Yes, it's not a Sunday, but I've decided to give my loyal readers a treat with an extra chapter this week. Hopefully you'll enjoy. Next part on Sunday as usual...
The Merry, Merry Month of May: Part II
Out in the corridor once again, his duty to Mike over, Sebastian was just finishing up the very quick call he had wished to make to Dave. He had first of all had to delete the missed calls and messages that had arrived en masse from Santana. Sebastian had big news, and he knew that in just a few moments, he would be grilled by everyone as the walked back out. He had decided that the first person that he wanted to share it with was his husband, as it should be, and so he had reluctantly crept away from the others as they watched the exceptional talents of Mike Chang. He had been spotted by Sam as he went, but he was more than happy to accept a nod and a gesture of a phone as a valid excuse. Thus he had left unseen by the others, retracing his steps and stepping back into the light of the quiet corridor. He had dialled the number, hoping that Dave would be available to answer. He took his time, but eventually his husband answered, sounding slightly breathless as he did so. He had been allowed to say no more than hello before Sebastian had just blurted his news out in an almost incoherent rush, which had just made Dave laugh, then ask him to repeat what he had just said a lot slower. Sebastian had laughed too, and had then done what his husband had asked…
Now Sebastian stood there as he slipped his phone away, his face glowing with pleasure as he repeated the words that his husband had said to him, and anticipated the promises that he had made for that evening. He contemplated calling Jules, but in the end he realised that his brother would be hard at work at this time on a Friday, and would not be too pleased at the interruption. He would just have to call him as soon after five as he could. He knew that his brother would be happy for him; heck, every one of his friends would be pleased for him. It was a sequence of happy coincidences that had brought him to this point; that had turned what had been a big disappointment a few days ago into the best thing in the world. He wanted to shout his news out from the rooftops, for the whole universe to hear. He wanted to see their faces as he spoke. Now, as he waited for the others to emerge, he was restless. He wanted to spread the news and now. Heck, he even felt like dialling the most special number stored on his cellphone, and telling every single thing to his good friend Bette… His finger was still hovering over her name on his phone when the door to the backstage area swung open, and he found himself once more in the company of the others. All of them seemed pleased with what they had just witnessed, and Sebastian had to agree that Mike had been spectacular in the one dance that he had seen.
"So, meerkat, why did you sneak away whilst the rest of us lingered to watch Mike perform what might have been the dance of his life just now? I mean, we all managed to stay and support him, so why couldn't you?" asked Santana.
"I had a call that I needed to make to my husband, oh mighty Satan, and seeing as I did not have time to call him on my way here as I promised as (a) I was late and (b) my phone was full of a plethora of spam messages from someone that made it impossible to call! Honestly, if they had sent me one more message, then I swear I would have been forced to call Dalton and cancel something…"
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Just you try me! Though I have to admit, the thought of how devastated the lovely Brittany would be is an important factor in my decision so far not to do so." Sebastian turned and smiled at the blonde girl, who smiled right back.
"So, what was so important that you had to say to Dave? Was it anything to do with what Carmen wanted to see you about?" Santana continued.
"Well, firstly it was to make firm our plans for this evening, but yes, what Carmen said to me did end up dominating the conversation. I know you are desperate to find out what that was, but you will just have to wait until Mike is ready to come to the diner with us, and then I might just tell all of you exactly what is going on. Unless, of course, someone keeps bugging me, in which case I just might not bother saying anything at all."
"That's fair, I guess," said Nick, intervening before Santana could reply. "I am assuming that Mike will be finished very soon. Maybe he will know his fate one way or the other by then, and then our trip to the Spotlight tonight can be either a celebration or a commiseration session. Until then, we leave Sebastian in peace. All agreed?" There were nods of agreement all round to Nick's statement, even from Santana, though hers did appear to be half-hearted, much to everyone's amusement. As for Sebastian, he smiled and decided to send a text to his brother - and if he copied in a few other important people, then so be it.
In the auditorium by that point, Mike had finished up his third piece, and now stood silently centre stage, in the spot that he had been asked to wait in by the assessors. Tina had come down to join Artie at the front, her face exhibiting the nerves that she felt for her boyfriend. Artie saw this at once and grasped her hand, as all three of them waited for someone to speak and release them from their suspense. It seemed that the silence lasted forever, but eventually, the head assessor spoke.
