Sweet Harmonies (12 page)

“
Well, in the sense that he posts on
message boards about how he discovered me and I'd be nothing
without him, and then I threw him away like garbage as soon as I
started to get a little success. Then, you know, sometimes I read
those posts. Which is, I think, what he actually wants, deep down.
But I haven't even done that in four or five years. It's all just
too junior high, you know?”

“
That sounds awful,” Ryan said
sympathetically.

Karina shuddered, “Well, at least he doesn't
have any naked pictures of me, or God forbid, a sex tape!”

Ryan was shocked, “You think he would
actually post something like that? Something so private?”

“
Oh, yeah,” Karina responded blithely,
“I mean, no, he probably wouldn't post it, he'd probably sell it.
Same difference.”

Ryan shook his head, “You seem so blasé about
it. That would be the ultimate betrayal of trust.”
Karina shook her head, “When you're famous, you have to assume that
any little piece of information, that any personal memento, that
any tiny piece of your life that you let into someone else's
control has the possibility of being sold to the tabloids one day.
It's a sick reality of the job.”

Karina was shocked to find herself tearing up
a little, which was very unlike her, “Why do you think I treasure
Amanda, Lauren, and Sam the way I do? They are the only three
friends I have that I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt...I don't
care how angry they were at me, or how desperate for money...they
would NEVER sell me out. They would die rather than sell something
personal about me to the tabloids. Because of that, I can be myself
around them, I don't have to worry about being stabbed in the back.
I don't think it's possible to explain how meaningful that is for
someone in my extremely peculiar position.”

Karina self-consciously wiped her cheek. She
was not emotional in front of people. EVER. And now she'd cried
twice in front of Ryan. What was up with that?

She was embarrassed. She saw him open his
mouth to speak, and was horrified, wondering what would be coming
next. She knew all the typical responses to complaints like hers.
That it's the price you pay for being famous, or that she should
stop her whining...boo hoo, poor little rich girl. She was angry
with herself that she had exposed something so personal to Ryan,
and left herself so wide open to ridicule. It wasn't the image she
wanted him to have of her. Spoiled. Ungrateful.

But when Ryan did speak, it wasn't to berate
her or to mock her. He simply took both of her hands in his, very
gently, and brought them up to his lips. He gave her fingers a
sweet, gentle kiss before lowering them back down to the table.
Looking straight into her eyes, without a hint of guile, he said,
“You can add one more person to the small list of people that you
can trust. I know we haven’t known each other that long but I would
never hurt you, Karina. Not only because of how I feel about you,
but also because that's just not the kind of man that I am.”

Karina shook her head as one more tear
slipped from her eye.

“
Why do I believe you?” she asked
wonderingly, “When so many people have told me that I could trust
them only to immediately turn around and stab me in the back...when
I never believe ANYONE who says that they are trustworthy...why on
God's green earth do I believe you right now?”

He smiled sweetly as he reached over and
brushed away her tear with his thumb.

“
I think,” he said lightly, “It's
because somewhere deep inside of you, you have a primal instinct
that protects you. In that deep place, you have the ability to
recognize the truth when you hear it, however rare that might be.
So, darlin', the reason you believe me when I tell you, you can
trust me is, simply...because you can.”

Chapter 8

Karina stood onstage in the Hope Falls High
School auditorium, the only venue in town big enough to host an
event like the Town Follies, and addressed the crowd of Hope Falls
residents who were gathered in the seats before her.

“
Thank you all so much for your time,
and interest in coming to audition for the show today,” she began
sincerely, “Believe me, if anyone knows what a difficult thing it
is to put yourself out there in front of an audience, it's me. For
that reason, performing is one of the most difficult tasks that a
person can undertake, in some ways. It's like putting your soul on
display, and asking people to like it.

“
But, if performing is difficult for
that reason, then auditioning is even harder. Believe me, I've been
on many auditions. Some of them turned out well, and some of them
were disasters. But every single one of them was an act of courage.
They all had that in common.

“
So, I applaud each and every one of
you for having the courage to stand up here and try
out.”

