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I stay long enough to see her stand in front of him. Long enough to see him startle and stiffen in shock. Long enough to see Laiba ask to talk somewhere private. Long enough to see him follow her.
Long enough to feel a little forgotten, but also long enough to make my escape into the cool, dark night.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The streets of central London are never quiet, and for once I am grateful. I’m glad I get to focus on not getting trampled as I make my way to the Limelight, leaving behind the Soho Gala, the man I love and the woman who once loved him.
The walk to the Limelight is long, a full thirty minutes longer because of my heels, but the pain is worth it when the familiar comedy-and-tragedy mask knocker on the entrance door comes into sight. Something close to relief yawns through my body, relaxing my muscles and quieting my worries. I’ll go and stand on stage and practise my lines, distract my mind from all the confusion and questions.
‘Good evening, Marvin,’ I say as I push past the front doors, rather than the stage door. Marvin is sitting at the front desk, still decked in his lime-green overalls and looking quite disgruntled. ‘I’m starting to think you might be a vampire, you know. Do you ever sleep?’
Marvin lets out an exasperated noise. ‘How can you expect me to get a wink of sleep when one of you lot are always knocking on my door? Just an hour ago, another one of you showed up – woke me up, in fact – and now you’re here.’
‘What?’ I ask, confused. ‘Who was it?’
Marvin shrugs his shoulders. ‘How am I supposed to know? There are so many of you kids. A group of you came in, someone from your tech group leading them. Ginger-haired boy.’
‘Darren?’ I ask, confused. He’s an assistant on the tech team – quiet, and not massively a part of the group. I think he only joined the tech team to get course credits, to be honest.
‘Yes,’ Marvin agrees. ‘That one. He came in with a group, and then they left around an hour ago.’
Immediately, I pull out my phone, texting The Tragedies.
Were any of you still at the Limelight an hour ago?
Anushka
Nope.
David
We cleared out after you and Zayan left.
Ben
Me too.
Nur
Me too.
Nur
Aren’t you supposed to be at the gala??
I leave Marvin at the front desk, gently pushing open the door leading to the theatre. I see that the lights have been left on, and a furrow of confusion knits my brow.
Marvin says he let Darren from tech into the theatre an hour ago.
David
What? Darren texted me an hour ago saying he had to quit the play. Something about obligations and family.
An alarm starts blaring loudly in my head. I step further in, being quiet and careful. Marvin comes away from the desk, hovering behind me with a concerned look on his face.
Zayan (The Actor)
Do not go inside there alone, Farah.
