As she sits there waiting for Mike to return with her mysterious partner her mind wanders back to the article she read. It was published around ten years ago and covered the story of a five year old kid who had been kidnapped. The child had been missing for a month before the cops started to get clues about the kid's whereabouts. As Marie had read the article her eyes kept widening and her mind filled with questions. Even now as she recalled the story she couldn't help but have questions. Who was the kid? And his family? They must have been contacted and involved, even if the article never mentioned them once.

Deep in her thought she doesn't notice Mike entering the room. It's only when he takes a seat on one of the chairs that she notices him. She blinks and then looks at the entrance from the stage, but no one is with him. Mike rubs his forehead.

"No luck?" Marie asks.

Mike sighs. "Roan has decided he isn't going to show today." He slumps back in his chair. "Not surprising," he grumbles.

Marie nods. She can't say she's surprised. But to not show up and meet your new partner? Well that's not professional.

Startling her from her thoughts, Mike stands up and walks over to a filing cabinet tucked into the corner of the room. "Since Roan isn't here, I'll give you your music to practice."

"How will I be able to practice if he isn't here?"

Mike looks over his shoulder. He's eyes flashing gold again as he shoots her a grin. "Just pick a song and he'll know."

Maires brows furrow. "Pick a song? He'll know? How will he know?"

He picks up a folder out of the cabinet and walks back over to her. He holds it out for her to take. Marie stares at it for a moment before taking it from him. She opens it and starts to shuffle through the different songs.

"Roan has a good intuition. So just pick a song, practice it and if he doesn't show up for any practices then you'll get on the stage and he'll be joining you with the same song."

"That doesn't make any sense," she says.

But Mike just shrugs his shoulders. "It's how he works. Also, your first performance will be friday."

Maries eyes widen. "Friday?! That's two days away! That's not enough time to-"

"You'll just have to be ready," he says.

Her mouth hangs open, but she snaps it shut as anger settles into her features. She takes a deep breath and nods. If she were to open her mouth to respond she would most likely lose another job.

Mike grins like he knows what she's thinking. "I can't wait to see your performance." He turns to leave, and once he reaches the stage curtains he looks back to her like he forgot something. "Oh! And what did you think of your castmates?"

"They're... interesting." Her mind wanders to earlier. Nayoko isn't too bad. She's probably the one Marie likes the most. Nayoko reminds her of a puppy, possibly s golden retriever with how excitable she is. Finn is... odd. She can't say much about him besides that. And Amy? Well, there's plenty of Amys out there. Marie grew up in a town of them. None of them believing she could make it, all thinking she was full of herself and self-absorbed. There were even a few at her old job. The worst thing about Amy though is that she reminds her of her father.

Mike grins. "Wonderful." Then he slips out.

Marie stares after him, having been left with more questions than she started with. But she shakes it off as she goes back to looking through the music. If she wants to be ready for Friday she should start as soon as possible. Once she's picked out a piece she stands up and makes her way over to the rooms adjoining this one.

Since Finn and Amy disappeared into them she hasn't heard a sound, so she assumes that means that the rooms are sound proof. Or, have very thick walls.

The closer she gets to the rooms she sees that the tape on them has names. One door has Finn's name written on it, the middle one has Amys and then below that, Nayoko. The last door has Roan and partner written on it. So that's where she's supposed to practice. She wonders if it's the word partner because he never has anyone who sticks around long. If she ends up working out will that be replaced with her name? She doesn't know how to feel about that.

She reaches out and twists the door knob. When she enters the room, the door closing softly behind her, she pauses. She wasn't sure what the room would reveal about her mysterious partner, or if it would reveal anything at all. But she wasn't expecting something so... so simple.

Across from each other, against either wall are two vanity sets. One has nothing on it while the other has a few items. Like a make-up kit, sheet music scattered on it and photos taped along the mirror. Marie steps closer to it and examines the photos. There are two. One has the guy with green eyes that was singing when she came in with a littler tiny version of him. A brother? Or a son maybe? The other one has him playing a guitar and a figure staring up at him as he plays.

So he must be close with his family. And he just doesn't just sing, Marie notes. She nods and hums in agreement. Maybe he won't be so bad.

Then she turns her gaze to the rest of the room. The other vanity is empty, leaving room for Marie to leave her mark. Against the far wall is a little couch with a coffee table in front of it. Beside that is a little bar stool sitting before a mic and a music stand.

Marie makes her way over to the coffee table and places her bag down on it, then she puts the music folder down. She heads over to the little music area and places her sheet music down on the music stand. She takes a seat to test the height of the music stand. After getting up and making a few adjustments to it to make it taller she's ready to go. She doesn't bother with the mic, that'll come once she's more comfortable with the song.

She starts by reading through the music first. She notes the notes, the rhythm and the words. Then she starts by whispering through the song, getting comfortable with the words she'll have to sing. Slowly she starts to sing. Her voice gets louder and more confident, filling the tiny room up.

Marie gets so sucked into the song to the point that she doesn't notice time moving. Not until a loud scream shots through the building. She jumps out of her chair and flies to the door. Her eyes wide and her heart hammers in her chest. She throws the door open. Her gaze sweeps over the room until she spots Nayoko on the ground, her right leg bent backwards behind her at an awkward angle.

"Nayoko?" she asks as she makes her way over. "Are you okay?"

The girl's smiling and excited face is now a blotchy red. Her eyes are puffy while tears stream down her face. "It hurts!" she moans.

Marie tries not to look at the girl's leg. She bends down and grabs Nayokos hand. "What happened?"

"Nayoko!" Amy flies out of her room and to the girl. Her mouth forms an o as she sees the girl's leg. "What did you do to her?" Amy exclaims.

"I didn't do anything!"

"It hurts!" The tears are falling faster now. She moans and cries.

"We need to call nine-one-one," Marie says as she pulls out her phone.

Amy bends down and pets Nayokos arm. "It'll be okay."

As Marie calls, Nayoko leans into Amy and cries. Her sobs come faster and the only thing the two women can do is hope that the paramedics will arrive soon.

When they do arrive they take care of Nayoko swiftly and carefully. Marie watches from the side, her own face now wet. What happened to her? How did she break her leg in a space that would seem impossible to do that? And why did it have to happen to her? The only one here who didn't seem to have the joy of life sucked out of her.

As they carry her out of the room, Nayoko locks eyes with Marie. For a moment her face sobers up and a serious expression takes the place of the pain. "He's angry," she says. Then her face goes numb as the pain meds take hold of her.

Marie's mouth is held open by a question that she doesn't get to ask.

Amy watches with teary eyes before turning on Marie. "This is your fault!"

"Mine? How is it mine?"

Amy just glares at her instead of answering. She spins and storms after Nayoko, leaving Marie on her own.

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