Pas de Deux | Jarred

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[attr="class","cbody"]If she was being perfectly honest, Open Rehearsals were not her favorite thing in the world. It wasn’t to say that she hated them, or anything of the sort. But she was a little bit of a perfectionist. She had to get into the right kind of mindset for open rehearsals—for the public seeing something from a different perspective, for them seeing something without the costumes, the makeup, the set. Really, for them to see something before she felt like it was entirely perfect. It was just something that she couldn’t claim to love, because she liked the finished product. She liked dancing on the stage, costume and makeup, when it was ready to be seen. Rehearsals weren’t polished.
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And she knew that was the point. The people that came to these events didn’t want to see the polished, final product—well, they did. She was sure they would be there for opening night, that they would be there for some of the other performances as well. There were a lot of ticketholders that paid a whole lot of money for their seats all season that liked to see an open rehearsal but would certainly be coming to their fair share of the performances too. But they still came to this to see something different than what they saw when it was all said and done. They did not come here expecting perfection, and a part of her knew that. It just took her a little while to get into that mindset and to come to terms with the fact that the performance wasn’t perfect, that it was unpolished and they were still working, but that was all right. Once she got into that mindset, then she was all right. Then it was smooth sailing.
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What they rehearsed for open rehearsals was handpicked. It was deliberate, obviously. It wasn’t just any ordinary rehearsal, it wasn’t just any scenes picked out that they practiced. It was all very intentional to do two things: first and foremost, it was to make sure they didn’t reveal too much. Obviously, they couldn’t let the attendees see the pivotal points in the performance. Merlin knew that Giselle had many scenes that she absolutely loved—it had been one of her favorites since she saw it in Prague Merlin knew how many years ago now, but they still couldn’t reveal too much. It meant that the corps de ballet had taken up a majority of the rehearsal today, with the soloists practicing for a while as well.
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But they also wanted to hold their interest as well. They wanted to give people a reason to come to these rehearsals—to make them feel like they were really getting an inside view of at least one major scene, something that they would be able to compare when they were sitting in the audience for real, and that was where she had come in. The pas de deux that they had in the second act was her favorite. She had been absolutely mesmerized when she had seen it in Prague. Back then, she had not been a prima ballerina. In fact, Ella had still held the spot when they convinced their matka to let them go to the Royal Opera House. They had seen it once, and then she had convinced Matylda to take her again the next day.
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Today, it had taken everything in her to focus. She was very aware of two very different people in the audience. She had known that Liam was coming. He had told her as much when she had first brought up that their open rehearsals were continuing. But she had not expected Jarred. She had not seen him since they had gone out to get drinks, and he had made his intentions known. He wanted her to break off her engagement, he wanted to court her, and she should not be considering it. She should not be nearly as confused as she was but… she was. She was decidedly confused.
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The rehearsal came to an end after their performance, and she smiled in thanks at the audience and then at her counterpart in the scene—her Albrecht. She didn’t know what to do next. After rehearsal, people stuck around. They talked, they lingered, and she didn’t think that Liam was going anywhere, and she didn’t want Jarred to go anywhere either. Merlin, this was confusing. Her eyes moved to Jarred’s, a flicker of a smile forming on her lips before she sensed her fiancé’s approach. Her gaze moved to Liam then, putting a smile on her lips as he kissed her cheek. “That’s got to be worth at least two dozen roses for opening night.” She shook her head at him, though she was still smiling. “Are you trying to outdo yourself? I wouldn’t have thought that was possible.” Last year, he had nearly filled her dressing room, and she wasn’t sure if there had been any roses left in London by the end of her performances. Even as she spoke, she found herself very aware of Jarred’s presence, and though she knew she shouldn't, she risked another glance in his direction.
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