*****************************************************

Danny stood offstage and waited with his leading lady for their time to head out for the final curtain. They’d be going out right after Etienne as Enjolas walked out to join the actresses who played Eponine and Fantine, following the couple playing Thénardier and his wife. Etienne joked about his placement among the dead, but Danny knew he was pleased – he looked quite gallant between the two lovely women. The reality was, Etienne most likely was the one who’d decided the order of appearance for the curtain calls. He’d taken on more and more of the directing of the show, with Alan deferring to his judgment more each day. By the third week of rehearsals, the musical director had quit, leaving Sam to assume the mantle of musical director in name as well as deed. By the fourth week, when the meek director, who’d been playing third fiddle behind the producer and the strong-minded assistant director, left, claiming medical problems, Etienne had smoothly stepped up to the plate. To satisfy the investors, Alan was billed as the director as well as the producer, with Etienne his co-director, but it was clear to the actors who the real director was.

It was equally clear to all involved why the other directors had left – Edward Simon’s heavy hand had fallen over the production. Yet, despite the difficulties in putting the show together, or perhaps because of them, the cast had grown close, and the production was one to be proud of, Danny thought. With opening night a few minutes away from being behind him, he had the satisfaction of knowing that he’d performed his best – and his best was very good indeed. Adrenalin still high but ever cautious, he reached out and grabbed his Cosette just in time to prevent her from over-balancing and falling onto the stage prematurely. She smiled her thanks at him, even as she chattered non-stop in an excited whisper.

“Are they giving a standing ovation yet? Wouldn’t it be marvelous if they waited to stand until we go out, like they did during previews? We did really well tonight in our duet, the audience loved us, I think. They clapped harder for us than for you and Eponine, I think. Oh, there they go, a lot are starting to stand already, and Etienne is just heading out. He looks good in period dress, don’t you think? Shame the others have to wear those outfits for their curtain calls, they aren’t flattering at all.” This was Lisa’s first significant role since college and this opening night in Philadelphia – their successful previews in Connecticut having gone to her head - was undoubtedly the biggest event in her brief but charmed life. Any explanation to her that the ending of Les Miz was about something different that individual performers being acknowledged, was sure to fall on deaf ears, so Danny never bothered trying.

Danny pulled her back against his chest, wrapping his arms snugly around her. “A standing ovation would be lovely but let’s hope we all get one – for the whole show, love. And you’re right, people are standing already, which is great. Etienne was awesome tonight, as were Julie and Tracey...come on, smile that bright Cosette smile for me and remember to sing this time.”

Danny had his own brightest, dimpled smile beaming even as he sang strongly while he briskly escorted his Cosette out to accept their accolades. Indeed, the entire audience was already on its feet, and Danny’s eyes were shining as they met Etienne’s over the girls’ heads. This was his lover’s triumph, really, for all that the audience was now going even wilder for Pete and Sam, as the two men met center stage, bowing to each other and then sweeping their arms to the fine pit orchestra that accompanied them.

Danny loved the song that ended the show, and made sure that his arm was linked with Etienne’s on one side, even if he still had Lisa on the other, as they sang. Many in the lively Philadelphia audience were joining in, to his and Etienne’s delight.

Do you hear the people sing
Lost in the valley of the night?
It is the music of a people
who are climbing to the light.

For the wretched of the earth
there is a flame that never dies.
Even the darkest night will end
and the sun will rise.

They will live again in freedom
in the garden of the Lord.
They will walk behind the ploughshare;
they will put away the sword.
The chain will be broken
and all men will have their reward.

Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade
is there a world you long to see?
Do you hear the people sing?
Say, do you hear the distant drums?
It is the future that they bring
when tomorrow comes!
when tomorrow comes!

Several hours later found them walking toward the club where they had promised to meet the rest of the cast for drinks after the after party.

“Four curtain calls! Can you believe it? They loved us!” Etienne enthused. He was practically skipping, which was quite a sight, Danny thought fondly. This was only about the fourth time Eti had pointed that fact out to him – not that he hadn’t been counting them himself. The boots he wore as part of his costume pinched like hell, so by the curtain calls he was wishing they weren’t quite so popular – or that he could have plausibly found a reason for Marius to have been barefoot in the final scene.

“It was awesome, and due in large part to the fabulous Etienne Lanier, director beyond compare,” Danny told him. “When are you going to get a terrible case of flu or a deceased relative – or ten – or some other reason to make you leave the show?”

Etienne looked at him sharply. There was only the slightest touch of bitterness in his David’s voice. He stopped in the middle of the cobblestoned lane and pulled his David close to him, tipping his chin up so that he could look deep into those beautiful green eyes.

“I am feeling quite healthy, actually, never better, and I have no relatives left whom I care a...what is that charming phrase your brother Luke taught me? A rat’s ass? I care not a rat’s ass about any of my relatives, so they all have my permission to die without my presence to console their final days. So, I am at liberty to remain with this show...and you, my David. Now tell me how happy you are that is so.” Etienne smiled his crooked smile at Danny, who was fighting the urge to grin back at him.

“Your English did suffer a bit from exposure to Luke and Red, didn’t it? You might not want to show off that particular idiom to too many people.”

“It suits my feelings about my paternal relatives admirably,” Etienne assured him. “But, no need to talk about that. Let us go back to what you were saying about my fabulousness. Director beyond compare...oh, I think if you tried you could find some other brilliant directors to compare me to, yes?”

Danny’s deep laugh filled the alley. Etienne’s frank egoism, partially exaggerated but in large part real, was a fresh change from the false modesty he encountered so often. Etienne insisted it was silly for him to pretend to be bad at something he was good at; it was hard enough to convince people of your worth in this world, why seem unsure of it yourself? Having grown up in a family where being “stuck on yourself” or vain was criticized, this was a difficult lesson. Yet, Danny could see the sense of it. In dance, he’d let his insecurity about his talent hold him back, and it was his fear that he wasn’t good enough that made him susceptible to the backstabbing rumors of others when he competed – deep down, he hadn’t been sure that he deserved the praise he won from his mentor. Etienne was teaching him a new type of confidence, and showing him how to honestly appraise his ability and not be afraid to acknowledge it.

Danny looked sideways at Etienne. “You know, you really disappointed Lisa tonight.”

Etienne looked concerned. “How was that? Was she unhappy with the show? It went quite well for her, I thought.” He tried to think if he’d snubbed the young actress in some way – it would be easy, much as he tried to pay attention to all of the actors, but Danny’s young leading lady had to be especially insipid, he thought.

“Yes,” Danny said sadly. “She was counting on the audience not standing until we joined you on-stage, but then you had to steal our thunder and get the crowd on their feet. She thinks it is because of how dashing you look in your student uniform.”

Etienne laughed. “No doubt. Is she keeping track?”

“I think so. Maybe in her diary? ‘Tonight the audience stood up for Etienne but they definitely clapped louder for me. I was so thrilled I could just squeal! Oh, and Danny stopped me from falling flat on my face again. I’m beginning to think he likes me.’”

“Tsk, tsk, you really shouldn’t lead the child on so, I recommend you let her fall tomorrow night.”

Actually, Etienne thought that the young Lisa was beginning to form a small crush on Danny - she’d approached him a couple of times with less than subtle questions about the young man’s connection to him. As far as the younger cast members knew, Danny and Etienne were close friends who were rooming together for convenience sake, but they didn’t make a point of defining their relationship. Since most of the cast doubled or tripled up while on the road, it was not a big deal and they’d decided it was better not to flaunt their orientation and have it become a big deal in the press. Thus, the afterparty was always in a straight club, and the “after” after party was generally in a gay bar, or at least a bar that catered to both gay and straight crowds.