Karina took a breath, and looked down at her
notes. She then continued, “Most of you know who I am. I'm Karina
Blackstone, I grew up here in Hope Falls, and I'm a professional
entertainer.”

At this, the crowd broke into thunderous
applause. “Oh, stop, stop,” she said, laughing self-consciously,
“Now I'd like to introduce you to my co-chair of the Town Follies.
Ryan Perkins.”

With that, to her surprise, the decibel level
and intensity of their applause only increased, as Ryan walked
onstage to join her. She leaned over and yelled into his ear, “You
have a few fans. Mainly of the female variety.”

He grinned and called back to her over the
cacophony, “But I only have eyes for one of them, and she ain't out
there.”

As they quieted down, she laughed, “I guess
no introduction is necessary. Ryan and I are going to be watching
your auditions today, and then putting together a lineup for the
show. Please, although I know it's obviously difficult not to think
of an audition as a pass-or-fail proposition, I really urge you not
to take the result of whether you are included or not in the final
line-up as any kind of indication of your overall talent."

“
Ryan and I have a lot of factors that
we have to take into consideration when deciding on the ultimate
line-up. For instance, one of those things is variety. We can't
have a whole show that consists entirely of jugglers, or of
magicians, or comics, or dancers, or musical acts. We need to make
sure that a wide variety of the types of talents that Hope Falls
has to offer is on display that night."

“
Therefore, it stands to reason that
some categories are going to be quite a bit more competitive than
other categories are,” she said reasonably.

She and Ryan smiled at each other, and Ryan
said, “OK, now onto my part of this little spiel. Let me explain a
little bit about how the logistics of the day are going to work.
Most of you also know Amanda Jacobs,” he gestured at Amanda, who
waved from her position by the side door at the edge of the
stage.

“
She is going to be taking you to a
waiting area backstage. My grandmother Sue Ann, who again, the
majority of you know...” at this Sue Ann half stood from her seat
in the front row and turned to wave at the crowd, “...has been kind
enough to provide coffee and refreshments.”

“
NOT 'to-go' sandwiches!” Sue Ann piped
up.

Ryan, embarrassed, said, “Um, right, not to
be confused with 'to-go' sandwiches. At any rate, Amanda will be
calling you out one act at a time. Please bring anything you need
for your performance to the stage with you. You'll be limited to
three minutes for your audition, and that includes any necessary
set-up. We'd really like to get through everyone today, if
possible. There are a lot of people trying out, and we really need
to move through at a good pace.

We'll be posting the final call list by this
Monday at the latest. The show is next Saturday at 7:30. All of the
chosen participants must meet here at 2 pm, with your costumes, for
a final tech run through. Any questions?”

Ryan looked around at the excited faces,
filled with anticipation, and could see that they really just
wanted to get started. He said, “OK, then, let's get going! Go
ahead and follow Amanda.”

Karina looked at Amanda and said, “OK, Mand,
and then when they're all settled back there, go ahead and bring
the first act out.”

There were cheers and whistles as the
hopefuls filed out of the auditorium. They were a true
cross-section of Hope Falls. Their ages ranged from 3 to 83, they
were men and women, boys and girls, tall and short, slim and stout.
Every kind of Hope Falls resident you could imagine was there in
force.

In spite of herself, Karina found that she
was actually excited to see what kind of talent the town had to
offer. She turned to Ryan, “Are you ready for this?”

He shook his head, “Is there a way to be
ready for this?”

“
Not sure,” she replied, gesturing up
the aisle, “Let's find out.”

They walked up to Row J, 10 rows back,
traditionally dubbed “King's Row” in the theater because it offered
the absolute best perspective when viewing the stage, and settled
themselves in the middle, clipboards in hand, ready to watch each
of the auditions and take notes.

Mere moments later, Amanda walked back
onstage. Trailing behind her was the first auditioner.

“
Oh, of course it's Kelly,” said Karina
sarcastically under her breath. Kelly had been a couple of years
ahead of Karina in high school, and had always treated her poorly.
She was now a waitress at Sue Ann's.

