Page 34 of Unraveling Fate

“Hey.” He waved and stowed the rest of his lunch behind a desk.

“Hey.”

Four more minutes.

She hummed the opening line of “La Traviata,” imagining stage lights flooding over her.

Three minutes. Then thirty minutes, then?—

Come on, Cadenza. Stop it. You have twenty-five days to raise the rest of the money.

Her phone’s email alert pinged, Ilaria’s name glaring at her from the screen. Ice crystallized in Cadenza’s stomach. Now what?

Ciao cara,

As it turns out, the niece of the direttore also is interested in the part. So we will need to know sooner if you can come or not. Can you have your ticket and the money by the middle of the month? Fammi sapere.

Baci,

Ilaria

Cadenza stopped pacing, legs frozen in horror. “No. No, no, no, no!” She raked her hands through her hair. “She can’t—I can’t?—”

“Hey, hey.” Canon rushed over and took her by the shoulders. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“My mother! That’s what's wrong.” She spun away from him and kicked the Lamborghini’s tire with a frustrated grunt.

“What did she do?” He turned her to face him.

“I need to have my ticket—and $3,000 of freakingbribemoney in two weeks. Two weeks! Or the director’s niece gets the part.” She shrugged Canon off and threw her hands in the air.“That’s not enough time. She knows that’s not enough time! Why dangle this in front of me just to rip it away?”

“Ok, forget your mother,” Canon said, voice earnest, face inches from hers. “You are going to Italy, Cadenza. You were made for this. We’ll figure it out.”

Cadenza stilled and stared at him. No hint of an angle lurked in his voice. No expectation of exchange. Why couldn’t he be this Canon all the time? This Canon made it sound possible. She liked this Canon.

“Everything ok?” Reyna asked from the doorway. “Doesn’t sound too happy in here.”

Cadenza cleared her throat and stepped away from Canon. “No, yeah, sorry. I’m ok. Come on in.” She beckoned Reyna over. “Canon, this is Reyna Weyland. We’re rehearsing together today.”

Reyna shook Canon’s hand. “Yes, Cadenza and I are singing a duet together.”

“Canon Richards,” he said, the ultrabright smile returning in full force. “Cadenza and Isanga duet together. Although I’m sure you two are performing something much more impressive than a car commercial. So, I better let you get to practicing.” He turned back to Cadenza, and his sales-floor mask slipped away again. “I’ll catch up with you later. We’ll fix this, ok?”

He inclined his head to Reyna and went to leaf through papers on his desk.

Cadenza laid a hand over her heart, exhaling slowly through pursed lips, then led Reyna out the side door and down the estate road. “My place is out back. Thanks for being willing to meet here.”

“No problem. How’s your head?”

“A little better today, thanks.” The bruise was darker the second day, but Cadenza was less stiff.

Reyna tossed her blue braids over her shoulder and pointed back at the showroom. “Canon seems really attentive. And he’s cute. Good for you.”

“What? No.” Cadenza blanched. “We’re just friends. When he acts like a normal human being.”

Reyna squinted at her. “Are you sure?”

“Well,I’msure. He could use a little enlightening.” Cadenza rolled her eyes, and Reyna laughed.