Page 15 of Cleats and Pumps

“If you didn’t plan this, you better get over there and recruit the shit out of him because that man is made for Alec!” I said just as Anton stood up.

“Oh, don’t worry,” he said, pulling one of his cards from his jacket pocket. “We’re on the same page.”

Anton wasn’t sure he’d show up. Luckily, we’d asked everyone to sing songs from Kinky Boots since the songs were so similar, and we wouldn’t have to announce we were doing a new musical, at least not yet.

We still needed to secure a few more lines of funding besides what his godfather had put up before we made the big announcement. That was good because Kinky Boots had been out for a while, and people seemed to know the songs well enough to sing them.

Ours were a little more difficult, not my fault, but well, okay, maybe my fault a little. There was no way Amos would learn them in one day. However, anyone who could pull off Lola could sing Alec’s songs.

I sat in the theater the next day as we went through audition after audition. I was getting twitchy. I had never had to sit through anything like this, and honestly, I found the entire thing tedious. However, I agreed with most of the choices Anton and the casting directors picked for parts.

I was about to give up and leave when Amos came on stage. I sat up, remembering how much fun he’d been the night before. “Okay, from the top,” the casting director called out.

Amos was meh. I could see the disappointment on Jim and Anton’s face. I was once again about to give up and leave when Amos sangRaise You Up,and he began to shine. As he found his stride on stage, the funny, talented contradiction we’d seen perform the night before showed back up. It was clear Amos loved being on stage, and he was genuinely enjoying himself.

As the guys left the stage, Anton leaned over and whispered to the casting director to his left, and the guy smiled. “Gloria, can you ask Amos to come back? We want him to singNot My Father’s Son.”

The woman nodded and rushed off. A few moments later, Amos returned to the stage, looking less than happy.

The music started, and Amos sang. The words and emotions gripped me when his voice echoed across the theater. Tears dripped down his cheeks, and when he got to the section where he sang “to live out loud,” his voice cracked ever so slightly.

I didn’t know what was going on in Amos Clark’s life, but something had ripped through that man’s heart, and he had just laid all those emotions out on that stage.

I glanced over and saw Anton and Jim wipe away a tear, and I knew, right then and there, we’d found our Alec in Wonderlust.

Opening night was emotional on many levels. Not only because it was opening night but because it was my first musical. It was also something important to Anton.

He’d laid in my arms the night before as tears soaked my chest. “He was the only dad I ever knew. Tomorrow, we will finally be able to give him the honor he wished for.”

I stroked Anton’s hair as he released the pain around the loss of his father figure. I’d already gone in with Jim and Rodrick to purchase a small statue in the shape of his godfather to honor him. I was happy we’d done that because Anton held onto the sculpture throughout the performance as if he were holding his godfather’s hand.

Amos was more than remarkable and captured the laughs at exactly the right moment we’d hoped for.

The fact that he was a former famous football player made the show popular from the start.

I never would’ve guessed I would someday be the writer of one of Broadway’s most popular shows. I was also surprised that the heartbreak over someone as insignificant to me as Gregory was now, would lead me to find the love of my life.

I reached over and took Anton’s hand, and my heart gave a quick leap as I thought about how I’d planned to ask him later tonight to be my husband. He’d already told me he wanted to get married. I also knew he’d had that conversation with me, because he planned on asking me at some point, but damn, I loved him so much I wanted to be the one to ask.

If I weren’t utterly terrified of the mysterious queen who’d set me on this path, I’d look her up and tell her how her advice had changed my life forever. Something told me though, that scary bitch probably already knew.

Order Romance is a Drag

Cleats and Pumps

Blake Allwood

Blake Allwood Publishing

1

Tommy

“Iamnotdoingrush week. Why are you into it so much?” I asked my buddy, Owen, frustrated that he wouldn’t stop harassing me.

“They’re open-minded, man. Trust me, I checked them out. They even have a public statement that they don’t discriminate based on sexual orientation. Besides, I don’t want to be the token gay guy. I promise, it’ll be fun.”

I shook my head. “You’re killing me, Owen Reed,” I said, but Owen was nothing if not persuasive, and I was enough of a change advocate that I was intrigued by a fraternity in Austin, Texas, of all places, being inclusive… or at least trying to be. “Okay, but if they start trying to stick broomsticks up my ass, I’m headed the other way.”

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