Grinning at Etienne’s suggestion that he allow his leading lady to fall on her pert little nose, Danny protested. “I can’t do that! Mama would kill me. And don’t ask how she would know, she just would. It is a sixth sense of hers to know whenever I do something the least bit ungentlemanly.”

“Oh really?” Etienne raised an eyebrow at that, his mind immediately going to some activities of the youngest O’Keefe that he’d hate to think of Mama O’Keefe getting wind of, though he’d rather enjoyed the ungentlemanly behavior at the time.

Danny picked up on his thoughts and once more his deep laugh ran through the cobblestoned alley. “Not that kind of behavior, stupid!” Danny looked around at their surroundings. “You know, I don’t think this is quite where we’re supposed to be, do you? I can’t quite see anyone putting a nightclub in this neighborhood.”

They were in a beautiful tree lined street, with brick-faced buildings on either side, many of them sporting window boxes. The sounds of cars and people could still be heard, several blocks behind them, but this street and the ones following, seemed to start a whole different area. After looking around for a moment, Danny suggested suddenly, “Why don’t we go for a walk? Just the two of us? It would be....”

Etienne was already shaking his head, regretfully, so Danny stopped. “I wish that we could, but the others, they are waiting for us and we did promise, mon petit. Perhaps tomorrow we can come back during daylight and walk through this charming neighborhood? But for now, I think we missed a turn about three blocks back. Oui?”

He reached his hand out to Danny, who took it after only a moment’s pause and a wistful look over his shoulder. Shrugging, Danny walked by Etienne’s side as he led them back to the correct street, and stopping only once for directions, they found the loud bar where the others were expecting them.

“Hey, about time you two got here! Bartender, two whiskeys, make them doubles, our friends have some catching up to do!” Pete Jensen called over to them from his place by one bar. Young men in thongs were dancing on top of the bar and from the looks of things, they’d found the location near Pete a very rewarding spot. Tens and twenties were spilling from their small thongs, which at least helped to provide them with a little more coverage, Etienne thought whimsically. The air conditioning in the room was up high but it was still hot to be dancing beneath those strobes, he thought. Most of the cast and crew still there, which represented the older members – no Lisa, thank goodness – were doing some serious drinking as they discussed the attributes of the dancers.

Frank, who played Thénardier, patted Etienne on the back as he handed him the whiskey Pete had ordered for him. Danny accepted his drink from the bartender, giving the attractive man a warm smile, which didn’t go unnoticed by Etienne, who was unable to shake Frank to get back to Danny.

It was also noticed by Pete, who immediately sensed trouble in paradise. Of course, sensing that, his devious mind wondered how he could maximize it, for his own amusement. As Frank monopolized Etienne, he shifted so as to position himself between Danny and the other two men.

“Thanks,” Danny said, indicating the drink.

“Salud.” Pete clinked his glass against Danny’s and then watched as the handsome younger man drank deeply. He signaled for Rob, the bartender, to bring him another. He knew there was little chance of getting Danny drunk, whiskey was like mother’s milk to the boy, but he thought that a few more knocked back like that, on top of a long, strenuous day, might lessen any inhibitions. At the very least, it might serve to bring the Dark Angel out to play and that was always fun.

Meanwhile, the go-go boys, noticing that they’d lost Pete’s attention, and his money, stepped up their efforts, practically lowering their crotches into the space between Danny and him. Danny laughed as he put down his empty first glass. He was surprised to see the second one ready and waiting for him. He looked at Pete, amusement twinkling in his eyes.

“Is it drunk ye be trying to get me, Mr. Jensen? I’d be telling Sam on ye, if it weren’t such a lost cause – though I thank ye for the foin whiskey.”

Pete joined him in laughing. “Can the accent, you fake. You can sound like Prince William if you want. And I know you never get drunk. Who’d want a drunk anyway? Pathetic is what they are. I’m just being sociable, and socialist, sharing my undeservedly higher salary with those fine singers who carry the show.”

Danny snorted at that before taking another healthy swallow of whiskey. Pete appreciated that the kid didn’t accept that flattery at face value, although, in all honesty, he didn’t know that he really was deserving of higher billing or a higher salary than the two younger men. They garnered more praise with every performance and it was clear that they both had what it took to be big stars. He was still struggling to crack into that upper level of opera star and while he got cast on Broadway, his was not a name that people flocked to see. Used to be, a stage star wouldn’t be caught dead doing television. Now, the people flocked to see television stars on stage. The world changed the rules when he wasn’t paying attention – he was busy taking voice lessons.

But, these two, they were the type who could play the game by any rules. Pete saw that at a glance and part of him rooted for them while another part of him resented them. Sam told him to get over it, but Sam was different, he never gave a damn about other people and how they did, whether they were better or worse than he was. Easy of course to take that attitude when you were always the best, like Sam. Or like this kid. He was like the Frenchman, always measuring, always seeing what his standing was in comparison to the competition. Sam thought the Frenchman might be good for the kid, teach him to be more guarded. Pete knew better. People like him only used other people, and once he stood on the kid’s shoulders to get to a higher level, he’d move on.

Unless the kid pushed him off and left him on the ground first. Pete really thought he’d be doing the kid a favor if he helped the kid do that.

“So, what do you think of the dance performances, Danny? Pretty talented to sustain that level of...energy...for so long, don’t you think?” Pete asked provocatively, placing another ten in the waistband of the dancer who’d persevered when his partner had given up and returned to the open area, hopeful of more largesse further down the line.

Danny tilted his head and considered the young man dancing a few feet away. He looked to be about his own age, with a decent body, if not quite as muscular as his own. Danny knew that some men liked that more boyish smooth chested look, that screamed “high school” to him. He thought the dancing was pretty tame, actually. Bump, bump, shake ass, bump. He said as much to Pete.

“Not that you guys are looking for Fosse, I guess. A peek at his balls once in a while, shake his bare cheeks at you, you’re happy, but I wouldn’t call it dancing.”

Annoyed that his profitable audience had been distracted, and being someone who took pride in his work, the dancer knelt down, and hissed at Danny, “I’d like to see you do better, Ravenlocks. You think this is so easy, let’s see you get up here in your g-string and shake that fat ass of yours and make it look like Fosse. Bet you can’t keep it going for an hour, much less a four hour shift.”

“You’re on!” Danny shrugged, much preferring dancing to watching others dance. He started to take off his shirt.

The bartender stopped him. “Uh, wait a sec, you can’t strip out here, some kind of rules, an ordinance or something. Nicky, cool your jets, let me see if this is okay. And first things first.” He looked at Danny, “Are you serious?”

“Sure,” Danny told him. By this point, Etienne had figured out what was going on, and tried to intervene. “David, I don’t think this is a good idea....”

“Oh, you don’t, do you?” Danny’s eyes sparkled dangerously. “Well, I do. Besides, I never pass up a bet. And this gentleman,” he indicated the go-go dancer, “has been kind enough to invite me to dance with him, on the bet that I can’t last an hour. So, Rob, tell me where I have to go to get ready...undressed...and clear it with whomever it has to be cleared, will you?” Danny gave the bartender a brilliant smile, securing his cooperation and within a very short time, Danny was leaving to find an appropriate thong, with Nicky, his new co-worker, who was explaining the ropes, such as they were.

Etienne glared at Pete, furious. “This is your doing, I can tell. Just for some amusement, you risk bringing bad publicity to the play and to David? Is that worth it to you?”

