Love is Ours {See Final Author's Note}

Chapter Four

[Ramin]

"Nice to meet you," Ramin shook Tam's hand firmly, giving him a small smile.  Tam returned the gesture.

Ramin backed away to let the rest of the cast formally meet Tam.  He noticed Sierra was lingering in the corner, nervously looking at the group.  He trudged over to her, not sure if she wanted to be alone or not.

"Hey, you okay?" He gently asked her, placing a hand on her shoulder.  She obviously hadn't seen him coming, because she looked slightly startled and quickly moved away.  Ramin awkwardly lowered his hand and shoved it in his jeans pocket.

"Who, me?  Oh, I'm fine," she assured him, plastering a smile on her face. 

Ramin could tell she was lying, but he could tell she was uncomfortable so he didn't push the issue.

"Alright, then," he pursed his lips and slowly backed away. 

He finally turned around and saw Tam heading in Sierra's direction.  He almost warned him not to go over there, that Sierra wanted to be left alone, but Tam hurried past him before he got the chance to say anything. 

He shrugged and turned to Joseph Millson, who immediately started going on about a recent wrestling match.

Ramin was intrigued by the topic until he saw Tam and Sierra out of the corner of his eye.  Tam had kissed Sierra's cheek, and they were now holding hands as they intently talked.  Ramin barely noticed that Sierra's expression still looked fake.

He got a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach.  He couldn't put his finger on what it was, but he wasn't used to it.  He watched Sierra softly giggle and shyly look down, causing her wavy red hair to tumble in her eyes.  As she gently shook her head to put her locks back in their proper place, Ramin couldn't help but notice how undeniably pretty she was.

"Earth to Ramin," Joseph frantically waved his hands in front of Ramin's face.  Ramin blinked a few times as Joseph snickered.

"What?" Ramin ran a hand through his hair.

"I saw you looking at Sierra," Joseph noted. Thankfully, he had lowered his voice. 

"So?  We're just friends," Ramin said a little too quickly.

Joseph shrugged.  "It's not my business, but just watch out."

Ramin furrowed his brow.  "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just be careful," Joseph repeated quietly.

Ramin didn't have time to press the issue further, because Andrew was formally starting rehearsals.

"We're going to start blocking "'Til I Hear You Sing" and "Dear Old Friends" today," he announced.

For the past couple weeks, they had been learning their songs and blocking big group numbers, but this was the first time Ramin and Sierra would rehearse alone. 

As Ramin went to grab his script, he couldn't help but get distracted by what Joseph had told him.

[Thirty minutes later]

"...then you walk to the piano." Jack finished giving Ramin a portion of his blocking. 

Ramin nodded and tried the sequence on his own.  Jack nodded his approval. 

"And, Sierra, you're in the glass case just standing motionless for this whole portion of the song," Jack told her.  She stepped onto the red "X" that had been taped on the floor. This was currently the glass case until they moved to the Adelphi.

After rehearsing the blocking for another twenty minutes, Andrew dismissed them for break.

Ramin and Sierra walked awkwardly to their dressing rooms.

Ramin wished he could find something clever to say, but instead: "So are you dating Tam?" popped out.

Ramin instantly tried to apologize, but Sierra waved it off.

"That's fine.  And, yes, Tam and I are dating," she sighed.

Ramin felt the tiniest bit better about not offending her, though he still had a pit in his stomach. 

They had reached Sierra's dressing room, and neither knew what to say.

Sierra finally just started opening her door, and Ramin's heart sank.

"So are we ever going to watch The Anchorman?" She abruptly said, turning to face him again.

Ramin smiled as he let out a sigh of relief.  "We're pretty much morally obligated to," he chuckled.

Sierra laughed.  "Friday at seven, then?  At my place?"

Ramin nodded.  "I'll be there."

Sierra smiled again before disappearing into her dressing room.

Ramin walked away with a smile on his face, feeling more accomplished than he had in a long time.