Together

Private

Hey kiddos. This might be my last update before I go MIA for a little bit- I do have one prewritten but I'm not sure what sort of time I'll have at the festival to get it up. It's also a bit of a filler, so I'm sorry about that, but you can look forward to some of the upcoming chapters which should be lots of fun! In the meantime, don't forget to comment/vote on this one. Xxx
-ab

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January 20, 2025

Patrick

So, I think to myself as I sit on the tube on the way into London after work, how, exactly, does one manage to go talk to the director of his wife's West End show in private- without his wife knowing?

I'm not quite sure of the answer, in all honesty, but hopefully the plan which I've devised is going to work out, because I really need to make this happen today.

In an hour, Harper is set to meet me in Chinatown for a nice little dinner before the show, my treat. Before that, I'm going to run over to the Piccadilly Theatre to talk to Luke, who should be in rehearsals with Katherine right about now.

That's the part that I'm mostly worried about, in all honesty. If Katherine catches sight of me, then it's almost guaranteed that word is going to get around to Harper that I went to talk to Luke. Obviously, that would raise some questions to Harper.

When I make it to the Piccadilly Theatre, I walk into the box office and give a smile to the lady selling tickets.

"Here to see the show again, Patrick?" she asks me with a laugh. I've grown to know all of the people who work in the box office, and they're all quite lovely. "It's too soon to give you a comp ticket, you know."

"I know," I reply. "I was actually wondering if Luke was available? I need to talk to him about getting Harper some holiday time... it's a surprise to her."

"Oh, let me call up," she smiles, picking up the phone that is on her desk. She speaks into the receiver for a moment, then hangs up. "He will be down in five minutes, love. Feel free to wait in the foyer."

"Thank you," I smile, giving her a wave goodbye as I walk through the doors into the lobby of the theatre.

In a few minutes, Luke walks into the room and gives me a smile. "Hey Patrick. What's up?"

"Hey," I smile. "I wanted to talk to you about getting Harper some holiday time soon. I booked her a little surprise trip on February 1st through the seventh, and driving home the early morning of the eighth."

"Oh," Luke replies. "Of course, we can schedule that. Of course, she won't receive pay for those days."

"I understand," I nod.

"Her understudy will be excited about getting to go on." We both laugh.

"That was a lot easier than I expected it to be," I smile at him. "Thank you so much."

"Those dates work out very well, actually, as her friend, Katherine, opens in the cast on February 9th, and Harper will be needed at the put-in rehearsal on February 8th, as well."

"That is perfect, then," I smile. "Thank you so much.

"Not a problem. Now, if that's all that you'll be needing, then I had better head back up to work with Katherine and the other Romanov girls."

"That's it," I smile.

"I'll see you," Luke says.

"Likewise," I reply. "Bye."

"Bye Patrick."

Luke walks back towards the stairs, and I head back out onto the streets of London, with a bit of a walk ahead of me to make it to Chinatown to meet Harper.

Chinatown is actually near the Queen's Theatre, where Harper spent so much time playing Cosette in Les Miserables, so it's nostalgic for me to be back in the area. I adore seeing her play Anya, but I think that she secretly liked Cosette a little bit more. That was her ultimate dream for so long, and the fact that she achieved it is nothing short of incredible.

The restaurant that I'm set to meet Harper at was a favourite of her's when she was Cosette. It was so close to the theatre that she would often go there, either between shows or after, if she had guests.

When I get there, Harper hasn't arrived yet, so I find a table and sit down, reading over the menu as though I don't know what I'm going to order.

Then, she comes in and walks over to me. "Hey."

"Hey, love. How was your day?"

"Good. How was your class?"

"It's a really great experience," I gush. "I'm learning so much more than I expected to be."

"That's good. I suppose that's why Jamie put you in that class, right?"

"You've got me on that one," I admit. "I can't wait to take everything that I'm learning back to work, though. As of this morning, I'm starting to work with a new little boy in a few days, and I'm excited for that."

"That'll be super fun," Harper agrees. "It's so cute how you love working with the children."

"They're always so sweet. Some of the adults are... not the easiest to deal with all of the time. At least with little ones, it's easy to cut them a break."

"That's true," Harper laughs. "Trust me, it's the same in the theatre. I've never once had issues with any of the Little Cosettes, or Young Eponines, or Gavroches, or Little Anastasias. It's the adults... specifically a certain Marius, that caused my life to be miserable."

"Hey, that's in the past now. It was rare and isn't going to happen again," I assure her, as she looks upset upon remembering the incidents of harassment with a certain co-star in Les Miserables.

"I adore all of the little girls who are Matildas, too," she continues.

I laugh, as my wife keeps gushing about children West End stars. I have to admit, they're all super cute, and I know that they bring in lots of money, too. It's too cute for anyone to say no to a trip to see School of Rock.

Soon, a waitress comes around to take our orders, so we order our usual dishes, then go right back to talking.

"Have you heard how Kath's rehearsals are going?" I ask.

"Great, from what I know. She's picking up on the singing really well. I'm going tomorrow for the first time, to work on 'Quartet At The Ballet,' which is, of course, the scene that she was really hired for."

"That's good," I smile. I'm glad that Harper is starting to go to Katherine's rehearsals so that the put-in isn't the first time that they work together. I know that Harper is going to be missing some rehearsal opportunities while we are on holiday.

We finish up dinner with nearly perfect timing to get Harper to the Piccadilly Theatre so that she can start to prepare for that evening's show.

"I'll see you later," I tell her, dropping her off at the stage door. "I'm going to go home and relax. I'm exhausted after today."

"Alright," she laughs. "Love you."

"Love you too."