingly shouts. “A place where people don’t think so much.” He turned to me. “You look like someone who needs that.”

I scoffed. “Dancing is the reason I got fired, remember?”

His smile didn’t waver. “No. Your boss being an uptight control freak and a more miserable than a rat eating your socks is the reason you got fired. Dancing just reminded you that you’re alive and well.”

I swallowed hard.

"That was… very very very accurate maico." I said.

Maico didn’t wait for me to respond he grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the floor.

At first, I resisted. I felt stiff, awkward, too aware of myself. But then I saw a woman near the speakers, moving like she didn’t care who was watching. A couple laughing as they twirled each other around. A guy in the corner dancing like a complete crazy, grinning the entire time.

No expectations. No judgment. Just movement. Just happiness. Just people who love their life the people who do not care if they are judged.

So I closed my eyes. Let go and let the vibe drive me to my own.

And for the first time in a long time, I danced.

Not for Blaze. Not for Christopher. Not even for Maico.

Just for me.

And damn, did it feel good.

The music pulsed through my body, a steady thrum beneath my feet. At first, I kept my movements small swaying a little, testing the space around me. But then Maico spun me unexpectedly, forcing a surprised laugh out of me.

“There she is,” he said, grinning.

I rolled my eyes but kept moving, letting the beat guide my body.

The fear of looking ridiculous melted away, replaced by something I hadn’t felt in a long time and its freedom.

I had spent so many years walking on nails and barbed wires, making sure every step was perfect and safe, every move calculated.

Ambessa had pit it into me that there was no room for mistakes in our industry. One wrong step, and I was replaceable and disposable.

But here, in this warehouse full of strangers, I wasn’t trying to prove anything.

I wasn’t trying to be anyone.

I just was.

The song changed, the tempo slowing slightly, and I found myself matching its rhythm and beat that i never heard before, my body moving simultaneously. Maico danced beside me, not in a way that demanded attention, but in a way that made me feel like I wasn’t alone and left out on this platform.

“You’re not bad at this tanya just move more,” he said over the music.

I smirked. “I’ll have you know I was the queen of dance parties during my college day at Silverio University in Vermont.”

“Ah, so you’ve been representing your true talents,” he teased.

I shook my head, but I couldn’t deny the warmth spreading through my chest.

Then, out of nowhere, a familiar voice cut through the music.

“Well, well. Look who finally decided to have fun and move her very rock hard body.”

I froze.

My body reacted before my brain caught up, turning toward the voice before I could stop myself.

And there he was.

Christopher.

Standing a few feet away, hands in his pockets, watching me with that unreadable expression he always wore. His crisp button down was unbuttoned at the top, sleeves rolled up like he hadn’t planned on being here.

Like he hadn’t expected to see me either.

For a second, the world stopped spinning.

I hadn’t seen him since that night the night Ambessa humiliated me in front of Christopher, making sure I knew just how much of a mistake I was. The night I let myself enjoy something for once, only to have it cost me everything.

I swallowed hard.

Maico, unaware of the sudden shift in the air, leaned over. “Friend of yours tanya?”

I forced my voice to work. “Something like that.”

Christopher’s expression flicked to Maico, then back to me, his expression curious. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

I lifted my chin. “Didn’t expect to be here.”

For a moment, we just stood there, the music still playing but muffled under the burden of whatever this was.

Then, Christopher did something I wasn’t prepared for.

He smirked and smiled.

Not the polite, typical Christopher smirk he usually does. But something softer. Almost… genuine and antique.

“You were always a good dancer,” he said simply.

My breath caught on my heart deep down my spine.

Before I could respond, he turned and disappeared into the crowd, leaving me standing there.

Maico nudged me. “Okay, what the hell was that?”

I exhaled sharply, shaking my head.

“I have no idea maico i have no idea...”