It was finally the day Blue had been looking forward to, while also somewhat dreading: the first production meeting. All the heads of departments would be there to share what they had established so far, clarify any needs they might have, set deadlines, and make a final schedule.

She had all the sketches in her notebook with swatches stapled to each page to further show everyone what the finished pieces would look like. In the front of the notebook, she added a tentative schedule for when she estimated they could have each costume complete, although everything was all subject to change based on that day's meeting. She also had her script with all the notes she had taken on it, ready for any questions that might come her way to justify her decisions.

She opened the side door of the theater and ran right into Gael as he was leaving his office, the warm breezy day throwing the heavy metal door out of her hands as she entered.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry Gael!" she exclaimed as he caught her arm to keep her from falling flat on her face.

"Whoa! Careful! Are you okay?" he held onto her as he kicked the door shut. "Stupid door is a safety hazard on a windy day like this."

He still had her in his arms, although she was perfectly stable and didn't need his support anymore. She just stood there, waiting for him to let her go, unsure of what to do.

"Thanks...I usually like to make a grand entrance, but that was a little excessive," Blue joked to cover the awkwardness, as usual.

Gael gave her his biggest smile, which was even more breathtaking from how close she was still standing to him. "Yeah, maybe next time just have a band of trumpets announce your arrival instead." His teeth were almost perfectly straight and the stubble growing on his chin framed his full lips. That smile could knock down buildings, but for now, it just had Blue speechless.

Gael must have finally realized he was still holding her arm when she didn't say anything, so he gently let her go. His eyes told her he was reluctant to stop holding her, but he tried to act nonchalant about it.

"I'll see you on the stage in a minute, I have to head upstairs and check on something first," Blue said as she started walking away. She was wearing her favorite vintage overalls she had cut into shorts years ago with a black and white striped t-shirt underneath that showed the tiniest bit of midriff. She knew the small platform on her shoes naturally gave her stride a bit of a sway as she walked, further accentuating what her shorts were already showing off.

As Aunt Millie always said: if you got it, flaunt it.

She could feel his gaze again as she went down the hallway and couldn't help herself but turn around to look. He was already stepping back into his office as she peeked over her shoulder, but she could tell he had stood there to watch her walk away. She figured it was only payback for her checking him out already a time or two, and she didn't mind the electric feeling it sparked inside her chest to know he must have liked what he saw.

She was completely lying about needing to go check on something upstairs, she just needed an excuse to get out of the awkward situation. Heading up the stairs anyway, she decided to take a minute and compose herself. She instructed her feelings to keep to themselves, this was not the time nor the place to make an appearance. This was an important meeting, a time to stay professional and get stuff done. She had already resolved to let Gael pursue her, if he even wanted to. She packed the emotions away neatly and stored them inside their box for another time.

Heading back down the stairs she saw Arjun walking towards the stage and yelled out for him.

"Hey! Are you ready to finally get this ball rolling?" she asked as he gave her a hug and looped her arm through his.

They started walking towards the stage as he answered, "more than ever, now that you're here. I literally cannot wait to see what you've got in that notebook, everyone has been talking about it and trying to guess what you have up your sleeve."

"Well I'm glad I've created so much suspense, hopefully everyone likes what is in here," she said as she patted her bag with the notebook inside.

They entered the stage through the wings exactly where Gael had taken her a few days before, except this time on the stage there were four long tables set up in the shape of a square with folding chairs all around. This was a standard production meeting setup because everyone would be facing each other and have a chance to easily ask questions or show the group something if they needed it. Basically like Arthur's round table, except Gael's square table.

Blue took a seat next to Arjun and unpacked her notebook from her bag, along with her phone and a bottle of water. She was chatting with Arjun about the latest episode of a show they both liked when Gael walked onto the stage. She looked up at him and as soon as he saw her he faltered for a second, then decided to come over and sit next to her. Not the producer, or the director. Not even the stage manager, or choreographer.

Her.

He plopped his thick binder and laptop on the table next to her and then carefully set his half-empty cup of coffee down. "Mind if I sit here?" he asked.

"Nope, go right ahead," Blue said as her heart started pounding. He was sitting so close she could feel the heat radiating off his arm.

