Page 79 of No Such Thing as Serendipity

“Well, she’s pissing me off.” Despite her ire, Emma still sported a smile.

I put my arm over her shoulders. “Let’s forget about her and enjoy tonight.”

“Holy shit,” Emma said as we neared the theater.

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it. Earlier, we’d walked past the Orpheum, which was the epitome of a theater from the 1920s or ’30s. I’d expected the Overture to be the same. I was wrong.

“It’s like the antithesis of the Orpheum,” I said as I gaped at the modern building featuring clean architectural lines, white panels with silver accents, and an abundance of glass panels that spanned several stories.

“I wonder what the inside looks like,” Emma said.

“It’s gorgeous,” Helena said from behind us.

I looked over my shoulder at Helena and Katlynn. “Definitely not what I was expecting.”

Katlynn spread her multicolored shawl out like wings and mimicked flying. “Imagine how it will look seeing Elphaba defying gravity.”

The meandering pace of those in front of us picked up. Apparently, everyone had the same reaction to the stunning building in front of us.

Once inside, we were greeted with more spectacular architecture in the lobby. Our villa mates gathered around as we gaped at the enormous space filled with people.

“Damn, we’re forty-five minutes early, and it looks like everyone is already here for the show,” Annie said.

“I don’t think they’re all here forWicked,” I said. “Robyn told me they have, like, five or six entertainment spaces.”

As we were gawking like tourists, Robyn sidled up between me and Emma. “Were you hoping to be rid of me?”

“Absolutely not,” Emma said, linking her arm through Robyn’s. “But we are miffed at you.”

“Sorry, I thought it would be rude not to talk to the others.”

Emma laughed. “No, not about that. About this place. You didn’t tell us how amazing it is.”

Robyn grinned. “I didn’t think me describing it would do it justice.” Robyn looked at me and smirked. “Besides, I doubted Blake would believe me if I told her we had a place like this in Madison, so I let her see for herself.”

“Hey, now. Are you disparaging me?” I gave her a playful scowl.

Robyn waved her hand toward the massive ceiling. “Would you have believed me if I’d described it to you?”

“That’s beside the point.”

Everyone laughed.

“Are you with us for good now?” I asked.

“I’m yours for the rest of the evening.”

“Good. Because we never finished our conversation from dinner.”

“Which one?” Robyn chuckled. “We covered quite a bit of ground.”

“You’d mentioned Vera filled you in on the talk you had with her,” I answered.

“Oh, right, but you thought it was about, uh…” Robyn glanced around, noticing everyone from our villa was listening. “The other thing.”

I wanted to laugh at her poor attempt at changing gears but didn’t care to alert the others, in case they missed it. I felt Emma’s eyes on me. Of course, she’d caught it, but the rest didn’t seem to.

“Yeah, Vera took me on a tour of Blissful Breeze and filled me in on the challenges she’s facing.”