New York- Where Dreams are Made

Chapter 193- Wicked

We crash through the Gershwin doors right at 4:00.

Three other women are seated in the wings.

I rush to sit with them, but a hand grabs my arm, pulling me back.

"Wait."

Addie focuses on my face.

She squints and combs her red nails through my hair.

I look down at my own bitten, stubby, and unpainted nails.

I curse myself and look up at her.

She glances over my shoulder.

"Don't. Move."

She reaches into her bag and pulls out eyeliner.

Addie pulls the lid off and stamps it around my eye.

"I don't know a lot about makeup but I don't think you stamp on eyeliner."

She smirks, standing back to admire her work.

Darren hands me his phone.

I turn the camera to look at myself, cringing a bit before seeing the stars she put around my eyes.

"That's really cool!"

Addie laughs softly and puts the eyeliner back in her bag.

I straighten my dress I hanged into in the car.

I'm so glad I brought one to France with me.

Addie tied the bow in the bag and gave me a reassuring smile.

"Knock em dead, Charlie."

I inhaled deeply and walked in to sit with the other girls.

My breath caught in my throat as I stepped in.

They all looked...perfect.

The black hair.

The dark eyes.

The slim waist.

And the perfect makeup.

I gulped and took a seat ad far away from them all as possible.

Then a thought hit me. 

What song will I sing ?

"Shit."

I whispered to myself.

I pulled out my phone, desperately searching for a good song for my voice.

Then I found it.

A song I tucked away deep inside me for years now.

I took a deep breath.

I had to sing it.

It's how it should be.

---------------------

One by one, the girls got called into the auditorium.

I tried to be silent, listening to them sing.

One by one, they all filed out, finishing their second audition.

My foot tapped rapidly on the ground, causing the last woman left to send glares my way.

I stopped tapping my foot, only to start tapping my fingers on my knee.

She rolled her eyes and faced away from me.

"Elyssa Baxter?"

A woman opened the door and called her name.

She sighed with relief and walked through the door.

After a few agonizing minutes, she stepped out, confidence painted on her pale face.

The woman returned and called my name.

I followed her out into the auditorium.

She smiled brightly and spoke into a microphone for the directors to hear.

"Mrs. Charlotte Bara."

The lights above me switched off.

My heart pounded in my ears.

It kept the beat for me.

This was the moment I had been waiting for my whole life.

Wicked.

It was my shot.

My one big chance.

They knew who I was surely.

I've got experience.

I've got talent.

I can do this.

I can't do this.

I can do this.

I can do this.

The music began.

The soft piano tune I'd heard a thousand times.

My mouth opened and I took a breath.

"525,600 minutes. 525 thousand moments so dear. 525 thousand six hundred minutes. How do you measure, measure a year?"

I sighed gently, pausing and letting my words sink in.

"In daylights? In sunsets? In midnights? In cups of coffee? In inches? In miles? In laughter? In strife? In 525,600 minutes. How do you measure a year in the light? How about-"

I took a gasp of air.

"Love? How about love? Measure in love. Seasons of love..."

________________

After I finished, the people I forgot were there stood and clapped.

I gulped and bowed.

The woman that brought me in led me out.

"You did wonderful, Charlotte. I'm sure I'll be seeing you soon."

I thanked her, exiting before anyone else could see the tears pooling in my eyes.

I had done it.

Now...

Now we wait.

How life can change in a few minutes.