MOZAIK

13

We walked down the backstage corridor towards the artists' dressing room to check and touch up our makeup one last time before our performance. The fluorescent tubes had bathed the hallway in a cold white light, making our gem bedazzled one-pieces sparkle.

When we opened the door to the dressing room, Damiano was alone at the makeup table, busy securing his earrings. He saw us in the mirror, grinned and said: "Ready to go, ladies?"

"Of course.", Vic exclaimed, as enthusiastic as ever, as she headed towards the mirror. She leaned in to fix her hair and asked: "Hey Damiano, by the way, where's Ethan? He just shrugged and replied: "I have no idea; I guess he went for a smoke."

"Alright, I'll go check on him. After all, we only have about 15 minutes left until the performance.", she said. I was about to turn around to leave the room with Vic to get some fresh air when I heard Damiano's rough voice behind me: "Benedetta, do you have a minute?"

"Sure thing.", I shrugged and he motioned for me to sit down, pointing to the chair next to him. I walked over and took a seat, not in the chair but on the edge of the dressing table. "So what's on your mind, Dami?" I asked, curious.

"Well, to be honest, not much on my mind either. We just haven't really had a chance to see each other and talk one-on-one these past few days.", he shrugged.

"But anyway, I'm glad to see that all the pre-performance tension has melted away for you, and you can truly enjoy it now."

"Yeah," I replied, "you were absolutely right about that. It takes a little getting used to, but then it's truly amazing." I smiled and couldn't wait for the next performance. Of course, there was still a bit of a knot in my stomach before going on stage, but that rush of adrenaline and the euphoria from the cheering crowd were just priceless. Those sweaty palms were definitely worth it.

"Yeah, right?", he agreed with a smile. "The only downside is that I can't test more of my calming or rather distraction maneuvers on you.", he winked at me.

"That's true. It won't be necessary anymore," I grinned. Deep down, I hoped he wouldn't delve further into the topic, because ever since I had first seen Bojan, I hadn't entertained any romantic thoughts about any other man. To be honest, it felt like our kiss was ages ago, as the days on tour felt incredibly long to me, simply because time was so intense and filled with new experiences. So I hoped that he, had long forgotten about it.

"I'm really glad you're enjoying tour life.", he brought me back from my thoughts. "Even though we haven't been on the road for that long, the schedule is so packed that it can get tiring at times.", he admitted.

"Yeah, I'm glad too. To be honest, I didn't expect it to be this cool.", I replied with a smirk.

"And I think you really bring a fresh energy to the stage. It's so refreshing. Normally, I'm completely drained after a week on tour. It's the same routine every night: check into the hotel, soundcheck, getting all dolled up, warm-up, rocking on stage, changing, and back to the hotel.", he described. "But I don't know, your mere presence on stage motivates me immensely. I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't usually wear such a goofy grin when I'm on stage, like I have during this tour." he admitted.

It surprised me that I could have such an impact on people, as I always felt so insignificant myself.

"Don't let Thomas hear about this. Vic was close to tears today when she talked to him on the phone because she misses him so much," I warned teasingly.

"But seriously, I'm genuinely happy to hear that.", I replied with a shy smirk.

He just shrugged and gave me an uncertain smile. I admired his ability to speak openly about his feelings.