Hello, HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Here's another new chapter. Thanks as always to you lovely people for sticking with my story! And those kind enough to leave reviews, thank you for your words.

Enjoy...

Chapter Thirty Seven - Beautiful

"Again from the top!" Derek shouted at Karen and Jimmy from his position in the first row of seats in the theatre. It was now around 3pm in the afternoon and they had been in rehearsals since noon making a few tweaks and changes the director had noted from their opening night performance.

Currently the rest of the cast were waiting for Jimmy and Karen to perfect a new transition from one song to another, they had been trying it a couple of different ways but Derek still wasn't happy. And Karen wasn't feeling brilliant. It had been quite a late evening and she'd not slept well. It was hard after a great performance, to settle down again from the buzz and thrill. Then when she finally left the group of tipsy performers in the bar the night before, Karen couldn't get to sleep. She was still worried about what they had left behind in New York…and what would be waiting for them when they returned.

Ana and Karen had asked their neighbour Stuart to keep an eye on their apartment while they were away, and had left him a key to nip in a check the place. Yet Karen couldn't shake the feeling that trouble had followed them to Boston. It didn't help that Daisy gave her unnerving looks any chance she got. The pop star hadn't really seen anything the other night, but she had been close to catching Derek and Karen kissing in the hallway. They needed to be more careful, this wasn't the time for Karen to start telling the world she was sleeping with her boss.

The press would have a field day! They had been covering Hit List's progress in the tabloids since the Fringe performance, mainly because of Daisy's involvement. The kind of attention Karen and Derek's relationship (if you could call it that) would garner would do the show no favours.

Karen moved back to her mark to try the routine again and this time when the second song finished Derek was silent, which usually meant it was good enough to move on.

"Take a break you two," the director finally called without looking up from his notepad.

Jimmy lead the way backstage to grab a bottle of water, he tossed one over to Karen just as Ana skipped over to them with a magazine in her hands. "You have to read this!" she said gleefully, thrusting it at Karen. "You're a hit."

Karen skimmed the article, it was a review of their first performance…and the writer, well he loved it. Words such as "thrilling," "enthralling," "dark," and "modern," were prominent in the story. The reviewer was a fan of the story, the music and especially Karen, who he'd described as "a young, unknown beauty, with the looks, voice and soul, to take your breath away."

The only downside? The reporter was sceptical of Hit List's future in the mainstream theatres, he'd predicted the show would have great success out of town in small runs, but wouldn't translate to Broadway. It was a worry they all had, but this musical had already out done all of their wildest dreams. It was Jimmy, Kyle and Karen's work, their hearts and souls. Whatever happened next with the show, they were proud of how far it had come.

"This is amazing, Jimmy read…" Karen said passing it on and hugging Awn. After a few minutes reading and reciting out loud his favourite parts, Jimmy joined in the group hug. Then Kyle appeared with a couple of copies of other papers, he started passing them out.

"Eileen will be happy," Kyle said, as he stole Karen's water and took a quick swig. "Daisy, not so much though."

"Why, they haven't said much about her," Karen said, as she read a very short mention in the arts section of a local newspaper.

"Exactly," Kyle laughed, "She's a superstar with a featured role in a brand new musical that's gathered a bit of attention, and nobody is talking about her. They are all obsessed with you! And you and Jimmy. Daisy is going to be fuming."

"Can we do something to pacify her, life is much easier on set if Daisy is in a moderately good mood," Karen asked, skipping over Kyle's remarks about her and Jimmy. A lot of the reviews rambled on about their "connection," the "chemistry" between their characters. Even more were talking about just Karen's performance with mentions of Derek's work.

"I'll speak to Eileen and Derek," Kyle said. "I'll see if we can get an interview set up of something with Daisy. Maybe Daisy and Jimmy. The press don't seem to have picked up on Derek and Daisy's split. When they do we're going to get a lot more attention…" He looked pointedly at Karen, almost in warning. That boy knew more than he often let on.

"Let's jump off that bridge when we get to it," Karen replied. Passing the newspaper back to Kyle. "So far, so good," she smiled, heading back towards the stage.

It was week three of Hit List's six week run in Boston, the shows had kept them all busy and the pressure was mounting as the production and its cast gathered momentum in the news.

Eileen had cornered Karen after the second weekend of shows to let her know how impressed she was. The producer had told Karen that her investors were happy with the progression of the show and so far Karen's public figure. The young actress had been roped into a number of interviews as well as backstage videos that Kyle had been posting online. They were trying to get as much social media attention as possible. The show was targeting a younger audience, and it was a modern production. So they were eagerly encouraging online sharing of its steady growth.