Pete raised his hands placatingly. “How is this my fault? I’m not his keeper! He disparaged the hard-working bump and grind boys; he was called on it. I merely bought him a drink...or two. You can’t be suggesting that made him drunk.”

Etienne wasn’t suggesting that. But he knew as well as Pete did that two drinks, doubles, on an empty stomach, were bound to have an effect on anyone, hard head or not. And he’d also noticed that despite his often mentioned ability to hold his liquor, Danny, like his sister, had some issues when it came to drinking. He drank a lot when he was upset and it tended to affect his behavior. Damn, Etienne cursed himself. He should have agreed to go for a walk when Danny suggested it. Instead he’d wanted to join the others for more rehashing of the night of triumph, and while he talked on with Frank and some of the others, Tracey and Julie among them, Danny had been left to the trouble-making Jensen.

The bartender was coming back now with another man, a heavy-set man who looked a bit like a portlier version of Alan, their director. For a brief, panicked moment, Etienne thought he was Alan, and was busy thinking up excuses for this escapade, so he missed the introduction and needed to have it repeated.

“I said, this is Miles, our manager. He just wants to make sure that Mr. Luke is of age and not impaired in any way. I assured him that he only had two drinks and as far as I could tell, he is not in any way impaired. I confess to not carding him, Miles, because he’s with the group from the play and he certainly looks of age.”

“Yes, David is over twenty-one,” Etienne assured the man. “He’s not drunk at all, and while we are from the show, we’d prefer this bit of high spirits not get into the press, if you understand? Oh, I beg your pardon, Etienne Lanier, assistant director of the show, and very much at your service, sir.” He slipped a hundred dollar bill into his palm as he shook hands with him, thankful for one of the few lessons he’d learned from his father. When one wants to hush up an inconvenient problem, large bills are needed, so you should always keep one on hand for an emergency. Or the arrival of an inconvenient person.

“I understand completely,” the manager said, his eyes lowering the briefest second to take in the denomination of the bill and widening a touch. A good sign. He smiled at Etienne in a cheerful way. “I will personally make sure that no word of this gets out from any of my people, and the bouncers will make sure no pictures are taken. They’re supposed to protect the regular boys but they get a little lax. I’ll make sure they understand that won’t be tolerated tonight.”

“I’d be most grateful,” Etienne assured him, mentally saying good-bye to at least another hundred, but prepared to charge it to the play’s expenses if he couldn’t guilt trip David into paying him back. What in the world was he thinking?

A few minutes later, he believed he would happily have paid a couple of hundred dollars to have kept this experience completely to himself. Except there was also something incredibly erotic about knowing that it was his lover up on that bar top, dancing like that – in that tiny little thong – for all those screaming men and women. And oh yes, they must not forget the women.

Danny started out wearing a full outfit, an army outfit, with his hair tied back so that for a brief moment, it looked very much like Luke O’Keefe was walking out onto the bar made to look like a stage. He actually had them playing the Marine Corp theme song, which struck Etienne as somewhat blasphemous, but there were a couple of Marines in the room who started whooping so he guessed they had no problem with it. A bachelorette party pushed to the front of the crowd and started screaming encouragement at Danny.

“Her fiancee is a Marine! Show her what’s she’s getting!”

“Show her what she hopes she’s getting!”

The calls got raunchier as the music got faster and Danny got down to business. He took off his shirt and there was a great deal of appreciation for his muscular, toned stomach and chest. He was really dancing, but also working the crowd, tossing his shirt around his head and coyly playing with it behind his back before moving on to his pants. Etienne stood by, close enough to be able to get to Danny if he seemed to be in any danger, but not so close that he could be accused of “hovering”, although he knew that was in fact what he was doing. The other members of the cast and crew were having a grand time, cheering Danny on, whistling at him, interacting with the crowd as they called things out to “their” Danny. Etienne felt apart. He was, of course, powerfully aroused by the sight of his beautiful man, but his entirely male reaction to other people staring at what he viewed as his was not pleasant. He wanted to grab that shirt back up and cover David and pull from down from the stage, away from strangers’ eyes.

When the song was shifting to the next one, there was a brief pause and Danny was left with no music. There he was, with a room of people staring at him in just a hat, socks and boxers filled with money. For a moment, Etienne saw the flash of vulnerability in his lover’s eyes and he started forward. Then, someone called out, from the Marine group,

“Give us twenty!”

Danny immediately grinned back, replying, “Only if you’ll give me twenty.” But Etienne heard the relief in his voice that he’d been given something to do while the problem with the music was fixed. Danny dropped down and executed perfect Marine style push-ups, clapping his hands on the upstroke, to the oohs and ahhs, of the women; then he did one-handed ones, popping back up as the music for his next number, “I Need A Hero” started.

For this song, he began his real dancing. The hat, socks and boxers, came off quickly, the money flying, and he danced in a small black thong, which Etienne, and everyone else noticed left very little to the imagination.

As always, Danny’s dancing was breathtaking. He took a crowd which was there to see flesh and gave them so much more as he soared across the bar, turning cartwheels and performing flying mid-air splits. He spun around the pole, his leg bent out in a perfect angle to his arm. He turned bar top dancing into a ballet, and then into modern jazz, and then into a hot, sexual combination of all three, ballet, jazz, and the most erotic of the stripper’s trade, the bump and grind. He did a shimmy down low to let the bride-to-be’s grandmother tuck a bill in his crotch, then bent over, almost double, to show off the line of his torso and ass to two men waving large bills on the opposite side of the bar.

When his hour was almost up, Danny pulled Nicky up next to him and whispered in his ear as he guided the unresisting body into a rhythm with him.

“You’re absolutely right. I couldn’t do your job for more than an hour. I couldn’t do it for an hour, but will you be willing to finish up with me and let bygones be bygones?”

“Who are you kidding, man?” Nicky whispered, his head tipping back so that it rested on Danny’s shoulder. “You were fucking amazing. I couldn’t do that in a million years.”

“Sure you could...but not for four hours. I was being showier, but you dance steadier. Dance with me and help me finish then I’ll buy you a drink if your shift is over soon.”

The two young bodies dancing together was a definite crowd pleaser, and Danny achieved his goal, reinstating Nicky as the lead dancer in this particular bar. The strenuous dancing having burned off his temper and the alcohol, he realized that he’d acted like a bit of a jerk to a guy who was just earning his living, in a pretty tough fashion. And just like he made a point of never showing up in some regular piano bar and singing to show up the regular performer, he wouldn’t normally act like that with his dancing. But, being close to naked, he’d had to do something to distract people from staring at his ass and cock.

Etienne could have told him that he was a good dancer, a great one even, but no one was that good. He waited while Danny went backstage to shower and change back into his own clothes. He was surprised to see Nicky still with him when he emerged. The club was closed but the manager, richer by yet another hundred dollars, had told Etienne he could wait for Danny inside while the staff cleaned up. Etienne had sat talking to Rob, the bartender while he did his final prep for the next day.

“You prefer to do your set-up tonight rather than tomorrow? I would think it would nicer to get to bed earlier,” he told the pleasant young man who was industriously getting his station ready, making sure all of his glasses were clean, and the bottles of whiskey and other alcohol plentiful.

Rob laughed. “This is the home of Ben Franklin. We don’t put off to tomorrow what is better done today. Besides, some things take longer if left. And if I’m out of something, better to find out now, so I can tell Miles in time for him to order it tomorrow morning and have it in time for the crowds who come in for lunch.”