Today was not going to be easy.

Once everyone was gathered, Gael opened things up by thanking everyone for being there. He wanted everyone to introduce themselves, since there were a couple of new faces, say what their position at the theater was, and if they were a sandwich what would they be. Everyone laughed at that and he started.

"Gael Luiz Nevárez, umm I'm playing the lead role of John since I wrote it and I'm selfish so I wanted the role all to myself." Everyone laughed and a guy across the table joked that no one else could do it, there were too many lines to remember so only the brain that wrote it could recall them all. Gael smiled and shrugged in agreement then continued, "I also am co-producing with the fantastic Malik Anderson," he said as he nodded in Malik's direction who then waved at the group. "And if I had to be a sandwich I would be my mom's jibarito, with no tomato."

Everyone nodded along as though that made perfect sense, a few people saying they could go for one right now, except to leave the tomato on it.

They went around the rest of the table, starting with Malik who was sitting around the corner of the square to Gael's right. Next to him was Agnes Bennett, the choreographer. Blue had heard of her since she was known around town for being tough as nails, but a mastermind at her craft. Then the director, Julian Fosse, introduced himself. He had directed Gael on Henry the Fourths and consulted on his last show as well. Jin and who she assumed was Eliza were sitting together, holding hands on the table. She could tell they were that awesome older couple everyone hopes to be, the ones that have seen war together and made it through. They even answered each other's sandwich question like it was the newlyweds game. The lighting designer, Natasha Orozco, and the sound designer, Ken Fisher, sat next to each other. That left Arjun to introduce himself as the production manager, who interestingly said he was a grilled cheese sandwich, before it was her turn.

"Hey, I'm Blue Everson. I'm the new costume designer that stepped into the role just a few weeks ago. And if I had to be a sandwich, well it's got to be a mesquite-smoked brisket sandwich on white bread with homemade barbecue sauce, none of that store-bought stuff."

Everyone looked like their mouths were watering just at the mention of it. Blue's stomach grumbled in protest that she was talking about it, but not actually about to eat it. She noticed Gael grin a little and say, "okay, now that we are all starving, let's get down to business."

The meeting went on for a couple of hours, starting from the top and working their way down. The biggest part of the creative budget went to scenery, not to mention it's the first thing the audience sees when the curtain rises. They did a breakdown of the digital mockups Eliza had made with her team, showing every detail they already thought of and every area they were still undecided on. The show was going to move so quickly and span over so many years and locations that Eliza had decided to use one central setting. It was a risky decision, but the more she described it the more sense it made. The story started at the factory John worked at when he was a boy and went all the way through the four years of the war, ending a few years post-war at the beginning of the Reconstruction Era. There was no way to adequately show all of that in a realistic manner, so Eliza went for metaphorical instead. The set was heavy and bulky to show the weight the war had on the American people. She wanted to make it look like a common man's place since the fate of the war was waged on the common man's back. Slavery was addressed very early on in the show and the key aspect of John's struggle through both acts. She had a creative way to call attention to it by making half the stage turn 180 degrees to reflect that every battle John fought, the slaves mirrored it with their own struggle.

When Eliza was done, Blue felt like her ideas for the costumes were, so far, right on track. She had jotted down a few new ideas and changes when something popped in her mind while Eliza talked, and she was able to ask quite a few questions to help clarify everything she wasn't sure on. Luckily Eliza seemed to thrive on details and enjoyed the little rabbit trails they would go down while the others would discuss amongst themselves.

"I'm so glad you asked that, Blue because I wasn't exactly sure what direction I wanted to lean towards with the furniture pieces. Although I know Jin is anxious for some designs to start working on," she winked at him, "I couldn't decide if simple was too...simple?" Eliza made air quotes with her fingers.

"No, I think it totally makes sense! That is one of the few times the costumes will be a bit outrageous, since it's a ball, so I think simple settings will not clutter the stage and overwhelm the audience."

"True...true...ok Jin let's see what you can do with some folding camp chairs..." and she turned to Jin to start making notes together.

