“Well done,” the lead judge said. “You’re through to the next round. We’ll see you in our Top Twenty, congratulations.”
“Oh, my God!” Harper gave a high kick in response and ran off the stage, as the assistant director indicated.
The adrenaline coursing through her system made her feel like she could float. In the lobby of the theatre, she was directed to stand behind a screen.
“Now for some interview questions for the promotions,” another director explained. Harper spelled her name and gave her age, answered where she was from, all while looking right into the camera, imagining Logan on the other side of the lens.
“You said your mother used to dance, what does she do now?’
The question hit her in her solar plexus, and Harper put her hands on her knees. Someone passed her a bottle of water, asked if she could continue, and Harper gave the okay.
“My mother, both my parents, were professional ballet dancers. When they came to Canada, they opened a studio on Vancouver Island. They...died in a house fire when I was twelve years old.”
Harper swallowed, wiped the tears with the back of her hand, and kept her gaze on the camera.
“That must have been very difficult.”
“Yes,” Harper said. “I lost my parents and my home, and I lost dance for a few years. Now I’m happy to have it back.”
“Good luck in the Top Twenty,” the assistant director said with a smile.
“Thanks.”
But she felt shaky. She hadn’t shared that with Logan. She leaned against the changeroom doors, trying to get herself together. How could she have spat that out to the camera?Because I’m tired of hiding it.
Time to tell Logan about her past. The decision steadied her, she entered the frenzy of the change rooms, threw on her street clothes, unpinned her hair, and checked her phone.
Yeah, Xander was wondering where she was and getting a little more insistent as the day wore on and she hadn’t returned his calls.
Her stomach twisted for a moment, as a guilty feeling swept over her for evading the security team Xander had assigned. Maybe she shouldn’t have, but they were new to Axis Management and Harper knew the chances of them being cut were already pretty high. Xander wanted people who were all in and committed to the job, but no matter how much they screened and tried to get the best people in, sometimes it didn’t work out. Harper had glanced at the pair of them on their cell phones when she got back from the shopping trip with Kayleigh and Gardenia and knew they weren’t all in this gig. Not even close.
Dancing, Harper thought with a smile, was easier than working for the Montagues.
“Hey! You did great!” the curly-haired woman came over to Harper and hugged her.
“Thanks. How did you do?”
“I’m through too!” The woman smiled. “A few of us are going to get a smoothie in celebration. Want to join us?”
She didn’t want this moment to end, even though she knew she should go back to her real life.
Logan wasn’t back yet, she justified.I’ll tell them when we’re all in the same place. “Sure,” she said, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “I’m up for a smoothie.”
The woman clapped her hands. “I’m Jade, by the way.”
“Harper.”
“Nice to meet you.” Jade put her arm around Harper’s shoulders and together, the two women went out the stage door, joining other dancers who were waiting.
CHAPTER NINETEEN - XANDER
“Goodmorning,Gardenia.Haveyou seen Harper?”
Gardenia ducked her head and hurried by him, without a word. Xander frowned. He knew the HR girl was nervous, but she’d never ignored him before.
“Gardenia?” Xander slid his hands into his pockets.
Gardenia turned back down the hall and looked at him briefly before focusing on the carpet.
