The dressing room lights hummed faintly above me, a harsh, buzzing glow that flickered just enough to make the room feel smaller. Shadows pooled at the corners. The air smelled like perfume, sweat, and the faint sweetness of glitter spray. Behind me, Maja swung the door shut with her hip, sealing out the roar of the crowd. But the bass still throbbed through the floorboards.....steady, pulsing, a reminder that this wasn’t a break.
Only a breath.
A pause before I had to step back out into the heat of staring eyes and greedy hands.
But tonight… all that noise blurred into nothing behind one image.
Him.
The man from the second row.
The one who didn’t clap with the others, didn’t whistle, didn’t smirk.
He just watched....silent, still focused with a precision that felt almost surgical.
