Page 54 of What You Own
ADAMSNUCKinto the auditorium right before Lou got up to announce we were ready to start the final dress rehearsal. He slipped over to the stage, not even looking around. Like he belonged here and wasn’t just a visitor for two more days. I wanted to hate him so bad, but I couldn’t. Seeing him again made my body clench up with want. I needed to go touch him, and I hated that.
Lou practiced his opening speech, which thanked LQF for backing the fundraiser, and a little, angry part of me wished I’d never walked into that building. Never asked for Langley money. Never seen Adam again, the black-haired, blue-eyed asshole.
The rest of me was sad.
The wings of the auditorium stage weren’t big enough to hold us all comfortably while we waited, so everyone stood in small groups or sat in clusters of folding chairs to watch. At least twenty kids, a dozen teenagers, and as many adults were there, all for the same reason. We loved the center, and we wanted to see it stay open.
The kids’ half went smooth, except for a few minor lighting cues. They treated it all like a real performance, the little champs. We had treats for them in one of the classrooms, and they went off when Lou announced intermission. The intermission was scheduled to last forty-five minutes. It gave plenty of time for toilet breaks, plus the silent auction. Prizewinners would be drawn, prizes available for pickup after the last performance.
And we had some damned impressive prizes locked up in Lou’s office. Spa treatments, designer purses, wine baskets, restaurant certificates, fancy chocolates, and gift cards to all kinds of local businesses. As mad as I was at him, all Adam had to do was flash his name around and people coughed up donations.
My song with Ellie was third, so I perched on a chair near the stage right wall, trying to calm my racing heart. Adam hadn’t looked at me once since he got here, and we had to sing together in six numbers. I hoped I didn’t sound too pissed when I finally performed. Lord knew I felt it, bubbling up inside like too much chili.
In the middle of Lou’s half-decent rendition of “Dentist!” fromLittle Shop of Horrors, the auditorium door opened, spilling in orange light. I glanced up, mostly to make sure a seven-year-old wasn’t about to hear a grown man sing about his love of causing people pain, and I swear my heart almost stopped.
Raymond Langley stepped inside and let the door shut, his body shadowed by the dim light. He was wearing a suit, like he’d just rolled out of his fancy office and into our dinky little auditorium. A few people noticed him, but didn’t know him, because no one went over. Langley gazed over the crowd, and when he looked at me, my heart kicked back into gear—high gear. I was scared my heart was gonna bruise itself, it was going so fast.
If his expression changed at all, I couldn’t see. But I felt it. Felt his hate leveled right at me like a branding iron, hot and damaging, and I wanted to hide behind my chair. Lord knows how I stayed still. I even stared back until he looked away first, and a tiny part of me cheered. Didn’t cheer for long, though. He’d still won Adam.
Adam went over during the next number. I used the opportunity to sneak closer to the stage, since Ellie and I were up next. What was hedoinghere?
“Isn’t that Adam’s dad?” Ellie whispered. She’d sidled up behindme.
“Sure is.”
“What’s he doing here?”
My question exactly. “Gettin’ a sneak preview of what his money bought, I guess.”
“This is going to be fun.” I heard the eye-roll in her voice.
“Fuck him.” I looked down at her and forced a smile. “Fuck ’em both.”
Ellie planted a kiss on my cheek, and then it was our turn. We put it all into “Light My Candle” and it was over too soon. I ignored the pair of Langleys still standing in the back and went off stage to wait for my next duet. Adam stayed back, chatting with his daddy until right before it was our turn.
It only hit me then that Langley didn’t know Adam was performing. Adam told me he wasn’t telling him until the actual fundraiser, so his daddy couldn’t pitch a fit. And he hadn’t tried to shove Langley out the door before we had to go up there. I suspected something was significant in that, but I had no time to puzzle it out.
Adam and I took to opposite sides of the stage, and the music started. His lovely voice belted out the lyrics. I wasn’t supposed to look at him, so I squinted beyond the stage lights, trying to see his daddy. Langley hadn’t left, but even from a distance he looked stiff, pinched up.
Mad.
I hit my cue perfectly, and we sang the song we’d always been meant to sing. I felt every lyric, felt every beat of music. Adam and I weaved around each other, so close but still miles apart and it hurt so bad. I had tears in my eyes when I finished. I didn’t bother with a practice bow. I stalked offstage.
A change in music froze me in place near the wall. Not the music from the next scheduled number, either. The soft, sad strains of “Without You” filtered over the speakers. I turned, curious. Ellie walked onstage and began to sing. Wistful and sad. The perfect Mimi.
I wasn’t the only person confused, either. Larry had to know what was going on, because he was doing sound. Adam was standing with him, holding one of the microphones, watching me. I stared at him, so fucking confused. “Without You” was a Roger/Mimi duet, sung after their breakup—life goes on, but they’ve both died inside without the other. I loved the song, but Ellie and I hadn’t practiced, so who the hell was going to sing Roger’s part?
And why was it stuck in the middle of the dress rehearsal?
“… but I die without you,” Ellie sang.
“The world revives.” Adam, soft and soulful, sang from his spot by the sound board.
Reality shifted around me.
Heads turned. The song continued as the Roger/Mimi parts intertwined. Adam sang from the auditorium floor. His eyes locked on to mine, and a bolt of electricity shot up my spine. He wove his way toward me, around people and chairs, never once missing a cue, never once looking away from me. His voice coiled around my heart and held tight, warming it with something a lot like hope.
The song faded out, along with the music. Adam stood in front of me, his blue eyes gleaming. Apologies seeping out of his pores. He’d been singing to me. About us. Right in front of his daddy.