Gael decided to move on to the next most important item on the list: music. Blue had been waiting for this for a while, reading the script's lyrics was one thing, but finally hearing some samples promised to be mind-blowing. Not to mention, Gael was going to perform them and she was ready to see what all the fuss was about. Arjun said he was a genius and she had seen that to be true so far, so she didn't doubt that he must be pretty good.

Since Gael wrote and composed it, he began talking about his lyrics and the meaning behind everything. It was important for him that everything was cohesive and yet stood out at the same time, something that sounded impossible but would be huge if it worked. The lyrics he wrote were about the struggle of John with his own demons, fighting for the people who needed someone to fight for them, being used by the army as a literal pawn in their game, and in the end, dying from something as trivial as typhoid after all the hell he had just gone through during the war.

Everyone around the table was dead silent, hanging on every word Gael said like he was giving them the secret to life. As he spoke about his desires for how Nothing But Tombs should feel for the audience, the passion built up in him until he was finally standing up and pacing back and forth. Still, everyone sat and just listened, absorbing everything he had to say. He went on about his decision to use hip-hop and rap as the major musical influence, noting that the Civil War was nothing but violence, dissing the other side, fighting the oppressors, and love for your girl back home. What was more hip-hop than that?

Julian, who obviously had a good relationship with Gael since he had been with him on other shows, then directed him to "stop talking and let us hear something already!"

Gael smiled and said sarcastically, "okay, but I hope you took your blood pressure medicine this morning Julian because this beat is going to bump..." and he clutched his chest with his hand to further make fun of Julian while he pulled his phone out of his pocket with his other hand. Julian mumbled that he was only a few years older than Gael anyways...

Natasha jumped up and ran over to the wings to dramatically turn off the stage lights while turning on the spotlight. Everyone waited as she took her seat and the music began to play through Gael's phone speaker. He was standing in the darkness, then slowly walked into the spotlight and began to perform for them.

"Worked in a factory, dirt poor,

got where he needed using flattery,

feathery words moving more than just a

mountain, he found them needing his help

to run to freedom, but what beat him wasn't bullets - it was bullshit..."

Blue was immediately in awe, the cadence of each syllable dripping with wit and power. In the first song, he laid out exactly what the audience could expect for the next two hours. He set the scene and gave them what they needed to know in order to be dropped right in on John's story and go through his journey with him.

As he performed, something changed in Gael. The normally charming and confident guy became something else, blindingly brilliant and dauntless. He was a worthy opponent to the difficult words he was spouting, letting them flow in a way that almost hurt Blue's brain trying to keep up. He spoke so clearly to make sure every single morsel was able to be digested, which only impressed everyone further.

Then he began to sing.

He didn't need to add anything to what he had already done, the show could have ended there and received a standing ovation, but his voice rang out to continue the verse in a slow and methodical melody. As he slowed down, his eyes caught Blue's just for a second, then he looked away again. She felt almost embarrassed, as though she had walked in on a private moment between him and the lyrics.

When he had finished, the stage went quiet. Only the sound of Gael's breathing pierced the air as everyone stared at him, then each other.

Arjun was the first to jump up and start clapping enthusiastically. "Bravo! Bravo!" he shouted as everyone else started clapping along. They were all in shock as what they had just heard was only starting to sink in.

Blue murmured, almost to herself, "this is going to be big."

Malik must have heard her because he smiled and said, "yes...yes it is."

Gael looked extremely relieved that they all received it well. He jokingly took a small bow as Natasha ran over to turn the lights on again and they both sat back down. He addressed everyone, "thank you for not throwing tomatoes or booing me off the stage." Blue laughed and he looked over at her, sitting even closer now because his chair had shifted when he got up to perform.

"Ha! You've got a lot of nerve dropping that on us then pretending to be modest. Arjun was right," she nodded her head to her left where he sat, "you're a genius. And I think we can all agree we are lucky to be working together to bring this show to life." She stared right into his eyes as she spoke so he could see her sincerity.

Everyone around the table enthusiastically nodded in agreement. Jin, who had been mostly quiet until now said, "no one is even going to notice my chairs, thanks to your music!" and everyone laughed out loud.

