19. Harlowe
Icould see what the problem was as soon as I entered the theatre.
The orchestra wasn’t practicing in the pit for some reason.
Several rows of seating had been removed, and they were sitting in the audience.
Depending on where they sat in the orchestra, they could see the stage if they needed.
A flamboyant painter getting permission to go ass wild in drag in their first ballet performance was going to be distracting.
I would have picked Klaus out even if Cullen hadn’t pointed out he looked like one of Rembrandt’s goofiest self portraits. He was furiously making notes on the score with a giant tumbler of coffee. I decided to get it over with and introduce myself.
“I don’t have time for you,” he snapped when he saw me approach.
“Well, I’ve been assigned your assistant for the show. I can do whatever you need me to do so that you have more time.”
“You can march on back to Johann and tell him I know what a spy looks like. You won’t get my secrets, Succubus.”
Gross.
“Okay, well, I’m just going to sit off to the side and if you need me to fetch anything or take notes, just holler.”
If he wanted to ignore me while I enjoyed a ballet I already liked, that was his business.
I wasn’t trying to convince a paranoid egomaniac that I wasn’t here to ferret out his secrets for his boss.
I wanted to play in the orchestra next year and the last thing I needed to do was piss off someone who’d be handling my audition.
The rest of the orchestra started spilling in and tuning up. Orion was running through scales on the piano. It was a shame he was kind of a dick because he was beautiful when he played. He was intensely focused even when he was doing Hanon finger exercises.
I started gravitating towards him when the Hanon exercises from The Virtuoso Pianist started becoming whatever music was on the top of his head when he started to improvise. Orion really was good. He also looked like a really bad decision. Nope, Harlowe. We aren’t doing that.
I stepped back into the shadows and took a seat. Eventually, they started and launched into the Miniature Overture. I frowned about six bars in. Klaus screeched and stomped his foot. The entire orchestra stopped playing and looked around.
“Succubus spy! Make yourself useful and tell these talentless morons what the problem is.”
Fuck me. I was about to make several enemies. Mom had perfect pitch, an amazing singing voice, and a crippling fear of performing. I inherited her perfect pitch and knew exactly what the problem was.
I cleared my throat. Here went nothing.
“One of the violins has a flat G string and one of the flutes is sharp.”
Klaus was giving me a test. I could say I didn’t know to maybe get some friends in the music department, but I did and saying I didn’t might crush my chances at a spot in the orchestra.
Besides, all of these people were inches away from playing professionally.
They didn’t need their teachers tuning their instruments anymore.
“It’s mine,” a flute player said. “Someone crashed into me on the way here and must have misaligned my cork. I adjusted as best I could, but I’ll have it fixed by next rehearsal.”
“Do that, Sarah. And protect your instruments, though I suppose ruffians in the hallway can’t be helped. Isobel, would you like to explain to everyone why you wasted our time improperly tuning your instrument yet again?”
Isobel shot me a withering glare. Of course, it was her.
Whether I pointed it out or not, her G string was still flat and Klaus was going to single her out.
It was probably embarrassing as fuck to hold up rehearsal while everyone watched you properly tune your instrument, but I also didn’t do that to her.
Klaus was barking out orders like she was still a child and needed help tuning her instrument.
I knew when she had it and rehearsal finally got on. Aside from the tuning blip, the musicians here were talented and so were the dancers. I didn’t know the first thing about ballet aside from my reactions to it. Paige was stunning as the Harlequin Doll in the party scene.
It was finally time for the Nutcracker to come to life and fight the Rat King.
Misha wasn’t a big guy. He was shorter than I was.
It wasn’t dress rehearsal, so he was just wearing his costume head.
His leaps were insane. The guy playing the Nutcracker Prince was bigger than him and Misha easily out jumped him.
He was handsome enough to play the Prince or the Cavalier, but he moved like a predator. Misha Petrovich danced like a big cat.
The show progressed without interruption and I managed to tune out the girl with the damaged flute.
It was a good production. The orchestra was talented, and the dancers were beautiful.
