Five Months Later. January 29th 1983
~Rehearsal. 1 week till the Showcase~
Kamani raises her arms above her head and breathes in deeply, chest pounding. This particular rehearsal proved to be the most challenging one yet and she was thanking God that she wasn't a dance major. Sweat was literally pouring down her face while her cropped shirt sticks to her upper body. She shakes both her legs out as she walks around in a small circle, vying to get her breath back.
Mark claps his hands together, gesturing to the people around her. "That's the best run I've seen all day, shoutout to your dance and music professors--and acting profs." He adds, catching the look one of the drama majors throws towards him.
He continues, rubbing his thick reddish brown beard excitedly. "Gather round so I can go over a few things."
She--along with everyone else--stops the tired pacing and moves closer together, some choosing to take a seat on the floor. She remains standing a few feet away, keeping her eyes on Mark.
"Thanks to the amazing improvement on the drama and dancing side, the showcase has been moved up a couple of months. It's no longer in May as you all may know but will now be debuting next week." Claps and whistles resound and echo from his words and Mark pauses and smiles, waiting for it to die down.
"Critics and management companies from all over America--CEO's, producers, directors, hell even contractors will be turning up for this event." He counts the names off on his fingers, throwing his hands up to emphasize his statement.
"These last few days get lots of sleep, energy--remember this will be a live televised event--it's crucial for everyone to be on their best game. If one looks bad, we all look bad. Capiché?"
Nods of agreements comes forth.
Mark grins and waves them off, turning to his assistant. "Go on and rest up. We have some long nights ahead of us."
After being dismissed everyone evacuates the stage, it being a process because of the amount of students that was in there. Instead of being with the last wave of people trying to leave, she slips along off the stage first, spotting Lacy by her gym bag.
"--Michael wait, can you come here for a moment. I need to have a word with you." Mark's voice calls from across the stage.
Kamani keeps walking, looking back not even an option in her mind and soon was standing in front of Lacy who hands her small black duffle bag to her.
"Uh, it kind of looked liked he wanted to talk to you." Lacy says, pulling her blonde hair back.
"Who?" She asks, walking towards the auditorium doors.
"Michael. I think he wanted to speak with you." Lacy clarifies, walking on the other side of her.
"I don't know him." She says, ruffling through her bag for a water bottle.
Lacy looks at her confused before snorting. "Girl you play too much."
"I'm not playing." She says seriously.
"Okay...You know he's coming to our pre celebration party right?"
"I really don't care." She shrugs, untwisting the cap on her bottle and taking a huge gulp. The cool water feels heavenly on her parched throat.
