Monique peeked through the curtains. The audience was still filing in, finding seats, getting settled. Aimée pulled her back.
"If they see you before your act, Monsier Lesauvage will have you thrown out on your ear," she said.
"Oh, but, I'm just so excited. My very first solo. Me!" Monique spun in a circle. "If only my dear Pierre could see me now."
Aimée
smiled smugly. Monique didn't know that Aimée had sent her friend's
beau a brief note. Carefully, she opened the curtain just wide enough
that she could see out. Yes, he was just arriving, the handsome young
art student for whom Monique had set her cap.
"Here, look through
this way, so you can see without being seen." Aimée stood aside, still
holding the gather of cloth, to give Monique a peek.
"Oh, what
fun is that?" Monique flounced prettily to the curtain and put her eye
to the tiny gap, only to push past Aimée and stick her head out. She
whistled loudly, causing heads to turn, including that of the young man
she favored. "Pierre! Just wait until you see!"
Aimée pulled her
back, once more, and just in time too, for down the stairs from the
office, who should appear but the manager, the formidable M. Lesauvage.