Once More With Feeling by Sussman Elissa

Once More With Feeling by Sussman Elissa

Author:Sussman, Elissa [Sussman, Elissa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Contemporary, Adult, Music
ISBN: 9780593357378
Amazon: 059335737X
Goodreads: 61420112
Publisher: Dell
Published: 2023-05-30T07:00:00+00:00


CHAPTER 20

“How does it feel?” Harriet asked.

She wasn’t looking at me—she was staring out at the empty seats instead.

“Weird,” I said. “You?”

“Very weird,” she said.

It smelled the same. A mixture of floor polish and stale air and dust. It was a beautiful theatre, but it also felt like a time machine. This was where I’d stood, all those years ago, singing for my future.

What would I say to my fourteen-year-old self if I could? That we’d take a few detours, but eventually—eventually—we’d end up right where we belonged. Which was right where we started.

Full circles and all that.

Is that how Cal felt too? Like he was fulfilling the dream he’d had back then?

I looked over at Harriet, wondering if we all shared this same sense of coming home.

But she kept avoiding my eye.

All those vows I’d made to myself about checking in on Harriet had been quickly forgotten. Instead, I’d been focused on myself. On Cal. On whatever the fuck it was that was going on between us.

I was equally—if not more—responsible for this distance. I’d promised to be a better friend and I had done absolutely nothing to fix a problem that was only getting worse.

“It feels tiny,” I said.

Nothing like resorting to small talk with your best friend of over twenty years as the two of you inch closer to your lifelong dream together.

“Yes,” Harriet said. “But we are also bigger.”

In my memory the stage, the audience, the entire place, had seemed enormous. Backstage had seemed like a maze of thousands of potential paths with endless dressing rooms and hallways full of supplies.

Now it felt normal-sized, maybe even a little cramped, as Harriet and I headed backstage and into the belly of the theatre, down a long hallway where I found my name on a door.

I stopped a few feet into my dressing room.

“Oh,” I said.

“This is nice,” Harriet said, coming in behind me.

Not seeing that I’d stopped, she bumped up against me.

“Let’s go look at the rest of the theatre,” I said.

But she was already inside.

“Oh,” Harriet said.

Sitting on the vanity were Red Vines and a bowl of Swedish Fish. The top of the licorice tub had been left slightly askew.

We both stood there for a moment.

“Well,” Harriet said, “he always did have a good memory.”

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to say.

“It’s just a nice gesture,” I said. “I bet there’s something for everyone in their dressing room. I bet there’s something for you…somewhere….”

Harriet gave me a look.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” I said.

The look didn’t improve.

“What’s going on here?” Cal asked. “Did someone shove a pony in there or something?”

He had appeared in the hallway, his head leaning into the dressing room.

“We were just admiring the amenities,” I said.

I waved a hand toward the vanity.

“Ah,” Cal said. “Well. Whatever my leading lady wants…”

Harriet coughed.

“Thank you,” I said. “It’s very thoughtful.”

“You’re welcome,” he said.

We all just stood there for a moment. To give myself something to do, I reached over and took a Swedish Fish.

“It’s perfect,” I said.



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