Hearts on Fire (The Hunter Family) (22 page)

I was transitioning to en pointe from my relevé when Claire returned.  She sat on the floor and tied her pointe shoes and tried to be nonchalant with her next question, but I knew she wanted the deets.

“So, Zane is back, huh?”

“That is such a long story, Claire, I’ll tell you later.”

She warmed up at the bar and glanced at me with a devilish grin.

“We have time right now, so start at the beginning.  Come help me stretch and I’m sure you need to stretch some more, too.”

I wasn’t going to be able to dodge my sister so I did what she said and started at the beginning.  By the time I was done she told me she agreed with Nana Bunny and I should have coffee with Zane to let him explain.

“There is something there between you guys Abby.  Don’t let him get away twice.”

Later that evening our butler brought me my phone that had fallen out of my purse and slid under the passenger seat in my dad’s car.  I had several missed calls and voicemails from Zane so I decided to call him back.

“Abby, thank goodness you finally called me back.  I didn’t think I would ever hear from you again.”

“Sorry I missed your calls, I lost my phone and our butler returned it to me today.  How was your Thanksgiving?”

I was nervous to hear what he was going to say because I felt awful thinking that he had to spend it alone because of our fight.

“I went to Logan’s parent’s place with him, it was cool.”

“I’m glad you weren’t alone and I’m sorry you had to do that because of me.”

“Hey, it’s okay.”

“Wait, so you drove back out to the Hamptons on Friday?”

“Yes, I wanted to see you.”

“How did you know I was going to be at the rink?”

“I went to the address you had given me and the butler told a really nice old lady that I was there to see you.  It seems your Nana Bunny is on my side, she told me where to find you.”

I smiled to myself not surprised at all that she would do something like that.

“That’s my Nana Bunny!  Sorry about my dad, you can imagine he wasn’t too thrilled when he heard what happened.”

“Yeah, that was crazy.  He really does not like me.”

“No, it’s not that, he just doesn’t like to see me upset.”

“Neither do I, Abby.  Can we get together when you get back to the city?”

“I was going to suggest the same thing, we need to talk.”

“I agree.  Your audition is Friday, right?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s have lunch on Saturday, does that work for you?”

“Sure, that works.”

“Okay, well I don’t want to bother you this week because I know you’ll be focusing on practicing for the audition, so just know that I am rooting for you. I know you can do this, Abby, I know you can get the lead, so I’m sending a lot of good vibes your way. I love you.”

I was a bit caught off guard by him saying that, but it did make me feel better about everything that had happened.

“Thanks, Zane, your support means a lot.  I’ll see you Saturday.  And I love you too.”

“You just made me the happiest man in the world by saying that.  I’ll see you Saturday.”

The rest of the family left on Sunday so Claire and I were free to do nothing but dance for the rest of the week.  I would watch her do an entire routine and then she would critique me as I repeated what she did.  By the time we left on Thursday I couldn’t wait to get to the audition on Friday.  Zane called me to wish me luck right before I went to bed so I fell asleep feeling happier and more optimistic about everything than I had in a long time.

Friday morning I felt really good and I went to the studio pretty early to warm up.  There was a long list of people auditioning that day and Claire was going first and I was second.  She came into the room, came over to me and gave me a huge hug before she went onstage.

“Are you ready?”

I looked at her, smiled and nodded.  “I’m ready.”

“Okay, come out and watch me, I’m going to dance better and harder than I ever have so I don’t want you to think I am handing the lead to you.  But watch me and then do it better.  I know you can do this, Abby.”

What a difference from the last auditions, Claire and I were in the best place we had ever been.  She was always supportive of me in the past but I had never experienced this kind of support from her. It felt really good to know that she believed in me and I knew that it was genuine. When she told me that she was going to dance harder and better than she ever had, I knew that the stakes had immediately risen to a whole new level. Claire was really good, there was no doubt about that, so I had to be that much better. The more I practiced, and really put the effort in, the more I believed that I had I really had natural talent because it kind of came easy to me.  I wished her luck and went to sit and watch her.

She looked so beautiful on stage, every single move was fluid and she seemed to float on stage.  She was not joking when she said she would dance harder, her performance was flawless.  I watched her with my most critical eye and I knew what I had to do. 

When my name was called, I felt the adrenaline flowing through my veins and I walked up on stage, took a deep breath and went into position.  The music started and it was as if something amazing took over.  I danced effortlessly and as I glided across the stage I knew that my dancing was perfection.  I had never felt more confident and I had never tried harder.  If I didn’t get the lead I would be okay with it because I knew that I had given it my all.  I took my final bow and glided off the stage.