"Mr Chang, what we have just witnessed from you today is not what we have come to expect to see from the young men and woman on this stage in the last few weeks, and for that we are extremely grateful. Your performance in all three of your pieces can only be fairly summed up as magnificent. Your body appeared at times to be possessed entirely by the music and your dance; your muse had obviously taken total control and you blew us all away, if I am being honest. The fact that in your first piece you managed to accurately exhibit every single one of the dance styles referred to in the lyrics was quite an achievement in itself. Then we came to your two ballet pieces; one traditional, one modern. I can say now without fear of dissent from any of my fellow assessors that your performance today was the best of any student in the graduating class, which is why we must burden you with the valedictorian speech at the graduation ceremony. My heartfelt congratulation, Mike. I look forward to seeing great things from you in the future, and also to meeting your parents, so that I can tell them what a special and talented young man they have raised."
As he sat down, leaving Mike standing there shell-shocked, the recruiter from the City Ballet stood up, and added his viewpoint. "I could not agree more with what has just been said. The official papers will follow in due course, but here and now, Mike, I would like to welcome you officially to the corps; I suggest just now that you relax, take a break, and then we will have you join us full-time. Many congratulations, and well done!"
Mike manages to find his voice long enough to thank all the people on the panel for their kind words and praise, and to tell them it had been an honour to perform for them. Then he was dismissed - the moment that he stepped off the stage he was immediately engulfed in a hug by an overjoyed Tina, then with Artie taking a hand to steady him, he was guided out of the auditorium by the main door. As they walked, Tina found time to send a text to Nick, asking him and the others to come and meet them. As soon as he was out of the door, though, Mike suddenly felt an entire wave of emotions engulf him, and he collapsed onto one of the benches by the door, just as the small group of friends that were present appeared. Nick and Jeff broke away from the others and ran over, each of them kneeling in front of their roommate, grasping his hands, before they looked up at him in expectation. "Top of the class of 2016 apparently," Mike whispered, and that statement found himself enveloped in two more sets of arms. In time, they were replaced by Brittany, Marley and Kitty. Santana extended a hand, but Mike pulled her in for a hug too, and she relaxed into it. There were fist bumps from Mason and Sebastian, but Sam demanded a hug too, and he got it.
Then he knew exactly what he had to do. He asked Tina to go into his bag and find his phone; she handed it to him and he dialled a number. He got through at first to a switchboard, then waited as his call was transferred. When the person he wanted to speak to answered, he said "Hey, dad, it's me. I just wanted you to know straight away how I got on today… I've just been told that I am top of my class, and I will be the valedictorian at graduation. Oh, and I've got the job at the City Ballet too… I just wanted to say thank you for listening to Tina, and letting me pursue my dream, and because I don't say this enough, I love you…"
There was a moment's pause, then he spoke again. "Don't cry dad, or I will start, and that will set Tina off, and probably Jeff, and we all know that that will not be pretty! I know that you love me, and I love you too, so very much… Yes, ok, I will call mom right now and tell her. I love you…" Mike hung up, and quickly swiped at the few treacherous tears that were running down his face. "He said that he was so proud of me; that I needed to tell my mom quickly, as he is itching to tell all the doubters in my extended family that I have made it… So, I'd best call my mom…" As Mike dialled another number, Tina went to sit at his side, taking his free hand once he had typed in the number and was waiting for his call to be answered. Nick pulled Jeff to his feet again, and put an arm round him. As the others looked at each other, wondering what to do, they heard Mike say "Hey, mom…" and instinctively, they all knew what to do. They moved away, to let him talk to his mother in peace.
"It's nice, isn't it?" said Artie. "To see someone achieve their dreams. To get to a point where there talents have been officially recognised. And actually, now that I think about it, he is the first of the original New Directions to actually graduate from college. Rachel and Mercedes both quit school as they pursued their dream. Puck didn't go, and both Kurt and Finn died before they could even complete a little bit of college…"
"Brittany and I both started later, and as for Quinn, she has another year to go, and the same goes for you and Tina, Wheels," said Santana, making Artie smile at the use of his old nickname. "So, this calls for a celebration. I am going to go and call Elliott, and see what he can rustle up for us before we get there."
"Somebody really ought to call Mr Schue too," added Marley. "He saw all of us as his kids, and he will be every bit as proud of Mike as his father is." The other New Directions nodded, and Artie pulled out his phone to make the call.
