“Jerzie?” Alan slides off his baseball cap and scratches his bald head. “Have you even learned this choreography?”
As a standby I don’t get to rehearse with the cast. I learn the numbers only by watching. But I have a slight superpower that Alan doesn’t know about. I learn quick. In fact, after watching only once, I know the entire dance.
“I have one of those weird minds.” I knock on my forehead with my knuckles, which, ow. It’s the spot that just got whacked with the door, and yep, Zeppelin was right. There’s a bruise, all right. I’m sure it’s not as big as it feels. “I memorized it already. It’s pretty straightforward. Except at the key change when Roman and Jewel switch positions and Jewel walks backward for eight counts.” I hold up my script. “That’s what I have in my notes anyway.”
“Impressive.” Elias claps his hands excitedly. “Très bon! Come.” He moves to me, gently takes my arm, and guides me to the front of the room.
I notice Alan and Robbie both glancing at the door.
“Do not worry,” Elias says to them. “She is busy being adored.”
“Let’s hurry anyway,” Alan declares.
Elias pushes me into position as the pianist begins with the soft chords that start the song.
Okay, this is happening. It’s really happening. I take a moment to compose myself by closing my eyes and taking a few deep breaths. I push aside any and all nerves and allow that magical thing to take over the way it always does when I perform. Jerzie goes away to present someone new. When I open my eyes, the piano chords are a gentle lullaby. The room is my stage. Zeppelin and I cross slowly toward one another, and I forget the cameras—I forget everything and everyone but us.
I have to admit, it’s nice to stare into his blue eyes and not have to feel bad about it or quickly look away. They draw me in. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear he really was in love with me. Who could look at me in such a way? No one has ever looked at me in such a way.
We meet in the center of the room and press our hands together. There is so much heat emanating off him that when we touch, my body feels like it’s been ignited. I am a flame. I work hard to keep my knees from buckling and turning to cinder.
He steps behind me the way he did with Cinny and wraps an arm around my waist. My eyes close as I feel the warmth of him pressed against me. His soft waves of hair tickle my cheek and neck when he leans in. No wonder Cinny kept falling! How can you concentrate with this perfect human’s body pressed against you? I’m getting lost in the sensation of him when I remember I’m supposed to be counting. Oops. Focus, Jerzie! Okay. I’m focused.
He’s resting his head in the nape of my neck, and I’m not sure if he was doing this before with Cinny, but I feel his lips graze my collarbone. Damn, they’re soft. It sends something pulsing through me that I’ve never felt before. What is this feeling? Oh shit, I’m not counting. Count, Jerzie. Count! I start the counts in my head, step, and spin.
The move is flawless, and the moving portion of the floor is activated. Zeppelin steps beside me and wraps his arm around my waist as we walk.
He leans closer and whispers, “A lot of touching in this scene. You’re okay with it?”
I nod.
“All of it? Promise I don’t bite.”
His breath is warm and tickles my ear. Bite me if you want! I think. I purse my lips together to keep from laughing and nod again to assure him I’m okay. With all of it. Now his fingertips gently slide down my cheek as we continue to stare into one another’s eyes. Just that quickly... I don’t feel like laughing anymore.
“I think I remember you.” We both sing. “But how can that be true...when I’ve never seen your face before. How could I... remember you?”
I know I’m supposed to do exactly what Cinny does, so as to not throw Zeppelin off, but Cinny wasn’t really doing much of anything. So, following Zeppelin’s lead, I belt out some of the notes and take a gentler approach when the lyrics move me to. I’m a mezzo-soprano, although some might call me a soprano, because I can sing the higher notes with ease, too. It’s just the lower notes feel perfectly placed within me. If I were to compare my singing voice to anyone’s, it would probably be Sia when I’m belting. Maybe Jhené Aiko when I’m not.
Now Zeppelin and I have reached the key change. This is where we switch places. He takes my hand, and I step into the turn. When I finish the eight-count spin, I’m the one walking backward.
It’s not like the floor is moving all that fast, but to add to the complexity of the backward walk and the moving floor, Zeppelin pulls me closer to him, so that we’re sort of stepping in between each other’s legs. I’m looking down at first, sort of nervously watching our legs, hoping we don’t get tangled up and I fall splat, but Zeppelin lifts my chin so that I’m staring into his eyes again. Somehow, those eyes make me feel steady.
We continue the simple dance with the floor moving beneath our feet. He’s doing all the hard work. Moving around me. Jumping from one side to the other. Making me genuinely laugh with his silly faces. At one point, he drops to his knees and falls back onto the floor. I walk over him. He chases me. Grabs me again so that I stumble into his arms. It’s seriously so fun. It’s sexy, too. Especially when the laughter quiets and our hands and bodies connect. It’s exhilarating. If true love were a song and dance, it would totally be this one. I’m floating. I swear I’m soaring high above the clouds, and Zeppelin is my safety. He’s the wind. He’s my antigravity. My forever until eternity.
As the song nears the end, he steps behind me and presses his body to mine so that we’re so close, I pretty much feel all of him. And I do mean all. Whoa. He turns me around to face him one last time, just as the floor stops moving and the song ends.
I step away as Cinny did. That’s what’s in my notes. It’s the move that officially ends the number, and it’s the cue for Jewel to get whisked away by the actor playing the housekeeper—Shakespeare’s nurse. This is when she learns he is Roman, the son of Senator Monaghan. And he learns she is Jewel, the daughter of Senator Calloway. But as I turn to step away, Zeppelin extends a hand and draws me back to him. I sort of stumble right into his arms. He lowers his head and kisses me tenderly on the lips.
I hear a collective gasp from Elias, Robbie, Alan, the two cast members sitting in the corner, even the pianist. I’d gasp myself if my lips weren’t pressed to his.
The kiss lasts for a second. Maybe two. Or maybe this kiss is lasting for an eternity. Maybe, in some alternate dimension, this kiss is pretty much the spark that ignited the big bang. It’s this kiss that has spawned an entire universe. That’s what’s happening right now. Zeppelin and I—we’re universe building.
We open our eyes at the same time, our lips still connected. I somehow manage to pull away from him, but I kid you not, my heart sort of breaks in the process. It feels like I’m saying goodbye again. I’m really Jewel in this moment, and he’s my Roman, and we really did reconnect after spending so many lifetimes apart. I miss him already.