Etienne tried to hide his surprise but wasn’t very successful, no doubt a function of his fatigue, and Rob laughed without taking offense. “Yes, there are plenty whose idea of a businessman’s lunch is in here. We have a girls’ side too, but this bar actually does better. The women get a kick out of the guys and the gays have to tip well to keep up with them. The types of men who frequent the other side fall into two categories, traveling businessmen and the unhappy guys who start drinking early and stop late. They’re not all that great for business but you can’t kick them out without a solid reason.”

Not a life he’d want to have, Etienne thought, though he thought Rob seemed content. He was a good looking man, just shy of six feet, Etienne estimated, and broad enough to be able to offer some protection to his dancers if they needed it in a hurry.

“Do you ever...?” Etienne looked meaningfully toward the poles.

“Dance or indulge in the dancers?” Rob grinned again. “Yes to both, though my dancing days are over now, trick knee. All those deep knee bends to get down low for the bucks, it gets hard on the knees when you’re not a skinny guy like Nicky. And fraternizing among the ranks? Sure. As long as no one misuses their position. We have one low life here, an assistant manager and bartender, tried to make the younger boys exchange favors for better shifts. Miles got wind of that and he was out on his ass the next day.”

Seeing the look of satisfaction on Rob’s face, Etienne thought he could guess how word of such misdoings got back to the manager, and smiled back at him. That was how Danny found the two of them, sharing what no doubt looked like an intimate moment, when he walked up with Nicky. To make matters worse, Etienne immediately pulled back from the bar, where he was dismayed to realize that his hands were very close to the other man’s. Of course, nothing had been going on, just two men talking, but all of a sudden, he felt guilty. Seeing Danny’s eyes flicker to the bar and then up toward Rob in that measuring way he had, Etienne knew that he was completely misreading the situation, but he didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t make matters worse. What? Don’t worry, I was just asking Rob if he ever was a stripper? Or how about, gee, Rob, do you fuck the dancers and are you busy tonight? That is how Danny would view the natural progression of that conversation. Etienne sighed and closed his eyes as he imagined the fight coming his way. So much for the wonderful opening night.

Danny’s eyes had narrowed, but seeing Etienne running a hand through his hair, he seemed to change gears. He reached out his hand and pulled Etienne close to his side. Etienne opened his eyes in surprise as he heard Danny’s deep voice purring to the bartender.

“Rob...do you have any plans for tonight?”

Once Rob, eyes wide, shook his head no, Etienne was sure that the man didn’t trust himself to speak and risk waking himself out of whatever great dream he was having, Danny leaned forward. Putting his hand behind the other man’s head, he pulled him close for a hard kiss, his tongue probing deep into Rob’s eagerly opened mouth. Etienne’s own mouth was dry. What was Danny doing? He felt two arms wrap around him.

“Hmm, maybe a foursome’s in the works after all. Change your mind, David?” Warm hands slid inside his shirt and Etienne felt his nipples being caressed to firmness while a smaller body pressed against his back, communicating a readiness for action.

Danny grinned impishly as he raised his head...finally, Etienne thought.

“Well, we have to make sure we’re all compatible,” he decreed. “Rob, you kiss Etienne, then Etienne kiss Nicky, and then I’ll kiss Nicky, and if everyone’s hard by the time we’re done, we’re good to go.”

Etienne rolled his eyes but before he could put the brakes on this plan, a slim body had been lifted onto the bar by Danny, (“you’ll need the extra height, trust me,” Danny had whispered loudly, with a comic wink at Rob, who was still looking slightly dazed from his own kiss), and firm arms were entwined around his neck as the young looking blond pulled him close for an intense kiss. Etienne tried to stay dispassionate but an eager, warm mouth against his, a small tongue coaxing his lips to open as Danny’s voice in his ear teased, “Don’t you want to go home with Rob and Nicky and play, Eti? The hotel has such nice big beds. We could push them together and have a slumber party. Rather like we were supposed to the night we met.”

Remembering how that night turned out made Etienne rock hard, which Nicky felt, close as his body was to Etienne’s, and he immediately assumed it was due to his efforts. He leaned back, a triumphant little smile on his face. Danny had an odd look on his face, as he stepped over to Etienne, and brushed at his lips gently.

“I think you like blonds a bit,” he commented in French, before brushing his own kiss lightly over Etienne’s lips. “Or maybe you like the femme boys?”

Etienne didn’t answer. He wasn’t sure what kind of game Danny was playing at the moment but he knew he wasn’t in control of it. To call a stop to it now, he wasn’t sure if that was what Danny was waiting for. And he didn’t think that was quite right, not when Danny had the other two men revved up like this. So, rationalizing it like that, Etienne watched as Danny kissed Nicky, his strong muscular body providing an arousing contrast to the other man’s slimmer, yes, more androgynous looks.

It was Etienne who questioned the other two men as to their health status while Danny showered back at their hotel room. Rob assured him that both of them were HIV negative, telling him that Miles made everyone at the bar get tested regularly. Nicky was busy checking out the room, bouncing on the bed, flicking on the television with the remote. He was thrilled to find an old rerun of the League of Justice on, and started watching, clad only in a pair of white boy briefs.

Etienne cocked an eyebrow as he started to take off his own shirt. Rob moved closer and began to help him with the buttons.

“All appearances to the contrary, he’s twenty-four, and as soon as the action starts, he’ll be all over all three of us. A little Ever-ready Bunny is our Nicky. Totally insatiable. I knew he’d likely suggest a foursome to that guy Danny, but never thought he’d agree. So, are you two a couple?”

Rob’s hands were poised at Etienne’s zipper, ready to proceed, but he was being cautious not to misread the situation. In any other circumstance, Etienne would like this man quite a bit and enjoy a very good evening with him. Probably a couple of evenings while the play was in this town, and then they’d part ways. No hard feelings, no commitments, just good sex and pleasant conversations. Not for the first time, Etienne had to wonder why he was complicating his life with such a difficult creature as Danny O’Keefe.

And then the bathroom door opened and Danny stepped into the room. His body was glistening, his long hair hung in a long gleaming sheet of black silk, and his beauty literally took Etienne’s breath away.

From the sleek muscles of his shoulders, on down past rippled abdomen, turgid cock resting full against his thigh, already growing hard under Etienne’s scrutiny, the long, sculpted legs curving down from thigh to calves – even his feet were perfect, Etienne thought, ready to fall at his knees and beg for the chance to start the evening over. Or better, fold him into his arms and swear his undying love to him, to tell the two strangers in the room to leave so he could be alone with his David.

But, that quickly, the moment was lost. Etienne could see as Danny’s eyes swept over the room that in a split second, he went from being Etienne’s David to the Dark Angel, that fey creature of the backrooms. He walked forward until he was behind Rob.

“Don’t let me interrupt you. I think everyone in this room is overdressed. Nicky, don’t you think you’d be more comfortable saving those pants for morning?” Danny’s deep voice was teasing but the suggestion was clear. Time for tighty-whities and cartoons to disappear. The remote and the underpants were tossed aside and Nicky knelt behind Danny, grabbing the globes of his ass. Danny moved gracefully away, his most charming smile ensuring that no offense was taken as Danny knelt close to the smaller man and whispered confidentially, “I think your talents would be best put to use on Etienne – he is celebrating tonight...and he was most taken with you earlier. Would you mind concentrating on him, at least at first?”

