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A/N: I do not own Phantom, Wicked, Once, or Love Never Dies; all belong to their respected owners
Chapter 12
It had always been Jenny's dream to defy gravity in Wicked every since she first saw the show when she was 13. Now her dream was coming true, but she'd have to get over her stage fright quickly. Jenny stepped up and said, "I know what you're all thinking; I'm the only one who is similar to Kelly's build and I'm the only one who would be able to fly. I'll do it."
The stage hands weren't sure if she was serious or not, so one of them jokingly said "You gotta sing if you're gonna fly ya know." They all stood in their group laughing because they knew she probably wouldn't do it.
Jenny wanted to prove them wrong so bad, so she shrugged her shoulders in response and said, "Fine. Let's go defy gravity." She saw the shocked looks from the crewmembers faces as she took her spot upstage center for her big Broadway debut. Stage managers normally don't sing, and if they did, they normally didn't do it in front of others. Jenny knew the lines from the scene and told one of the guys to read for Glinda, then nodded to her assistant stage manager to get ready to make her fly. The lift was already out, so the others got into position and took it from the part of the song where the guards break in.
Finally it was Jenny's line, she stepped onto the tiny platform that was just big enough for her two feet to fit side by side and leaned back so the false skirt secured her in. She took a deep breath and said her part. "I'm the one you want, she has nothing to do with it! It's me! It's MEEEEE!" And as soon as she belted "meee" she was lifted up flying into the air and continued to sing. She completely forgot about her stage fright as she continued on. "So if you care to find me, look to the western skies, as someone told me lately everyone deserves the chance to fly! And if I'm flying solo, at least I'm flying free!" Jenny started to become Elphaba as she was singing, she got so caught up in the moment; that is until she saw a white mask attached to a tall dark figure in the back of the mezzanine. He was here watching her, it was Erik, and he was all right.
Jenny was so in the moment that she hadn't noticed the chorus to come and sing their part "Look at her she's wicked! Get her!" And then Jenny sung her last few words, "Bring me down! Aaaaahhhhhh!" As soon as she nailed her last belt, she got a thunderous round of applause from the Citizens of Oz and crewmembers below. But what was most rewarding to Jenny was Erik clapping in the distance.
They fixed the problem with the lift and were able to get her down without a problem. As Jenny stepped off the lift, she was attacked by a huge hug from Kelly. "I haven't heard you sing like that in years! That was fantastic, I'm so proud of you! I heard you and Hadley are singing at the masquerade on Saturday, have you two been practicing?" Kelly released her cousin from her bear hug and waited for Jenny to catch her breath.
"Yes, I've actually gotten a tut - I mean voice coach. He's been helping me out for a few days, you know like helping me with my confidence and getting my voice back," Jenny answered; she still couldn't believe what she had just done and was still in shock from her 2 minutes of Broadway Fame.
Kelly quickly responded, "Who is he? I need a new voice coach, mine is moving to California next month."
Jenny knew she couldn't reveal Erik's name to her cousin, so she responded quickly with a lie, "Oh he told me to stay confidential; he's doing a show right now and he's only doing me a favor. I was observing the stage manager at the show he's in back in February and during the show he almost fell through one of the traps in the floor because the stage manager wasn't paying attention, so I reached over him and flipped the switch to shut it just in time." Although Jenny couldn't act to save her life, she was a very god liar and got away with a lot.
Kelly sounded a little dejected, but said, "Okay, no worries, I understand, don't worry about it! You were still amazing!" And before Jenny could say thank you again, her cousin went off to do her mic check. While everyone was singing his or her parts, Jenny stared off into the mezzanine one more time to see if she could spot Erik, but he was gone.
Jenny stood there in silence and felt empty inside, she felt like something was missing but she didn't quite know what it was. As she stared into the mezzanine a little longer hoping she'd see Erik, she realized that what was missing belonged to Erik and without him around she felt empty inside. She told herself quietly and out loud "I am in love with the Phantom of the Opera. I am unconditionally in love with Erik Destler." She needed to tell herself out loud so she could believe her own thoughts and even then it still was hard for her to comprehend.
Jenny knew where her heart was; Erik had it and even though she really liked Hadley, she didn't love him. Jenny knew what she had to do; she would still go to the ball with Hadley and sing with him, but she would have to break it off with him sometime after their song. Jenny really didn't want to hurt him, he was such a sweet guy, but she didn't want to keep leading him on.
Mic check ended and Hadley came over to Jenny and asked, "Are you alright? You look a little lost?"
Jenny quickly snapped out of it and said, "Yeah, I was just thinking about Saturday and all the things I still have to do. I have to find out what I have to get done for our special performance with the original cast, and I have to collect money for the flowers and…" Before Jenny could keep going Hadley cut her off with a kiss just to shut her up.