They were on a plain stage in regular tights and leotards with practice tutus, but I had enough imagination to see the costumes and sets with lighting.
The first act ended and the dancers and orchestra took their breaks.
“Succubus spy!” Klaus demanded.
I hadn’t realized he’d made his way over to my corner and was standing in front of me.
“My name is Harlowe.”
“Don’t care. You look like a succubus and I’ll learn your name if you ever convince me you aren’t here to suck my secrets out for Johann like a succubus.
Fetch me some coffee. The second act is a lot more trying than violin players who continually tune their G string a half a step lower than it’s supposed to be. ”
Another test, but thankfully, Orion of all people prepared me for.
I had no idea how to convince this paranoid man I wasn’t trying to suck the secrets out of his head for the headmaster, who I didn’t like all that much, but I could manage coffee.
I worked as a barista in high school and his order was simple.
Klaus looked like he was gleefully ready to rip me a new asshole for getting his coffee wrong, even though he didn’t actually tell me how he wanted it. He eyed me over the rim as he took a big sip and nearly started choking when he realized it was exactly what he wanted.
Yeah, this man would have yelled if I brought him the wrong coffee, but he looked furious I got it right. I realized I was never going to be able to please this man, and it was best to just keep my head down around him.
“You apparently aren’t the only spy in my orchestra, succubus, but my coffee is the only secret you’ll get out of me. Go sit and be quiet.”
I hadn’t made a peep the entire rehearsal, but I was both curious what Klaus was hiding and pretty sure I also didn’t want to know.
The second act started with Clara and her prince landing in the Land of Sweets. Klaus visibly tensed when the Mother Ginger music started. Azriel managed to flounce out on stilts with a hoop skirt hiding dancers. Cullen was right. He was eating this up and having the time of his life.
Mother Ginger’s children started popping out of her hoop skirt to do their dance. Since I wasn’t playing in the orchestra, my eyes were glued to Azriel. I saw when he went from having fun to when his gaze locked on one of the ballerinas and went predatory.
I was guessing that was the girl who hit on Misha.
He was gorgeous, talented, and famous, so I could see the appeal, but he was also taken.
JaToya and I had this whole thing about not chasing men, especially if they were taken, even if they were stupid hot and checked all the boxes.
If they’ll cheat with you, they’ll cheat on you.
Misha was dating two guys, and I wasn’t even sure if he liked girls.
When she danced past Azriel, he stuck his stilts out and whacked her shins. She went sprawling on her face. She had to have done more than just hit on Misha to piss Azriel off like that, right? No one was that possessive or psycho.
The dancers kept saying it was the orchestra who kept getting distracted by Azriel and throwing Klaus off, but Mother Ginger’s children stopped rehearsal this time. I guess they decided to revolt.
“I can’t work with him!” Belinda yelled. “He’s not even a dancer, and he’s going to permanently end my career!”
The music screeched to a stop and a few of the dance professors came out from backstage.
“Azriel, we said you could improvise, but you can’t injure the dancers.”
He plastered this innocent, aw shucks look on his face like he didn’t mean it. I’d been watching him the whole time because he was magnetic on stage. He locked onto that girl and waited for her to get close enough to hit with the stilts.
“Sorry, I just got excited. I’m getting used to being a performer instead of making sets and painting off to the side. I’ll be better.”
“I can’t work with him. He said that the last time he tripped me. He’s going to do it again. Why can’t Toby do it again? He knows the part.”
“Because they’ve already done promo that Misha, Orion, and I are sharing a stage again in different ways, Belinda. Deal with it.”
Belinda shrieked and stomped off stage. The rest of rehearsal was less eventful.
I saw why Rue got the Sugar Plum Fairy as a second year and why they paired her with Cullen.
They were beautiful together. Rue’s feet were a blur and her leg went impossibly high.
Cullen didn’t jump nearly as high as Misha, but he was still amazing.
When rehearsal wrapped up, I realized Klaus expected me to clean the coffee machines, which wasn’t a big deal.
I guess I survived my first Nutcracker rehearsal.