Kyle had been doing a great job of tapping into streams of online audience. He'd even managed to convince Derek to be interview for his video blog posts. Derek was after all, the reason the wider show business industry had any interest in them at all.

Eileen was extremely happy, she'd not had much contact with Karen since their secret contact signing, but Karen was glad to impress the older woman. Eileen Rand was a formidable woman but an asset to have on side if you wanted to make it in the business.

Karen was just coming off stage after her final bow. It had been another great night and the end of their five show weekend. She was changing into her own clothes when a knock came at the dressing room door. "Come in," Karen called. She was almost done buttoning her sheer black shirt when a smile she enjoyed to see more than anything caught her eye in the mirror.

"Damn, I'm too late," Derek smirked eying the young girl in front of him.

"Shut up," Karen said over her shoulder, before sliding on her shoes quickly and spinning around to face him. "Sorry all changed! You missed out," she told him, with a mischievous edge to her voice. Then she wrapped her arms slowly around the tall man and even more slowly leant up to reach his lips with her own.

"I've missed you," he mumbled against her mouth before pressing his lips to hers roughly.

"You see me all the time," Karen laughed, but she knew what he meant. They hadn't had a lot of time to see each other outside of the theatre lately. Between rehearsals, shows, extracurricular events and promotions, Karen and Derek had been rushed off their feet. His hands trailed down her side, with feather light touches so opposite to his rough kisses. He rested his left palm on her hip bone and let his right hand slide under on shirt, stroking the delicate skin there.

Karen's breath hitched at his touch, she hadn't realised how desperate she'd been for the feel of his hands, for the taste of his mouth. She'd been stressed and tense when he'd arrived in her dressing room, but now her bones felt like jelly. She was so calm in his arms, so safe…maybe even loved.

"Will you come somewhere with me tonight, I know you must be exhausted but I'd like to show you something," Derek asked her, in between more kisses.

Karen was just about to answer when someone else knocked on the door in three quick raps. She jumped apart from Derek, immediately missing his touch. She pushed her director towards the sofa at the side of the room and took a steadying breath before quickly pulling the door open.

"Kyle," she greeted, "What can I do for you?" she smiled, opening the door wide so it didn't look like she was acting odd.

"I just wanting to ask you a couple of questions, we need a new video update if you…oh hi Derek, great you can both speak, do you mind?" Kyle rushed out all in one go as he entered the dressing room.

"Hi Kyle, I was just asking Karen about attending a local arts charity gala this week on Thursday. It's at gallery not for from here, I have a friend with some work on display who has invited me to attend with a plus one, it will be good exposure for Miss Cartwright here."

"That sounds great, lucky you Karen, what are you going to wear?" Kyle said without falter, as he started setting up his small flip-camera and tripod.

"You can ask me on film if you want?" Karen giggled at her friend's constant enthusiasm. She glanced over at Derek, who had stood to join them, with a questioning look though while Kyle was distracted.

"I meant to ask you straight away but you're something of a distraction to me," Derek replied to Karen's look, in a low soft voice, before adding, "Go on then Kyle, I've been dodging most of you attempts to film me, but I suppose I can sit in on one with this one, she can do all the talking."

Karen elbowed him playfully and smiled up at Derek. She was about to respond with a snarky comment when Kyle interrupted her with a question, he'd apparently already started filming.

"So Karen, tell us what you'll be up to this week?"

Karen smiled at the camera and jumped in with a few notes about rehearsal schedules and show nights before mentioning the charity event. She couldn't offer much detail though as she didn't know anything more than what Derek had just said. Luckily Dereck jumped in at the end of her sentence.

"We will be at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, attending a Gala event to raise funds and awareness for the ALS Association," he said smoothly. "It's quite a luxurious affair."

"Karen, what will you be wearing?" Kyle asked.

"I'm not sure just yet," Karen answered, "as you can imagine, I haven't brought much with me to Boston. But I did pack one dress I think will suit for the occasion. It's a McQueen, black, silky and backless." She grinned ever so slightly and felt Derek shift next to her. Karen didn't have many expensive clothes and this particular dress had been a second-hand find of Ana's. It would be perfect for the occasion, and to entice one man in particular.

Kyle wrapped up the short video with a few questions for Derek about directing techniques and styles. The young book writer had been after the director for another interview for a while so he squeezed in a few vital queries before wrapping it up. Karen had been enjoying listening to Derek talk and hadn't realised she'd been staring at him a little bit too much.

