“Fine,” I clip out. I feel bad for my tone, but I can’t afford to get into it now. We don’t have time for that anyway. The dancers are already set, and my cue to get in place for the lift to the top of the staircase rings through my ears. “Gotta go. Wish me luck,” I say, forcing a bright smile.
I don’t check Hadley’s face for her reaction as I line up on the riser. Once I’m in place, it lifts twelve feet into the air to the top of the illuminated staircase we use at the beginning of the show. For this part, the LED lights glow red instead of white and will flash key lyrics as I descend while singing “Horizontal.”
The transition piece of the song comes to an end, and I set my body in position for the glare of the spotlight when it bursts on me for the opening line.
“Intro-three-two-one,” the mechanical voice says.
Flash.
The crowd roars when I’m exposed. I do my first dance move at the top platform.
“I’m a bit confused by the way you use those eyes”
I take a step, my three-inch heels landing expertly for my next move.
“This game we’re playing isn’t the way to my heart”
Step.
“It takes more than a slick reversal
To get me horizontal.”
Step.
Except, this time my foot doesn’t land. No, my heel clips the edge of the stair, catching air as my body sways to the right. My arms flail but find nothing to grasp. For a split second, I see the ground below, dark and spotted with colored tape meant to guide my steps, not break a fall. It beckons me now, fear mixing with a strange exhilaration as I plunge weightless in slow motion. Do I scream? Maybe on instinct. Inside I’m laughing hysterically at the irony before everything goes dark.
CHAPTER 15
Please don’t call me lonely
For it’s only
you I’m missing
Please don’t call me abandoned
It’s just your hand
I can’t reach
Please don’t call me desperate
When it’s you that’s left this
Gaping hole
It’s your void to own
Until you venture home
OLIVER
This movie is shit. Or maybe it’s my brain that won’t stop punishing me for making the right choice. What choice, though? I didn’t have a choice when it came down to it. No, my mistake was making a promise I never should have made in the first place, and for that I’m living in a swirl of regret. I know she won’t see my messages for a while—she’s probably got at least a half hour left in her show—but it doesn’t stop me from picking up my phone to send another one. That only makes three, which seems reasonable given the extent of my crime. One apologizing again. One assuring her how much I care about her and how amazing she is. And the latest, a goofy selfie along with a request to see her as soon as she’s free. Man, I hope that’s enough to smooth things over. I can’t live with this pressure in my chest anymore, this weight of letting someone down.
I close the text app just as a message flashes in from my sister.
So sorry to hear about Genevieve. Hope she’s okay.
I bolt up on the couch. What are you talking about? I type back immediately. How could she possibly know I stood up my girlfriend?
The fall? comes her response a second later.
My heart races at another text from a teammate. Dude, that looked bad. Your girl okay?
Shit! Shit, shit, shit. I pull up Genevieve’s number, nausea sweeping through me when it goes straight to voicemail. I try Hadley next, but she doesn’t answer either.
“Hadley, it’s Oliver. What’s going on with Gen? I just got some weird messages about a fall? She’s not answering her phone. Call me!”
I’m about to message my sister again when I realize with a sinking feeling that I’ll probably get more information from the internet on this one. I do a quick search on my phone and collapse back to the couch. I can barely catch my breath at video after video of my girlfriend crashing down a flight of stairs from at least ten feet in the air. She lands awkwardly, smacking her head on the stage and clearly unconscious as a medical team and security rush out. I can only watch a couple times before the bile rises in my throat, my hand shaking as it grips the phone.
No. No! I try Hadley again, my finger barely making contact with the screen as it trembles over her name. No answer.
Fuck!
I bolt to my feet, pacing violently while I shove my hand through my hair. I need to get to my car. No, the airport. Wait, my car would be faster because at least… fuck! I pull on my shoes and grab my keys, already stalking toward the stairs when Sandy comes thundering down.
“You heard?” he asks, freezing in the middle when he sees me at the bottom.
“I don’t know anything. She’s not answering. Neither is Hadley.”
“Hadley?”
“Her assistant. I’m going to her.”
He shakes his head. “Okay, let’s just take a breath for a second.”
I ignore him and continue up the stairs, frustrated when he doesn’t move. “Get out of my way, Sandy. I need to go.”
“Yeah? Where exactly?”
Fuck. “I don’t know yet, but I’ll find out. She was in Vegas tonight so I’m assuming a hospital near there.”
His eyes bulge as his gaze turns cold. “Wait, does that mean when you were trying to duck out earlier you were planning to go to Vegas? Are you fucking out of your mind?”
“Well, I didn’t, and now look what happened! Get out of my way!”
His fists clench at his sides and he seems to double in size, blocking my path. “You’re not driving to Vegas, Ollie. Not right now. Not like that. Look at you. You’re shaking so much you can barely hang onto your keys. You’ll kill yourself on the
