Page 144 of Dancing in the Dark

Charlie:

1 min

got caught up of wrk

if*

AT!

“Daddy!” Mia thrusts her arms high into the sky. “Hi Daddy! Can you see me?”

“Watch out, McStinkerson. Miss Fifi might get grumpy about you doing that.”

“Fifi doesn’t get grumpy,” she giggles. “Not mean grumpy. Just—” She wags her finger in his face. “Don’t do that, cos it’s not safe, grumpy. Which is okay, cos it never makes my tummy sick when she does that.”

Charlie:

30 secons

ducking typos

you know what o men!

“He’s nearly here!” Mia kicks her legs out, wriggling and squirming until Cato sets her on her feet, then she dashes across and grabs my hand. “Everybody needs to sit down! Cato! Over there!”

“Since when did you get so bossy, huh?” He makes a show of throwing his head back and rolling his eyes. Dropping his hands into his pockets, he returns to his squeaky chair and plops down with a noisy harrumph. “Happy?”

“We need music!” Mia grabs Minka’s hand and marches her back to her seat. “You have to sit here, Aunty Minka. And Aubree, too.” She swings back around in search of the second. “You sit here. No!” She points a dangerous finger toward Raquel. “You can’t sit there.”

“I can’t?” She turns a full circle, kind of how a dog chases its tail. “Why can’t I sit here? It’s an empty seat!”

“That’s Daddy’s seat!” She dashes to Raquel’s back and steers her toward the second row. “My daddy never ever gets to be up front. So I saved him a seat special.”

Charlie:

You’re reading these messages

They say read.

But you’re not replying. Are you mad at me?

Please don’t be mad. I’m juggling. This is me juggling!

I pushed that motherfucker through booking so damn fast, his head is still spinning.

“They’re in the elevator.” Minka looks up from her phone with a smile. “Also, your butt is hanging out of your tutu. Is that a workplace sexual misconduct claim, or, since you no longer work here, more of a general sexual deviance thing?”

“Hush.” Cato lounges back in his chair, one foot forward, his legs dropped wide, and his eyes hungrily on my thighs. “Let the woman be a sexual deviant if she wants to be. I support your choices, Fifi.” His lips curl into a leering grin. “Go about your bad self.”

“Here they come!” Mia squeezes her fists and tenses all over. She trembles with excitement and stares straight through the gap between audience seats to the rooftop door. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. “It’s taking a long time, huh?”

“Why don’t you come over here with me? The star of the show should be behind the curtain until it’s time to start, shouldn’t she?” I tuck errant strands of hair behind her ear and draw her eyes up to mine. “To accept your applause and build anticipation, you’re supposed to be hidden until it’s time.”

“But I am behind the curtain already.” She wraps shaky hands around mine and snuggles in close. “This entire roof is a stage in the dark, so that means we’re all behind the curtain.”

“Even me, McStinkerson? I always wanted to be backstage at one of these things.”

“We’re here!” The stairwell door crashes open as two sweaty, puffing, wheezing detectives slam against the brick framing. Charlie’s chest lifts and falls at a punishing pace, his cheeks fiery red and his inch-long hair hanging across his forehead.