Together

Flowers

Well hello there kiddos. I hope you've all had a lovely Saturday. I've been a bit sick which is no fun. :( I'm heading to sleep early and gonna try to sleep this off.... enjoy/comment/vote on this chapter if you wish. Love you all lots.
-ab

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December 13, 2026

Harper

It's Taylor's birthday today.

And here I am, in New York City, not there to celebrate with her.

Patrick is going over for a little party that Joe is throwing her tonight. I was supposed to go, too. I feel awful that I'm not there, though I know that there's nothing that I can do about it. I have a show this afternoon, when the party is taking place in London, so I can't even FaceTime in, really.

I miss everyone back home so much. I've found recently, while listening to some old-school, country-style Taylor music in my dressing room with Brittney, who has let me pick the music every other show, just how much I miss Taylor, especially.

Of course, I miss Patrick more than anybody, but that's to be assumed. Taylor has become a really important person in my life these past few years, in a different way than she was before. I went from being one of her biggest fans, to being just as close to her as many girls are with an older sister.

It really hurts to know that I'm not there for her birthday.

As I'm moping around my hotel room with homesickness on the morning of Taylor's birthday, I suddenly have an idea. I pull out my phone and ring a florist in London, intending on ordering some flowers and sending them to Taylor's flat.

I place the order over the phone, from a man who has a Cockney accent. Hearing the accent feels familiar, in a comforting way. As much as I love Broadway, and I still want to come back here again someday, in a more planned instance, it's hard to be away from everything that I know and love.

Of course, I've been hanging out with some friends from my days at the Royal Academy of Music, ever since Nessa and Katherine left. It's lovely to get to see them and catch up. I saw them when I came here a few years ago, after getting in a row with Patrick and having some issues at work. It was immature of me, but it helped me to feel better, fleeing from it all. Looking back- that was gutsy. I can't believe that just two years later, I've grown so much that I can't believe I did what I did when I was younger. I've changed and grown so much since then. I've learned so much from being married to Patrick. It may not be too long before we are parents, and learning even more, each and every day.

About two hours after I placed the flower order, as I'm sitting in an Applebee's in Times Square for lunch by myself, and thinking about how the restaurant needs to come to the UK, I receive a text from Taylor.

Taylor: Gorgeous flowers... thank you so much xxx. Your friendship means the world to me. I hope New York is treating you well. I know that you're taking Broadway by storm.

Harper: You're the best, Tay. I hope you're having an absolutely amazing birthday. I'm so upset that I'm not able to be there for it, but duty calls, haha. I hope you have so much fun at your party tonight. Tell Audrie that Auntie Harper says that she had better sleep through the party to let her mummy have some fun.

Taylor: There's about no chance of that happening! Haha! Please don't feel bad about not being here, becuase it's really fine! You're doing bigger and better things. How about we go out for tea once you're back home, and we can celebrate then? Just the two of us. We can celebrate your Broadway debut, too.

Harper: That sounds like so much fun. Well, I've got to be on my way to the theatre for my matinee, but I hope that you have a lovely party, and I'll talk to you later. Love you and happy birthday!

Taylor: Love you too. Thank you, and break a leg xxxx

I tuck my phone into my purse and pay my bill, then head out into Times Square. I weave in between the Mickey Mouses, Elmos, and Elsas to make my way to the Imperial Theatre.

Times Square is a truly interesting place. To think that I thought Piccadilly Circus was crazy, until I came to New York for the first time. Times Square makes Piccadilly Circus seem like a relaxing walk in the park.

Once I get to my dressing room, I barely have time to throw my backpack down next to my chair and take off my coat before the tannoy crackles on.

"Harper, could you please come to the stage manager's office?"

Brittney looks at me. "Are you in trouble?" she teases.

"Yeah, they're probably kicking me out of the show."

Brittney laughs.

"No, they actually probably are. They probably know my final date."

"Oh, that makes sense. Well, you'd better get down there."

I nod, then scurry out of the room.

Down at the stage manager's office, the topic of conversation is exactly what I predicted.

"Annabelle is doing better, so we have talked with her doctors and set her return date. We are going to have you do the two show day on Wednesday, December 16th, but put her back in on December 17th, so that we can ease her back in with a couple of one show days before our two show day on Saturday," the director, Gabi, explains to me.

"That sounds perfect," I smile at her. "I'll arrange for my flight back home. Thank you so much for having me."

"No, thank you for being willing to step in at the last minute. You're very talented and an amazing Cosette. It was an absolute treat for our audiences, and the entire company here at Les Mis to get to work with you."

I blush. "Thank you."

"But I'm sure that that husband of yours will be glad to have you back home."

I smile at the thought of being able to tell Patrick that I'm coming back to London. "Yeah, he will," I tell Gabi.

She smiles at me. "Well, that's all that I had to tell you. You have just under an hour to go get ready, so run along and start on those pincurls. You have a lot of hair to get into your wig."

I laugh, knowing that she's right.

"Thank you so much," I say to her. "I'll see you later."

"See you," Gabi replies, then I turn around and head back up to my dressing room to prepare for my show.