As they watched, Nick turned to Jeff, and whispered, "I think that there might be more than one cause for celebration tonight though. Watching Sebastian and the way he is acting, I think that our fellow musketeer has had a bit of good news too…"
By the time that Mike had finished his conversation with his mother, and had then taken a call from an overjoyed Mr Schuester back in Lima, he was feeling physically drained, and all of his emotions were on edge. He was happy though, and all the tears that he had cried that day were from joy. He made his excuses to the others, and went to change back into his street clothes, but not before he had asked Artie to put his good news into the ether. Nick quietly did the same amongst the Warblers, sharing the good news about their honorary member. By the time that he came back to join them, having decided to take a quick shower as well, he found that he had messages on his phone from so many people. He had warm congratulations from Puck, Quinn, Mercedes and Jake, and similar sentiments from Thad, David, Trent, Beats and Flint. He had a message from Matt, demanding that he call him as soon as possible, so that he could tell him just how proud he felt of his friend's achievements, as words were not enough to express his delight.
Then a text arrived that made him laugh out loud. 'Top of the class. The tights suit you, Dancing Asian.' He knew who had sent that without even looking, though it was only as he, Tina and Artie headed out that he realised that somehow, Sue Sylvester had his cell number. At that moment, he did not care. He called up Matt as the three of them sat in the back of the cab they had called to take them to the Spotlight, the others all having gone ahead by subway, and Artie and Tina had laughed when they heard loud cheering down the phone the moment that Matt picked up at the other end. That was nothing compared with what happened when he walked into the diner; the whole place erupted in cheers and applause, and when he looked up and saw the Congratulations, Mike! banner that Elliott had somehow produced to hang over the stage, he nearly burst into tears again. He did manage not to, and was all smiles as he was escorted onto the stage and made to take a bow in front of all of his friends.
As Mike was taking his bow, Sebastian suddenly found himself being cornered by Santana. "Ok, meerkat, we have waited long enough! What is going on with you? What is your big secret?"
"Yes, we have all been patient, but now it is time to spill!" came a voice from behind him, and Sebastian turned round to see Nick and Jeff standing behind him, trying and failing to look intimidating.
"Well, I had actually decided that I would be a gentleman, and let the spotlight shine solely on Mike today, but if you all insist…"
"We do!" said Sam, walking up on his right.
"Plus I could actually do with a break from the limelight," said Mike, as he, Tina and Artie approached from the left. "Tina tells me you have news too…."
Sebastian sighed, the with fake resignation in his voice, began. "If I must… Well, it all began in March. You might not recall what happened to me that month. That was when I was told by the directors of the Shakespeare in the Park festival that their solemn promise last fall of a part in this year's production meant nothing…"
"…as they had chosen to go with an all female cast in both of this year's plays!" came a chorus of voices. All of them remembered only too well the rant that Sebastian had had in that very room that day, and how it had been necessary to hold back Santana from escalating their verbal war into a physical one.
Sebastian laughed, then continued. "It is nice to know that despite all the sullen expressions and the bored looks that I got at the time, you did all choose to listen to me with care and consideration. I apologise for going on about it, but it was grossly unfair - and I did tell them that much at the time. I asked them if they were proposing to use an all male cast in 2017, and they said no, that would be out of the question. Which, like it or not, Satan, is blatant sexism. Anyway, before we restart World War III, I continue… My arguments must have made some kind of impression on them, as one of the team recalled me…"
"Fascinating as all of this is, Sebastian, we have all heard it before, and not just once either, but every five minutes from the moment you were told to the moment I threatened to kill you. So can we just skip straight to the good part rather than rehashing the same old moans?" said Santana testily.
"Ok, Satan, calm down. I was just about to move on when you interrupted! Cut to that day at the start of April when Niff tried to crack a joke, and instead nearly broke the world as we know it. Whilst you were all falling apart, I was doing my practical exams for Carmen, and as well as her usual carefully selected judging panel, there was this guy there that I had never seen before - just observing, she said as she introduced them all. Anyway, I did the usual mix of pieces in different styles and genres, just to illustrate to all of them my range, but that day I finished with something new; I did I Believe from Book of Mormon. I gave it my all, really working on all of my facial expressions as hard as I had on the lyrics. I had even asked the piano player to feed me the other parts. Carmen seemed very impressed at the time, and as anyone that has ever been to NYADA will tell you, that is not something that is easy to achieve. At the time, she and the judges were my priority, not the observer, so I paid him very little attention. As it happens, he should have been the person that I watched. So, moving on to what took place today…"
"Finally!" said Santana, raising her eyebrows.
