Page 18 of Serving the Couturier

“My gut tells me she’s it, and I’m going to get her back to try again.”

I quickly left the room and entered the hallway, just as I saw London exiting the theater. “London, wait!” I called out, jogging to catch up to her.

She stopped, but didn’t turn around. “I apologize if my being here caused you any problems,” she said in a calm tone.

“I didn’t tell them we know each other,” I said as I reached her side. “And I’m sorry. I’m the one who caused you a problem.”

She shook her head. “No need to worry about it. I should have been able to handle it better.”

“Regardless, I’d like you to come back and give it another shot,” I said, offering her a second chance.

She looked taken aback. “Really?”

“Yes, please return with me and audition again,” I repeated. “If you don’t feel comfortable or don’t want to, I understand, and I won’t pressure you.”

“That’s really kind of you,” she said hesitantly, still wary of the situation.

“I just want to see everyone perform at their best so we can make the right casting decisions,” I said, trying to reassure her with a warm smile. “We want the show to be a success.”

“They don’t know about our….” She gestured between us, referring to our past encounter.

“No, it’s none of their business,” I said, gesturing back the way we came. “Shall we?”

She nodded, and we made our way back to the audition room.

My colleagues were waiting, looking curious and amused.

“Miss McCrae,” I said, returning to my seat, beaming. “We would like for you to give the audition another go. We didn’t quite get a good understanding of your talent the first time around.”

“Thank you,” London responded, her eyes shining with determination. “I’m not sure what happened earlier.”

She took a deep breath and began, “You can’t reason with your heart, Lance. You should know this better than anyone by now...”

The difference between her first and second readings was stark. She was confident, and as she finished, I almost let out a small cheer. It filled me with pride and, I’ll admit, the urge to sweep her up in my arms and plant a kiss on her cheek...and other places.

“Miss McCrae, that was fantastic,” I said with a genuine smile.

“Thank you for giving me another shot,” she replied, gratitude clear in her eyes.

“We’ll be deciding soon,” Jerry added.

I was eager to talk more about London with the group, but we still had other people to evaluate. I didn’t want to draw more attention to London than I already had. Considering who was up next, I could be patient and wait a little longer. The Shubert Organization had requested that we consider Timothy Von Vierson as the male lead. Apparently, one of their executives was a big fan and thought Von Vierson would bring recognition to the cast.

After Timothy entered, he stepped forward to shake our hands before glancing at the male audition piece. Less than a minute into his audition, I could tell he was perfect for the role of Lance.

“That was fantastic, Timothy,” Darrel said, clearly impressed.

I nodded in agreement, but kept my thoughts to myself. Instead, I said, “We’ll have to schedule callbacks, especially to have a chemistry read with the female lead.”

Timothy nodded. “Sure thing. My schedule is open all next week. Just let my agent know.”

While nothing was set in stone, everyone realized Timothy was the one for the role of Lance.

“So, Jerry,” I said, turning to my colleague after Timothy had left. “What do you think of him?”

“I like him,” Jerry said, sporting a grin as he placed his pen on the table. “Check out my top picks,” he said, gesturing to the paper in front of him.

My smile faded when I saw Jerry hadn’t selected London McCrae as his top pick for the female lead. I raised an eyebrow and asked, “Why not London?”

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