𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝 #𝟐 𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐫’𝐬 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥

This series is co written with LL Valentine

The next morning, Theia dressed herself in a floor-length gold dress with spaghetti straps and painted in sequins. She curled her dark hair and painted a small flick of liner on each eye before slipping into her black stilettos and heading to the main stage for her audition.

Her nerves were running wild but at least if she failed she wouldn’t have to cope with her conflicting feelings for her boss.

Unaware of why he felt like dres for the day, Jack slid his cuff links into place as he looked himself over. The golden H of Hyperion cut his black suit perfectly. The golden tie cut down the centre of his abdomen. With his fingers, he moved his hair perfectly into place and sighed looking at the disgusting wound across his face. The scarred V-shaped symbol that marred him. His heterochromatic eyes lowered and he lifted the mask into place. Buckling it on he lifted his eyes and donned his signature smirk before walking out toward his office.

Soon the time for her audition came, and Theia waiting in the wings. She hadn’t stayed at dinner long enough to hear who would be judging her, hell she hadn’t even stayed long enough to pay for her meal. It was too late to worry about that now though.

She stepped out of the cold wings and into the heat of the spotlight, stopping when she reached the microphone.

“Candidate number six, Theia Gilmore,”

she spoke the words that she had been given softly into the microphone as the lights blinded her to the audience.

Jack had honestly hoped to miss Theia’s audition. He wasn't sure he'd have any judges left if they said one wrong thing about it, but when he heard her name spoke over a speaker, in that timid little voice of hers, he couldn't help but lean against the door frame to listen in. He made sure not to be seen so he didn't throw her off or influence the judges at all, but he wanted to hear her.

When her voice filled the auditorium, it did so warm and softly, Theia closing her eyes to avoid looking at the people scrutinising her.

“Pale September, I wore the time like a dress that year.

The autumn days swung soft around me, like cotton on my skin.”

Confidence slowly built within her as she sang, her hips beginning to sway softly to the beat.

“But as the embers of the summer lost their breath and disappeared. My heart went cold and only hollow rhythms resounded from within, but then he rose, brilliant as the moon in full and sank in the burrows of my keep.”

Jack watched her intently, losing his cares for a moment as he was enraptured in all that was her.

“And all my armour falling down in a pile at my feet, and my winter giving way to warm, as I’m singing him to sleep.”

When the sweet chorus began to flow, the music swelling as her voice grew louder, Jack almost cried. [c]The salty tears of a man who hadn't allowed himself to be so vulnerable in years burned his scar beneath the mask and he had to clench his fists to stop from letting a single tear more from falling. [c]Theia sang like an angel and Jack would execute any man that said different. Hell, he even made sure his gun was ready, quietly placing his hand atop the calming presence in his pocket. As the judges began to applaud, he grinned. He would be seeing her on the main stage. He knew it as he walked past the door to go about his day.

Eventually, the song drew to a close and Theia left, too overwhelmed with worry to go home.

She slipped down a taped-off hallway and down to an empty construction site, the perfect place to light up a cigarette without setting off any of the alarms. Pulling the metal case she had hidden in her bra, she took one of the sticks, placing it between her lips and lighting it before taking a long, much-needed drag.

Jack wasn't stalking her. At least that's what he told himself as he watched her from a nearby foreman's office. He was just making sure the paperwork for the construction of the most recent hotel sector was all in order. The papers sat on the desk untouched.

Unaware of the eyes on her, she finished her cigarette, looking into the stars for what felt like an eternity. Since she was a little girl, Niamh had always been one to stay up late, staring up into the sky until she could no longer stop sleep from taking her. The stars just had so much to tell, honestly, she wasn’t too bothered about the job up here, she could sing anywhere she went and she had proved that over her years but seeing this view? She knew she could never go back anywhere else.

