He turned and headed toward the stage as Hannah followed him in shock.
“You can’t do that!” she yelled from behind him.
Harvey walked on the stage, just behind the velvet curtain, as the band looked on in surprise. Hannah arrived right behind him and stood there, dumbfounded. She and Harvey had gotten into many fights in the past, but he had never cancelled one of her performances before.
“You’re not really going to do this, are you? You’ve got a house full of people here, Harvey.” She pulled the curtain back a fraction to show him all the people that had come to hear her sing.
He ripped the curtain out of her hand and turned to face her. “Yes, Hannah, I really am going to do this. And if you want to keep your job here, you’ll think more carefully about speaking to me like that in the future. I know I have a house full of people; this is my club, and these are my guests, not yours. I can call any number of singers and have them come and fill in for you. You’re not that special. Don’t you ever forget that.”
Harvey turned his back to Hannah and walked out onto the stage, quietly instructing the band to start playing a soft instrumental.
Hannah watched in disbelief, still reeling from the words Harvey had spoken. With tears in her eyes and anger raging in her heart, she turned and stormed out onto the stage.
“You know what, Harvey, I am special, and nothing you say or do will change that. I don’t need to take this from you anymore. I quit!”
The band stopped playing. The crowd, still streaming in through the doors, went quiet with the commotion on the stage.
Harvey threw his hand in the air and commanded the band to begin playing again as Hannah stormed off the stage and made her way through the club to the exit. She was so focused on getting to the
door that she didn’t even see Sadiq when she ran right into him.
“Miss Green! What a lovely surprise!” he said cheerfully.
Hannah looked up and saw his expression change to one of concern when he saw her face.
“Is everything all right?” he asked.
“Sadiq!” Hannah said, her tone belying how she was really feeling. “Yes, everything is just fine.” She had planned on telling him she was going to refuse his offer, but now, with everything that had just happened, she suddenly changed her mind.
“I’ve decided to take you up on your generous offer,” she said, not quite believing the words were coming out of her own mouth.
Sadiq reached out and touched her shoulders lightly. “Really?” he asked.
Hannah nodded, smiling nervously as his touch sent a shiver down her spine.
“That’s wonderful! I don’t know what changed your mind, but I’m glad you did. Pack a suitcase, or a few. We leave tomorrow.”
People kept walking around them as the band continued to play softly in the background. “Oh,” Sadiq said, realizing that Hannah was dressed to perform. “I can see you have a show to put on. No problem, we’ll talk after.”
Hannah looked up at the stage and then back at Sadiq. “Oh, that. No, actually, I won’t be performing tonight. Slight change of plans,” she smiled meekly.
Hannah grabbed Sadiq’s hand and pulled him over to a table in the corner. “Here, sit down,” she said as she sat down next to him. “I’ll give you my number and address and you just tell me what time I need to be ready.”
“Sure,” Sadiq said, and punched in the information on his phone. “I’ll text you so you have my number, too.”
“Great,” Hannah said, smiling as casually as possible, as if she was used to getting sheikhs’ numbers. This night was just getting stranger and stranger.
Hannah got up to leave. “Well, thanks again for the offer. I’m really looking forward to it.”
“No,” Sadiq said, reaching out for Hannah’s hand. “Thank you, Miss Green. It’s my pleasure.”
Hannah blushed as Sadiq kissed her hand. She pulled it away, smiled and then turned to walk back to the dressing room. Before she left, she looked over her shoulder one more time.
“And you can call me Hannah,” she said.
Sadiq smiled and nodded at her. “Hannah it is. Goodnight, Hannah.”
Hannah waved and then scurried back to her dressing room, closing and locking the door behind her; the last thing she wanted to deal with was Harvey bursting in.
She reached into her purse and took out her phone. One message. She clicked it open and read it out quietly:
Miss Green, it’s Sadiq. Thank you again for accepting my offer. I look forward getting to know you better. Sleep well.
Hannah felt that same shiver run up her spine. ‘Sleep well.’ That sounds like something a prince would say to a princess, she thought. Okay, girl. Stop that right now. She was getting ahead of herself.
Even though she was excited, Hannah couldn’t help feeling a little nervous, too. She had never done anything like this before. Sure, she had left her small town for Atlanta, and she had moved from there to New York. This, however, was unchartered territory. Flying off to a foreign country with a complete stranger for six weeks? And a very rich, very handsome, very eligible stranger at that? Well, you only live once, she thought.
Hannah grabbed all her belongings from the closet and took out her large garment bag, then went over to the dressing table and tossed every last piece of her makeup, jewelry and hair accessories into the bag; she had quit the Blue Moon now and had no intention of coming back.
She took her bag out to the street and began walking toward the subway station. Then she stopped. She was about to make half a million dollars; she deserved to take a cab tonight. She dug around in her purse, made sure she had the fare, and then hailed a cab.
A little under half an hour later, Hannah got back to her and Chloe’s apartment, tossing her stuff on the bedroom floor. She had a lot to do before she could go to bed. First, she had to get all of her dresses and outfits ready, then she would have to email the catering company to let them know she would be unavailable for shifts for the next few weeks. And lastly, she had to leave a note for Chloe.
After taking care of all of those details, exhausted from the evening’s activity, Hannah slipped under the covers and closed her eyes. She felt a wave of fatigue wash over her and was glad to be in bed, but a tingling of nervous energy kept her awake. She was excited to be taking