As my eyes met with Preston’s, I could see there was something wild and full of promise in them tonight.
We reached the final diagonal. First, there were the quick hand exchanges, followed by a few turns before two jumps. The end was near as Preston kneeled, and with a final turn, I landed on his thigh.
And right as I landed, he planted a big kiss on my lips.
I looked at him, shocked as a completely sold-out theater erupted to its feet in thunderous applause.
He kissed me. In front of two thousand people, and now they were on their feet. My heart was pounding—not from the choreography, but from the way he looked at me like I was his whole world.
Nearly two thousand people were celebrating our performance, but more so our pairing, as it was without a doubt, most were here due to the omega couple rumors.
Preston and I stood as we were supposed to while the main couple walked up to us. Adrienne’s jaw tightened as she stepped into place, her forced smile barely masking the storm behind her eyes.
However, the applause was still going, and there was no way anyone could hear the music. I glanced down at the conductor, who was mouthing to us—bow. Preston saw the hint, too. He turned to the audience and led me forward. We both took a quick, impromptu bow to settle the applause.
We turned back to the main couple and took our position again so the ballet could proceed. Adrienne looked as though she wished to murder me. The conductor led the orchestra into the next song, where Preston and I were able to bow to the main couple so we could leave the stage and let the rest of the performance continue.
Once offstage, he pulled me into the biggest hug ever and spun me around.
“I can’t believe you kissed me!” I whispered, laughing in his ear as we walked downstairs to our dressing room backstage.
“I was so caught up in the moment, and with everyone cheering us on, I just went with it.” His smile was so large, and a fun twinkle lived in his eye. “The look on your face was priceless!”
We laughed all the way back to our dressing room, where we needed to wait till the end of the show to take a final bow. Music from the ballet played over the loudspeaker as we chatted away, laughing and joking in our dressing room. The first act finished, intermission passed, and soon enough, the second act was well under way.
“I don’t believe I’ve ever had a theater react like that to anything I’ve performed. That was wild,” I gushed as I shook my head. “Do you think that’s just the rumors everyone’s excited about?”
“Honestly I don’t know, but the weekend will be a good indicator if it continues.” He leaned back into his chair, crossing his hands behind his head.
“Do you miss being the lead?” I asked him as we heard the final adagio start over the loudspeakers.
“Nah…I mean, I’ll look forward to performing with you, but just doing this duet right now has been a lot of fun.” He pulled me onto his lap and started to nuzzle against my neck.
“Don’t you dare mess up my hair! I have a bow to do!” I joked to him, enjoying his touch.
Places for curtain calls.The announcement rang out over the loudspeaker in the dressing room.
Preston and I stood up and made our way back upstairs to prepare, meeting the rest of the company in the wings. The main couple finished in their last pose as the curtain came down and applause rang out from the audience.
One by one, all the performers took their bows, starting with the corps and up through the soloist roles. Preston and I were set to bow third to last, not quite in lead positions but enough to be acknowledged on our own.
As soon as we stepped back out on stage, the thunderous applause returned. I must have looked stunned as Preston gently tugged me with him to move forward. He led me to our downstage center mark to bow before we stepped back in line with the rest of the cast. Next came the lead character role, followed by the main couple, Adrienne and Max, all of whom received significantly less applause. We remained onstage with the entire cast, taking a group bow until the final curtain dropped.
I breathed a sigh of relief while Preston pulled me into another tight hug.
“One show under our belt,” I whispered to him as he kissed my cheek.
Right as Preston was releasing me from our hug, Dem's voice caught us by surprise. “Come on, you two,” he called over to us. He stood by the curtain seam, gesturing to us. “You’re going to take a private bow.”
I stared at him, stunned. Private bows were reserved for stars—those at the top of their craft who had led the production, and they were usually only done in major cities.
Shaking my head no, I remained frozen in my spot. That would be mortifying to step out there to little reception. I’d be the laughing stock of the company.
Dem smiled softly as he walked over and reached for my hand.
“The house manager is asking you to. The house is chanting ‘omega,’” he softly said to us. He led Preston and me over to the part in the curtain and pulled it open.
Preston smiled down at me as he took my hand. There was both nervousness and excitement in his eyes, contrasting greatly with my terrified expression.
