Page 42 of C*cky Best Friend
That’s what you want, isn’t it?
I rap on the office door and open it as she calls, “Come in.”
She slides her glasses off and holds them in her hand as she rests a graceful wrist on the desk to her left. Dancer-legs that haven’t lost their shape cross in a simple black dress meant for you to look at her face, instead, and take her seriously. “I’ve been watching you.”
Taking a seat, I lean forward on my elbows, concentrating on her. “Is that a good thing?”
“I have a question I hope you don’t mind my asking.” She pauses, pushing the glasses away with one finger before she meets my eyes again. “It’s a little personal. You can tell me no.”
A smirk tugs. “I’d like to know the question first.”
“Don’t get too excited. I’m not coming on to you.”
Leaning back, I chuckle, “Got it. Well if it makes you feel good, my answer might not have been no.”
“Even if the entire time you and I were having wild passionate sex, you would’ve been thinking of Samantha?”
Glancing away from her piercing stare, I mutter, “Oh, so that’s the question you were going to ask.”
“It’s none of my business, except for it is. I want you to go to Broadway with us. In fact, I want you to understudy for the role of Donovan, but I don’t want what happened with Marion to happen again.”
My eyebrows scrunch. “What do you mean?”
“If you are to play a performance opposite Samantha once or twice a month as understudy, I wouldn’t want you to accidentally drop her.”
My chest explodes with violence as I stand up and bark, “I would never hurt her! How could you even say something like that to me? How could you say that to anyone?” The gravity sinks in. “Asher dropped Marion on purpose?”
Ms. Galloway picks up her glasses and taps them on the table. “I don’t think you know what you’re getting into, Logan. When they say this business is cutthroat, they are just shy of meaning it literally. And I wouldn’t be surprised if in the good old days when theater actors were the poorest people around, traveling from city to city, that there weren’t a few actual throats cut in order to rise in ranks. I can’t prove that Asher did anything wrong. I looked away just before Marion fell. And I’ll never forget that, nor forgive myself for it. But I know that he didn’t like her very much. And I’ve seen worse.” Holding my stare she says, “I had a bunion removed on my foot where they found tiny bits of glass.”
“Glass? I don’t understand.”
“I’ve been locked in the bathroom so I missed my cue and lost the part. They put glass in my pointe shoes because I was the lead. I had callous upon callous upon callous and couldn’t feel it, but the glass dug under my skin until it became bunions and I needed surgery. They found it in the X-ray.” She sighs and repeats, “I have seen worse.”
“You’re suspecting that, but you’re still sending him with the production?” I demand.
“Stuart wants him in the role. He has a huge following. He put butts in the chairs.”
Disgusted, I go to leave.
Galloway calls after me, voice sober. “Logan Clark!” I pause. “What are you going to do? Stay here your whole life auditioning for roles that have been few? I’ve noticed you’ve stepped it up since we opened. That’s because you’re feeling intensely competitive with him and it’s working. But I have to tell you something. You’re a better dancer than he is. If you stick with this, you can be a bigger star than you ever dreamed possible.” I let go of the handle and turn around. She stands up and approaches me. “Think of every country you’ve ever wanted to go. The trips are paid for. You’re performing in front of people who adore you. You can have any girl you want. Or any guy. People will give you gifts. You have a family in the theater. One like you never experienced in real life. There will be adventures that I can’t describe to you, the kind of excitement that seeps into your bones. There were adventures in my past that just by my thinking about them my adrenaline sparks and I’m there again. I will always have that.”
Heavy from the choice, I glare at her. “Why did you leave it behind if it was so wonderful?”
“It left me behind. The roles went to younger dancers. Time isn’t kind to people like us. We have to take our shot when it’s given.”
“Ms. Galloway,” I begin.
She cuts me off, “Whatever your feelings are for Samantha, don’t let one person distract you from a future so amazing, millions dream of living it. Here it is just waiting for you to say, yes.”
“I’ll think about it.”
My hand is firm as I turn the knob and leave her staring after me.
This is my decision to make.
I have somebody I need to talk to.