The audience exploded with applause. Scout couldn’t clap any more enthusiastically. Parker smiled at her as she applauded vigorously. She hadn’t stopped smiling since they arrived.
A feminine voice echoed and the audience quelled. A woman dressed in a medieval red gown took the stage. She sang in a different language, and her voice was incredible.
A sultry sound kicked in and the woman sang to the music. The beat picked up, and Scout gasped when the wall behind the stage was illuminated and hundreds of young ballerinas joined her. They paraded from one end of the stage to the other, performing beautifully.
When the tiny dancers left the stage, a glass tub was left in their wake. Scout knew it was much larger than it appeared, but from their seats it showed a tiny fishbowl with two fish swimming inside. When a woman, not a fish, swam to the edge of the tank, Scout’s mouth dropped open. People. They looked like fish.
Another woman climbed out of the glass tank. They didn’t dance, yet they performed in long stretches. They were contortionists. Their bodies folded in ways that shouldn’t be possible. It was amazing to watch, so much so that Scout was afraid to blink.
There was something almost sexual about the way they performed. The rhythmic music was as hypnotic as their motions. The entire audience had been cast under a spell.
She glanced at Parker. He was as entranced as the rest of them. Every act was followed by a more impressive one. There wasn’t a dull moment.
When the acrobats began to climb, the stage broke apart and rose higher and higher as dancers twirled like fireflies from impossible heights under the starry night. Scarves became wings, and bodies transcended like kites with long flowing tails. But that was not what impressed her most.
What made the show for Scout was the second-to-last act. A trapeze artist, a woman, broke away from the group of dancers and raced up a rope ladder that disappeared somewhere just before heaven. She reached a platform and performed pirouettes, reminding Scout of a jewelry box she once saw in a storefront window as a child, with a tiny spinning dancer on a spring.
Every face in the audience angled upward as if waiting for the rain to fall. The woman pointed her toe and suddenly stepped off the platform onto a rope.
Scout’s breath came fast. She licked her lips, her own anxiety nearly unbearable as the performer took her first step. A net sat somewhere, a hundred miles below. It didn’t matter. She was crossing the rope without harnesses or ties. It was sheer balance and determination that kept her poised there on the thin rope strung from heaven.
Her heart raced and suddenly Scout’s eyes closed. She wasn’t at the Circus of the Sun, but beneath the sun, her head resting on Lucian’s lap as he told her of the impressive show he’d seen as a boy. She blinked and again watched the tightrope walker. He was right. It was the most impressive thing she’d ever seen.
He should be there with her, but he wasn’t. She glanced to her right and studied Parker’s profile. This was where her path had taken her. This was where she was. There were no safety nets in life or love, only spectators and the incredibly brave performers. She’d always longed to be a part of the show, never content with looking from the outside in.
Parker had found a way to break out of the mold and join the rest of them. It was time she did the same. He was her last ally.
Her hand slid to his thigh and he turned, first staring at her upturned palm and then setting his questioning gaze on her. She smiled and his expression slowly matched hers. This was where she was, and she wasn’t going back. His hand slid into hers and he squeezed.
They held on to each other until the performers concluded the show, only letting go to applaud. The noise returned as the lights came on and he reclaimed her hand as they found their way back down the ramp and into the crowded parking lot.
The pavement was congested and noisy. Parker hailed a cab and told the driver the address to the apartment. A sort of calm settled over her as they drove. It occurred to her that she was okay with her decision to move on and let the past stay in the past. It was the healthiest choice she could make, being she wasn’t given many choices regarding her circumstances.
There had been enough tears, enough dreamless nights, and sleep-ridden days. It was time to break away from the woman she’d become and figure out who she was meant to be.
“Did you enjoy it?” Parker asked softly as they neared the apartment.
Her face split with a genuine smile. “Very much. Thank you so much for taking me.”