Ramin:
The moment he closed the door behind Sierra he went into his bedroom and laid down in his bed. He was very grateful that Sierra had come over late that evening and talked and comforted him. That was exactly what he had needed. Once his head rested on the pillow it only took two seconds for him to drift off to sleep with just one thing on his mind; Sierra.
He woke up early in the morning by a bird singing outside his window. He was really annoyed, the dream he dreamed right before he had awoken was the best dream he had ever had. The dream had started with him and Sierra sitting in his sofa watching The Anchorman. They sat really close, closer than two friends should have. Suddenly Sierra had leaned in and kissed him, it was a very passionate kiss and they were about to go further when the bird had awoken him. Thinking what he actually had dreamed he immediately regretted thinking about it as a good dream, he didn't like her in that way. But even if he didn't want to admit it, he still felt the tingle in his lips from where Sierra had kissed him in the dream. It made Ramin's stomach turn. Why was he thinking like this? He felt like he was betraying her in his dreams. With the divorce, well Ramin made himself think that his thoughts were just a bit messed up right now.
Around ten that morning, when he sat at his kitchen table his phone started playing his ringtone. Chocked that someone would call him this early he picked it up without looking at the caller ID and answered.
- Hi?
- Hello! Is it Ramin Karimloo I'm talking to? a woman's voice said.
- Yes, it is; Ramin said.
- Hi, it's Lucy Simon talking; the woman said. Your audition were amazing and your voice really blew us away. Also since the 25th anniversary we haven't been able to think of anyone else than you to be playing Archibald Craven in the revival of my show. Therefore, we more than gladly offer you to play the role as Archie in the upcoming revival of "The Secret Garden" on Broadway.
Ramin let out a relieved sigh. He had been very nervous whether he would get the role or not. Right after the audition for Secret Garden he had cancelled Evita in Japan because he thought he would get the role. Of course he had regretted it deeply after because of his nerves. Also the fact that she had complimented him made him want to faint, it was a great honor to be complimented by The Lucy Simon. After some seconds he realised that she maybe would like an answer and said:
- Thank you very much, I would gladly take role!
- That's good to her! I'll send all the details about this production to your agent, good bye!
- Bye! He said and hung up.
As he put the phone on the table he jumped onto his feet and did a little victory dance. After about 5 minutes he sat down again and picked up his phone. Without thinking he scrolled through his phone until Sierra's number was visible and he called her. The excitement to tell her that he got the job and to hear her reaction felt like a lump in his stomach as he waited for her to answer. However, before the first signal sounded his call was directly sent to voice mail. Confused and a bit hurt he hung up without leaving a message and sent a quick text message to Mandy and his family that he got the role as Archibald. Why didn't Sierra answer him? Almost every time he called her she answered in no time and he had never experienced that she was busy with something else. But sure, she was a busy person and he couldn't blame her for being occupied one time. It still hurt though.
He laid his phone on the table but before he could do anything else it started ringing and when he looked at the caller ID his heart skipped a beat and a big smile spread on his face.
- Guess what! he said without even greeting her.
- No, you guess what! Sierra said equally excited.
- Okay, what? he smiled.
- I got the role as Lily in The Secret Garden!
- What?! he exclaimed. Why haven't you told me that you auditioned for that role?
- Because I wanted to surprise you of course! So, what did you wanna tell me?
- No, you're joking; he said, he couldn't believe this was true.
- I'm not joking. Why? she sounded confused.
- Because I got the role as Archibald in Secret Garden.
- No way! Are you serious?
- Yes! he smiled his heart beating fast of excitement.
- Why didn't you tell me that you auditioned for that role?
- The same reason as you.
They talked for a bit longer, he couldn't believe that they were going to play in Secret Garden together. This was unbelievable, and so amazing. Ramin felt like he needed to do things with Sierra now and then, she was his best friend and he wanted to spend as much time as he could with her. He was overly excited. They were going to be the love birds, even if Sierra's character would be dead, and this made him somehow even happier.
Sierra:
Since Ramin came to NYC Sierra couldn't keep him off her mind. She didn't understand why, but he haunted her mind in every different shape. If she saw a man with muscles or if something smelled like his cologne she thought of him. Everything reminded her of him and when she had free time the only thing her mind wandered to was Ramin. She didn't want to think of him because then she missed him very much. She missed his smile and his warm embrace. His handsome face and his wonderful sense of humor. Even if it was understandable that she missed her best friend it was still weird that she missed him that much.
The only thing she could think about was something that had happened on Instagram lately. Ramin had posted a picture of the two of them during the Broadway Classics concert and written a comment that made her all fuzzy inside. This had only happened once before on a similar occasion: when they did the 25th anniversary of Secret Garden. Sure, he posted pictures of her sometimes, but the comments were natural and boring. Why did she react like this? His comment probably didn't even mean anything, they were after all best friends.
