Hi!

Ready for this week’s excerpt? I should be able to post an excerpt every Wednesday from now on, by the way! Early release of the full episode is planned for (every) Saturday. I’m almost afraid to announce that, though.

Hope I didn’t just jinx my schedule 😉 It has just been that kind of year. It’s going to take me a while to stop looking over my shoulder to see if more bad news is on the way…

For now, though, I’m really trying to enjoy the relief of knowing things will get a lot less crazy busy very soon. I’m working my way through the last consultancy projects and am already getting better at setting my boundaries.

My wife and I are loving the extra time we get to spend together again. We’ve already been hiking and had a hilarious, romantic dinner at Ikea (Yes, really). Anyway, enough of this 🙂 Let’s get to that excerpt! Hope you enjoy…

Oh,  my wife loves this episode and I’m afraid that’s usually bad news for us, romantic souls. I know, that was some vicious teasing. Sorry! But not really 😀

Milly drummed her fingers on the steering wheel impatiently. This stop light was taking forever to turn green. She was bone-tired after working tonight and really wanted to get to bed for a good 8 hours of sleep.

She switched on the radio. A cheesy love song started playing through the crappy speakers of her rental car. Milly hummed along, only realising she was doing it after a few seconds.

“Oh God, you’re horrible,” she thought and giggled. She had been doing this way too often these last few days. Every time she was alone, she started humming or even whistling. She just couldn’t stop herself.

Then again, Milly had every reason to be cheerful. The reviews for her performance as Cherubino at the premiere were incredibly favorable. Sunday’s second and tonight’s third performance had gone well too.

Both nights, the audience had cheered enthusiastically, yelling ‘Brava’ and stomping their feet, when she had stepped onto the stage for the applause. Milly smiled. She loved those moments.

But there was more to be excited about. Milly’s agent had already been contacted about several other productions. Milly didn’t know if anything would come of it, but she was looking forward to deciding which auditions she’d like to participate in.

She would have to talk to the people at the Met about it once she got back to NYC in a few weeks. She still had the young artist program with all its opportunities and demands as well. Things really were looking better than she had ever imagined they would be at this stage in her career.

But Milly knew this wasn’t the biggest reason she was in such a good mood. It should be, really. This was the success she had been working for for such a long time. But the high of her professional accomplishments was nothing compared to the thrill of the butterflies in her stomach.

She felt a bit silly about walking around like a teenager with a big crush, to be honest. She had never ever considered herself to be a woman who could lose herself in a passionate romance.

She never did crazy things, remember? She didn’t have crushes and she didn’t date because it took too much time she couldn’t invest in her career. Except, now she did. Except now, she had Hannah.

Milly sucked on her lower lip, thinking about the conversation she had had with Hannah 4 days ago. This too, she had done a lot these last days. She just kept replaying the scene in the dressing room in her mind over and over again, like it was a romantic movie…

 

(You go back to
the past with a
wonderful flashback
sound ;)

 

“God, this is hard,” Hannah said as she ran a hand through her hair.

She was standing in the middle of Milly’s dressing room and shuffling her feet nervously.

Milly was nervous too. She had been ready to pounce on Hannah once they were backstage. But Hannah had stepped on the brake. First, she had asked for an actual tour. Then, when they had finally made it to the dressing room, she had suddenly become very serious.

Hannah wanted to talk. Milly too thought they needed to discuss what was happening between them, but brutal desire had turned that into an afterthought. Hannah, however, seemed to have no problems controlling her libido.

It had hurt Milly to hear Hannah thought this could just be about having fun for Milly. But she had understood Hannah’s insecurity and actually respected her for drawing a line.

Things had quickly become uncomfortable once they were alone in the silent dressing room, however. They were both blushing and waiting for the other to say something.

“I don’t know where to start…” Hannah said.

She walked up to Milly’s makeup table and picked up one of the many bottles.

Milly didn’t know where to start either. She tried to remember what she had wanted to say. The truth was, she never really had thought things through.

All she wanted, was to stop wondering about what all of this meant. Or about what she meant to Hannah. Or about what they would do or not do.

“I don’t know what all of this means,” Milly blurted out.

Her words seemed to echo in the room for a few seconds until Hannah slowly turned around.

“It means…” Hannah hesitated. “I mean I want more than just sex.”

Milly frowned while she thought about what Hannah was saying. Her mind wasn’t quite catching up yet. But her heart was racing like never before.

“I need you to tell me if you are open to getting to know each other better,’ Hannah said, her voice sounding anything but steady.

Milly let go of the breath she hadn’t realised she was holding. She shook her head in amusement.

“I think we’ve gotten to know each other pretty well by now,” she joked uncomfortably.

Hannah smiled but her shoulders dropped. “I know, but… What I mean is, I want to keep seeing you. Like…” She shook her head and sucked in her lips.

Hannah looked tense. Her hair was a mess. Her blue eyes looked uncertain. The muscles in her neck were twitching. She raised her arm, about to say something, but then dropped it again.

Milly couldn’t take this any longer. Hannah looked too vulnerable, too lost. Milly couldn’t stand seeing her so uncomfortable. She took the two steps she needed to take to get close to Hannah.

Milly cupped Hannah’s cheek. Their eyes met. She didn’t trust her voice but still made herself say it out loud…

That’s it for this excerpt. See you Saturday for the full episode!