When Stars Are Bright

by Amber R. Duell

  “This is the Orpheum.” He rubs his chin. “If we go to Chicago, we’ll never get out.”

  Three loud bangs cut through the merriment. Augustine stands in the doorway, slamming her cane down, beaming. “Congratulations,” she cheers. “We’re finally achieving our dreams.” There’s a round of applause. “Enjoy yourselves tonight because tomorrow we’ll work on beefing up your acts. Lina.” She crooks a finger in my direction. “Office, please.”

  A few glares shoot in my direction but they’re mostly too excited to care I’m getting special attention. Except Theresa. Any trace of a smile disappears from her face. I’m truly sorry she isn’t responsible for the newfound greatness. I’d give anything for it to be her glory instead of mine.

  Nik touches my arm, holding me back. “She can’t suspect anything.”

  “I know.” There are still holes in the plan, ones we thought there was time to fill, but she’ll smell the mere idea of it if I’m not careful. “She probably wants me to apologize to Chamberlain for jumping out of his car. She needs his money more than she needs me.”

  I wish that last part was true but his money never booked them a huge gig before.

  Nik glances at Augustine over my head. “You better hurry.”

  “Wait for me?” I squeak.

  “Of course.”

  I purse my lips and start for the stairs, unsure how I’ll force out an apology. Chamberlain doesn’t deserve one and Augustine knows it. She has to be aware of Chamberlain’s intentions, but his advances are likely good news to her. It’s another way to keep me around. To secure her source of money. Why wouldn’t I jump at such an offer? I frown at her back. Because, unlike her, I’m not a fortune hunter. My mother taught me to value myself and, unlike other lessons, that one stuck.

  “Hello, dearest.” Chamberlain guides me through the office door by the elbow. “Isn’t it wonderful? The Orpheum is a real treat.”

  There’s that word again. Treat. I’m not sure he understands the meaning, but I bob my head in agreement. “Everyone’s very excited.” Almost everyone.

  “It’s all because of your angelic voice. You must be very proud.”

  He sips his glass and I wonder who delivers their alcohol. Are they in a bad place like Nik? I swallow, looking away. “Thank you, Mr. Chamberlain, but I can’t take the credit alone.”

  “Yes, yes.” He presses my elbow until I follow him further into the room. “The others have some merit. And please, call me John.”

  If the troupe is as mediocre as Chamberlain seems to think, it can’t be worth the investment. I’ve seen them, heard them, and they can hold their own without me. They drew a crowd before I showed up and they’ll draw one when I’m gone. A theater isn’t going to book an entire troupe for one act.

  “Sit,” Augustine says. “I’d like to discuss something with you.”

  Here it comes. My fingernails dig into my palms and I sit, rigid, on the edge of the chair. “If this is about the other day, I won’t apologize.”

  Augustine and Chamberlain exchange a quick look before laughing.

  “You’re a real live wire.” Chamberlain clears his throat. “No, that day was my fault. I should’ve taken your situation into consideration before speaking ill of the less fortunate. Although, in the future, you’ll need to control your temper and use better judgment.”

  My jaw clamps down until my teeth hurt. Two back-to-back insults and judging by the smug look on his face, he doesn’t even realize it. If he only knew how much fury I’m holding back from them, he wouldn’t be telling me to control my temper. I focus on my breathing. In and out. Steady. Calm. I won’t win against them in a head-to-head battle so I have to bide my time. One day, maybe two, is all Nik and I have.

  “Then, you want to talk about Chicago?” I ask in my most relaxed voice possible.

  “Chicago?” She puckers her lips. “What about Chicago?”

  I square my shoulders and clasp my hands together before my nails draw blood. I have to be careful how hard I press the next issue. “About my wages before you leave. I’m not sure how much I’ve made, but even if it’s not enough to book passage home, it’s a start.” I had to do it. Not asking would be strange since our agreement was for me to stay on in New York.

  Augustine laughs again, her hand clutching the arm of the chair. “Wages? You haven’t covered your expenses yet.”

  Expenses? No one mentioned expenses… I summon every ounce of my courage and plow ahead with the act. If I’m careful, she won’t suspect anything. “You said all I had to do was ask for it.”