Jack cursed to himself. That damn sparkle in her eye. Why the fuck was he in the spaceport at the moment she arrived? He didn't even . Dammnit why her? Why did it have to be her getting out of that shuttle... wouldn't he just hurt her like he did the others? Why did she have to step so gently into his life? Jack threw the papers off of the desk, overwhelmed by his internal monologue, watching as they scattered against the wall and onto the floor.

He cursed again, softly under his breath, before looking back out the window at her. He did like her. And she didn't deserve the hell that would cause her. Jack sighed and fixed his suit. Stepping back out the door back toward the main theatre hall.

After a few more moments, Theia sighed, flicking the butt of her cigarette out into space before turning to make her way back to the theatre where the successful candidates would be announced.

Jack sat by the door with his back to the frame as Niamh approached. He'd composed himself since his little outburst and a smirk cut his lips as he looked up at her.

"Well hey there Song Bird, I hope your song was as gorgeous as you are today." He said as if he hadn't listened to the whole thing. As if he hadn't just warned himself against what his affections would do to her.

"Are you excited to find out the results?" The conflicted man asked playfully.

She jumped slightly as she heard his voice, not expecting to see her employer here. Turning to him, she decided to feign confidence, placing a hand on his chest as she spoke.

“Not as excited as I am that you’ve decided to grace us with your presence Jack, to what do we owe this pleasure?”

she teased him, sarcasm filling her voice.

"you intrigued me, so I thought I'd take some time to find out if I get to see you on my stage."

Jack smiled looking down at her hand before taking it and kissing her fingers. Then lowering their hands and let hers go.

"But I refuse to influence the decision at all, so get in there before anyone important sees us and tries to kiss my ass. This is your dream, Princess. Earn it yourself."

The smirk on his face was twisted, but his words were all encouragement. Never did he want her to feel like he was the reason she got so far.

Theia buried the butterflies that he put in her stomach with his kiss, his words, how she craved to feel those lips against hers, to see what was hidden behind that mask from between her thighs.

Shaking her head slightly, she pulled herself out of it, walking away from him and into the the theatre where she took to the stage, lining up next to all the other candidates as they waited impatiently for the verdict.

Jack waited to hear the announcement, as if he didn't know hers would be one of the seven names to be called. To take the stage one night a week on the greatest stage in front of the richest people. [c]Jack's table right up front, he had a private box built but, a table close to the stage would be better, he thought, the perfect view.

Theia was ecstatic when she heard that she was not only chosen for the main stage but also for Saturday night’s set. As her name was called Jack walked away with a grin. He would see be there, her first show on a stage fitting of her talent, and he couldn't wait to hear her.

As the cabaret district’s headlining act, Theia would be given a new room in Jack's personal hotel. He knew just the perfect suite to assign her. On the floor below his, her room was grand, as were the other choice competitors, he reminded himself. Although hers had a bedroom with a view of the stars that had thoughts of watching her look out into the inky black sky running rampant in his head. He hoped she liked it. He knew she would. When the auditorium began to empty out, a guard decked out in Hyperion-branded armour was sent to escort Theia to her new apartment.

Of course, the suite was grand, decked out with stylish furniture and plush carpets, but before she could even appreciate it, her eyes were drawn to the huge window in her bedroom. It was perfect, almost as if someone had been listening to her dreams. This job was going to be interesting to say the least.

Jack lay in his bed looking out into the stars. The artificial gravity of this part of the hotel hid it well, but it was at a different angle than the rest. The rooms tilted so the viewport wouldn't let any of the light pollution of the Jackpot ruin the stars. One would never know of the shift unless one thought about how it took longer for the elevator to make it to the penthouse levels.

He stood from the bed, walking over to the window, and wondered if just below him, Theia was doing the same. He looked at the same golden star that reminded him of her eyes. Jack sighed turning away. He really shouldn't be thinking about her this much. Gently he began taking his mask off for the night.

As the night grew closer, Theia finally drew her eyes away from the window, climbing into her plush new bed and peeling her clothes away. The mattress was soft and the light of the stars bled into her dreams as she drifted off to sleep.