The Final Act (4 page)

“You going through your list of Richard?” Michael’s voice shimmered with suppressed laughter. He didn’t believe in method acting and claimed he did nothing special to prepare. Dressed for the first scene in jeans and T-shirt, he looked as he did every day.

“Hey, man, not everybody can pull real tears out of their ass every night on demand,” Logan said. “Some people have to work to get their head in the right place. Not me, obviously”—he indicated the Game Boy in his hands—“but some of us.”

The exit door opened, letting in a breeze and Bill Manning, smelling of fresh air and cigarette smoke. “What’d I miss?”

“Hey, there he is, Bill-as-Bill.” Denny shucked out of his own jeans and picked up his costume jeans. The change seemed kind of pointless.

“Hi, Dennis.” Bill took off his jacket and tossed it over a chair. “Are you ever going to drop that? It left funny behind six exits back.”

“I think it’s funny,” Logan said, setting the Game Boy on the table. “Not only is your real name your character name, amusing enough, but they don’t bother to give you a last name. You’re just Bill-who-dies-young.”

“If this was Star Trek, you wouldn’t even have
a name. You’d be billed as Crewman One, first to die on the planet
du jour
,” Denny teased as he zipped up his fly.

“I may die by Act Two, but I get paid the same as you guys for half the work, so who’s the sucker?” Bill straddled a chair, resting his arms on the back. “Where are we going after the show tonight?”

“Some place new Logan’s discovered,” Michael said. “Fortunados.”

Denny tuned out the conversation while he finished dressing. Despite what Michael said, prep time was important, and Denny had seen Michael pull into himself and do the same, whether he admitted it or not.

Walking away from the group, Denny did some deep breathing exercises and ran lines in his head. There were two similar passages and sometimes he got parts of them confused.

“I feel like I’m losing you, Kathleen. You’re here, but you’re not really with me. I love you and I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy.”

Poor Richard, losing his loved one despite everything he did to try to hold her. It was depressing.

As soon as rehearsal was over, he’d call Tom just to hear his voice. Only eighteen more days and they’d be together again.

Elena loved vocal warm-ups. Many actors found them an annoying necessity, but she honestly enjoyed running up and down scales and enunciating tongue twisters. She liked the growing sense of excitement as the orchestra tuned up and curtain time loomed. It was a Christmas Eve feeling. Good things were coming—exciting things, and the anticipation was almost better than the actual event.

After six intensive weeks of rehearsals, though, she was ready for an audience. A person could take only so much foreplay. She glanced over at Michael, also on stage, warming up. His tousled sandy hair begged to have fingers combed through it.

Elena looked away, concentrating on a prop fern that drooped wearily in its pot on the edge of the stage. She bounced lightly on the balls of her feet, her hands loose at her sides and her throat open to let the sound pour out.

Around her, the full palette of voices made a richly textured musical sound as they flowed up and down the scales. She caught Gretchen’s eye, and the blonde winked. She looked as delighted to be there as Elena felt.

The band played the chorus of “We Are All”, and the singers joined in.

One life to live as we choose.

We are all open to what the day brings.

One heart to share with the world.

We are all free to spread our wings.

And soar. And soar.

To the sky.

The words might be corny, but the melody gave the song emotional depth. When the full chorus belted it out in harmony, the hair on Elena’s neck rose every time at the resounding crescendo on the word “sky”. Their voices blended like they’d been singing together all their lives. She was proud to be part of a cast, which was every bit as good as the original. And while Michael might bug the crap out of her, he could act and sing circles around the original Broadway Aaron.

She glanced at him again to find him looking back at her. His gaze slid away immediately.

Elena’s heart thumped. He’d caught her looking. But then she realized he was watching her, too. Was it possible Michael was interested in her?

Stop it. Grow up.
She’d seen backstage romances flare and just as quickly burn out. It was childish to confuse stage passion with the real thing. They were professionals, for God’s sake.

Elena concentrated on putting everything she had into the song. As the company reached that soaring final note, she stared at the empty seats and imagined them filled, only a few weeks from now. Her heart soared along with the music at the thought.