Etienne wasn’t quite sure all of what followed. He knew that Danny ordered champagne from room service and he kept pouring. He knew that he fucked both of the other men...and enjoyed it. He was pretty sure he was rimmed and sucked within an inch of his life by all three of the other men, and he knew that Danny fucked at least Rob, though he didn’t see him fuck Nicky. There was one point when Rob and he were both being pleasured by Nicky, and Etienne had a sense of Danny kissing him, but nothing more.

The next afternoon found him awaking alone in the hotel room. His initial feeling was one of relief that Rob and Nicky were gone. He hated morning afters – all the more when they occurred after noon – and when they followed events he didn’t recall well, he especially disliked them. His second, and stronger, feeling was one of panic. Where was David? The room was straightened a little bit, not enough to indicate that housekeeping had been in but more than was customary for David. He dragged himself out of bed and immediately grabbed his aching head.

This was not good. He struggled to remember if they had a matinee that afternoon. A glance at the bedside table told him it was almost one. He was due at the theater in just over an hour. He fell back onto the bed, a serious mistake in a man who had goblins forging dragon armor in his head. With hot tongs. He’d never be able to make it. He tried to think if he even had a stand-in. One of the students. He doubted the actor even knew the blocking, since no one seriously expected Danny or him to ever miss a performance.

“Here, drink this – resurrection potion. George guarantees it.” A rich, deep, lovely voice spoke with blessed softness, while a strong arm eased him up so the drink could be placed against his lips.

Etienne stole a peek before sipping. “Is this really going to help me or are you poisoning me? Which one are you?”

A dimpled smile was his only answer. “Come on, drink this down while I get the shower ready for you. Brush your teeth and I may even join you. I’ve been running and already showered but wouldn’t mind coming in to wash your back and other parts for you. Just to speed things along, you understand.”

“Danny, I...” Etienne paused, not sure quite what to say. To apologize seemed appropriate yet he wasn’t quite sure of the offense he’d be apologizing for. He took a deep drink from the glass and was surprised to find that it tasted good. Most sure-fire hangover cures were nasty, in his experience.

Danny looked amused. “Good, isn’t it? George had to find a way to make it tasty or we’d never have been able to get Angel to drink it – or Edward for that matter. And Red is the absolute worst! Trust me, the last thing you want stomping around is a six foot seven Indian with a hangover.”

He headed for the bathroom, pulling off his t-shirt. Etienne was dismayed to see long scratch marks on his back.

“David!” He jumped out of the bed, his hangover forgotten. Danny turned.

“What? Don’t you like how I tried to clean up? I know it’s not perfect but for me....”

Etienne grasped him gently by the shoulders. He looked more closely at the marks, which were deep enough that they must have drawn blood. He cursed violently; he never should have agreed to those men coming back to their room. Did one of them try something rough with Danny after he passed out?

“I appreciate this concern, Etienne, but I’m fine,” Danny assured him, his voice amused. He twisted around so he could see, in the mirror over the dresser, what it was that had Etienne so upset. “Rob and Nicky didn’t do that – you did. You were a bit of a wild man last night. Did you have fun?”

Etienne drew his brows together in an effort to concentrate. He couldn’t imagine becoming so lost in his passion that he would mark David in this way and not even remember it. He looked down at his hands and was horrified to see dried blood on his fingers. He crumpled to the ground, and crouched low, his arms hanging limply between his knees, distressed beyond measure.

Danny got down on his haunches next to him and pulled him close in a hug.

“Etienne, it’s no big deal. They’re just scratches. You were...excited.” He smiled at the understatement and nuzzled Etienne’s cheek with his, trying to win a smile. “Come on, come in the shower and I’ll leave scratches on you if you make me come as hard as I made you come. But...you have a tough act to follow. I have it on good authority that I am, like, totally the awesomest.” Danny had slipped into a perfect mimicry of Nicky’s nasal Northeast Philadelphia accent. “Come on, into the shower. My legs can’t hold this position forever after running this morning and dancing last night. And two shows...oh my God what were you thinking, a foursome?” His eyes twinkled at Etienne’s as he got up and then pulled Etienne to a standing position.

“I must have been out of my mind,” Etienne fervently answered.

“You’ll feel better after a shower. I know I did.”

The shower did help. Especially with Danny’s hard body pressed up against his back, his soapy hands roving over his chest and groin...especially as they roved over his groin, lathering the hair and caressing his balls. One hand continued to work its magic in front while the other slipped to his ass and soaped him thoroughly along his crack, the fingers dipping in, slowly...deeper on each pass.

“Merci,” Etienne breathed, leaning against the wall as he felt his legs weaken.

“Are you saying thank you, or pleading for mercy?” Danny inquired, kneeling to continue his ministrations. He kept up his attentions to Etienne’s ass while he quickly finished soaping and rinsing his legs and feet. Etienne tried to determine how much time they might have.

“David...please....”

He wasn’t sure what he was asking for. Forgiveness for not knowing what Danny wanted from him? A second chance? Fellatio?

He settled for the fellatio, as that talented mouth closed around his cock, which was straining toward it. Looking down, Etienne could have wept, for being a weak, foolish man. Such beauty, literally at his feet, and yet he knew he was failing to win David’s heart. He knew that he could...if only he handled things just a little bit differently. But each time that things went wrong, like last night, when something that should have been a bright shining time for them got tarnished, David took a step away and put another layer between himself and the world.

Etienne touched Danny’s cheek and stopped the motion of his head – the delicious motion that was bringing Etienne so close to ecstasy.

“Come here...kiss me, my love,” he said gruffly, his voice almost breaking. Danny looked hesitant but Etienne pulled him forcefully to his feet and crushed his mouth beneath his own.

“J’adore,” Etienne murmured into Danny’s mouth, his tongue moving deeply inside, replacing his cock, which was now throbbing insistently against Danny’s stomach, while Danny’s own hard length pressed against his thigh. With the water cascading over them, Etienne lifted Danny up so that their cocks were aligned. Desperately kissing this man who drove him wild, his feet firmly planted so he didn’t lose his balance, Etienne wrapped his arms under Danny to hold him tightly in place and left it to him to see to their cocks. He was intent on kissing, his lips tracing those full lips, his teeth grazing along the bottom one and making Danny gasp, his tongue delving deep, touching lightly against that other tongue, making it play with him, explore the way the different touches felt. Etienne made love to Danny with his kiss.

And Danny swore later that it was Etienne’s kiss that made him climax, far more that the friction between their two cocks, which he forgot to even touch, he was so entranced by that masterful kiss. Once they came up for air, he looked at Etienne, his lips swollen, his green eyes a deep mossy green, and he touched his forehead lightly to the taller man’s chest.

“Merci,” was all Danny said, but it was enough. Etienne knew that for once he’d done the right thing.

*****************************************************

“I can’t believe you’re making us go sightseeing on our day off instead of luxuriating in bed and calling for room service every hour,” Danny teased.

“And I cannot believe you think you can convince me you are not thrilled to be seeing all the sights of this city. It is your history, although we French have an interest in your Revolution.”

Danny nodded. “You can take credit for helping. Do your countrymen regret doing that now that our countries do not get along so well? Lafayette! Look what you did!”

Etienne smiled indulgently at his lover, whose dimples were on full display today – Danny was in a wonderful mood and when he was, he spread his good humor to everyone around him. Even the stern-faced federal marshals who guarded Independence Hall smiled back when they received one of those blinding double-dimpled smiles after passing Danny through the metal detector.

“I haven’t been to Philadelphia for years,” Danny confessed in a low voice, as they awaited their turn to gaze at the meeting room with famous “rising sun” chair. “And my plans for seeing the historic sites the last time got waylaid. I’m really glad we’re doing this today. Being the son of immigrants, who came from a country torn apart by internal strife and a battle for freedom from British rule, I feel this, you know?” 

