flopped | lippa

Tension

A few hours had gone by and Pippa was sitting at her dressing room vanity, applying her stage makeup. She could tell that most everyone in the cast was here now by the chattering noises of susurration that murmured from the corners of the theater, but she hadn't yet gone out to talk to anyone. Lin was most likely there, and she didn't want to have to see him. She knew that was dumb of course, especially considering she had to pretend to be his wife for three hours in a bit, but she wanted to stall as long as possible. She heard a sudden knock at the door.

"Who is it?" she asked, skeptically. It better not be Lin.

"It's Lin." the voice said. Fuck.

"Go away, please." she replied, trying to be as polite as possible.

"Please Pip? Can we talk?" he protested. She rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation.

"Fine. Come in." she gave in. The door opened to reveal Lin on the other side. Pippa didn't so much as glance at him, reaching for her mascara on the other side of the table. He came inside the room and closed the door gently behind him.

"Pip?" he whispered. Pippa began to apply her mascara.

"Can I help you?" she snapped flatly. She felt a bit mean, but she really just wanted to be alone right now.

He frowned and slipped his hands in his pockets. "Why are you mad at me?"

She took a moment to screw the cap on her makeup and finally turned around to look at him.

"Mad?" she laughed loudly and sarcastically. "Where'd you get that from?"

"Pippa..." Lin sighed.

"I'm sorry- can you please just... leave me alone for a bit?" she said numbly, looking down again.

He paused for a moment, unsure of how to respond. He'd leave her alone if that's what she wanted, but he was so lost. What did he do wrong?

"Y-yeah. Whatever you need." he whispered. If that's what she needed from him, he'd do whatever it took. He hated seeing her upset, and it was worse that she wouldn't tell him why. He missed her beautiful smile- it'd been a little while since he'd seen it. Seeing her happy always brought him joy.

"Thank you." she murmured. He glanced at her once more, holding back tears, before slowly opening the door and leaving.

A while later, Pippa was backstage getting ready to come on for Helpless. She didn't really want to pretend to be infatuated with Lin right now, but her job and acting came before her own personal insecurities and issues. She heard her cue and immediately plastered on a fake smile, straightened out her dress, and entered the stage. She performed the whole number with maximized enthusiasm. She ended by kissing Lin, but there was little to no passion, and she didn't look him directly in the eyes. She almost was mad at herself for being mad at him. He didn't do anything. It wasn't his fault he didn't want kids. She'd sit down and have a conversation with him tomorrow. And tell him everything that was going on.

During Satisfied the tech crew constantly turned their mics on and off when they were or weren't singing. When they were off, Lin leaned over to Pippa next to her and whispered to her discreetly.

"Can we talk? Please? What's going on?" he breathed.

"Rewind..." they sang when their mics turned on. A second later Lin resumed.

"Is it something specific I did? Is it because I've been busy? I'm really sor-" he broke away and crossed stage right.

"You strike me, as a woman who has never been satisfied." he sang, getting back into character.