Miss Jefferson

Chapter 10

"Do the second measure one more time, maybe." Ephraim suggested.

Andy nodded to Alex Lacamoire. Alex played a few notes on the piano, and we took our places, doing the steps over again.

"And that's that," Andy said. "Just keep the attitude of the song in your mind, and transfer it through your body and movement. First show today was good, of course, but try and give it everything. 'What'd I Miss?' is pretty comical. Keep your heads held high and your moves straight. Nail it again tonight." He smiled, dismissing us.

"How much time do we have before the next show?" I asked Morgan.

"An hour and a half." She said.

Andy's requested run-through had shaved about twenty minutes or so off my my free time.

I ran to the ensemble dressing room and grabbed my backpack before walking down to Oak and Anthony's room.

"Run-through finished?" Oak asked.

"Yeah. You've got an hour and thirty." I said.

He nodded. "Meet me outside, I'll get the car."

I nodded in response and snatched Anthony's water bottle off of his counter. I walked briskly down the hallway, stopping at a water fountain.

I refilled the water bottle and made my way toward the back door.

About halfway there, I froze, hearing two voices.

"Jada?"

"Where are you going?"

I turned around, knowing for certain that Jasmine would see right through me if I wasn't careful.

Anthony would probably be oblivious, but Jazzy knew everything.

"Just going out for a bit." I said.

Anthony narrowed his eyes. "Jada?"

I shrugged, flashing a quick smile. "I'll be back in an hour and thirty minutes."

Jasmine raised an eyebrow. "Wait..."

On instinct, like a rabbit running away from a fox, I turned and walked the rest of the distance to the exit, where he and his car waited right outside the door.

Light raindrops fell from the gray clouds, splattering water across my face.

"I barely escaped Jazzy and Anthony." I said as I clicked my seatbelt into place.

"What time is it?" He asked.

"5:45."

"Are you hungry?"

"Yes." I said without hesitation.

He breathed a laugh. "Where do you want to go?"

"'Hot Basil'." I joked.

"For real?"

"If you're okay with that, then sure."

He nodded. "Alright."

I let out a sigh of relief. "Almost had a normal conversation."

"Yeah," he laughed. "Why don't we start over?"

"Start over?"

"Yeah, you know, wipe the slate clean. We haven't met yet."

"So, in reality, you're saying that we didn't meet at a cafe lunch with the cast of Hamilton. We actually met because you were driving some stranger to a restaurant?"

"Yep."

"Oh, okay, um, should I start with my name?"

He nodded.