Read Waiting in the Wings for Free Online

thing didn’t pan out. I picked up a book.”
    “You learned this from a book? You know, you’re a great actress and all, but maybe you missed your true calling.”
    I closed my eyes and concentrated on the massage. Before long, the initial muscle aches began to drift away and I became very aware of Adrienne’s hands on my skin. I noticed them even more when they moved from my neck into my hair. She gently ran her fingers through it and lifted it away from my neck. I was suddenly grateful I’d decided to keep it long. Adrienne had done a great job of quieting my muscles, but she was now starting to awaken other parts of my body. Before she noticed what she was doing to me, I decided I better get out of there. I reached behind me and stilled her hands, holding them in mine for a moment before turning around on the couch to face her. “It’s getting late. I better get going.”
    She nodded mutely, but I didn’t go. There was something about the way she was looking at me that made me want to stay right where I was. Was I crazy or was the desire I was experiencing mirrored in Adrienne’s eyes? Without my permission, my eyes dropped to her lips, which were parted. To my amazement, she leaned in slightly, and with our already close proximity, it brought her mouth within an inch of mine. My heart was racing, and as I summoned enough courage to close the small distance between us, her eyes widened and she leaned back on the couch, almost as if waking herself from a dream. “Good night, Jenna. Sleep well.”
    We stared at each other for a moment longer before I got up and moved to door. I turned back and said simply, “Thank you for helping me tonight.” Adrienne nodded and smiled an unreadable smile.
    I lay in bed that night unable to sleep and unable to stop my mind from heading in a million different directions. Adrienne and I had almost kissed that night, I was sure of it. And while I couldn’t get her out of my mind or the way it felt to be that close to her, her breath lightly tickling my face, I knew the situation was dicey. Chances were good she was involved with someone else. Plus, getting this show was an amazing opportunity for me and I didn’t want to screw it up. The worst thing in the world would be for me to get involved in any kind of drama that would lead to difficult working conditions.
    ❖

    The rest of the week brought more of the same. Rehearsals all day and watching the show at night. It was four days until the put-in rehearsal for Lanie and me, a rehearsal where replacement actors were given the chance to run the show with the actual cast and crew, as if an audience were present. I felt fairly confident in rehearsals, but the idea of my first show brought the butterflies to my stomach. Clean Slate would play its last few performances in Detroit before heading to Chicago for a weeklong stay where I would take on the role of Alexis full-time. Between now and then it was my job to dance my ass off in rehearsals and get my voice in prime shape, especially for Alexis’s solo number where she reveals her dark side
    to the audience for the first time.
    It was pushing one a.m. at the Davenport and I was mid- slaughter in a game of darts with Lanie, having already taken Kyle down. I’d gotten to know the company members fairly well and most of them were present, spread out at various tables throughout the bar. The only people noticeably absent were Ben and Adrienne, who I’d successfully avoided since that night in her room. Lanie handed me the darts. “So in case you haven’t noticed, Kyle and Craig are an item.”
    “Yeah, the fact they leave together each night kind of tipped me off. Damn it.” I missed a double bull’s-eye.
    “I was hoping Ben would come out with us tonight. Probably spending a cozy evening alone with Ms. Kenyon.” She exhaled deeply and looked very much the petulant child. “With all the nights they spend together, maybe they’ll get sick of each other and break up. Then I