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Prologue

Noah

I’ve never been a fan of the arts Museu But sometimes they are a necessary evil Especially in my line of work A client and his wife are in town for a deal, and she begged for tickets to the ballet

The ballet Could that be anyto ad with theood tickets

I should have known better than to rent the whole box Next tiet two tickets for an easy way out

Tonight I have no choice, and I toss back another Scotch in the limo as we pull up to the front of the theater At least if I’et h

We are escorted to the box, and the couple sit close, looking over the edge and s at one another I sit in the back next to the curtain hoping that if I fall asleep while the perfor on, they won’t notice

We order drinks, and I slip the waiter a hundred, telling hiet empty

By the time the curtains fall, I’m done with niceties and thankful for the darkness I sit back in my chair and pray it will be over quickly I can probably catch the tail end of the Mets game if I sneak out after the intermission

When the low appears on stage A lone ballerina stands with her back to the audience, with her hair down It strikes ht buns at the top of their head But long dark hair falls down in waves as her arms slowly rise over her head

The s are playing The blue glow fills the stage now, and stars appear all around her Twinkling lights shine against her long legs as she raises one leg above her head and holds it there

Her body turns, and her chin is dipped down, so I’hten and the music becomes louder as she unfurls her body and stretches her arms wide

She raises her chin, and for a briefblue eyes bore straight into mine, and she pauses It’s so fast, I don’t know if anyone noticed, but it was there

The drue join her now The hten as the brunette beauty is lost in the crowd