Description: Glenn Sabine pours on the charm as he surprises Eve by giving her a mock audition for the Miss Teenager pageant.
The Miss Teenager Pageant. PART 15.
Glenn Sabine’s charm was all hit and no miss. It was a no-brainer that Eve would be all jittery meeting the man responsible for hosting the ‘Miss Teenager’ pageant, but she had no idea that her insides would shake, rattle, and roll the moment her hand brushed against his. Stately and stylish in a suit and tie, he exuded a confidence that reduced her heart to ooh-la-la.
Mr. Sabine slithered closer to Eve’s chair with a combination of both subtlety and audacity. “Now then, my dear,” he began, staring dreamily into her eyes and holding her delicately gloved hand. “Which of your many talents are you proposing you be judged on?”
For a second her mind froze. She had forgotten what she had decided to be judged on. Quick, she thought, what were the options? There was singing, but the neighbor’s cat always caterwauled and hid when Eve sang with her arms outstretched out of her bedroom window.
Dancing. Wait, was it dancing? She loved to go swing dancing with Deirdre at their classmates’ weekend parties. Eve was always the one laughing and getting flipped through the air the highest. No, it couldn’t have been dancing. For swing, she needed a partner.
Then it dawned on her. The image of Shorty’s mockingly shocked face popped into her mind as Eve recalled telling him with brightly glowing enthusiasm.
“Acting, Mr. Sabine,” she replied. “Of course, I haven’t had much experience,” she added, wondering if the fact that she had only ever acted in front of Julie and Pops in their backyard would play against her.
“We don’t expect finished thespians here, child,” he reassured her. Eve grinned shyly. She looked up into his eyes and found a sparkle of hope, maybe someone who believed in her.
“Here,” he said, handing her a book. “Suppose you and I run through a bit of Shakespeare?”
Her chest tightened. By “run through,” he obviously meant to scan the story silently, right? He wasn’t actually suggesting that she give a mock audition, was he? Maybe there was nothing “mock” about it.
Standing from her chair, Eve took the book from him with shaking hands. She swallowed hard.
“Ah… Act II, Scene I, Romeo and Juliet,” Mr. Sabine said, reaching around Eve and flipping the book in her hands open to the right page. “Read from here,” he suggested, inching closer behind her back. Eve could smell his cologne and feel his breath on her neck. “I will do my poor best as Romeo,” he said modestly.
“N-now?” Eve stuttered.
Yes, Eve knew now, as if before she didn’t, but she really didn’t. She was being tested! A pre-contest primer! Like a gladiator blindfolded and tossed into the pit of hungry lions, she was on center stage. Why were the walls suddenly closing in around her?