“I can understand.”

They spent the day in perfect amity, enjoying the freedom to hold hands once they saw several other male and female couples doing so.  Etienne noted how many older couples there were in this area, and even as his mind made the observation, Danny was nudging him.

“Do you think this is why it’s called the City of Brotherly Love?”  The green eyes were full of impish delight.

“I was just thinking that this must be why this section is called Old City,” Etienne retorted, trying to hide his own amusement. “Do you want to go on to Ben Franklin’s house or...?”

The shout of a young woman, a girl really, stopped him, and they both turned.

An extremely thin, tall, young girl, dressed in a very short dress – or a slightly longish shirt, Etienne thought it could be either – and a floppy hat was running toward them, zigzagging her way around cars and horse-drawn buggies while a portly looking official attempted to chase her.

“Daniel! Mon frere, tu dois m’aider!” 

To Etienne’s surprise, Danny laughed and opened his arms to the girl, swinging her around in an exuberant hug.  “Aida! What sort of trouble have you gotten yourself into, that you need your ‘brother’ to help you?” 

“Later! First, say you will be my brother, and…” she looked up at Etienne through preposterously long lashes. They had to be fake, he decided. “And my stern Uncle, yes, on my mother’s side, and you will have to vouch for me so that the mean immigration man does not send me away...can you give me a job perhaps. I think I need that also for my visa not to turn to ‘poof.’”

Danny looked at Etienne, a question in his eyes. Etienne’s instinct would be to have nothing to do with scantily clad young females who were in trouble with immigration, especially ones from his own country. He knew his countrymen and had full faith in their ability to take advantage of a situation as well as he would, but he was not proof against those green eyes. With a sigh, he turned to deal with the official, who was quite hot, tired and angry by the time he reached them.

“Miss Seifert!  I must insist on....”

“Has my niece been causing problems, sir? May I perhaps be of assistance?”  Etienne assumed the manner of Javert in addressing this immigration official. He hadn’t replenished his bribing money, and knew it would be too dangerous, as a legal alien himself, to risk buying the man off. Attempt to bribe an incorruptible man and he could find his own ass being deported. Thus, his best bet was to assume the mantle of an incorruptible man himself and hope that such righteousness spread over his companions. It would help if they started looking like brother and sister and not two long-lost lovers. He glared at Danny, who immediately dropped Aida and started to smooth her dress for her and straighten her hat, much in the manner of an adult with a toddler. It was an improvement, Etienne judged, if the man didn’t pick up on that impish light in Danny’s eyes.

“This girl is your niece?”  The man looked skeptical but Etienne’s accent and demeanor was just so French, that he wasn’t ready to call it a bluff.

“My sister’s child. Half sister, you understand...these blended families today. My name is Stephen Lane. This is my nephew, David Luke, and I believe you know Miss Seifert.”  Etienne waited for the man’s name, and his purpose in chasing the girl, who looked all of twelve. What type of job did Danny expect him to get her?  Understudy to young Eponine and Cosette? At her height?  She was almost as tall as Danny!

“I’m Rich Drobbins, with the Office of Immigration and Naturalization. I accompanied Miss Seifert on a visit to the Walnut Theater, where she said she was planning on meeting up with her brother, a Daniel O’Keefe, who was supposed to provide her with housing and a job in order for her to stay in this country....”

Danny burst out laughing while Etienne mentally kicked himself. So much for keeping their real names out of this. 

“I’m sorry, Mr. Drobbins. I gave you our stage names. My nephew is indeed Daniel O’Keefe...why don’t we adjourn to a cooler spot for a drink...something non-alcoholic since you are on the clock as you Americans say...and we will be able to straighten this whole matter out.”

After expending much diplomacy, tact, and not a small amount of money, since Mr. Drobbins was easily convinced that it was five o’clock somewhere, it was arranged that Aida would be released into the care of Daniel and Etienne, with Etienne to provide proof that she was indeed employed with the production of Les Miz. 

“And what will she be able to do, exactly, David? Or am I to take her pay out of my far from generous salary?” Etienne walked slightly behind the two younger people, wondering if he was truly going crazy.  This arrangement was not good, not good at all. And it was completely against his nature to agree to it.

Danny waved his hand in the air. “It will all work itself out. Don’t worry, Etienne. You are getting cranky. Let Aida give you a back rub. It will work that tension right out of your system.”

Etienne looked at him, slightly appalled. Let this Lolita give him a massage?  Was Danny serious? And who was this young woman anyway? 

Watching his expressive face, Danny burst out laughing.  “Poor Eti!  I’m giving you heart failure. Aida calls me her brother because....”

“Because he almost became my brother...my brother by marriage, and he would have been the best part of my family if that had happened,” Aida finished the explanation. She watched as understanding came into Etienne’s face. “You know of Judith, then?  You must be close to Daniel if he spoke of her to you. Judith is not my favorite person. She is very close to my least favorite person but she did bring me Daniel so that is good. We dance and sing beautifully together, though he tells me always that I am his little sister so he won’t make love to me.”

Danny’s deep laugh sounded at that. “Well, the last time you propositioned me you were all of fifteen, love. Of course I told you no.”

“I am no longer fifteen,” Aida pointed out coyly.

“And exactly how old are you?” Etienne asked, wishing to take back the reins of this conversation.

“I am eighteen, quite old enough,” was the answer.

Etienne didn’t bother asking what she was old enough for – he had a clear enough picture. He decided to go downstairs and arrange for another room for the girl while Danny started going through his clothes for suitable jeans and tops for her until he could buy her more. A falling out with her father and sister had led her to take a plane to New York in search of Daniel. She’d been trying to find him for weeks, before her visitor’s visa ran out. Which, she cheerfully announced, had happened two weeks ago.

Etienne ran his hand through his hair, and wondered if he’d be bald by the time this tour was over. Taking on Danny made sense. He was madly in love with Danny and aligned with Danny, his own career would soar. But what did he need with a teenage girl? 

“I am going crazy; that is the only explanation,” he muttered under his breath.

“Sir?” The desk clerk politely coughed. “Mr. Lanier?”

Etienne looked down. “Oui? Ah, yes.  I find that another member of our company has joined us. My partner’s sister. Do you have a spare room, a single, available at the group rate we are enjoying?”

Crazy. That was the only explanation, he decided glumly, as he pushed his credit card forward to secure the room. He devoutly hoped that the young woman did not do any serious damage to the room during the stay. 

Later that night, after he returned from tucking Aida into bed – and Etienne told himself he wasn’t going to inquire into what that ritual entailed – Danny crawled into bed with him. He snuggled close, resting his head on Etienne’s shoulder, and putting his arm on his chest.  He started playing with Etienne’s chest hair. It seemed a source of endless fascination to him, Etienne had noticed. At first he’d thought it might bother him, since he’d noticed that most of the men they encountered in clubs, as well as Danny, removed their chest hair, but Danny had been quite adamant that he not follow that trend. Now, as he watched those long graceful fingers play in the whorls of chestnut hair, Etienne felt the tension of the day seep away and his earlier contentment return.

Danny peered up at him and smiled. “Thank you.”

“Why are you thanking me? For having such a fine chest of hair for you to play with,” Etienne teased.

Danny chuckled, “That too, but for today. For walking around, just us, it was nice. And then, when Aida needed help, you didn’t mind, you were your usual competent self at making the problems disappear. If things had been reversed and an old friend of yours had appeared like that...I don’t know if I would have been as...gracious.”

