Page 10 of A Temporary Forever

The silence I enjoyed just a minute ago spreads eerily now. We’re probably the only two people stillhere. The realization coils around my spine, and I step back.

Goddammit. I square my shoulders and raise my chin, hiding my internal freak-out.

“Celeste, you know we’re a small house, and a lot of admin work is on my shoulders,” he says before he stops.

I swallow around the dryness in my mouth, but also to keep the words locked. Because if he didn’t insist on a lot of unnecessary paperwork, he wouldn’t need to complain.

Squashing my remark, I rake my brain for what I might have forgotten to log or sign.

“I still found time to fill out all the tedious paperwork to renew your visa, but I was too late, and you missed the deadline. As of tomorrow, your old visa expires.”

I blink, my shoulders sagging slightly, but I quickly regain my composure and face him with a straight spine.

While my body is trained to perform on demand, my mind is misfiring in many directions.

“But I killed it tonight.”

Yes, that’s what I come up with. Amid losing my job, my ability to stay in Manhattan, my friends, the dream of reopening my school, I point out how well I danced tonight.

The irony of the situation is that I’ve been here already. After Charles van den Linden, Saar’s father, got me blacklisted from work in New York, I almost lost my visa.

This gig saved me. I reminded Reinhard to fill out the paperwork on several occasions. Every single time, he made me feel like I was a nuisance. Merde, I shouldn’t have trusted him.

“That’s beside the point and, frankly, a loss to me that I really don’t appreciate. But the situation stands. I can’t employ you illegally.”

I remain standing like a queen in front of him, forcing myself to postpone my breakdown. I can cry later, when I’m alone. When I can afford to be vulnerable. When I can lose it safely.

“What does that mean?” I really wish my voice came out with the confidence I fake in front of him. Instead, I rasp the words around the desert in my throat.

He huffs, annoyed with me or the situation, I’m not sure which. “Your understudy will have to take over quickly after tomorrow. At least the success of tonight might hopefully secure a sold-out house.”

I blink.

I swallow.

I clear my throat.

None of it delivers any helpful thoughts.

“But I’m sure we can appeal. They must give me a visa if I’m employed here.”

He shrugs. “Look, Celeste, I don’t have time for all the red tape and paperwork, and you’ve been around long enough to know everyone is replaceable. By the time your visa is fixed, we’ll be halfway through this season.”

“But—”

“Spare me.” He raises his hand to silence me. “Come back tomorrow, but you can’t work here afterward.”

Chapter 4

Celeste

Saar

You were fantastic! Congratulations.

Cora

I wish I’d been there.

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