The Girl Who Joined the Circus

Chapter Ten

I was being featured in a poster?

Gesso was the only one who didn’t react and just kept sketching away. The twins looked as if they were sucking on lemons, their legs now uncrossed and stomping the ground in protest.

“Excuse me?” Mariah asked as she glared at Laurent.

“What do you mean, she’s being featured on the poster?” Maleah questioned, throwing her hands on her slim hips as her expression matched that of her sister. Their normally beautiful pixie faces turned a mottled red with their obvious offense.

Laurent held up his hands to placate them, before dropping them again and using one to direct me to the only remaining chair. When I felt his hand on the low of my back, I felt a shudder pass through me. And when his hand dropped lower still, so it was firmly on one of my bottom cheeks, my heart started racing. I took the chair quickly as the twins stared me down.

“You said we’d have the poster all to ourselves,” Mariah bellyached.

“It’s our turn to be the main event, Mr. Elilchelvan,” Maleah whined. “You promised!”

“Yeah, you promised!”

“Now, ladies.” Laurent held up his hands again, and the humor dropped from his voice. I couldn’t help but stare at the hand that had just touched me in a very intimate way—one I wasn’t accustomed to from any man, let alone my boss. And while there was something within me that rebelled at the thought—that felt it was certainly a liberty he shouldn’t have taken, there was another part of me that was thrilled, eager to feel his hand on me again.

“I told you as much before Bindi joined us,” he continued. “But… now things have changed. If you watched her performance last night, you must have realized how taken the audience was with her.”

He looked at me in a way that hinted that the audience weren’t the only ones taken with me. I colored and dropped my gaze because I was more than sure the twins had just witnessed the expression he’d given me and the last thing I wanted to be accused of was preferential treatment.

“The audience is always taken with us, too!” Mariah argued.

Laurent nodded. “Yes, of course they are, but there is something to be said for the newest of acts, my dear. Audiences are quite fickle, and they seem most attracted to whatever is new.” He breathed in deeply and set his jaw in a firm hold. “Please understand that this is merely a business decision.” Then he breathed out. “Besides, adding Bindi to the poster will only improve your image.”

“And how’s that?” Maleah demanded, not at all pleased to hear it.

“Imagine it,” Laurent started, extending his hands in the air before him as if he were about to detail a dramatic story. “The pair of you swinging above like birds in flight, with Bindi twisting below you, inside a gilded birdcage.” He paused, raising an eyebrow as he looked at each twin, challenging them to defy him. They remained silent for another few seconds.

“I still don’t like it,” Mariah finally said, mouth tight.

Laurent frowned at her, then her sister. “Well, it’s not up for debate, so you two can either play nice or say goodbye to your spots on the poster altogether.”

The two of them huffed and puffed, crossing their arms tightly over their chests as they pouted and took turns glaring at me.

“Well, at least we won’t be the ones inside that stupid cage,” Maleah pointed out, a triumphant smirk on her face.

Laurent pursed his lips for a moment, and I got the impression that placating the twins was a frequent occurrence. He just seemed to be handling the situation with immense patience, as if he were used to doing as much. “A very astute observation. So, what do you say? Will you play the parts of our birds overhead?”

The twins exchanged meaningful looks, then leaned close together, whispering too quietly for me to hear what they said. Half the time, I wasn’t even sure they were speaking. It seemed as though they could read each other’s minds. But, of course, that wasn’t possible.

“We will take part in the poster, but we want to be part of Bindi’s act, too,” Mariah said with a quick nod as she turned from her sister to face Laurent.

My eyes flew wide open with astonishment as I whipped my head in her direction. First, they hated me; now they wanted to work with me?

“Along with our original act,” Maleah added. “We want to be in both acts.”

“It wouldn’t make sense if all three of us weren’t seen together if we’re all on the poster together,” said Mariah.

“No sense at all, Mr. Elilchelvan,” Maleah finished.

Laurent bit his lip to keep from smiling, although one corner of his mouth still twitched. I couldn’t understand how he didn’t want to wring their necks by this point. “You’re absolutely right. I’ll discuss the details with Valida. Now, will you two behave yourselves around Bindi and welcome her into our family, please? I’ve heard stories that you both have been less than friendly.”

The twins plastered on unconvincing sneers. “Oh, absolutely,” Mariah replied in a cloying tone.

“We’ll be very welcoming,” Maleah added.