Temptation

Chapter Seventeen

At the theater, Alice bought Tom a ticket for the show at one of the better tables that had a good view of the stage. She then went over to Esther's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" She heard Esther call out.

Alice entered the office and greeted Esther with a smile.

"You're here earlier than usual." Esther remarked.

"We had a shorter rehearsal. A lot of the cast was absent. They're a bit sick." Alice replied.

"Well, what brings you to my office?" She inquired.

"I wanted to make a request for Sunday's show."

"Okay."

"I wanted to know if I could do the 'Haunted' number and go out into the audience again."

"Alright. I'll put that as the closing number. Any reason?" Esther asked.

"No. I just really enjoyed it the last time I did it."

"Okay. Request has been heard and the request has been made." Esther smiled.

"Thank you." Alice beamed, exiting the office.

Back in her dressing room, Cory walked in and immediately took the seat next to her.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Why?" Alice retorted.

"Well, given that you were very down the past few days, on the verge of tears, and now suddenly you're very upbeat... I'm a little curious."

"Yes, I will admit we hit a little rough patch but it's all good now." She replied.

"But what happened?"
"I called him my boyfriend, he couldn't call me his girlfriend because he was afraid we would end up like him and Diane, I told him that would never happen and because of his fear I thought for sure I was a rebound. So, I kind of broke it off. Then today, he brought me these..."

Alice got out the daffodils and showed them to Cory.

"Flowers? You made up over flowers?" Cory scoffed.

"Not just over flowers, Cory. We talked it through and he was willing to take the step and call me his girlfriend. Then he gave me these flowers. I told him about George and what he did for me on my birthday. Tom got me daffodils because they meant new beginnings and forgiveness. He remembered what I told him about my brother. That right there showed me how much he really does care about me and how thoughtful he is. I would have been an idiot to still leave him after that. I like him too much to just end what we have, even though it's not much yet." Alice explained.

Cory smiled seeing how much happier she appeared than before.

"Well, I'm glad you've made up and that I can officially say you have a boyfriend." He chuckled.

When Cory left the room, Alice got out her phone and called Tom.

"Hello, Alice."

"Hi, Tom."

"Is something wrong?"

"No, I just wanted to call to tell you that I booked your ticket for you and I can give it to you on Sunday when you pick me up." Alice told him.

"Great. I can't wait to see you."

"I think you're going to be very pleased by the performance that night." She giggled.

"Oh, really? What performance am I going to see?"

"You'll find out." She teased.

"Mmm. Then I'll be looking forward to your performance. And I wish you a great one tonight."