“You’ve been phenomenal as Melissa, Sophie, and there’s no denying your onstage chemistry with Jules. We’ve had more buzz off our last two performances than we had during the last three weeks combined.” Kari raised her eyebrows for emphasis. “So, you’re our new Melissa for the remainder of the run. Tabitha is going to step into your former role as understudy.”
“Oh my God.” Sophie slapped a hand over her mouth. She was going to be Melissa for the next three months. It was almost too good to be true.
Jules beamed at her. “Congratulations.”
Kari pointed a finger in their direction. “Whatever is going on between you two, donotlet it affect your performance. Are we clear?”
Jules’s smile widened as she nodded. “Absolutely.”
Sophie almost laughed at the vehemence in that one word, but seriously, if they could get to this point while fighting pretty much since the first night of previews, nothing was going to stop them now. “You have my word,” she told Kari.
Kari nodded, and then she left, heels clicking down the hallway as she headed for the stairs.
Jules and Sophie stared at each other for a few seconds in shocked silence. Sophie was at a loss for words, and before she’d found them, two women appeared in the doorway to Jules’s dressing room. One of them, Sophie recognized as Jules’s mom, Paula. The older woman was clearly her grandma, leaning heavily on a cane.
Jules let out a little squeal, flinging herself into her mother’s arms before turning to her grandma and hugging her much more gently. “Abuelita,” she whispered. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Her grandmother muttered something in Spanish, and Jules half laughed, half cried as her arms tightened around her. She responded to her grandmother in rapid Spanish, and Sophie edged toward the door, feeling like an intruder on this family reunion.
“It’s good to see you again, Sophie,” Jules’s mom said warmly.
“You too, Mrs. Vega,” Sophie told her.
“Paula, please,” she said with a laugh, looking on fondly as Jules and her grandma laughed and joked with each other, and Sophie wished desperately that she’d taken Spanish instead of French in high school.
Jules looked over and caught her eye. “Sophie, this is my grandma, Beatriz. Abuelita, this is Sophie.”
Her grandmother extended a hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Sophie.”
“Likewise,” Sophie told her. “I hope to see you both again later.” She edged toward the door.
“I hope we do too,” Paula told her with a look that made Sophie think she knew a lot more than she had the last time they’d met.
Sophie darted a glance at Jules, who shrugged slightly, still smiling.
“I’ll catch up with you later, Soph,” she said.
“Yep.” Sophie waved as she stepped into the hallway, feeling like her whole world had shifted in the last half hour. She’d said what she needed to say, but Jules hadn’t gotten the chance to say any of it back. Sophie wouldn’t be able to breathe easy until they’d finished that conversation, because even her new role as Melissa felt like a hollow victory without Jules by her side.
25
Jules glanced sideways at Sophie as she bowed. Before them, the audience cheered, rising to their feet. Opening night had gone almost impossibly well. A few early reviews had posted today, all of them positive. Last night, over a round of Broadway Bubbles at Dragonfly, Jules had come out to her grandmother, receiving the reaction her mom had predicted. Her family really was the best.
She hadn’t been able to talk to Sophie alone since that frantic meeting in her dressing room yesterday afternoon, but the air between them felt more electric than ever. Jules had lain awake for hours last night, thinking about the things Sophie had told her, and now, she was ready to make their reunion official.
She walked to the front of the stage for her solo bow. Before her, row after row of people stood clapping. Happy tears welled in her eyes, blurring her vision, and before she knew it, they were spilling over her cheeks. She bent for one final bow, and as she straightened, her gaze found her mom and grandma in the fifth row, clapping enthusiastically.
Jules blew them a kiss before she turned to join the rest of the cast. Sophie stood a few feet away, and Jules couldn’t help it. She gave Sophie a quick kiss before taking her hand as they walked off stage. The first of several interviews Jules had given, where she talked about how her role as Bianca helped her embrace her own sexuality, had posted that morning.
She was officially out, and it felt good. Freeing.
She and Sophie stepped offstage, grinning at each other.
“That was…something,” Sophie said.
Jules nodded. “I have so many things to tell you later. Hopefully, we can steal away from the party.” Because right now, they had to get changed and head to theIt’s in Her Kissopening-night celebration.
“I bet we can.” Sophie gave her hand a squeeze as they parted at Jules’s dressing room.