Etienne felt unmanned. He had not been at all gracious. He’d been resentful and jealous and...petty. But he was perhaps better at hiding his feelings with Danny than he realized.  Now, Danny was giving him credit for being a far better person than he was. Should he confess or accept the praise he did not deserve?  Easy choice, Etienne decided, as warm lips claimed his. A moment later, just as he was ready to move onto more serious action, Danny lifted his head. He continued talking as he placed kisses down Etienne’s long torso.

“Aida has had a rough time but she’s a tough kid. She’ll be fine. And you’ll be surprised. I just know she’ll carry her own weight. She’s a quick study. She’ll be able to understudy a half a dozen parts. She’s got a very versatile voice and I’ll....”

He’d been edging his body down as he marked his path in kisses, but at this point, their cocks brushed together deliciously and Etienne moaned his frustration.  Danny peered up at him through his long lashes.

“Do you want me to suck you or fuck you, Eti,” he asked, his voice low and throbbing, the words sending a rush of blood to Etienne’s cock that caused it to spring even higher. His laugh low and sultry, Danny said, “I think that is a vote for sucking, and then fucking.”

Etienne had to agree as the long dark hair brushed against his stomach and warm wetness encircled his cock. He looked down at the lovely black hair and couldn’t resist running his hands through it, spreading it out over his stomach and thighs, teasing the sensitive skin on his thighs especially with the silky strands.  Danny saw what he was doing and smiled, pulling more of his hair forward to give him more to play with, and entwined his balls with a long lock, lifting them up.

Etienne almost shot his load at that sensation, coupled with the sight of Danny’s long tongue sliding down his length, dipping into the tip, his foreskin completely retracted and the glistening crown exposed to his tongue’s ministrations.

“David, mon Dieu.” Etienne clutched at those broad shoulders, and tried to stop himself from pushing hard into that beautiful mouth, the urge was so strong. He wanted too much to fuck that beautiful body, to feel Danny all around him.... He concentrated on the sensations engulfing him, the hands, hair, that lovely, lovely mouth, and felt his orgasm exploding. Before he caught his breath, he was being turned over, and warm fingers were caressing his ass.

“Are you up for a second round, love, or do you need to rest?” That deep voice did such things to him, he thought, feeling his cock stir again already. 

“I think if I am not up, I soon will be if you keep talking to me in that voice of yours. It should be registered as a sex weapon,” Etienne murmured, pushing his ass into the air. Danny laughed low, as he pushed a pillow under Etienne’s hips.

“I want to ride you so hard. You looked so hot, today, cowing that man from immigration. You made me hard just listening to you,” Danny whispered in his ear. Etienne could hear the sound of the condom wrapper being ripped open.  With anyone else, he’d feel vulnerable in this position, but Danny had a way of making him feel sexy and powerful even in the non-dominant role. Which was good, Etienne thought wryly, since he’d shown no signs of relinquishing the dominant position any time soon.

“Tell me you want me, Eti,” Danny commanded, his latex covered cock nudging against him. “Tell me if you want me to fuck you until you scream.”

“And if I want you to make slow sweet love, you’ll say sorry?” Etienne heard himself ask. There was silence for just a moment. He almost blurted out that he was just kidding but something made him hold his tongue. Instead, Danny pulled him close and kissed him behind the ear, then rolled him onto his back so that their eyes met.

“Then, of course, I will make slow, sweet love to you, my love.”  The green eyes were glittering bright in the dark room as Danny lifted Etienne’s knees over his shoulders and slowly pushed inside.  It was much deeper from this angle, Etienne noted, something he’d never before felt since it was not an easy position for a man his size to achieve – nor an easy one for a smaller partner to sustain for long. But Danny did it with ease, his glistening muscles bulging with each stroke. They looked into each other’s eyes and Etienne swore it was sweat that made his eyes tear up. But Danny simply smiled gently and bent to kiss away the salty evidence. He moved his lips to Etienne’s then, and kissed him deeply, his tongue miming the action of their lovemaking.

The pressure of Danny’s taut belly against Etienne’s cock as they continued to rock together, provided just the friction he needed. He pushed his arms down against the bed to give added support, as his excitement built and the pace of their joint thrusts grew faster.

“I can’t hold back any longer, Eti,” Danny gasped against his neck. “Grab your cock and come with me!”

“No need, love,” Etienne laughed joyously, as he felt his orgasm build and spill over, Danny’s body tensing and climaxing at almost the same moment.

“Fuck!” Danny rolled over onto his back then turned to look at Etienne.  He smiled shyly. “Put that in the category of good ideas.” His words were flippant but he raised his hand up to stroke Etienne’s face gently. Etienne thought that he’d definitely put that in the category of good ideas. Now if he could only get Danny to reciprocate, life would be very good indeed.

*****************************************************

“What do you mean we have no Eponine for tonight?”  Etienne knew that a full week with no disasters was too much to ask. “Alan, you have a contract with the girl! How could Tracey just....”

Edward Simon. Etienne didn’t need to listen to the rest of Alan’s explanation to know the answer to, and the cause of, this latest problem. Tracey Walters had regretfully informed Alan Epstein, in person, that afternoon in New York City, that she was leaving the cast of Les Miz.  So-called family needs, but Etienne and Alan had no doubt that after a nice month recuperating in a resort at Mr. Simon’s expense, Tracey would be seen in a new production in New York, and not a road show either.

“Fuck her, can you not alert people to her perfidy? Can you not...”

“What am I going to do? Wreck the kid’s career? That is undoubtedly what Simon threatened to do if she didn’t play ball with him. I won’t do that, Lanier. It’s a bad situation but she’s just an innocent bystander. Shame he didn’t pick that Lisa, the Cosette. Would be easier to replace her.” Alan sounded morose but overall was philosophical. “See what you can do. You move on to Atlanta after Chicago. He should leave you alone once you’re further South.”

After Alan rang off, Etienne tried to think. How was he to find a competent Eponine in a cast already depleted by defections? They were in Chicago, not a place where journeymen actors fell off the trees, like Philadelphia. And Atlanta would be worse.

He walked out of the small office he’d been allotted in the theater and found Sam waiting for him. “What’s up?  Where’s Tracey? I couldn’t find her to run through her songs and check the acoustics.”

“There’s a good reason for that,” he told him. Immediately, understanding came into his face. “Well, good,” Sam said.

“Good? Are you crazy?” Etienne did a double-take. Maybe the stress of this show was getting to Sam also. He knew it was getting to him. Every night they put on a brilliant performance – by the skin of their teeth.  Each time, it seemed that disaster lurked, not just mere less than perfect, but outright, no holds barred, humiliating travesty of a performance. And that is what Simon was trying for. That something so bad, that one terrible performance, that would shut down the show.

A Les Miserables without an Eponine? That might come close. Etienne looked at his watch; they had four hours until curtain.

“Go sit in the back, but wait until you can sneak in without being seen,” Sam instructed him.

Etienne did not question or balk. One did not ever question or balk when told to do something by Sam. He’d already found a side entrance that must be used by ushers, so he went there to make his quiet, unseen entrance. From there, he watched.

“Danny, Tracey is delayed two hours, do you think Aida can help with the sound checks? I don’t want to leave them to the last hour,” Sam called backstage.

Danny came walking out from the back, dressed in shorts and a muscle shirt. Etienne spent a moment just admiring him.  Sometimes he could almost understand Simon’s obsession. Of course, it was easy to be understanding when you had what the other person wanted, he thought. He wondered if he would ever act so despicably if the situation were turned around, if he were the rich man and Danny spurned his affection. How far would he go?

