Hey Bartender, Hit Me

Chapter 12

"Are you ready for this?" Niall squealed, jumping up and down beside him.

    Luke smiled, ready to be led into the auditorium they'd be using for their show. They were on a tour of the theater, having just come from the lobby, where everyone had met.

    "Luke, this way." The director, Evan called.

    "Coming, Mr Hansen." Luke nodded to his friends and walked up to the director of the show. He put his arm around Luke and opened the door to the stadium.

    "Here's your new home, young man." He smiled at Luke. "I think that with you, we can make this one of the greatest new shows on Broadway."

    Luke couldn't stop grinning. Evan really thought he had a chance at this.

    "So here's how it's going to work," he told him, guiding him further into the auditorium so everyone else could come in as well. Evan led him down the aisle and towards the steps to the stage. Luke took his time walking, really wanting to absorb everything that he was seeing.

    He ran his eyes over the red velvet seats with the dark wood armrests, the beige patterned carpet underneath his feet. He looked up, almost falling over as he gazed up at the intricately  painted ceiling and fancy chandeliers. Realizing Evan was practically up the stairs already, he moved on, following behind him and walking to the center of the stage.

    "Look out here, Luke. This is your future. This is all for you." Evan put his hands on Luke's shoulders and squeezed a bit. Luke stood centerstage and looked out at his costars who were waiting for something to happen. In a louder voice, he called, "Okay, cast and crew. Let's all get up here. We're going to start with some warm ups and getting to know everyone before we start a script run through. We have most of the script done, we're going to be writing and tailoring the songs we have in mind specifically for Luke, so once we've got all that together we'll really be on our way."

    Excited murmurs were heard throughout the entire room. Luke looked to his side and saw Niall and Calum next to him, and they gave him a thumbs up.

    "All right, give it up for choreographer, Jeremy Heere."

    Everyone applauded and a short dark haired man made his way to the front.

    "Hey, everyone, I'm Jeremy, I'm one of the choreographers for the show. I'm very excited to be working with you, and I can't wait to get to know all of you."

    A few people cheered and he quieted them down.

    "Okay, before we get to work on a dance number warm up, I want everybody to find their own space. We're going to do a little bit of meditation before we get started. Find a spot, on the floor, come on people, move along." Jeremy urged everyone. Niall and Calum moved over to lean against the wall and waved Luke over, but after last night with Michael, he just didn't want to try to relax near it. He shrugged and lay on the ground near the front of the stage instead.

    "Okay, everyone close your eyes, and just listen." 

    Luke closed his eyes, lying on his back with his arms folded over his chest.

    "Breathe in..." All around him he heard a collective breath. "And breathe out. Pay no attention to the rest of your surroundings, just relax and clear your mind."

    Luke did his best to listen, but found he kept thinking of everything going on.

    "Any troubles that come to your mind in the next ten minutes, I want you to go ahead and breathe in, then exhale your worries out, releasing your stress, any tension you have, anything that's gone wrong, just push it out of your mind. We want only positive thoughts right now."