The pair said an on film thanks and goodbye, before Kyle finished the recording. "Thanks for doing that guys, it will be great for the blog. Have a nice evening, I've got to get some stuff wrapped up before I head back to the hotel," Kyle said with a quick hug for Karen.

"See you later on Kye," Karen said as she closed the door.

Derek sat back down on the couch, stretching his arms over his head with a yawn. "Where were we?" he asked as Karen walked over to him. "Oh yeah…" as soon as she was close enough, Derek grabbed her waist and pulled her on to his lap. She squealed in surprise but let herself fall onto him. "I remember now," Derek's laugh was low and throaty. He pulled her face to his and this time their pace was eager and excited. She gripped his muscular upper arms to steady herself and kissed him deeply, their tongues warring for control.

Karen let it continue for a few minutes, before pulling away, "We should probably stop, before we can't," she said solemnly before tucking her head under his chin with a sigh. "We should be more careful, any one could walk in."

"You're right, I know you are," Derek sighed, though his self-control was waning. "Come on, I still have something I wanted to show you," he said swinging Karen's body to the side, before getting up and pulling her up with him.

Karen slipped on her coat and grabbed her bag before following Derek out of the dressing room. There weren't many people left around the backstage area but they walked a reasonable distant apart any way, chatting lightly about the show. Derek picked up his coat and work books before they went towards the exit.

Neither of them had seen a curious blond in the theatre lobby. Ivy had left with Daisy but had forgotten her scarf in the cloak room, she had dashed back to pick it up. She had been wrapping her reclaimed item around her neck ready to leave the theatre again, when she spotted her best friends ex and that Karen girl leaving together and walking in the opposite direction of the cast members' hotel. Where would they be going together at this time, she wondered?

Derek and Karen walked away from the Charles Playhouse theatre, where Hit List had been showing, on to the nearby busy street to hail a cab. Karen had no idea where they were going or what to see, Derek just said he wanted to show her something.

The ride wasn't too long, and then Derek was paying the driver and helping Karen out of the car. They were just on another moderately busy street, Karen didn't know why Derek had brought her here. Then she looked out a bit further and saw the Longfellow Bridge ahead, she smiled brightly at Derek and without falter she turned and started walking out towards the bridge.

They walked side by side in silence, it was windy and Karen's hair flew wildly about her face. Cars passed next to them and the noise in this entirely different city was friendly and familiar to the pair from the Big Apple. When they reached the center of the bridge Karen came to a stop. She turned out to the water, breathing in the fresh air. The lights of Boston were bright and twinkling in the water. Sail boats in the distance rocked and waved.

"It's so beautiful at night," Karen finally broke the silence between them. "I could stare at the water forever."

"Yes it's quite a beautiful view from her," Derek said from behind her, though when she glanced at him over her shoulder, she noticed he wasn't looking out into the darkness. She returned his smile and turned to lean her back on the metal railings.

"Thank you, for bringing me here. It's been such a flurry of action I haven't had time to really stop and think, take it all in. This brings me back to the start," Karen told him. "How do you always know…how do you know just what I need."

"I just long to see you smile like this," Derek replied in his thick British accent. He put one hand on the bridge to the side of her shoulder and with his free hand; he scooped her wild hair over her shoulder. Derek lent into her and gently in her ear whisper, "I care very much about you, I hope you know that."

Karen looked into his eyes and nodded slowly, she wanted to kiss him, so much so. But Karen was too aware of where they were, the people around them, the traffic…the last time they were in a very similar situation.

"I know that," was all she said in response before looking away from Derek and turning back out to watch the boats. He just moved to her side and leant next to her, staring out to the lights and shadows on the water. They stayed that way for a while, just in close company, and at some point Derek had taken hold of Karen's small hand.

Karen saw the flash out of the corner of her eye. There were just a couple of guys in thick coats standing further down the bridge; they had cameras pointed at Karen and Derek. When Karen pointed them out to Derek he swore loudly, before waving at the pair of amateur photographers.

"We should go," Derek groaned, not sure why the camera men would be interested in taking pictures of him and Karen standing together. He was secretly uncaring though, so what if people made assumptions, he was free now, she was single they could do whatever the hell they wanted! He was really tempted to grab the shoulders of the beautiful girl next to him a kiss her in front of the world. But she didn't want that, he knew. So instead they just walked away and hoped the men following them would move on.

That's all for now :) please let me know what you're thinking! Xx Sparks