Status Quo | ✓

-18-

Clara pushed opened the door and entered the dressing room, mentioning, "Rae, Olivia's up. You're asked to get ready at the backstage soon."

Nodding, I rubbed my clammy palms together nervously as I stared blankly at my own reflection in the mirror. Clara walked towards me and waved her hand in front of me, snapping me back into attention immediately. She asked, "Are you okay, my dear?"

"U-Um, yeah," I stammered, but the nervous tone in my voice gave me away. 

"I'm sure you'll do well," Clara assured, patting lightly on my shoulder. "Just treat it like any other performances you had before." 

"You're right," I comforted myself, even though my fingers were still interlocked in a way that showed how jumpy I felt within. 

Today's performance wasn't exactly of a grand scale, it was simply a grading examination that was opened to the public. It only felt a little bit different this time because I had invited Leon over and the fact that he texted me yesterday night saying that he would be here made me feel all jittery and tensed. I could only hope that I wouldn't screw this performance up for the important audience I had tonight. 

Beside me, Clara said funnily, "Funny to see how scared you'd always become when you had been performing for your whole life." 

"Every performance felt like the first in my life," I exhaled a breath. 

"Well, I guess that's why you do really well each time round since you're serious about each and every opportunity you had," she smiled. 

A knock sounded from the door to my dressing room and a performance staff pushed the door ajar while reminding, "Ms Anderson, please head over to the backstage soon." 

I gave her a signal, acknowledging her reminder before I moved to pick up the bow of my cello and applied rosin along with the hair. Clara was with me as we moved to the backstage together and my gaze went towards Olivia, who was on the stage while hitting the last note of her piece. With grace, she slowly positioned her flute away and bowed to the audience. Sounds of applause echoed through the concert hall as the curtains cascaded down slowly. 

Olivia made her way towards the backstage and a few staff members worked to get my cello on stage. Smiling at me, Oliva gave me a light pat on my shoulder to cheer me on as I inhaled a deep breath before walking towards my seat. 

My accompanying pianist whispered with a smile towards me, "All the best, Rachelle." 

"Thank you," I returned with a smile. 

A moment later, the curtains raised and I stood up to bow to the audience. Holding onto my cello firmly and positioning it between my knees, my eyes darted across the audience and stopped when I spotted Leon smiling at me. 

Before this moment, I thought that seeing him would make me more nervous than usual. However, the sight of him smiling confidently at me washed me over with a sense of calm and made me feel more at ease. Placing my bow against the strings and positioning my fingers on the fingerboard of my cello, I turned towards the pianist and gave him a nod.