  “Yes.” She taps her fingers over her lips. “Which is still true. Once you pay back what was spent on you, there’s nothing to keep you from collecting. You have new clothes, a room, food, and there was that doctor we called in when you fainted. You won’t be making a profit until next season at the earliest.”

  Heat creeps up my spine and explodes at the base of my neck. Manipulative is too kind a word to describe her. Had Nik not filled me in, I would be dumbfounded. I wish he’d told me sooner. We could’ve worked together long before this. “It will take me a year just to repay the cost of the lace dress alone.”

  “That one was rather expensive.” She fiddles with the top of her cane. “Be glad I’m not charging interest. I know you’re in a bad place.”

  “A bad place?” My voice rises. Calm down. Remain compliant with just enough anger to make it believable. Our escape depends on it. “This was your plan all along, wasn’t it?”

  Chamberlain’s hand covers mine. “You sound like an ungrateful brat, dear.”

  “Ungrateful?” My laugh is more of a high-pitched shriek. The words keep coming and I can’t stop them. “My chances were probably better with Walter than the pair of you. At least he was upfront about his intentions. You’re just using me to get people addicted to your show!”

  “I have enough trouble with employee attitudes,” she snaps. “I won’t tolerate it from you too.”

  I glare at her, my mouth hanging open. If anyone has a right to a bad attitude, it’s me. Others here might not have a lot of options, but they have options and that’s what counts.

  “Now, we’ve discussed things.” She motions to Chamberlain. “It was brought to our attention that you weren’t at practice yesterday, and we feel it’s necessary you don’t go off on your own anymore.”

  “And by that, we mean anywhere with Mr. Sala.” Chamberlain pats my thigh. “It isn’t good for a lady’s reputation.”

  “Or your fair skin,” Augustine adds. “I haven’t once seen you wear the hat we gave you and I can’t very well put a lobster up on stage.”

  A wave of fire washes over me, sweeping away the lies I’m supposed to humor them with. “You can’t tell me where to go or who to be friends with. You’re not my parents, and I’m not your property.”

  I move to stand but don’t make it more than an inch off the chair before Chamberlain’s fingers dig into my shoulder. I suck in air as sharp pain radiates down my arm.

  “You’ll learn to bite that tongue, or I’ll cut it out,” he warns.

  “Really?” I narrow my eyes, feeling much braver than is likely good for me. “Go ahead. Cut it out. I can’t sing without it.”

  His grip tightens, and I clamp down on the inside of my cheek to stop from crying out. “Once I’m your husband, you’ll learn I have no tolerance for disobedience.”

  “Husband?” A laugh bursts out before I can stop it. “Now I know this is a joke.”

  Augustine moves quicker than I’ve ever seen before. Her hand lands on my cheek with a crack, stinging my skin. “You’ll marry him, or you’ll be on the street without a red cent.”

  “I’d rather be on the street,” I hiss.

  I tear my arm away from Chamberlain. If they hadn’t gone too far before, they have now. I fly out of the room and down the stairs before they can utter another word. Marry him? He’s off his rocker. Bolting from the car in the middle of New York City should’ve kicked the idea out of
his head. They can’t force me to the altar and if they try I’ll tell the world what’s happened to me. It doesn’t matter if there are consequences for me. Bile rises in the back of my throat. There would be problems for Nik though.

  I slam into Theresa’s at the bottom of the stairs, sending us both straight into the wall. We fall to the ground in a heap. My body slumps across her lap but my head bounces off the floor. Lights dance in my vision.

  Theresa shoves me aside with an ear-piercing shriek. I scramble to my feet, grabbing at the smooth wall to keep myself from tumbling back down.

  “What the hell are you doing?” She cradles her elbow. “Trying to ruin our big break?”

  “No,” I mumble. Her face is blurry.

  “I bet you were.” She steps so close I feel the heat radiating from her. “You were trying to break my legs so I couldn’t steal your thunder. And I will, you know? Our new act will be—”

  “What happened?” Jackie skirts around us and pulls Theresa away from me. “I heard screaming. Are you okay?”

  Theresa leans into her girlfriend and watches me. “My elbow,” she whimpers.