"I don't have to tell you at all, and maybe I won't - but that would be unfair on the better behaved amongst you, so moving on. Now, I admit that when I was called to see the Dean on the last day of term, I broke out in a cold sweat. I really though that I had failed somewhere along the line. So I approached her office in a state of fear, my head bowed as an act of contrition. I knocked, and she called me straight in. To my great relief, she was smiling at me as I walked through the door, so I could breathe a sigh of relief as it appeared my initial fears were groundless. Then I saw that she was not alone; the observer from that day in April was with her, and he too had a broad smile on his face. Carmen made all the necessary introductions; it turns out that he is a casting director, and he was looking for someone versatile who could join the ensemble cast of a show as a swing performer. He had heard about me from the producers of Shakespeare in the Park. He had been coming to NYADA off and on for a few weeks, checking out people that Carmen felt could fit the bill for the show. Now, the part in question is only for the summer, but that was just another reason why it might have been made for me…"
"So," snapped Santana, "we have all been standing here as the ice caps melt and the earth moves towards its end, for you to basically announce, once we cut out all the unnecessary stuff, that you have a summer job! That is all that this boils down to in the end!"
"Yes, I do. It was my last song at my practicals that swung it. I took it at once, naturally. It does mean that I will have to wear a shirt and tie up to eight times a week all summer though…"
Suddenly, Nick gasped, his face lighting up. "Oh my God! Seb! Do you mean…?"
"I knew someone would realise what I was hinting at. Yes, Nick, I do. I will be joining the ensemble cast of Book of Mormon for the summer holidays. I have been officially cast, albeit in a very minor part, in my first Broadway show!" As he finished speaking, Jeff let out a squeal of delight, and threw himself at Sebastian, Nick right behind him as they enveloped their friend in a hug. Sam grinned, and walked over to pat Sebastian on the back.
Brittany was smiling too, whilst Santana - well she smiled too, but maybe not quite so broadly as the others. "Well," she said sadly, "I guess that congrats are in order. You've just got your big break…."
Sebastian broke free from Jeff, and walked over to put an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, it will be yours too, soon enough. The difference is that your big break will be in a named part. I mean, it's Broadway, but it's ensemble. Name in small print in the playbill. No guarantee of actually ever reaching the stage. It's not like I'm an understudy; heck, I'm not even an understudy's understudy! It's a start though. I am going to be walking into a Broadway theatre, night after night. Don't worry about one thing though; I told him that I needed to be off the weekend of the wedding of the year at Dalton, and he said that was no problem."
"Well, that's ok then. I guess I am kind of pleased for you, meerkat…" Santana replied, before she pulled him into a hug to everyone's surprise.
It was whilst they were still in that hug, unaware that Nick had taken a picture for future use, that they heard a familiar voice on the P.A. and they both knew what was about to happen. "If I could have everyone's attention again for just a moment please," said Brittany, and the place fell silent once more. "Now today is not supposed to be a good day, what with the date, but for two people in this room, two of the partners that own this place, it really is!"
At the counter, Dani and Elliott, who had been discussing rotas, fell silent, and only a handful of people seemed to be uninterested in what she was about to say. "Firstly, we had the good news about Mr Mike Chang, who has been told that he will be the valedictorian in his graduating class at Julliard, and that he has also secured a place in the corps of the City Ballet!" There was a new outburst of applause as Mike turned bright red, and smiled sheepishly from where he was standing at Tina's side.
"Secondly, we have just found out that Mr Sebastian Smythe is going to be a Mormon!" That news was greeted with a stunned silence; Dani and Elliott gave each other a double take look, before staring open mouthed at Sebastian, wondering when he had become religious. Artie smiled at Brittany, as around the room, people began to wonder why that was news. "Sorry, he is going to be a Mormon on Broadway. He's just got an ensemble part in the show!" The shock in the room quickly turned into delight, with applause and cheers from every corner. Sebastian found himself being propelled towards the stage, and before he knew it, he was up there, flanked by Mike, the two of them smiling as everyone expressed their joy at the achievement of the two young men.
