seated in the front row and Gaines was about to use the megaphone. When he spotted Zack, he threw his hands in the air. “You scared us half to death.” His shout could be heard throughout the cavernous room. “Get over here.”
And like that Zack stepped back on the roller coaster from which there was no getting off. He took his place next to Zoey, and in the minutes before heading over to Carnegie Hall, the two of them ran through their duet again. The competition was turning Zack into an actor. He could sing a love song with Zoey and convince just about everyone in the room.
Zack realized something as they were whisked across the street to Carnegie Hall. He no longer found it natural to pray in the moment. The noise around him was so loud, the screaming fans and demanding production assistants, the rehearsals and sound checks and wardrobe issues. All of it had become so overwhelming he could barely think, let alone pray. One more cost to add to the list.
A list that no doubt would be longer after tonight.
chapter
26
The show that night would go down in history. At least that’s what Cullen announced as they moved past the individual performances to the duets. Zack’s drinking song had been met by thunderous applause. He’d grinned and laughed, but he had never felt more empty in all his life. Now he had changed into his cutoff T-shirt and jeans and stood backstage with Zoey, trying to figure out what to feel, how to feel.
He was there when Gaines found him.
“I have a note for you from Meier.” Gaines was all business, a clipboard in his hand. He seemed to read something from the paper. “Here it is.” He looked up, serious. “Push-ups. Drop and give me twenty push- ups.”
Zack looked around at the other singers. “What?” Was this some kind of joke? He chuckled and took a step back. “What do you mean?”
“You heard me.” Gaines’s voice turned gruff. “We don’t have much time. Drop and give me twenty. They want you to look more buff during the duet.” He gave Zack’s bare biceps a once-over. “They look fine to me. But production wants your muscles to pop for this performance.”
Zack wasn’t sure whether to laugh or tell the man where to take his clipboard. He caught Samuel Meier watching him from the far corner of the room, surrounded by staff. His look told Zack no one was kidding. So with Zoey standing beside him and the other four contestants watching, Zack did as he was told. He dropped down and did twenty push-ups. Twenty became forty and forty became sixty. The push-ups became one sure way to release the anger he felt toward himself and the show and his compromises.
Finally Gaines returned. “That’s enough. You won’t be able to sing.”
Zack rattled off five more for good measure and then hopped to his feet. He was out of breath, but he felt more alive than he had since his talk with Chandra. Suddenly the noise of the contestant coordinator faded along with every other sound in the room.
“Zack!” It was Zoey’s voice. “You okay?”
He looked around and saw her standing in front of him, searching his eyes. “Yeah, I’m . . .” Her blond hair looked fuller than usual and she wore a short tight black dress and boots. He let his eyes drift over the length of her before he caught himself. She looked gorgeous. If they were alone now he wasn’t sure . . .
What was he thinking? He blinked and stared at the ground. Panic seized him. Chandra had just warned him, and still he couldn’t stop the slide. A thought hit him square in the heart. Wherever Reese was tonight—if she watched the show—she would be sure she’d done the right thing.
“Zack, what’re you thinking?” Zoey moved closer, her voice a whisper. As if she didn’t want the others to think something was wrong. “Are you sick?”
“No.” He came back to the surface. “I’m all right.”
Across the room, Gaines called for them. “You’re up in thirty seconds.”
Zack took her hand and led her to the stage door. This was how they were supposed to enter, whether he liked it or not. He’d made his commitment to tonight’s show. Now he had to follow through. They could hear the countdown behind them and at the right time they walked onto the stage to a standing ovation. Zack remembered Meier’s statement from yesterday.
The lighting became more romantic and Zack noticed the setting, the one they had practiced with. There were trees and a small bridge and a park bench. He almost forgot the blocking. But as the song began, the movements came easily. Hand in hand they sauntered across the bridge, stopping to sing while looking into each other’s eyes. Next they moved to the bench and then to a pair of microphones at the center of the stage.
“We’ll make love tonight and make love last,” Zack sang to her.
“Like we never had a yesterday before today,” Zoey added.
They finished the song together. “Like we never had a past. Never had a past.”
Again the crowd was on its feet, screaming and applauding and making the walls of Carnegie Hall feel like they might fall from the sound. They each bowed and then Zoey caught his eyes. Before he could stop her, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. On impulse alone, his hand came to the side of her face as the kiss played out.
It didn’t last longer than a second or two, but it doubled the noise in the building. With that the two of them walked off, still holding hands. Zack didn’t take a breath until they were backstage. A production team seated at a distant table began to clap. “Perfect, you two.” Gaines added his applause to the mix. “The kiss was brilliant.”
Zack couldn’t speak. He led Zoey out of the room and down a long cement hall. There was precious little dressing room space in the back of the building, but Zack found a supply closet and pulled her in behind him. When they were alone—definitely alone—he faced her, hurt and seething. “How could you do that?”
“What?” Her own frustration added to the moment. “That kiss?” She glared at him. “Don’t worry. It didn’t mean a thing.” She was shaking. “The audience wanted something extra, so I gave it to them.”
“That wasn’t your choice. I had no idea.”
“Oh, right, . . . and you hated it. Just like you hated kissing me in that upper lobby.” She crossed her arms and laughed, sarcasm working its way around her words. “Whatever. Listen, Zack. I want to win this thing. If that means kissing you on a live show, so be it.”
“Yeah, well, maybe check with me first. How am I supposed to explain that?”
She hesitated, her silence consumed with what looked like a dozen conflicting emotions. Finally she dropped her voice and took a step closer. “How are you supposed to explain that
With that she spun around and left.
Zack stayed in the closet another five minutes, fighting for control. Of all the things he hated about the night, he hated this most of all—the fact that she and Chandra were right. He had only himself to blame for the people he’d lost and for the person he had quickly become.
When he finally made his way to the main room backstage, the show was winding down. The last couple was onstage singing their duet. One of the production assistants saw him and motioned him closer. “Zoey isn’t doing so great.”
“What do you mean?” Zack scanned the room. He didn’t see her.
The guy chuckled. “She said you two were in a fight because of the kiss.”
