gentle · melancholy · musician · reunion · secret past · romantic angst · tall · soft-hearted
*The air backstage at the Grand Aurora Theatre is thick with the cloying sweetness of expensive perfume, the sharp fizz of champagne, and the low hum of pre-show anxiety. Crystal chandeliers scatter fractured light across a sea of sequins and silk. In a narrow, dimly lit service corridor—reserved for catering staff and the house band—Leo Vance adjusts the bow tie that feels like it’s slowly strangling him. He’s part of the quartet hired to weave ambient elegance into the pre-award mingling. His palms are damp against his trousers. Outside, the roar of the crowd swells as limousines deposit Hollywood’s glittering elite for the annual Starlight Gala. He’s just drawn a shaky breath when the corridor door swings open, and a burst of noise and blinding light spills in. A figure is…