Chapter Text
Gina rolled her neck a few times, less to stretch and more to work out some of her nervous energy. The fall semester showcase was underway, and her piece had been positioned last. The video version was playing on stage, projected on the cyc. She really wished she could be sitting next to EJ watching it, but the live staged version was performed directly after each video project. Noah and Nini were both in the audience with him, though.
Oliver came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, smacking a kiss on her cheek. "We ready, queen?"
She spun around and hugged him. "Let's do this." She adjusted her costume one more time, and blew kisses to the other dancers. The stage went dark and the stage manager called them to set places.
Gina felt a huge rush as the music started, the thing she'd worked so hard on about to come to life. She took a deep breath and let muscle memory take over, just being in the moment.
When they hit the final tableau, she wanted to jump up and down and scream, but kept it in check for the moment. She held it together through the curtain calls, but as soon as the lights went down and the curtain was closed, she jumped into Oliver's arms for a huge hug before taking off in a tear to find EJ. She didn't even care that she was still in costume, which was basically a glorified bikini. In other circumstances, she would have made sure to grab her jacket, but tonight, she couldn't even let that slow her down.
She sped into the hallway and out to the lobby of the theater. She spotted EJ across the lobby, and ran straight to him, calling his name just in time for him to turn as she launched herself at him, immediately pulling him into a searing kiss.
"Ugh, that's my COUSIN, Gi," she heard a familiar voice from behind her.
"ASHLYN?" she gasped, pulling away from EJ, which, to his credit, he only pouted slightly about. "What are you doing here?"
"My classes finished up Tuesday, and I couldn't miss both of your big moment!" She stepped forward with her arms open, and Gina threw herself at her friend.
"I've missed you so much!"
"Me too, Gi. But I heard you might be coming to Salt Lake for Christmas?"
Gina blushed furiously. EJ's parents had known her for years, so it really wasn't a "meet the parents" situation, but this was the first time she'd be seeing any of the Caswells since she and EJ had gotten back together. She was nervous, but also ready to show this thing was for real.
"It'll be so good to have you back," Ashlyn said with a smile. "It never feels complete without you." Gina leaned in to hug her again.
Nini looked like she was about to burst with excitement next to Ashlyn. "GINA! That was absolutely INCREDIBLE!"
Gina laughed. "Thanks, Nini. I'm really really proud of it."
"We're all really proud of you! Both of you, you too, EJ. That was insane."
Noah chimed in in agreement. "I already told EJ, this man has a future in music videos. That thing was magic. Of course, it helps when his star is an absolute knockout," he said, winking at Gina.
"Absolutely not, dude. She is unavailable," EJ laughed, wrapping his arms around Gina.
"I wouldn't mess with your muse," Noah assured him, and Gina's cheeks went red again. "But I wouldn't be mad about it if she cooked for all of us every now and then."
"You got it," she said. All of a sudden, Oliver came rushing up to them.
"Gina! Gina Porter! This is not a drill!"
"Oliver, what are you talking about?"
"Benjamin Millepied is here. And he wants to talk to you."
"You can't be serious."
"Wait, he's the guy who choreographed Black Swan!" EJ exclaimed. Leave it to the film nerd to be able to pull out that piece of knowledge.
Oliver turned to EJ in surprise. "That's him. But around here, he's better known as the director of the LA Dance Project, the most innovative company in town."
"And he wants to talk to ME?" Gina asked incredulously.
"Go, Gi, go now!" EJ encouraged her.
"Oh no, you too, lover boy."
"Wait, what?" EJ said.
"He wants to talk to you both."
"But why?"
Oliver rolled his eyes. "You directed the best damn film presentation here tonight. Did you do that so no one would notice?"
"I did it for Gina," he said simply, and her heart felt like it might burst.
"Well, you also did it for Benjamin Millepied, so GO!"
Gina looked at EJ, an anxious excitement shining in her eyes. "We doing this?"
He grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. "Guess so."
They walked to the other side of the lobby, to the distinguished looking man in a dark suit that Oliver had pointed out. Gina knew he was a former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, and she could tell just by his compartment that he was a dancer. His eyes lit up as he saw them approach.
"Miss Porter, yes?" he asked, a slight French accent still apparent in his speech.
"Mr Millepied, it's such an honor to meet you," she said, shaking his hand. "I knew there would be company scouts here tonight, but I didn't expect someone as important as you to be one of them."
"Why thank you. With the work LADP does, I always like to see what up and coming artists are doing. And your piece tonight was striking. Both the choreography and the dancing."
"Thank you so much."
"I'd like to see more from you. Do you have current representation?"
"No, I've done some commercial work, but I'm not signed with an agent."
"Then we will be in touch with you directly about some workshop opportunities, if you're interested?"
"Yes! Yes, please keep me in mind. Do you need contact information?" He handed her his program from the performance, and she wrote her phone and email in the margins next to the listing for her piece.
"And you," he said, turning to EJ. "You are a guest artist from USC? How did you become involved with this project?"
EJ wrapped his arm around Gina and beamed at her proudly. "I'm Gina's partner. When we had a chance to work together too, I couldn't pass it up." Gina noted his choice of words… not her boyfriend, but her partner. And he was, in every sense of that word.
Gina saw Benjamin smile. "I understand, working with my wife is always a special experience for us." It took Gina a second to register that he was talking about Natalie Portman.
"Your work tonight was compelling, and fresh. LADP does all kinds of multimedia and film work in addition to staging live dances. I would love to see your dance reel."
EJ looked nervous. "You… you basically just did. This is the first dance film I've directed. Co-directed, really."
"Then that's even more impressive."
"He has some other very innovative projects," Gina piped in, determined to hype him up. "He released an independent film via TikTok that pulled in close to a half million followers."
Benjamin smiled brilliantly at that piece of information. "That's exactly the kind of innovation and flexibility LADP thrives on! We should talk. Please, your info as well?"
EJ scrambled to scrawl his own contact, including the TikTok handle for his now finished film.
"Congratulations to you both, it was a brilliant evening. We will be in touch."
After Benjamin walked out of the theater lobby, Gina turned to EJ. "Did that just HAPPEN?" EJ responded by grabbing her and spinning her around. He placed her back on her feet and kissed her deeply, neither of them caring that they were in the middle of a crowded theater lobby, or that Gina was still wearing practically nothing. A fact that was not lost on EJ, it seemed, as his hand wandered across the bare skin of her back, and Gina felt her heart start to race.
Before they could get too heated, Nini ran up behind Gina and grabbed her shoulder. "Come on, we're going to celebrate! Go get changed, we'll meet you at the restaurant in a few." Gina nodded in assent and with one more quick kiss for EJ, she ran backstage to change.
A few minutes later, she made her way back into the lobby where EJ was waiting for her. She wrapped her arm around his waist, and gave him a big smile. "This night feels perfect."
"You deserve it. Now let's get out of here." And they walked out together, ready for whatever came next.