Walking from the stage afterward, she felt a hand on her arm and turned to find Michael beside her. Her stomach jolted at his sudden appearance. Being near him was like being caught in an electromagnetic wave of charisma.

“I’m giving you a heads-up now so you don’t yell at me later. In the bedroom scene, I’m going to pick you up and carry you to the bed. We’re supposed to be passionate and yet we stroll across the stage. It’s awkward and weird. But I wouldn’t want to take you by surprise with spontaneity and piss you off.”

“Did you check with Pender?” Elena felt her blood pressure rising. “Michael, we’re two weeks away from opening, and you’re altering the staging. You can’t keep changing things on a whim.”

“Pender hasn’t complained lately.”

“He gave up. Since you go right on doing what you want anyway, he quit trying to rein you in. That’s why I’m stuck doing it.”

“Maybe he likes my instincts.” Michael’s lazy smile made her temper burn, but also started heat blooming in her belly.

“Fine. But this is it. After tonight, no more changes. And if Pender complains about this, it’s all on you.”

“This will be a lot better. Trust me.”

Surprisingly, she did. His instincts were good. And beneath her protest, on a very fundamental level, she wanted him to scoop her up and carry her in his arms.

“You know I’m all about winging it,” Michael continued, “but maybe we should practice a couple of times to make sure I can lift you without throwing my back out.”

“Gee, thanks.”

He took Elena’s hand, and his warm flesh sliding against hers gave her another of those ridiculous stomach flutters. He led her to an empty dance rehearsal room backstage. There was a mirrored wall with a bar along it and a well-polished wood floor. The smell of old sweat and new varnish perfumed the air.

Elena watched Michael’s reflection in the mirror as he spoke. “Okay, take it from your line, ‘We shouldn’t do this’.”

It felt odd without the apartment set around them. She pulled her eyes away from the mirror and looked up at Michael.

“We shouldn’t do this. What about Richard?”

Slipping an arm around her back and one behind her thighs, Michael interrupted her next line, lifting her easily off her feet. Her arms automatically went around his neck, and she gave a little gasp of surprise.

“I don’t care.” Michael’s face was close. His breath puffed against her face and she smelled the sharp scent of breath mint. He bent his head to kiss her then stopped.

“Wait a minute. This is awkward. I can’t kiss you
after
I’ve picked you up. Do it again.” He set her down on her feet.

Elena held onto his shoulders for a second as she got her balance. Her body vibrated with excitement, but she managed to snap, “Don’t step on my line this time.”

She delivered her speech again, finishing with, “He trusts me!”

“Tomorrow you can tell him it’s over, but I’ve got to have you now.”

Michael pulled her into his arms, planted a searing kiss on her lips then scooped her off her feet. He carried her a few yards before setting her down again.

They remained locked in an embrace, both a little breathless as though they’d done an entire dance number instead of a simple lift. Elena glimpsed their reflection in the mirror. They looked really good together; Michael’s blond-streaked hair and her dark curls, his sleek, swimmer’s body and her petite, compact figure, his pale skin and her tan flesh. They made a sexy couple.

“How’s it going to work with laying me on the bed? Are you going to just drop me on it?”

“Hang onto my neck and drag me down with you like you’re frantic and can’t wait. Kathleen and Aaron have been fighting their attraction through three scenes. I think that’s enough foreplay, don’t you?”

“Mm-hm.” Elena’s nipples were tight and hard, pressed against his chest. Her sex clenched simply from being kissed and picked up a couple of times. It was annoying how her body betrayed her.

“Okay.” Michael finally stepped away from her. “Let’s try it that way tonight and see what Pender says.” He glanced at his wrist, but he was wearing his character’s leather wrist cuff instead of a watch. “It’s probably time.”

“Uh-huh. Don’t want to piss off the stage manager.” She felt him following her from the room as if their bodies were connected.

When they reached the stage, everyone was in place. Elena and Michael separated and went to opposite sides of the apartment set. Elena sat on the ratty couch, one leg hooked over the arm, a textbook open on her lap. Her face was turned toward the book, but her eyes watched Michael stalk across the stage like a cat. It was easy to get into character. Like Kathleen, she couldn’t keep her eyes off Michael/Aaron.

