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“Fifteen minute, people, fifteen minutes!”

Madeline, one of our assistant stage managers, called our fifteen minute warning. I tensed, feeling the knot of nerves in my stomach double in size. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes as Janine, one of the show’s make-up artists, finished applying the necessary green paint to my face. She’d already done my arms, hands, neck, back, and chest, and we were just waiting for them to dry before I put the rest of my costume on. My long black wig was perched on its stand on my dressing table, waiting for me to put it on. The room around me was bustling with activity as the rest of the company prepared.

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The next morning dawned bright and early with the alarm buzzing beside my head. I rolled over and shut it off, then kissed Orlando gently and got out of bed. I pulled on my robe and went to the kitchen for some coffee.

I was just switching on the coffee maker when someone knocked at the door. I hurried to answer it before it woke up Lisa or Orlando.

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I met Orlando in the hotel dining room at quarter to ten. He was already there, with a table, waiting for us. He’d showered and pulled his hair back into its traditional ponytail, and was wearing simple blue jeans and a white t-shirt, with a black dress shirt open over top. He looked positively delicious.

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The alarm buzzed loudly the following morning, telling me it was time to get up and face that damned computer screen again. Sherman was curled around my feet, in his usual spot, sound asleep, despite the noise from the insistent alarm. I reached over and shut it off, blinking at the sunlight that was pouring through the windows.

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“Charlotte, you’re late,” Nick scolded as I burst into the room. “Call time is six-thirty, and with the demands you put on your voice each night, you need this warm-up more than anyone.”

I felt my face heat up as I blushed. “I’m sorry, Nick,” I muttered as I took a spot next to Lisa, beside the piano. I saw the smirk on her face, though she tried to hide it by taking a sip of water from her bottle. I nudged her in the side as we began to do scales again. I saw Sean on the other side of the piano, watching me. I smiled, but he looked away.

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The Sunday show is always a matinee, starting at two, so Lisa and I had to be at work by noon. I was up at the crack of dawn, and watched the sun rise over the city, a beautiful site that often goes unappreciated. The weight of pain was heavy on me, and I didn’t have much to say while Lisa made breakfast and forced me to eat some of it. Orlando didn’t call before we left for the theatre, and it killed me inside.

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Two weeks went by after Orlando and I made up, and nothing had yet to come of our decision to make an official announcement about us. Orlando’s publicity team had called me a few times to discuss what I could and couldn’t say to the press in the meantime, but I’d been in the theatre so much, I didn’t have to worry about running into reporters. We were having technical issues with the show, and I’d almost been dropped from the wires twice during tech rehearsals. The second time it happened, Nick was fuming, and I wasn’t much better.

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The interview was set for the following morning at eleven, in the theatre lobby. I stood in front of my closet for a good half an hour, trying to decide what to wear. Orlando had his clothes laid out on the bed when I came out of the shower, and I envied his lack of options. I finally decided on a beautiful royal blue sweater Orlando had bought for me in Toronto, and my favourite grey jeans. Orlando was wearing black jeans and a white collared dress shirt, with a dark green sweater over top. He looked positively yummy.

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My heart sank the following morning when I woke up, knowing that Orlando was leaving that night, between my two performances. I had just enough time to see him to the airport before I had to be back at the theatre. It was after eleven when I awoke, and I had to be at the theatre for noon, to get into make-up for the two o’clock show. I leaned over and kissed Orlando’s sleeping face before getting out of bed to shower and get ready to go.

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The next week or so seemed to drag by, as I anxiously counted the days until Christmas Eve. Excitement among the company grew every day, as we all looked forward to some much-needed time off. We were doing eight shows a week, with no days off, and it was starting to take its toll on us all. By the time the last night rolled around, we were all running on pure adrenaline.

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