Claire came up to me and gave me a huge hug.

“You were amazing!”

I couldn’t stop smiling as I hugged her back.

“Thank you!  So were you!  Claire, thanks for all of your help, really, I mean it.”

“Of course, I’m happy to help you anyway I can, you know that.”

“I do know that. Hey, do you want to get out of here? Results won’t be posted until Monday and we’ve been working pretty hard so we deserve a break. Want to go shopping?”

“Great idea, let’s go do some damage!”

Zane called me later that night and it was so good to hear his voice.

“So how did it go?”

“I killed it!  I felt good on that stage, Zane, and I know I did a great job.”

“Abby, that’s fantastic, I knew you could do it!  So when do you find out?”

“Results will be posted Monday but even if I don’t get the lead, I know I tried harder than I ever have.  If Claire gets it, it just means that she really is better than me, and I am okay with that.”

“You have a really great attitude about it which I think is fantastic. You’ll have to be sure to let me know what happens on Monday.”

“I definitely will. So what time are we meeting tomorrow?”

            “I made a 1:00 reservation at Philippe, I hope that is okay.”

            Philippe was one of my favorite restaurants.  “That sounds great.  I’ll have to meet you there because I have a few things to do in the morning.”

            “Okay, I can’t wait to see you tomorrow.”

            “Me too, Zane.  So have you had a good week?”

            “I’ve had a great week. I have some news to share but I’ll wait until I see you to tell you what’s been going on.”

            “I can’t wait to hear. Well I better get going, I am pretty wiped out. Thanks for calling and asking about my audition.”

            “You’re welcome.  Sleep tight, Abby, I love you.”

            “I love you too.”

           
I took extra time getting ready for my date that day because I wanted to look really pretty for Zane. I felt like we were starting a new chapter and I was willing to have an open mind and trust him.  I was in such a good mood, I had a smile on my face, and it felt good to feel the familiar flutter of butterflies returning to my belly as I walked into the restaurant.

            My smile fell as soon as I saw Zane.  Sitting next to him was a gorgeous blonde woman and they were deep in conversation.  I resisted my instinct to run out and I walked over to the table, put my hand in my hip, and glared at Zane.

            “I must be the biggest fool in the world.”  I turned to walk out and Zane jumped up and grabbed my hand, stopping me.

            “Abby, come on, don’t leave.  I’d like for you to meet someone.”

            The blonde stuck her hand out and smiled at me.

            “Hi Abby, I’m Alana, Zane’s sister. I think you have had the wrong impression of me a few times now and I’m really sorry about the confusion.”

            I sheepishly shook her hand, sat down and covered my face. 

            “I am so embarrassed, I apologize. It’s really nice to meet you, Alana.”

            Zane put his arm around me and motioned toward his sister. “Alana is also my realtor, the woman you saw me talking to at the bar last week.”

            She nodded.  “Yes, I don’t know if Zane has told you but he and Logan want to open a third bar and I found a perfect location for them, but someone had already put in an offer on the place.  The seller was planning to accept the following day, because they wanted a contract in place before the Thanksgiving holiday, so I got the keys and told Zane that we needed to go see the property immediately.  He really did go see a property at midnight, I know you were questioning that, and I don’t blame you. It’s not normal practice so I would probably question it too if I wasn’t in the industry.”

            I really felt silly and I looked over at Zane. “Why didn’t you just tell me that your sister was your realtor?”

            “Abby, I tried, but you wouldn’t listen to me and you walked away.”

            I quickly replayed the scene at the gas station in my head and looked at him, completely filled with remorse.

            “I guess you did try to tell me, I can be so stubborn sometimes, I’m really sorry Zane.”

            Alana jumped in. “Hey, Abby, don’t beat yourself up, I would have been suspicious too. If I had gone to my boyfriend’s apartment and saw some girl I had never met in a towel and then I also saw him talking in a dark corner with a girl at a bar, I would have definitely had doubts.”

            “You know what, Alana, you’re right!  Did you hear that Zane?  I had every right to be suspicious!”

            He looked back and forth between the two of us and shook his head. “Oh no, I think I have made a huge mistake by introducing you two!”

            We all cracked up laughing and I felt really good about things.  I really liked Alana, she was super cool and very easy to talk to. I felt like I had made a new friend.

            “So, Alana, you must have recently moved to New York because I remember you weren’t living here three years ago.”