It was the day the rehearsals for The Secret Garden would start and Sierra was excited as usual. She had printed out the script almost the same day as she got the role as Lily, so she knew almost all her lines by heart. Ramin and Sierra had met up many times at cafés to practice their lines and songs (apparently, singing in cafés was appreciated by everyone). Therefore, she felt confident in herself and was overall very glad to start.
After a quick shower she blow-dried her hair and went out of the bathroom walking into her bedroom to find something to wear. She decided to take a "the little mermaid" cast member t-shirt and yoga pants since it was warm outside. She put on a little make up and then she was ready to go.
- Bye Celie and Olivia; she said and stroke her cats' fur.
She put on a pair of sneakers and then went outside to the warm summer day to walk to the theatre.
As she entered the rehearsal studio she saw Ramin standing next to the director Warren Carlyle deep in a discussion. On a chair further down, she saw Ben Platt sitting together with Ali Ewolt and Lucy Simon. She knew that Ben Platt would be playing Dickon as he did in the 25th anniversary, which felt great. Sierra loved getting to know new people but working with old friends were both beneficial for the production and exiting. From what she had heard Ali was going to play Rose, Mary's mother, in the production. Ali and Sierra had become friends early in their carrier, during the time they did Les Misérables and Sierra played the alternate Cossete. However, after that they hadn't done any more shows together and because of that they weren't very close friends. For all Sierra could see the rest of the cast hadn't come yet. With her heart racing she walked over to Ramin to say hello. Why did her heart always race when she was near him?
- Ohh, Sierra, welcome; Warren said when she saw her walk up to them. Exited for first day at work?
- Of course, and a little bit nervous.
From beside her she saw Ramin smile a little to himself before he spoke up;
- You don't have to be nervous. You got this covered.
That made Sierra feel a lot better actually, and she could feel her cheeks turning red. Why would she always react this way? Sierra felt something weird in her stomach. What was happening?
- Are the children supposed to be here today? Sierra asked trying to act normal.
She was curious though, she loved working with children. To see all those little people so happy and careless. They are always so grateful for every single day and they reminded Sierra how fun this business really is. But children are children and getting to know them is always a challenge. Theatre children are also very individual, and their personalities so bloomed. Sierra hadn't done that much shows with children before. It was "Love never dies" were they had been seven young boys. She had tried hard to start a bond with all of them, that had been difficult, but Sierra thought that she had succeed. School of Rock had been a completely different story. She had spent a lot of time with all of the lovely children there as well, but her time with them on stage were minimal, especially the stage relationship. Gustave had been Christine's son, meanwhile the youngsters in School of Rock were simply Miss Mullins' students.
- The children, yes, yes, they were supposed to come today. I think they are in one of the small rehearsals rooms right know meting their child guardian; Warren answered and smiled. I think you will be exited to meet them; he continued.
- Why would I be exited?
- I'm not going to spoil the surprise.
- Okay...
The rest of the morning was fun. Talking to all the castmates for the first time were always a little bit nervous, but Sierra felt confident. Partly because she knew she deserved her place among the cast but mostly because Ramin was there. There wasn't a single time this morning when Sierra looked at Ramin without thinking how handsome he looked. She had never noticed how warm and beautiful his dark, brown eyes were before. Sierra had no clue why she would notice this now but every time his and her eyes locked the odd feeling in her stomach returned. She was familiar with this feeling though, this feeling had always appeared when she saw Tam when they were a couple. However this time the feeling was very much stronger.
After the lunch all the cast were supposed to meet all together in the stage rehearsals room, to meet the people you would spend a couple of months with and to get a script if someone didn't have it printed. So Ramin and Sierra walked just now in that direction.
Walking in the room the first thing Sierra saw was two small familiar children sitting beside each other and the little girl laughing to something the boy had said. They were nobody else than the best friends Luca Padovan and Isabella Russo. The little adorable children who played Summer and Billy in the original cast of "School of Rock". Ramin noticed her smiling.
- Do you know them? Any of the children you've worked with before?
- Yes, from School of Rock. This is going to be exiting.
- I can tell; Ramin said, sounding like he was doing his best not to laugh.
- What?
Sierra gave him a little punch. A split of a second, he pretended to be offended before he punched back a little harder than he planned because she almost lost her balance. But before she fell Ramin reached for her hand and took it, therefore helped her retain her balance. They ended up really close with their faces only an inch apart. This was not the time to again notice how beautiful his eyes were, but Sierra felt like she could investigate them forever. Everything just seemed to slow down, she could feel her own heart beat faster and faster in her chest, almost leaving a bruise on the inside. For some seconds they looked directly into each other's eyes, then Sierra realised what was happening. She quickly turned her face away and felt how Ramin's grip around her arm loosened. Luckily that was the time Luca decided to greet Sierra welcome and that avoided an awkward situation. What had just happened?