Page 80 of Guarding the Singer

"You can't see it now, but I had cuts and pin pricks all over my hands doing that movie. I had a feeling it was going to end up being messy, so I started with all the light-colored dresses first. By the time I reached the end? Working on dark fabric was the only thing saving the outfit from looking like it came from a crime scene."

Selene shook her head. "The most elegant crime scene in history."

"You should ask Mandy about it."

"Mandy?" Selene turned her head and winced when something pricked her skin. "Sorry."

Jessica winced in reply. "Try not to move, please."

Selene felt bad. She'd been standing still, but finding out that Mandy had been in the movies? That had shocked her. Down to her core.

"But she's... she's so..."

"So quiet?" Jessica nodded. "I don't know what happened, but at one point she was the belle of the ball. She's so bright and that girl had talent. It was after that film," Jessica sighed softly, "she just disappeared. When I met her again, she acted like she was someone entirely different. I can't get her to say more than three words to me at any given time. If I could crack that shell, even just a little bit, I'd want to tell her that I'm here if she needed someone to talk to."

"Yeah..." Selene stood there for what seemed like a few more seconds as she looked at the hand painted images on the wall.

"Okay," Jessica stood up and smiled at her. "You've been put back together. Time to head on back to the stage."

Selene leaned forward and hugged her. "Thank you for everything."

Jessica picked up a French curve ruler and waved it over her. "Now, as your fairy wardrobe designer, get your butt back to the ball and show this dress off!"

Selene laughed all the way back to the stage.

She'd been so worried up to this point, but now she had a new lightness to her step.

Yes, there had been a problem, but they'd fixed it, and she was headed back on stage.

As she made the last turn toward the stage, she saw the door at the end of the hallway open up and a man step through.

It was William. She knew it in her heart.

He watched her walk down the hallway and she couldn't help the little swish of her hips as she got closer to him.

His eyes were fixed on her and she liked it.

She had a feeling that tonight was going to be the time to finally cross over the final line in their relationship. To make matters better and worse, Cali had gifted her with a box of condoms. Half a dozen in the box.

Her cheeks were flaming as she walked past him.

Right before she walked through the doors to the stage, she turned back to look at William and found him staring at her. The look she saw on this face?

Yes, they were definitely going to cross that line.

PART XI

When she finished filming the concert scene, Selene was practically floating over the ground.

The tension that she'd started with at the beginning of the day was gone and she felt like she was walking in a dream.

The whole set erupted in cheers!

Extras were dancing in the house part of the theater, some shouting for an encore to which she gave them, singing a trio of songs that the extras asked for.

By the end her voice was hoarse, but she didn't care.

She had the next day off to rest while the extras were coming back in to film B roll shots of theaudience, so she'd been more than happy to sing out and enjoy herself.

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