“
What do you mean? She's nice,” Ryan
said.

Karina snorted, “Yeah, she's nice, except for
she hates my guts.”

“
I'm sure that's not true,” Ryan
defended.

Kelly stepped up to the front of the stage
confidently and said, “My name is Kelly King.”

She then held up the paper which had her
number emblazoned on it and said, in a flirting tone, “I'm number
1,” taking the time to turn and wiggle her fingers at Ryan in a
playful wave, “and I'm going to be singing Orange Colored Sky by
Natalie King Cole.”

“
Nat King Cole,” Karina corrected
automatically, before she could stop herself.

Kelly scowled at her and snapped, “What?”

“
It's Nat King Cole. Natalie was his
daughter...you know what? Nevermind. We're wasting
time.”

“
Yeah, you are,” Kelly replied in a
snotty tone, rolling her eyes.

Ryan leaned over to Karina and whispered,
“Maybe I was wrong, she seems like she really does hate you.”

“
Oh, she does,” Karina whispered back,
“It's longstanding.”

“
Is it mutual?” he teased.

“
Absolutely,” Karina smiled
back.

“
Um, Kelly, that's quite a dress you're
wearing,” Ryan said, returning his attention to the
stage.

Kelly turned to him, all sunshine and
rainbows, “Thanks, Ryan!” she said, her voice dripping honey.

She turned back and forth to show the gown
from all possible angles.

“
It's my lucky dress. I wore it to prom
and I won Prom Queen. I wore it in the Miss Hope Falls pageant and
I won that. I wore it to Christopher Evers and Darlene Marshall's
wedding, and they were divorced by the next year,” she finished
with a self-satisfied flourish.

“
Um, wouldn't that last point sort of
ruin the lucky streak?” Ryan asked, bemused.

Kelly scoffed, “No, of course not. I wanted
to date Christopher, and after they got divorced, I did! So, see?
Lucky dress!”

“
Can we please just hear the song?”
Karina interjected, and was met with a death glare from
Kelly.

“
I think that's a good idea,” Ryan
agreed, and Kelly brightened considerably.

“
It's the best idea ever!” Kelly
twittered, and turned to the accompanist and said, “Hit
it!”

What followed was one of the most torturous
performances of Orange Colored Sky that Karina had ever heard. And
when she had first been trying to make it as an entertainer, her
first stop had been New York, so she had not only been on plenty of
musical theater auditions but had also spent more than her fair
share of nights in smoky piano bars where they took requests and
the patrons sang, usually standards.

Between those two experiences, she had heard
more renditions of Orange Colored Sky than she cared to remember,
varying widely in quality, but none of them held a candle to the
monstrosity that was Kelly King's unique interpretation.

Putting aside immediately the fact that her
singing alternated painfully between being sharp and flat, as
Karina would not have expected her to be a skilled vocalist, what
put the cherry on top of this horror show was the choreography.

First of all, it was completely literal and
on the nose to the lyrics. For instance, when the song said, “I was
walkin' along,” Kelly strode purposefully across the stage,
swinging her arms like a power walker from the 1980s.

And when the lyrics followed that up with,
“Mindin' my business,” Kelly made an exaggerated show of looking at
the ceiling and to the sides of the stage – everywhere but forward
– and twiddling her fingers as if to convey her utter disinterest
in the goings on in front of her.

The next lyrics were, “When out of an orange
colored sky,” Kelly bent her knees crouching to the floor, and then
burst into a standing position, executing an exaggerated, full,
rainbow-esque arc with her arms extended and fingertips stretched
all the way into the air to signify the concept of the sky.

Topping all of these moves, Karina's absolute
favorite bit of the choreography – which was to say, the most
ridiculous – was when the song said, “Flash! Bam!” and Kelly jumped
sideways, and back, and all around the stage, pantomiming
explosions taking place in front of her. And then during the next
line, “Alakazam!” she stuck her boobs out in front of her and
shimmied her shoulders with all of her might, so that her breasts
bounced up and down and backward and forward, looking as if they
were entities unto themselves. It was honestly all Karina could do
to keep a straight face.