Linnae patted the sweat away with her lucky, monogrammed towel. The exertion was thrilling but exhausting, and the intense stage lighting didn’t help. Cassie handed her a water bottle, which she guzzled greedily.
“I am going to change,” Ariana said, gathering up the voluminous skirts. She seemed completely un-phased by the performance, and almost supernaturally calm.
“He’ll be here any moment,” Cassie protested. “Will he no? Nathan, I mean?”
Ariana shook her head absently, quite preoccupied as she walked to wardrobe. “No. He is a gentleman. He will no rush a lady, no will he keep her waiting. I hae about ten minutes.”
Nathan waited about ten minutes. He was a little conflicted. He was anxious to see Ariana, if nothing other than to gauge her mood, but he didn’t want to charge back stage while everyone was still changing and coming down from the performance. But a gentleman didn’t keep a lady waiting either. He took his best guess at an acceptable compromise, and spent the time being courteous to some audience members who were also Fantastic Race fans and wanted to congratulate him or get his autograph. When his watch ‘beeped,’ he made his excuses as politely as possible and made his way to the door.
The stern face of the door’s guardian blossomed in a broad smile as Nathan approached. Nathan flashed his precious pass… and the door was opened for him. “Congratulations, sir, and thanks,” the burly guard rumbled. “I had a hundred Euros on you and Ariana.”
Nathan laughed and shook the man’s hand firmly. “Happy to oblige. Enjoy the winnings.” Then he was submerged in the commotion of the backstage action. He looked around. There must be some organization behind this much chaos, but he wasn’t a part of it, and for a moment he felt like a small furry animal which had darted out onto the center line of a busy highway. An older man lugging an armful of glittery background material gave him a grin, a ‘thumbs up,’ and pointed to the side of the stage where an open door beckoned. Nathan waved his relieved thanks and made his way through the obstacle course to the haven of the room.
“So thar be tha other half o tha team,” a clear, mellow voice said behind him.
Nathan turned and beamed. Mentally hoping for the best from his Ancient Order of Hibernian tutoring and Rosetta Stone lessons in Gaelic, he cleared his throat and pulled up his first line; “Ah, with the tongue of an angel you can be no other than Cassie. Tis a delight to meet you.”
Cassie blinked in surprise, and then beamed in response. “I am. Ariana didna say ya spoke Gaelic, Nathan.”
He chuckled and pressed on in the unfamiliar tongue. “To pass the time on those tedious flights, I gave her some computer lessons and she attempted to teach me some Gaelic. She learned more than I did, I’m sure. Anyway, I wanted very much to be a pride to my teacher, so I’ve practiced for five months.” He shook his head ruefully, “Though I think my lead tongue murders a musical language.”
“You are doin quite well, all things considered,” Cassie responded encouragingly.
Two slender women, one with long hair of pale gold, the other with slightly shorter, honey gold hair, came up beside Cassie.
“Ah, I would recognize Marie and Linnae anywhere. I am enchanted to finally meet you both.”
At the passable Gaelic, Marie arched an eyebrow and smiled. Linnae chuckled and looked up and said, “And we have been curious to meet you. Ariana has told us so much about you.” Marie’s elbow twitched ever so slightly, as if she had just quelled a reflex to nudge Linnae’s ribs. A quick shadow flitted across Cassie’s face, but the warm smile didn’t falter. There was a moment of slightly awkward silence; typical of strangers who know much of each other by reputation, but have never physically met.
Nathan was just about to use one of the compliments he was reasonably confident as to having memorized correctly, when a extremely slender woman, her long red hair now gathered behind her in a no-nonsense pony tail, strode up briskly and eyed Nathan closely. In Gaelic she said, “So here is the wealthy man. When Ariana is done, do the rest of us get a turn playing with him then?”
The faces of the other women went bright pink, and Nathan ran through the words a few times, not letting his smile slip, to make sure he had translated them correctly.