sing a simple melody
"Hey, Mike! We're on in five, you better get to makeup!"
"Okay!" He called back, running a tired hand through his hair.
It was opening night. A night that he had been waiting for for such a long time.
But there was someone missing.
The curtain slowly rose, revealing a packed theatre.
The familiar beat of the music started to tap it's way across the stage. And he began to move.
It was West Side Story once again. But this time, he was playing Bernardo instead of Riff. And for the past twelve weeks, he had been dancing alongside the love of his life on this very stage that he had been dreaming about for years.
Now he was alone. Well, he wasn't alone, her understudy had stepped in to take her place. But it wasn't right.
There was an absence on the stage that he couldn't ignore.
He didn't think anybody else could ignore it either. It was felt everywhere on that stage.
He had found her collapsed on the kitchen floor. No pulse, no heartbeat. Nothing.
It had been an aneurism, the doctors in the emergency room had said. There was absolutely nothing that he could have done even if he had been there at that time.
How the hell was that supposeed to make him feel better?
The director had offered to cancel the performance, reimburse everyone's payments and to reschedule the show. A death in the cast was too much, they couldn't push on ahead of that.
He refused, knowing that is the exact opposite of what she would want. He was tempted, of course. The last thing he wanted to do was to perform like nothing had ever happened on opening night. To look into the eyes of someone that wasn't her playing his love interest. But here he was, doing it.
And he felt horrible.
. . . .
The beat of the drums, the sound of the music, the feel of his feet against the wooden floors...
It was home.
The applause was thunderous.
And he barely heard it.
"Mike?"
The sound of his name was foreign. He couldn't understand exactly what that voice wanted from him.
Tears blurred his vision as he managed to take a staggering bow before he collapsed off stage and into the wings.
"All right, back off. Give him some room."
Whoever that was, he was grateful.
"Here's your coat, Mike. Go and get some air."
He felt the folds of something being gently pushed into his arms. He managed to yank the jacket over his shoulders and he kicked the first door he came to wide open and was embraced with the chilliness of the late November evening.
He stood there for several minutes, taking in deep breaths, trying to get control of the swirl of emotions that were burling through him. Hot tears slid down his cheeks and dripped off his chin, not even bothering to stop them.
Tina, why did you leave me?
. . . .
All right, very short. I wanted to try to get into the Tina/Mike ship a bit and understand them. I do love them, thought they were the cutest and I was disappointed in 4x01 when Tina said they had broken up. They and Puckleberry were my favorites actually.
If you liked (and which I hope you did), keep a lookout for another story I got in the mix. It's a Mike/Tina one where they are finally married and living their careers but Mike gets injured and his dancing career goes kaput for a good amount of time.
Anyway, don't forget to review. Thanks guys! Much love.