He stood in profile, his angular face dramatically lit by the stage lights as he gazed out the fake window. His sharp cheekbones, hard jaw and full lips were attractive, but it was his eyes that seized Elena’s gut and twisted. They were indigo in shadow, but brilliant as sapphires when they caught the light.

Elena turned her attention back to the textbook and concentrated on using her real attraction to Michael to create Kathleen’s unrequited love for Aaron.

The house lights went down and the overture began.

When the spotlight hit her, Elena lifted her face and sang about her desire for Aaron and her dreams for the future. A second spot illuminated Michael, showing who her love interest was. He revealed his yearning to travel the world and experience life. Then Denny was shown as the third corner of the triangle. He expounded on his commitment to a better world—and his love for Kathleen.

Gretchen as Audrey revealed her self-doubts and her questioning of her sexuality. Logan, playing the zealous Zach, chimed in about the need for anarchy to wake people up to their social responsibility, while Bill sang a humorous verse about simply trying to keep his head above water and not flunk out of college.

They joined together on the chorus, creating a solid wall of sound before breaking into parts in the next verse. Each supplied a harmonious thread, weaving a rich tapestry. “We Are All” was an intricate song that made a stunning opening to the show.

The play moved along quickly to the bedroom scene in which Kathleen, having given up on Aaron, is dating Richard. Seeing them together makes Aaron realize he wants her. The smoldering embers between them flare to life one evening.

Elena grew nervous as the love scene approached. She always feared their make-out session might look more awkward than sexy. It was such an intimate moment to perform before an audience—even though there was no audience yet.

As they’d practiced, Michael cut off her line with a kiss, lifted her in his arms, carried her to the bed and laid her there. Without breaking the kiss, Elena pulled him down with her.

Michael gave a grunt, surely picked up by his body mic, as he landed on her. The small sound was unbelievably sexy. His mouth moved against hers, kissing her hard and deep and with tongue. Every rehearsal they kissed as if they were desperate for each other.

One of her hands twisted in his hair, the other clutched his shoulder. The mattress was hard against her back. Michael’s body was even harder against her front. His lips were warm and soft and his tongue tasted like mint. Arousal swelled in her, and Elena couldn’t suppress a soft moan of pleasure.

Finally, Michael pulled away with an audible gasp, pushing up on his arms and gazing down at her for a moment. He pulled his T-shirt over his head and tossed it aside, revealing muscled shoulders, arms and chest. The spotlights faded and a blue backlight came up behind them, silhouetting his body as he slowly descended to kiss her.

She arched her back off the bed to make sure her figure was clear against the light. Pender was very definite about the look he wanted, and it wasn’t that easy to achieve. They’d rehearsed this movement many times.

Elena’s hands slid up Michael’s lightly haired chest. Their lips met. They held the pose for an extended moment. Elena felt the weight and heat of his erection through her clothes. Her pussy dampened in response.

The stage went dark. Michael rolled off the bed, took her hand and helped her up. They exited the stage, rushing to change for the next scene.

Elena thought of the hundreds of times they would have to repeat their lovemaking performance and wondered how many times it would take before it stopped leaving her with her heart racing and her sex clenched tight with need.

Scene Two: After Hours

The restaurant Logan had found was a family-run Italian place with stained, red-check tablecloths and the best lasagna Michael had ever tasted. Or maybe it was just that he was starving from burning off calories at dance practice earlier in the day. He packed away the carbs and polished off most of a bottle of wine singlehandedly.

When the meal was finished, the party reconvened at a nearby bar. Michael paid for the first round of drinks. It felt good to have a steady paycheck. Growing up he’d never lacked the money to do or have anything he wanted: a dirt bike, scuba lessons, ski trips. It had been a hard adjustment living on minimum wage in New York City, but he’d never asked his parents for a dime, even when he lost the lease on his apartment and had to squat with one friend or another for several months.

Michael supposed his father thought poverty would be a character-building experience that would bring his pampered son back in line and into the family business. Instead, Michael had grown more determined than ever to pursue the career he’d chosen and to depend only on himself.