  “Theresa, I’m sorry.” I crush my eyelids shut to stop the hall from spinning. It doesn’t work. “I was going too fast and didn’t see you there.” In my defense, it’s impossible to see around the corner when you’re on the staircase, no matter how fast you’re moving.

  “A likely story,” she snaps. “You’ve hated me since you got here.”

  I’ve hated her? We haven’t spoken a word to each other when she got it in her head to set everyone against me. I’d say as much if I thought it would help the situation but it most definitely wouldn’t.

  “Hey now.” Nik slides an arm around me. “That’s enough.”

  “Always sticking up for your little whore, Nik,” Theresa shouts. I blanch at her insult. “She just drove me into the wall. How is that my fault?”

  “It’s not, Terr. It was an accident,” Jackie says gently.

  “Whose side are you on?”

  “Come on,” Nik whispers. He leads me down the hall, away from the building argument, and into an empty dressing room. “What happened?”

  “I ruined everything.” I wrap my arms around him, desperate and afraid. What if we can’t get away now? “They made me so mad, I couldn’t keep quiet.”

  He leans back to scan me over. When he’s apparently satisfied I’m okay, he asks, “Did you tell them we were planning to leave?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “It can’t be that bad then.” He guides me back into the hug I so badly need. “What did they say?”

  I hesitate. He should know but I don’t want him rushing up to the office to beat Chamberlain to a pulp. It’ll be a one-way ticket to prison. “If we’re going to leave, it has to be now.” I lift my head and look him in the eyes. “Right now. Chamberlain proposed. Well, he didn’t pose it as a question exactly, but we have to get out of here.”

  Augustine bursts inside the empty room. Her lips are pressed so thinly, they’ve all but disappeared as she glares at us from beneath lowered brows. “The cars are ready.”

  Nik pulls away, leaving me cold. “We’re coming.”

  That’s it; the window for escape just slammed shut. But there are more ways to rid a house of vermin. I ball my hands into fists. Tonight my sleeplessness will be put to good use.

  “Soon,” Nik mouths when Augustine turns her back.

  I nod, my head throbbing with the motion. Sooner than he thinks.

  My mother told me the only things I deserve are the things I earn. Well, dang it, I’ve earned this money ten times over. If Augustine hadn’t tried to play me I might’ve cut my losses and left without taking my share, but she lied from the beginning. She probably never mailed my letters either. If I didn’t talk to Mrs. Van Buren, I would still be waiting for help but now it’s time to save myself. Which is why I spent last night moving about the house, memorizing every loose and creaky floorboard in preparation for a silent escape.

  A fast-paced melody from Gus’s saxophone drifts up from the stage. I spin the heavy dial on the office safe slowly, my palms coated in sweat, and wait to feel a slight catch. I may have underestimated how difficult cracking the combination would be. Luckily, Augustine is still at the boarding house with her absinthe so I have more time before anyone notices I’m gone.

  My knees absorb the vibrations of the floor as the band rehearses below, and I strain to hear if anyone is coming down the hall. I wouldn’t put it past Theresa to send someone up here to spy on me, or to come herself in hopes of catching me red-handed. The manager was lurking around earlier too, but I haven’t seen him in a few hours.

  “Come on,” I growl quietly and slam my palms against the cool steel. “Open.”

  I breathe heavily through my mouth, fighting back angry tears. There isn’t enough time for this thing to be so difficult. I wipe my palms on my blue skirt and resume spinning the dial. Why couldn’t Augustine be forgetful enough to need the combination written down? There’s a slight hitch in the smooth motion of the knob and I jerk back before I pass notch nineteen. Two more to go. The first one only took fifteen minutes.

  I massage my temples, battling the remains of last night’s headache. Getting no more than an hour of sleep didn’t help the pain, nor did it help plan something as dangerous as this. With twitching fingers, I lean in and turn the dial to the left.

  A soft clunk rises above the music. I leap to my feet and press my back to the safe as if it could hide what I was doing. “Nik?” I exhale. He leans against the closed door with wide eyes. “What are you doing up here?”