Gael thanked them and tried to soak up the compliments while subtly transitioning into talking about the rest of the music. He went over the schedule for starting to rehearse with the band. A well-known rapper and hip-hop artist named Crush*Trek would oversee the production of all the music and collaborate with Gael to make sure they didn't sanitize the show for the Broadway masses. He wanted it to stand on its own, not just be something people saw so they could check 'see a Broadway show' off their to-do list while in New York City. It needed to be perfect, or it would fail like all the other productions that had tried to implement pop music into their shows over the last fifty years.

The choreography was the obvious next topic, so Gael asked Agnes to go over the status of the dance workshops. They had been working with some preliminary music for about a month already, so they decided to work on a time when they could get some more music tracks to her since the beats most likely wouldn't be changing much during production - the lyrics depended on them. She showed everyone some videos of the dancers and it was beautiful. The movements were so fluid and contemporary, adding in spurts of hip-hop that blended the music to the story perfectly.

Gael eventually looked at Blue and said, "okay it's the moment we have all been waiting for, we finally get to see what's inside that secret notebook of yours."

She handed it to Gael so he could start passing it around, but everyone got up and ran over to stand behind him instead of patiently waiting for their turn. This was easier anyways, Blue was able to just describe each sketch as he flipped through the pages. She had arranged them all in order of appearance during the show, so it started with young John's factory worker outfit. She would weather it severely to look dirty enough, like it had been worn every day in harsh child labor conditions. Then there was the summer social when he's a teenager where he meets his sweetheart, Sarah. Those costumes were more light and airy, worn on a hot New York summer day, and delicate enough to show he had worked his way out of complete poverty and was starting to climb the chains of society. He then turned the page to see all the soldiers and officers, and this is where Blue had taken the most creative liberty. For some scenes, she had decided to make them literally just wear solid blue or gray jumpsuits with masks - to create the illusion when they all massed together that they were just one blob of color, a loss of identity. It showed how little regard those in power had for the men fighting, that they were indistinguishable from one another. All the while, the officers and generals would be wearing the gaudiest and most outrageous outfits, hopefully disgusting the audience with how they lauded themselves above the common man.

Everyone was losing their minds about this idea, how well it fit in with the themes of the show, and how it would visually guide the audience towards how they should feel about these characters.

Gael shook his head back and forth slowly in awe, he had been mostly silent while turning the pages with only a few "huh's" and "hmms" along the way. After Blue was done describing her thoughts, he looked down at her sketches with a serious look and said, "this is absolutely perfect. It's revolutionary - I love how well this is going to push the show forward." He looked up at her finally and said, "seriously, taking the music and story then meshing it with Eliza's set and adding your costumes...it's going to blow people's minds." He finally smiled and looked around at everyone else who was nodding along. Arjun put his hand on Blue's shoulder and said, "I knew you were meant to be here." She smiled and said, "well thank you, but I can't take all the credit. I asked Kiara to sketch some of these. Her input has been incredibly valuable so far," and quickly turned the page so the attention would be off of her and back on the drawings. They all loved John's green suit and Sarah's dress for the grand ball, especially when she said she chose the color of money to represent John’s obsession with it. Eliza even asked if she could get extra fabric and incorporate some of it into the furniture pieces as a way to project how they had thrown all of themselves into this ball and needed it to work in order to raise money for the war efforts.

Once they were done looking through the sketches, everyone began to get off track and strike up their own side conversations about different topics. The excitement was growing and the ideas were flowing. Gael leaned over and whispered in Blue's ear, "you want a caffeine fix from the break room?" She could feel his warm breath as it stirred the hair that hung from her messy bun around her ears. The sensation was disorienting, especially since she wasn't expecting it. Her brain couldn't think of an answer to his simple question for so long that she worried he would think she was put off by it. Finally, her mouth was capable of forming the word "yes" hopefully quickly enough that he didn't change his mind.

He whispered again, "okay cool, meet me there in one minute so we don't look obvious," and he stood up, slipping away unnoticed. Everyone was still deep in their own conversations and paid no attention to him slide off the stage.

Blue's heart was pounding. How was she supposed to sneak away without anyone noticing? Why was she even sneaking? It made it seem like they were doing something...different...than just getting coffee.