around her. While the principal female dancer carried most of the story, playing both Odette and Odile, it was easy for a handsome prince to become the focus.
She’d gotten in the habit of not scouring the house for familiar faces back in New York. Other than when her family was in attendance, or some old friends who’d come in from out of town, she didn’t need the nerves of spotting someone she knew. The stage lights left her only able to see a few rows back anyway, just as far as the house seats. That was why Anna didn’t give the faces a second glance for those first two minutes, concentrating on the feel of the stage beneath her feet and waiting for Elliot to come in as Rothbart and cast his wicked spell on her.
As her fellow swans came to join her in transformation, hiding some of the tricks that let her change so quickly right on stage, Anna felt a prickle at the back of her neck. A pleasant sort of shiver, really, like seeing her apartment for the first time when coming back from a trip. Sinking to the floor to finish her sequence, she risked a proper look out at the audience, holding her chin high and proud.
Victoria.
For weeks they’d been skirting around the topic of Anna’s coming to Berlin, of how relatively close it was to Victoria’s new home in Paris. Vague, noncommittal comments about “seeing how her diary looked,” or, “if everything is calmer by then,” had made Anna feel guilty about making demands on Victoria when she’d been dealing with a rebellious company and incredibly demanding bosses, including the French public who funded the ballet partly with their taxes. Everyone had an opinion, and although Anna had come out to support Victoria’s first mounted production, their time together in the ensuing months had been frustrating and too fleeting by half.
Irina sat out in the house during the show, so Anna had no one to query when she came offstage, one of her few breaks from being out there under Victoria’s watchful eye. Anna only wished she’d been able to look longer, really wallow in the sheer presence of her. What was she wearing? Was her hair longer than the last time Anna had seen her in person? When they video-called for hours at a time, it tended to be near one of their bedtimes, with hair pinned up and the day’s stresses washed away. The sudden nearness made every detail she’d been missing hit Anna like a truck. She grabbed at a handy support beam and gathered herself, sucking in air to tamp down the sobs that had come out of nowhere.
There was an act break to get ready for. Anna could have her feelings at a more opportune moment. God knew Victoria would expect absolutely nothing less. Skipping through the wings to the quick-change spot, Anna was sure her body felt lighter, each step a bit steadier. Working under Irina had been a difficult but rewarding year, stretching Anna’s mental and physical capacity at times. But nothing would ever match the way it felt to dance for the most particular audience of one.
Tonight, she would dance only for Victoria. At that thought, Anna could barely wait to step back out on the stage.
Victoria hadn’t suffered through curtain calls in years. Even when dragged on to take her own bows as director, she would slip away while the company took the remaining applause. She’d lived for it as a dancer, soaking up every second in the knowledge that those nights would one day be gone. Companies got applause, but primas got the raucous cheers. Anna had certainly received plenty of those tonight as an Odette who lived and triumphed. Some of those shouts had come from Victoria herself, letting her pride and excitement take voice without a single damn given for who might witness it. Besides, who knew the old cynic Irina would choose the happy ending to drag halfway around the world?
Her position gave Victoria a chance to congratulate Irina first, but when they shared a brief hug, Irina whispered “I put you on her guest list.” Security hadn’t always been tight around the Metropolitan buildings, but it made sense they’d control access more in unfamiliar locations. The news that she had a free run to Anna’s door should have set Victoria running, but the milling crowds held her up no matter how quickly her damaged knee decided to let her move.