  He sprints across the room. “I could ask you the same thing.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” I glance over my shoulder at the safe. With his history, the last thing he needs is to get roped into this part of my scheme. His involvement comes later.

  He narrows his eyes. “You’re trying to break into the safe, aren’t you?”

  “What?” I laugh but it’s too high-pitched to be believable. “I’m just looking for something I left here.”

  He crosses his arms and a piece of gelled hair falls out of place. “Really? What?”

  “My...” I exhale sharply. “Just go back to rehearsal and pretend you never saw any of this.”

  “Like that’s possible.” He scowls, his nostrils flaring. “I’m not letting you go down this path. Augustine may not be here today but that doesn’t mean you won’t get caught. What do you think will happen when they find the safe is short?”

  “Recount it.” I force a smile. It doesn’t matter to me what they do. We’ll be long gone before they get a chance to go over the books.

  “If you steal their money and run off, you’ll be pointing the finger at yourself better than anyone else ever could. And trust me, they will be pointing. And not just at you.”

  A stone settles in my stomach. I doubt Chamberlain will overlook his money being taken. Especially not by someone he’s blackmailing. That makes it all the more important that we don’t waste any time getting out of here.

  Nik steps around the desk. “You’re asking for trouble, Canary. Come downstairs and forget about all this.” He holds out his hand, but I don’t take it. “Trust me. This isn’t a path you want to go down.”

  “I know it’s not,” I hiss. “But I have to do something. Chamberlain wants to marry me, remember? I’m—”

  The floor creaks outside the office and we both freeze. When the knob turns, my heart plummets, my feet rooted to the floor. Nik takes a step away with wild eyes. Chamberlain stands in the hallway in his velvet jacket and black pants. A fedora hangs from one hand. With the other, he pushes his round glasses up his nose, blinking behind the thick lenses.

  “Miss Holt.” Surprise laces voice. “What are you doing in here?”

  I open my mouth but no words come out. What reason could I possibly have to be in the office? And with Nik of all people.

  “I can’t let you do it,” Nik
shouts at me. He steps in front of me and raises his eyebrows, pleading silently for me to go along with him. “You can’t marry him.”

  “Nik,” I shriek. “What—”

  He grabs my arm, squeezing. “I know you think it’s a good idea.”

  Chamberlain slams the door shut. “What is this?”

  “You really burn me up, Chamberlain.” Nik turns to face him. “I knew you were entitled but proposing to a girl young enough to be your granddaughter?”

  “Remember your place, Mr. Sala. Remember what I can do to you,” he replies calmly.

  “How could I forget?”

  Chamberlains eyes flick over Nik’s shoulder to mine. “It sounds like you’re reconsidering?”

  I nod, too stunned Nik threw me to the wolves to do anything else.

  “Out,” he barks at Nik. “Now.”

  Nik walks around the sitting area with squared shoulders. The silence weighs heavy as he leaves, freezing me in place, and when he slams the door behind him, the wood shudders.

  I hesitate, cursing Nik, and motion to the desk. “I was looking for your address to pay you a visit this afternoon. Nik followed to stop me.” There’s no choice but to play along now.

  Chamberlain tosses his hat on a stack of papers and unbuttons his jacket. I step back, my jaw tight, and fight the urge to fly out the door after Nik.

  I’ll strangle him for this.

  “I’m here now,” he says. “What would you like to speak with me about?”

  I swallow hard and force a smile. An engagement is something I should be glad about. Happy. Be Happy. This is supposed to be one of the greatest days of my life and if I want to get out of here without Chamberlin sensing the lie, I have to act like it. “About last night,” I say. My voice wavers. I sing—I don’t act and he’s surrounded by people who can do a daily basis. My deception will be paper thin. Dropping my gaze, I hope he mistakes my flushed cheeks for embarrassment instead of my rising outrage. “I’m truly sorry for my reaction. You caught me off guard and I apologize.”

  “Well,” he mumbles.

  He pulls the books away from the hidden decanter and fumbles with a glass, nearly tipping it over. It doesn’t take long before he recovers enough to pour himself a drink and step up beside me again. “I must take partial blame. I thought my intentions were clear, but I underestimated how innocent you are. It must have given you quite a shock.”