He shrugged off the thought, deciding it would never be an issue. He’d been so busy thinking, he’d missed Aida coming out, similarly attired in short cut-offs and a tank top. They made an attractive pair, both with long, dancer’s legs and dark, curly hair. She wore hers tied back most of the time, as did he. They really could pass for siblings, only she had brown hair that was much curlier than his, and deep brown eyes. 

“Aida, Danny, can you sing ‘A Little Fall of Rain’ and position yourselves as is done in the show, please.”

Etienne watched the pair comply. He wasn’t sure what to expect. He knew Danny would be his usual extraordinary self, and would help the young girl to sound good also – but he more than half expected that he would still be seeing Aida, a modern, somewhat spoiled French girl of very comfortable means who was used to the world being her oyster and the men in it her servants. Even men like Danny, he thought, with a resentment he knew was childish.

That was not at all what he saw. He saw Marius and Eponine, the girl who dreamed of finer things, but knew they would never be for her, not in this world. Still, she pretended, if only to warm her passing away.

EPONINE

Don't you fret, M'sieur Marius

I don't feel any pain

A little fall of rain

Can hardly hurt me now

You're here, that's all I need to know

And you will keep me safe

And you will keep me close

And rain will make the flowers grow.

MARIUS

But you will live, 'Ponine - dear God above,

If I could heal your wounds with words of love.

EPONINE

Just hold me now, and let it be.

Shelter me, comfort me

MARIUS

You would live a hundred years

If I could show you how

I won't desert you now...

EPONINE

The rain can't hurt me now

This rain will wash away what's past

And you will keep me safe

And you will keep me close

I'll sleep in your embrace at last.

The rain that brings you here

Is Heaven-blessed!

The skies begin to clear

And I'm at rest

A breath away from where you are

I've come home from so far

So don't you fret, M'sieur Marius

Watching, Etienne had to question his assumptions. Could Aida be this good an actress, or had he misjudged her completely? She’d come very far in search of an honorary “brother” whom she’d known only a brief time. Were things so bad at home, or did she have very strong feelings for David?  It did not seem that this was just the teenage lark she’d made it out to be, leaving her sister’s home because she did not care for the new husband, and not wishing to live in Morocco with her father. She was looking at David now with love in her dark eyes, even if it was the hopeless love of Eponine. Etienne resolved to get to know Aida better.

I don't feel any pain

A little fall of rain

Can hardly hurt me now

That's all I need to know

And you will keep me safe

And you will keep me close

MARIUS(in counterpoint)

Hush-a-bye, dear Eponine,

You won't feel any pain

A little fall of rain

Can hardly hurt you now

I'm here

I will stay with you

Till you are sleeping

EPONINE

And rain...

MARIUS

And rain...

EPONINE

Will make the flowers...

MARIUS

Will make the flowers... grow...

Clapping loudly, Etienne moved to the front of the room.

“I should perhaps continue in the scene, but I am more eager to hear Aida sing ‘On My Own.’ Would it be too much, Sam, to ask you to have her sing that now?”

“Right now?” Aida jumped up from her death pose.  “As in....”

“As in this is her audition? Tracey is not coming back?” Danny looked torn between excitement for Aida and dismay at losing another cast member.

“Yes and yes, although the former is a mere formality at this point. Aida, you have a wonderful voice, which I suspect Sam already knew. Clever Sam. What I am interested in is seeing how you handle singing on your own, and especially how you handle the acting part of this song.” Etienne walked forward and put his arm over her shoulder as he talked to her about his ideas and elicited her thoughts of what Eponine was thinking when she sang this song.

Danny turned to Sam.  “Do you think she’ll be able to do it?”

“I do. She’s really quite good. She’s a natural and more than that, she’s got the kind of guts that won’t let her be thrown by the roughness of stage life. Tracey is a film actress primarily. She was thrown off by a line being said slightly differently. While she was tempted away by Simon, I have no doubt that she will hie herself back to LA and the soaps soon enough.”

“I don’t want Simon going after Aida!” Danny’s voice was cold.

“I suggest that you pass the word to his English bulldog then, that she is to be added to the ‘do not touch’ list,” Sam said dryly. Danny’s eyes questioned him. Sam laughed. “Haven’t you noticed, Danny? For those of us whom you have placed within your circle of protection, that special network of friends and family, one requirement being that we don’t have any sexual connection, then Simon honors the hands off rule. I am fairly sure that is why he leaves Arthur and me alone. But it leaves Lanier as fair game.”

Danny tilted his head as he considered that. Then he gave Sam one of his mischievous smiles. “So if I were to hit on you....?”

“I’d say you were in need of a spanking. But feel free to offer your services to Jensen, that would be an amusing conundrum to watch him struggle with, especially since part of the struggle would be the realization that a Frenchman was a braver man than he was, since he had the balls to tell Simon to fuck off.”

Danny laughed at that, and forgot his worries for the moment, which was Sam’s intent.

“Aida Lanier” was announced before the opening as a last minute replacement for the ailing Tracey Walters, who had to return home for emergency medical treatment.

“Why the fake name?” Aida had asked. She was agreeable with it; she just wanted to know the reason.

“To keep my stalker from causing you trouble, love. He might start hunting down your immigration records, or worse, so this is to delay him. It won’t stop him but it will delay him while my brother John works on the paperwork to make sure you’re legal.”  Danny had given her a kiss for luck; he really didn’t feel like an older brother toward Aida, but it was a comfortable charade for now, he’d decided.

“Ah, well, then I shall be dear Etienne’s little...sister-in-law, I think,” she teased, peering at him through her thick lashes, and leaning up to kiss him on the lips.  Startled by the press of her lithe form against him, Etienne decided that he wasn’t feeling all that avuncular toward the young woman.  And now she’d be with them indefinitely. He swallowed, his throat suddenly very dry.

By the time her first song finished, it was clear that the new Eponine was a smashing success, as the audience stood to give the stand-in a rousing standing ovation.  Edward Simon sat in a special reserved box, with Angel O’Keefe, a young male singer who went by the name of Silver, and George Main, his guests for the night. They were going to surprise Danny, Angel had been told when she was invited.

“She’s really very good,” Angel commented. “Much better than that other Eponine. She’s even French. I wonder if she really is related to Etienne. Do you know, Edward? You know everything.”

“Not always, I’m afraid, my dear,” Edward replied, his hand moving absently through the blond’s silky hair. George hoped that Edward was becoming sufficiently interested with his Silver Angel that he would leave Danny alone from now on. Tracey Walters should be the end of this.

“George, do you know anything about Lanier having a sister?” Edward posed the question quietly.

“He has several sisters, Edward, you know that.”  George hissed his answer, making it clear he was paying attention to the show. Edward took the hint and subsided. He no doubt was remembering that in fact Lanier’s father did have several legitimate daughters. The chances of any of them appearing on stage with their half brother were laughable but it was an accurate answer to the question. And a reminder that the man could have other bastards. Such a daughter would be likely to seek Lanier out. She did have his height, and from this distance could be said to resemble him, although she was much more attractive, George thought.

Then it struck him who she did resemble. Not completely. There was much more of a coltish look to this young woman, but then, he’d last seen Judith Seifert when she was nearing forty. She was the young half sister of Danny’s Judith.

Fuck. That was something he definitely wanted to keep from Edward. All enjoyment in the performance was lost from that point for George, as he wondered to what purpose Aida had come in search of Danny.