Epilogue
Lily
One year later…
The sound of applause surrounds me, threatening to make my ear drums burst. I take it all in, bowing next to Shay. We’ve just finished our opening performance of Wicked, playing Glinda and Elphaba—their bond reminding me of our own. We’ve become even closer over this last year and it has been an honor to work with my best friend, my sister in this endeavor. I look to the audience and spot my ever-more-handsome husband, his blue eyes meet mine and he blows me a kiss. I pucker my lips back at him and he winks at me. I know I’ll see him backstage momentarily, but I can’t wait.
Since everything happened with Ken last year, I have been working on becoming less paranoid, but still remaining aware of my surroundings. Shortly after his arrest, Ken confessed to everything, to how he gets obsessed with the women in his life and can’t leave them alone. Instead of having to go to trial, he took a plea deal of five years in prison and extensive therapy. I have a restraining order for when he gets out, but I am trying to hope for the best. And in case of the worst, I know Will will be there to protect me.
We eloped just before rehearsals for Wicked began, both realizing we didn’t want to spend another second not being truly bound to each other. While I’ve been busy with the play, Will has been opening up his own self-defense school in the city. It’s really taken off and I love that fewer women will be as vulnerable as I was before he came into my life.
While we’re both stupidly busy, we still make time for each other every morning. We’ve taken to cooking breakfast together, always sure to share the meal before we get lost in the shuffle of the world. I have a twelve week run of shows coming up and then I hope to break into the independent film space, hopefully giving me a bit more flexibility for us to finally start our family. I can’t wait to have my thoughtful, fierce, protective man’s children.
The applause fades and the curtains lower. Shay and I embrace with tears in our eyes. We congratulate each other on a great show and both reveal our excitement over doing this magnificent play eight times a week for the next few months. It really is a dream come true and there’s no one I would rather be on this ride with than Shay, my truest friend, my greatest co-star, the first person who insisted the stalking wasn’t something I should just brush off. I would be lost (or dead) without her.
We go our separate ways as we reach our dressing rooms. I open the door to find a 6’ 3” man with dark waves and eyes of ice staring at me, holding a massive bouquet of lilies. This sight is so different from what used to greet me in my dressing room, I nearly shed a tear at the thought.
Will sets the flowers down on my dressing table and pulls me close.
“You were magnificent, honey. You were made for this role,” he says before kissing me.
“Thank you, baby, and thank you for the lilies. And for being here. And for being you. I love you,” I say between breaths, desperate to have him as close to me as possible.
He pulls back and stares into my eyes. When he finds the heat in my gaze, he growls. “I love you too, honey. And I need to have you. Now.”
He waits for my nod pulling me towards him and carefully unzipping me from the wide pink gown I have to wear for the show. “You look stunning like this, with your new golden hair. I can’t wait to see you in every color and style as you continue to get more roles,” he says, kissing down my spine as he carefully sets the gown aside.
Without another word, he settles on the couch in the corner of my dressing room, pulling me on top of him. I’ve shed my panties and straddle him, fully ready for him to take me. He undoes the zipper of his suit pants, shedding the matching jacket and loosening his tie. He looks so handsome, so needy like this.
He lifts my hips and I sink onto him with a shudder. I’m confident in my rhythm, confident in myself as I begin to ride him into oblivion. Within moments, we’re both falling apart. He fucks me through my orgasm and I collapse onto his chest as I feel him explode inside of me. We sit there, me laying against him as he strokes my back, for what feels like hours. I’m lost in how much has changed in just a year, and so grateful that this perfect, protective man came to my show on a whim a year ago.
“You’re my favorite audience member,” I whisper against his lips. The smile that fills his face makes everything we went through to get here worth it.
~The End