The beginning of April brought rain to the streets of Paris. Inside the Palais Garnier, the Paris Opera Ballet waited anxiously in the main rehearsal room. They were expecting news about an upcoming tour; where and what they were going to perform was still unknown. Amélie and Ana sat on a bench against one of the walls, seemingly unaffected compared to their colleagues.

A door opened and Winston, the ballet's overall manager, entered. With him was a young, boyish looking woman dressed in a slim suit.

"If everyone could gather around me, please," asked Winston. The group wasted no time in doing so. "Thank you.

"I am pleased to announce that, after much finagling, we will be traveling to St. Petersburg for a performance of The Firebird."

The room became a sea of murmuring amongst the group. Winston cleared his throat loudly and the dancers promptly gave their attention back to him.

"The first performance in the Mariinsky Theatre is two months from today. I know this is a limited amount of time, but I am confident that we can be ready by then. A more detailed informative packet will be provided at the end of today's rehearsals, so you will have that to look forward to."

Winston briefly surveyed the faces of the company to see if anyone would have any immediate questions. When he saw there were none, he simply said, "That's all for now."

Quiet murmuring returned as most of the dancers filed out of the room, leaving only Amélie and Ana. Winston and the young woman walked over to join them.

"Ladies, allow me to introduce Lena Oxton," he said motioning to the woman in the suit, "a wonderful pianist and conductor who will be taking Lucio's place for this trip."

"I take it Lucio's rotator cuff hasn't fully healed," said Ana.

"Not for another month or so according to the doctor."

Ana looked from Winston to Lena. "Philharmonia, correct?"

Lena's face lit up at the recognition. "Yes, ma'am! Been there for about a year."

"I had the privilege of watching Lean conduct, among other pieces, The Firebird Suite," said Winston, "so she is well-prepared for this outing."

The slightest look of doubt crept into Amélie's face, but she dismissed it the instant Winston noticed.

"Will Hana still be Amélie's rehearsal pianist?" Asked Ana.

Winston shook his head. "Hana is taking a leave of absence, so Lena will be filling that position as well."

Amélie now made no attempt to hide her disbelief as she cocked an eyebrow in Lena's direction. The young conductor saw it and lost all the color in her face.

Winston soon intervened. "Ana! - perhaps you could give Lena a quick tour of the facilities?"

"Certainly." Ana stepped forward to take Lena's arm. "Come along, my dear." A little bit of life returned to Lean's face as the two left the room.

Winston gave Amélie a stern look. "You seem unimpressed by our guest conductor."

"I'm not unimpressed. Just uncertain."

"Don't be: Lena is to London what Gustavo Dudamel is to Los Angeles."

Amélie snorted. "That's a high bar."

Winston took on a harsher tone. "Lena easily meets it." He enunciated every word so as to quash any further doubt. "Any other concerns I need to address?"

Amélie resigned herself to the arrangement. "No."

"Good."

When Lena and Ana returned, the two set to work helping Amélie learn the lead part. They spent an hour on the first dance alone and Amélie was becoming tired and impatient. If Lena, however, was tired it didn't show, and she played the accompaniment perfectly every time.

Amélie came to an abrupt stop. "We have worked this same section for an hour now. Can't we move on?

Ana smirked. "We'll move on once you've got it."

"Let me at least take a break."

Ana rolled her eyes but told the women to take five. Amélie went off to the other end of the floor to stretch while Ana talked with Lena.

"You play very well, Ms. Oxton."

Lena beamed at her. "Thank ya! Stravinsky never made it very easy, but I enjoy a good challenge." She gave a quick glance over at Amélie, then said in a whisper, "She's a good dancer."

"Very good, but also very difficult; don't let it phase you."

Perhaps sensing that they were talking about her, Amélie walked over to the other women. She looked at Lena: "Too fast at rehearsal M."

Lena flipped through her music to the section in question. "I thought 50 beats per minutes was what you wanted?"

"I changed my mind."

"You're doing fine at it, Amé." Ana was quick to point.

"But not enough to move on?"

"Amé, don't start." Ana took on a warning tone of voice.

Amélie brushed it off. "Nevermind. Let's just get back into it."

The rehearsal finished its last hour without incident and Amélie was brought up to speed on the first dance. Ana was pleased by the progress, but Amélie seemed to be lingering on the earlier dispute.

"You're still too fast at M," she called out as she walked over to her bag.

"Let it go," snapped Ana.

Lena spoke in a sincerely apologetic tone. "Sorry, luv. I thought-"

"Don't call me that!" Amélie snapped. She left in a huff without another word, slamming the door behind her.

Lena looked at Ana, worried that she had offended Amélie , but Ana only shrugged and said, "Don't Let it phase you, Ms. Oxton."

Sombra had the pleasure of living in a small but nice apartment on the Seine, but also the displeasure of sharing it with Amélie, who stormed in to find Sombra talking on the phone with Hana.

"I'm glad that your father is doing better, amiga." She noticed Amélie's perturbed demeanor. "Hey, hold on a sec." She put her hand over the phone. "Looks like someone has a case of the Mondays."

Amélie walked over and flopped down in a chair opposite Sombra.

Sombra went back to the phone. "I'll have to call you back in 15 minutes." She hung up after a second and then asked Amélie, "So what happened?"

Amélie sighed. "Lucio still can't conduct and Hana is out of town, so they've brought in this young Brit to do both."

"Lena, right? She's quite the babe."

"Hardly. She looks more like a boy than a woman."

"So what? I think any woman like us would kill just to talk to her, nevermind work with her."

'I'm not so sure of that. She plays too fast for me, and Ana has taken a liking to her. These two months are going to be a slog.

"Maybe things will be better outside of rehearsal."

"She's not my type."

Sombra did not pursue the topic further, and the two chatted for a few more minutes about the trip itself. Sombra then excused herself and left the apartment to continue her conversation with Hana.

Amélie took out her phone and mindlessly scrolled through various social media apps for a few minutes. However, curiosity got the best of her and she went to YouTube and searched "Lena Oxton"; the first video that came up was titled Lena Oxton conducts Schubert.

The video was only a few minutes, but it showed Lena conducting an upbeat scherzo. Her face was full of energy, and a look of excitement was never absent; shots of the musicians showed them mirroring her enthusiasm.

Amélie put the phone away and sighed: the girl was talented, she had to admit. But she was still unsure of spending a whole two months with her.