            “Yeah, that’s right, my husband is from here so after we got married this is where I landed, and I absolutely love it.  I got my realtor’s license right after I moved here and business has been really good.  It’s a really huge bonus that my brother is also here, and he is becoming one of my best clients!”

            I smiled at her. “That’s awesome.”  I looked over at Zane and lightly touched his arm.  “You said you had something to tell me today?”

            His face completely lit up. “Oh, right! Logan and I got that space that Alana showed us last week, we’re going to be opening our third bar next year.”

            “Zane, that is fantastic!  I am so happy for you!”

            Alana stood up and swung her purse over her shoulder.

            “Well guys, I have to get going, I have an listing appointment in Midtown.”

            I looked at her and I was completely confused.

            “You’re not going to stay for lunch?”

            “No, I grabbed something earlier, I just wanted to come here to meet you and help clear things up.  It was really nice meeting you, Abby.  I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.”

            She gave Zane a hug and told him she’d talk to him soon.

            Once she was gone Zane and I had a chance to really talk.

            I reached out and gently held his hand as my eyes searched his.

            “I am sorry that I didn’t believe you and that I didn’t give you a chance to explain.  I should have trusted you, Zane.  I promise you that going forward I will trust you.  You have never given me a reason to doubt you and I admit that I let my insecurity get in the way, and that was not fair to you. I'm just grateful that you are willing to give me another chance.  I love you.”

            He leaned over and gently kissed me on the lips and smiled at me.

“Apology accepted.  I love you too.”

Those words were music to my ears and I could not stop smiling at him. It was a perfect day.  After my lunch with Zane, the rest of the weekend seems to drag on and I knew that it was because I was dying to find out the results that Monday.

When Monday finally arrived I think my eyes flew open at about 5:30 AM and I could not get back to sleep. Results were going to be posted at 9:00 AM, so I took a long shower and decided to curl my hair, which always took forever.  I was ready by 7:30 so I swallowed what I could of my breakfast, which was about three bites of organic oatmeal, and I watched a morning news show for about an hour.  Claire called me at 8:00 and said she’d meet me in the lobby of the studio and to wait for her before I looked at the results.  At 8:30 my car was waiting for me downstairs so I headed over to the studio, my heart pounding as we got closer.  My knees were reduced to jelly as I got out of the car and, thankfully, my sister’s smiling face met me right at the front door.

“Are you ready?”

I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down.

“I think so.”

She grabbed my hand and smiled at me.  “Here we go.”

My heart felt like it was trying to bang it’s way out of my chest with each step that I took, as the board loomed closer.  A group of dancers were huddled around the postings and for a few seconds Claire and I could not see anything, and then the crowd slowly cleared away when they saw us.  We walked up to the board and looked at the piece of paper that had the name of each character posted for everyone to see.  My mouth was completely dry and my palms were sweaty.  I tried to let go of Claire’s hand so that she didn’t have to feel my sweaty palm but she just held on even tighter.

My eyes slowly crawled to the top of the page where I saw Prince Siegfried listed first and Odette/Odile was next, followed by a few other characters.  My eyes scanned the page from left to right and I nearly fainted when my eyes landed on the name of the person who would be playing both roles.  There in black and white, clear as day it said: 

Odette/Odile – Main - Abigail Hunter

    Understudy - Claire Hunter

I was in complete shock.  For the first time in my career I was going to be the lead in a major production.  Claire screamed at the top of her lungs and threw her arms around me.

“I knew you could do it!”

Tears of happiness spilled down over my cheeks as I smiled and hugged her, and a bunch of people came over and congratulated me giving me hugs.  It was a moment I would never forget.

I couldn’t wait to call Zane to give him the good news.

He answered right away, I could tell that he was waiting for my call and his voice was filled with excitement.

“Well?”

“I got it!”

His voice boomed through the phone.  “Yeah!  I knew it!  I am so proud of you Abby!  I wish I were there so I could give you a big hug and a kiss!  Congratulations, baby.”

Even though he couldn’t see me, I could not stop grinning. 

“Thank you.” 

Just then an idea popped into my head and it was something I wanted to take care of right away.

“Hey Zane, are you free for dinner Wednesday night?”

“I should be asking you that, I want to take you out to celebrate.”

“You can still do that, but there is something that I want to do and I kind of need to do it now.”

“Okay, sure, Wednesday sounds great. What time should I pick you up?”

“How’s 6:30?”

“Sounds good.  What time can I see you tonight?”  The unmistakable lust in voice let me know it was going to be a very good night.