Page 72 of Dark Verse

I hear two sets of footsteps pass by the open dressing room door. Looking over my shoulder, I catch Wayne and Nat passing by. Intrigued by how excited Davis sounds, I, too, stand and poke my head out of the door.

“Oh, cool, are those the VIP ticket holders for tonight’s show?” Nat asks.

She’s looking out the window at the street level.

“Must be. It’s too early for anything else,” Wayne says.

“Raven might want to let them in early. Looks like it’s about to rain.”

I approach the three of them.

“Looking like it will be a full house?” I ask them.

Nat answers, “Yeah. I think they sold every single one of the VIP tickets by the looks of it.”

I join them near the window and look out and down, seeing that Nat and Wayne are both correct. There looks to be about 80 people waiting by the front door. I also see the telltale signs that the regularly scheduled afternoon storms are bearing down on us. I leave the window in search of Ven.

When I find her, she’s typing out something at an almost feverish pace. Before I can even open my mouth to say anything, Danica comes up behind me.

“Hey Raven,” Danica says.

Venny looks up from her computer screen, eyes bouncing between Danica and me for a moment.

Her gaze rests on Danica. “Yes?”

“I’m going to open the doors now. Looks like our VIPs are about to get rained on.”

“Oh, yes! Please do.”

Raven closes her laptop, all three screens turning off at once.

“Yes?” she says to me once Danica is gone.

“Last night for you. How you feeling?”

Venny pauses, leaning back in her chair in thought.

“Pretty accomplished actually. After tonight, we will have officially made a profit. I mean it’s the exact definition of profit, no more, no less, but still. If you had asked me four weeks ago if that was possible, I honestly couldn’t have given you an answer.”

“Congratulations, sweetheart.”

“Thanks. The board will be ecstatic.” She rolls her eyes and sighs before her expression brightens once more. “You ready for a full show of Nightshade originals?”

“Absolutely. Looking forward to it, in fact. Can’t believe you were able to sell VIP tickets off us.”

“Who says they’re here for you? The Heirs are playing tonight, too.”

“True, but we’re going second. That makes us the headliner.” I puff out my chest happily.

Venny tosses her head back in laughter. “It did kind of work out that way, didn’t it?”

“It sure did, sweetheart.”

I want to step into the office and pull her into a kiss, but I hear the sound of new voices, dozens of them, all coming in through the front door. I look over my shoulder at all the newcomers.

“Work is calling,” I say, “I better get to it before the boss cracks the whip.”

“Ha ha ha ha ha,” she fake laughs. “Get out of here before I consider doing just that.”