"Wow, you look so much older." Evra exclaimed, looking at his best friend. Ella turned to glare at him. "Not that you look old! Just that you don't look like a teenager anymore."
Ella looked back at herself in the mirror as Truska did the finishing touches curling her newly cut hair. Her waist length hair was gone and now fell just below her shoulders in loose curls. Ella was about to get up but Truska stopped her and pulled out a jeweled clip from her drawer. She went beside Ella and parted her hair to the side and fastened the clip.
Truska said something in her language that Evra translated. "She said you look beautiful."
Ella stood to hug her. "Thank you so much! I absolutely love it!"
Truska made a motion telling her to wait there as she went to her closet and pulled out a short black dress. Ella was about to protest, but since the haircut supposedly made her look older, might as well add the dress too! She went behind the curtain to change and slipped the strapless black dress that hugged her body. She looked at herself in the mirror and almost didn't recognize the person looking back at her. It was only for one night though, right?
Mr. Crepsley woke, once again not too eager to start the day. He would be performing tonight without his assistant for the first time in a while. He assumed Ella would be taking Evra with the extra ticket, which is fine. He gave them to her to take who she wanted. Though deep down he was disappointed not to be accompanying her tonight.
"I should go find Mr. Crepsley, I want to get there early." Ella said excitedly.
"You look absolutely lovely. He's going to fall to his knees when he sees you!" Evra laughed.
"Oh shut up!" She smacked him on the arm.
"Hey, don't mess up your hair." He teased.
"Bye, Evra." She said, rolling her eyes. She left the tent in search of her mentor and found him not too far away.
When Mr. Crepsley turned to see Ella, his mouth dropped and stopped dead in his tracks. She smiled her brilliant smile as she approached him. He was awestruck and at a loss for words. "There you are! Are you ready for tonight?"
"T-tonight?" He awkwardly stumbled on the word.
"Yeah, silly. You know, the opera?"
He finally managed to compose himself. "Me? I thought you would take Evra..."
Ella was taken aback. "Really? I never actually thought of that." She blushed as she continued. "It was always you... I mean I couldn't imagine going with anyone else." She looked down shyly. "That is if you want to..."
He took one of her hands and looked into her eyes. "I would love nothing more than to accompany you tonight." He then brought her hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on it.
Ella blushed even deeper as butterflies erupted in her stomach. She let out an innocent giggle as he lowered her hand. Feeling his lips on her skin sent a warmth through her body and she wondered how it would feel to kiss him...
She snapped herself out of it. No, I don't need to start this again. I don't have feelings for my mentor! She thought. "We should get going soon."
Mr. Crepsley cleared his throat. "I will go inform Mr. Tall of my absence tonight." With that, they temporarily parted ways.
Mr. Crepsley found Mr. Tall preparing the wolfman for the show tonight. "Hibernius, I have come to inform you that I-"
Mr. Tall interrupted, "Larten, my friend, enjoy the night with your assistant. I am sure you two will have a wonderful time."
Of course he already knew, Mr. Crepsley thought.
Mr. Crepsley found Ella with a group of cirque members that were gushing over her haircut and dress. I must remember to compliment her appearance, Mr. Crepsley thought. "Are you ready?" He asked.
"Absolutely." She responded as they walked away from the campsite. After taking a few steps, Ella had a thought. Or rather, a concern. "Um, Mr. Crepsley?" She looked at him embarrassed. "I'm not sure I'll be able to get on your back to flit in this dress."
He stopped to look at her and glanced up and down at the short tight dress. He quickly looked up once he realized where his mind was wandering. "Oh, um, that does present quite the issue..."
As if right on cue, a little person approached them with something in his hand. He handed Ella a set of keys and pointed to the van. "Oh, that's a good idea. We can drive the van!" Ella said happily.
Mr. Crepsley shuffled nervously. "And this is really our only option? It is only about a 5-minute flit to the city, you know."
Ella laughed, "Yes!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the vehicle.
"Are you sure you know how to operate this heinous contraption?" Mr. Crepsley asked, attempting to mask his concern as he climbed into the passenger's seat.
Ella laughed, "I've been driving since I was 15. You have no reason to worry."
"Forgive me if that does not calm my nerves." He muttered grumpily. Ella ignored his comment and continued to smile as she cranked the engine.
Before she put the van in drive, she buckled her seatbelt. "You might want to put yours on, too." She told him.
"I think not! If you crash this death machine, I have no desire to be tied in." He crossed his arms across his chest and looked straight ahead.
Matching his stubbornness, Ella reached across him to grab the seatbelt. "What do you think-"
"And this," she clicked the belt in, "could be the thing that saves you from going head first through the windshield if we should crash."