"Sorry, I had to," he said, "when you get stressed, you start to ramble and you don't stop. You need to relax, everything will be fine."
Jenny sighed, "Thank you, I've noticed that before, but I've found that I can't stop myself. Well you need to get ready, the house is opening in fifteen minutes."
Hadley tried to kiss her again, but Jenny didn't want to continue leading him on, so she turned at the last second so his lips met her check and he went on his way. Jenny made her last rounds to make sure everything was in place. When she got to the stage right wing, she saw someone dart to the other side of the stage behind the curtain against the black wall. Jenny could recognize that body anywhere; it was Erik. She thought he was there for her, but by the time she could say, "Erik," he was gone.
Jenny looked over her shoulder and saw Meg coming towards her. "Mr. Y just came by, he said you could go home tonight. He didn't say why, but he did say he would take care of Elphie for you." Before Jenny could ask Meg any questions, she was gone.
Jenny couldn't believe what she had just heard. He specifically told her that she was only allowed to go to and from work and then straight back to the lair at the end of the night. But now he was telling her she could go home for the night. "What is with him?" she thought to herself. Although Jenny was happy to be in her own bed for the night, she'd miss her little Elphie.
As per usual the show went swimmingly and the lift for "Defying Gravity" worked perfectly. Jenny left with Hadley again and some people at the stage door recognized her from the NY Times article, so they asked for autographs ad pictures with her. Jenny was happy to do so; the little kids loved her.
Jenny and Hadley finished up at the stage door and when they got to Broadway he asked, "Hey, do you want me to take you home?" Jenny really didn't want to be alone with her thoughts at the moment, so she took him up on his offer. Since it was late, they decided they would walk rather then take the subway. It got a little sketchy down there at night and since it was nice out, they thought it would be a fun thing to do. It wasn't a long walk to her apartment on the Upper East Side, probably only 45 minutes if they took their time.
They started walking in silence, but finally Hadley broke it. "You handled those kids well back there. I've never been great with them but I've always wanted a few. What about you, do you want kids?"
Jenny couldn't believe what he was talking about; they've barley known each other for a month and he was already talking about kids. But, Jenny was always very passionate about the subject of kids, so she decided she'd be honest with him. "Well, I've always loved kids, I started babysitting when I was eleven and I've always had younger cousins. I just think they're so cute and I just want lots of them." Jenny couldn't believe she was telling him all of this, but he was such a good listener that she couldn't resist sharing.
Hadley looked really happy when she responded and said, "I could tell; you treat them as equals, it's adorable. You get down at eye level with them and they just love you for that."
"Aw thanks!" Jenny replied, "I know I want at least four of them, I already have a name picked out for a girl. Oh my god, I'm so sorry, this is really embarrassing, I should stop myself."
Hadley smiled and said, "No it's cute! I want to hear the name, come one please tell me, I'll even keep it a secret if you want."
Jenny mulled it over for a minute, "Fine, I'll tell you, but you can't make fun of me." She took a deep breath and continued on, "I really love the name Aurelia Christine. Aurelia because I think it's just a gorgeous name and Christine because it's another beautiful name and it's also from The Phantom of the Opera, my favorite musical." When she finished revealing her little secreted she could feel her cheeks start to turn red.
Hadley stopped walking for a minute and took Jenny's hands and said, "I love that name, it's beautiful just like you. Don't ever think for a minute that I would make fun of something you like." When Hadley finished, he let go of one of her hands and continued walking again still holding her other hand in his. Jenny couldn't believe that this was the first guy who loved her for who she was, quirks and all, and Jenny had a lot of quirks. They continued to walk in silence for a while and in the silence Jenny could have sworn she heard someone following them, but every time she turned around, there was no one there.
The finally reached her building and Hadley took her all the way up to her apartment. He kissed her good night and Jenny thanked him for the escort home. He lingered for a moment in case he was going to be invited in, but Jenny didn't want to lead him on any further.
After Jenny closed the door, she heard someone in her bedroom. "Oh wonderful," Jenny thought to herself, "another break in, this is EXACTLY what I need right now." She went quietly to her coat closet and grabbed the metal softball bat she kept in there for this purpose and gingerly made her way to the door to her bedroom. She pressed her back up against the wall next to the doorframe and waited for her intruder to show himself.
She heard him start to walk towards her, so she raised the bat above her head and as soon as she saw her attacker step through the doorframe, she brought the heavy metal bat flying down until it met his head. The tall man hit the ground face down with a loud THUD and was immediately unconscious. The lifeguard in Jenny kicked in before she could call the cops, so she started to assess the body. She flipped the unconscious man over and saw that her "intruder" was none other than Erik Destler.
Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter; it has been one of my favorites to write so far. Sorry for a lack of Erik, he has a huge part in the next chapter and it's awesome! I hope to have another chapter posted later this week. Keep up the awesome reviews and thanks for reading!
