*Thanks for all the reviews and encouragement!! Sorry it's taken so long to get the next parts up, ff.net has been acting up and I haven't been able to upload. Hope you all enjoy!*

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Christian saw the recognition light in her eyes, as surprise flicked through, and then he looked away, not wanting to look into her eyes any longer.

She sat back in her seat as he faced his typewriter again, and began picking out letters. The world righted itself in her mind, and she tried to think it through logically. She wondered why he hadn't told her yesterday who he was, especially considering she had his book. He'd looked at it. She made a mental note that, if she got the chance, she would ask him. But for now…

Zidler went down the rows, calling each woman one by one to come up on the stage. Each had to act a part from a script he handed them, sing and dance. It was going very quickly, Alyse felt, because before she knew it, she was being motioned to the stage.

Once on the stage, she was nervous and exhilarated, all in one. It passed in a blur as she acted out a scene with Zidler, then sang a song accompanied by piano--she recognized the name Satie from Christian's book--then danced across the stage with a handsome Argentinean. She was breathless by the time she was through, and desperate to sit down to calm her shaking knees, but instead of sending her back to her seat like the others, Zidler clapped broadly and motioned for her to stay on the stage. He gathered a few people and moved over to the writer's table, and she stood waiting on the stage, trying not to wring her hands as the little conference ensued.

Christian glanced up in time to see Zidler swooping down the steps of the stage towards him, with Toulouse, Satie, and the Argentinean in tow. They descended upon him quickly and he suddenly felt very claustrophobic as they stood around him. He looked at them questioningly.

"She's the one, isn't she?" Zidler hissed exuberantly.

"What?" Christian said, confused.

"For the part, my boy, for Julia! She's perfect for the part, yes?" Zidler gestured to the stage, and Alyse, standing there in the middle of it, looking as if she was going to burst apart at the seams of nervousness and trying desperately to hide the fact.

"It's as if it was written for her!" Satie said in his usual stage whisper.

Christian looked at him sharply, then back to Alyse. She was a beautiful girl. She would play the part well--she would become Julia. It made sense, seeing as he'd written it with her in mind…

He froze inside. It hadn't occurred to him last night, as he sat at his typewriter, with a vision in his mind of how he wanted Julia to be and how he wanted her to look, that he'd been thinking of his new neighbor. Perhaps because he'd been a little drunk, he hadn't seen the similarities. But now, now that he was clear-headed, looking at her in the light of day, and listening to the babble around him, he noticed it. Even not knowing if she'd show up to audition, he'd written the role for her.

"Christian?" Zidler's voice came through his thoughts.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" He prayed no one else would notice the resemblance, prayed they would only think that it was pure luck that he'd written a role so perfectly suited for the lovely blonde girl on the stage.

"What do you think?"

"Um...I'm sorry, I don't see...why do you need my opinion?" Christian fumbled for words, his mind still jumbled.

Zidler's laugh boomed. "Why, because you're the writer, of course! You would know better than anyone if she could take this role and make it her own. I think she'd be stupendous!" The others chorused their agreements.

"She sings like an angel!" Toulouse crowed.

"And dances with the heart of a can-can girl!" the Argentinean growled in his low voice.

Once again Christian looked at Alyse. She still stood there, very still, and if one didn't look close enough at her, they wouldn't notice how scared she looked. But he did. As he watched her, she glanced over at him, and gave him a small smile. You're the only person I recognize here, it seemed to say. He smiled back, briefly, and turned to Zidler.

"I think she would be a perfect Julia."

Zidler clapped. "Splendid!" He shook Christian's hand--for what reason, he had no idea--and turned to go back to the stage, but suddenly stopped. "What was her name again?" he demanded in, what for him, was a quiet voice.

The others shook their heads. "I don't think she said it--" Toulouse began.

"Alyse," Christian murmured, glancing at her once again, and then back to the men in front of him as they turned on him and stared. He cleared his throat. "Her name is Alyse." Still the staring, and he hastened to explain, "She lives in my building. We...we met yesterday."

"Ahh, well, very good then!" Zidler exclaimed, and all but skipped back up the stage, where, to the disappointment of the other women in the audience, he announced that they had found their leading lady. "Not to worry, chick-peas, there are plenty of other parts in this play!" he crowed, and moved back into the crowd.

Alyse was left standing on the stage, her heart pounding. She didn't know if she'd heard him right. He'd touched her arm, he'd mentioned her by name, but she wasn't quite sure she wasn't just imagining things. The Argentinean she'd danced with came up to her and kissed her hand. "Congratulations, lovely lady," he said, and she blushed.

"I'm--he actually said I have the role?" She stumbled over her words.

Satie called up from the orchestra pit. "It's as though it was tailor made for you! There was no chance for anyone else!"

She glanced down at him and he smiled at her. "Welcome to the Moulin Rouge!"