Still leaning over, Ella raised her eyes innocently to her mentor who was seething. She batted her eyes a couple of times, defeating his anger. How could I possibly argue with that? He thought as he continued to gaze into her cool blue eyes. Damn woman is going to be the death of me.
Once she realized he had surrendered, she put the van in drive and began their little road trip. Ella thought about turning on the radio since it was quiet, but decided against it as she figured it would heighten his anxiety of her driving. Still the thought of his reaction to her turning it on made her giggle.
"And what, pray tell, is so funny at this moment?" He asked, still slightly grumpy. She turned to look at him and couldn't help but to smile when she saw his raised eyebrow. She let out another giddy giggle and turned back to face ahead. "Yes, you should keep your eyes on the road." He said sternly, clearing his throat.
"Yes, sir!" Ella said sarcastically, trying to stifle another giggle. Mr. Crepsley turned to snap at her but stopped when he saw the smile that was still on her face. He scratched his scar as he prodded through his mind in a desperate search to find something to say, hoping a conversation would help to calm his nerves.
"You look nice with your hair shorter. I mean... it suits you very well."
The compliment took her by surprise. She had forgotten that he hadn't commented on her new look yet. "Thank you! I've had my hair long for so many years and I thought I could use the change. It will take some getting used to for sure. Evra said it makes me look older."
Looking at her again, he saw that it did indeed mature her appearance. "I agree that it does." Mr. Crepsley said passively in an attempt to not put his focus back on her beauty. He kept his eyes on the road so he wouldn't look at her.
The car ride wasn't long and they were at the theatre in no time. Ella excitedly jumped out of the van and ran to Mr. Crepsley. "I can't believe we're here!" She squealed, hooking her arm through his as they walked inside the theatre.
As they waited together outside the doors of the auditorium to be seated, Mr. Crepsley looked to Ella and saw that she still wore the smile that had not left her face since he presented her with his gift. He could not help but to smile in response to hers, too.
"Oh, what a lovely couple you two are!" Said an elderly lady that was standing beside them.
Ella looked at her alleged 'partner' and saw his face was as red as his coat. I guess the haircut really did make her look older! She decided to act boldly and go along with it. She looked down to his hand and entwined her fingers into it. He stiffened slightly at first but then when he looked at Ella, he relaxed and enclosed his fingers around the small hand. She nervously giggled and looked back at the woman. "Thank you ma'am!" She responded enthusiastically. If Evra saw her right now, he'd probably be telling her 'I told you so.'
She thought about letting go of his hand at risk of making him feel awkward, but the old man took a step forward and addressed Mr. Crepsley, "You found a pretty one, didn't you?" He inwardly sighed. Why must older people be so intrusive?
But like Ella, he decided to go along with it. He looked down and met her eyes, "She's beautiful." He knew his response was inappropriate considering their teacher-student relationship, but to his defense, she was the one that started it.
It was Ella's turn to blush now. "Oh look at them, Harold.. To be young and in love again! It warms my heart to see young whipper-snappers enjoying the arts together!" Ella almost laughed out loud. Evra will get a kick out of this!
"Come on, Eunice, we've embarrassed them enough. Let's go see if we can find our seats. You two have a lovely night!" He called out as the ushers opened the doors so they could go into the theatre.
"Thank you, sir!" Ella replied, matching the man's enthusiasm. She giggled as she looked up at her mentor. He smirked, noting her cheeks were still flushed. How precious, he thought, shortly followed by, how inappropriate! Yet, he didn't want to release his grasp on her hand. So he didn't.
Ella thought of letting go... But friends can hold hands, right?
Their hands remained intertwined as they moved through the auditorium to their front row seats. They reluctantly let go of each other to take their seats. Mr. Crepsley couldn't help but to watch her as she excitedly flipped through the program and read the bios of each actor. "Wow! The actor who is playing Calàf is only 21! That's incredible! He really must be something amazing to be playing a lead role at the Met at such a young age!"
He smiled as he watched her continue reading about the young actor but then frowned slightly, thinking about her lost future. This was her dream. He had no doubt that she would have been with this company had fate not intervened, but then a selfish thought crept into his mind. If that dreadful night had not occurred, she would not be a part of his life. He tried to imagine his life without her now and saw nothing but lonely misery. She has brought so much light into his life and has given something for him to be proud of. He just now hoped that he could make her as happy as she has made him.
The lights in the theatre started to dim and the orchestra stopped their warm up. Mr. Crepsley snapped back into reality and peeled his eyes away from her to look at the stage and the performance began.