[Eliza holds out her hand.]
Lars
I think it’s best for both of us if I stay in the shadows.
[Lars takes a large swig of his whiskey.]
Eliza
No one will find us here, darling. I’ve got people watching at every entrance. Any sign of Melvin we’ll be gone before he’s even in the door.
[Eliza offers Lars her hand again, but he waves it away, downs his glass and gestures to the bartender for another.]
Lars
No, it’s not that.
Eliza
Then what, Lars? Why can’t you dance with me?
[Eliza holds out her hand one last time.]
Lars
I can’t dance.
[The music crescendos. Dancing girls erupt onto stage with a high-pitched squeal and the bartender comes out from behind the bar, slides a fresh glass of whiskey over to Lars and takesEliza’s hand himself.
The four dancers wave their arms, kick their heels and their dresses rattle and sparkle in the lights. Other customers take to the floor but none of them dance as expertly as Eliza and the bartender. Centre stage, he twirls her effortlessly, her burgundy dress rippling across the floor, missing people’s feet by a hair’s breadth. Eliza’s smile sparkles as brightlyas the sequins and beads on the dancers’ dresses but with her eyes closed, her fingers wrapped tightly around the bartender’s hands and the trumpets blaring, she can’t see Lars’ pained expression or the sound of his cry as a strong pair of hands reaches out from the shadows and bundles him into the wings.
A scream pierces through the music. Eliza’s head snaps up to see a burly man standingtall, clutching a handgun in his thick fingers. The dancers scatter and duck behind the bar. The bartender kisses Eliza on the cheek before darting behind the bar himself and shielding two of the girls from any potential harm. People race past Eliza, pushing her this way and that, stopping her from reaching the table where she had left Lars, but she can already see he is missing.]
Eliza
Lars! LARS!
[The lights black out and the stage is plunged into darkness.]
‘Okay! Thanks everyone!’ Michael shouted, interrupting the action on stage. ‘Um… okay… um… Let’s do that again but this time let’s try… actually I’m coming up there. Gimme two seconds.’
Olive pushed a loose pin in her wig back into the hair until she could feel it poke herhead. Doug jumped up and slid himself onto the bar, waving at Olive and giving her a thumbs-up.
You too!she mouthed, but her eyes danced into the wings. She looked around. Everyone seemed busy fiddling with their dresses or their shoes or surreptitiously flicking through script pages to brush up on lines before they got to the scenes they were unsure on. Olive took her chance to dart intothe wings.
‘Oscar?’ she whispered but there was no reply. The wings were dark when the lights on stage were low and her eyes hadn’t yet adjusted. She felt her way along the wall up to the upstage entrance, and although no one seemed to be around she was sure she sensed another presence amongst the props and rails of costumes. She paused and then realised it was more than just a feeling.She could actually hear someone breathing.
‘Doug? Is that you?’ She could imagine Doug’s little smirk as he waited with bated breath to pounce and make her jump so hard her wig fell off. ‘I’ll hate you for ever if you do this!’
Then someone moved out of the shadows, and Olive’s heart knocked against her ribs so hard she thought it would burst clean through.
‘Sorry,’ said avoice she didn’t recognise. It sounded dry and unused but warm nevertheless. ‘Didn’t mean to startle you there.’
‘No worries! We’ve not properly been introduced; I’m Olive. Playing Eliza. In the show.’ She gestured to her costume but she wasn’t sure he could see in the dim light.
‘Yes. I know. You’re very good,’ the man said, straightening his cap.
‘Oh, thank you. Do you knowthis show at all?’ Olive could hear Michael’s voice on stage and looked back into the wing. Suddenly, with a great click, they were swathed in a clinical white light.
