The van pulled up in front of a large metal door that Coloratura was now familiar with. The driver opened the door and out stepped both stars.

“So, what’s the plan?” Coloratura asked as they walked into the backstage warm-up room.

“I’ll begin with one of my hit songs, then the baton is over to you,” Abel replied with a rather coyly smile.

“The event of us going out for a meal is out all over town and beyond, so wherever your friends may be, they’re bound to know where you are,” Peter added.

Coloratura smiled. “Your news reporters must be pretty fast at getting information out.”

Amir, Peter, and the whole instrument player team walked out onto the stage, Abel and Coloratura leading them. While both singers were away, the stagehands had been busy preparing the concert’s physical appearance. The main stage would extend outwards like a catwalk, with a large kite-shaped, chandelier-like structure overhead. Behind that a large platform hung suspended further above.

“That’s where you’ll be,” Abel said, pointing up. “When the baton is handed over, it’ll over down and away you go. Peter and his fellow players have already kitted you out with the finest piano, along with a nice comfortable ottoman and a mic. On cue, Peter and the others will swap music sheets so everything lines up.”

“You can’t be serious!” Coloratura exclaimed, the excitement bubbling up inside her.

“Oh I am definitely serious,” Abel replied with a thick voice, before smiling down at her sweetly. “This is going to be lit. Speaking of which, let’s take a look at how those lights will fit and blend together.”

Over the next hour, Abel and Coloratura went through all the details of the concert’s setup. They discussed and agreed on the placement of lights, positioning the orchestra, and lowering the smaller stage platform at a comfortable speed. Finally, the intricate parts of the electrical wiring were put in place. It was time for the trial runs.

“You step over into here,” Abel instructed, pointing to a small cubicle, “where you’ll be hoisted up. There, all you have to do is walk down the pathway and step onto the platform, which will be at the same height.”

“But…will I fall?” Coloratura asked worriedly. Her face was so adorable Abel’s knees gave out.

“You will not,” he said, kneeling down and looking deeply into her eyes. “Trust me. It’ll all be safe.”

“All the love to boost my courage ah, elevated levels to wow them all, ah,” Coloratura replied in a singsong voice.

“Diggin’ the hook, huh?” Abel teased.

“Stage’s so empty, it really needs a centerpiece,” Coloratura responded, jiggling her body in a slight dance movement. Peter laughed and added a quick drum rhythm for comedic effect.

“That’s enough for now,” Abel added quickly. “Now to actually test drive this whole contraption.”

“Hit it!” Amir called out from backstage. The lights flashed into action, the musicians began playing, and a smoke-like powder erupted from the edges of the stage. Right on cue, Abel strode forward on the stage toward the central area under the kite-shaped lighting structure, microphone in hand.

Trying not to get blinded by the lights, Coloratura stepped into the cubicle and hit a button. A loud buzz was heard overhead, and she began to rise up and up, until a narrow alleyway came into view. Coloratura hit the button and stepped onto the alleyway. Essentially, it was a channel made of curved U-shaped metal beams with holey metal sheets for a floor.

With shaky hooves, Coloratura stepped onto the alleyway and proceeded down it. Peering through the holes, she could see she was right above the orchestra. While seemingly fragile, the whole structure was actually very sturdy. Fixating her gaze straight ahead, Coloratura cancelled out her fear of heights and continued walking. Soon she reached the main platform and stepped onto it. Peering over the edge, she could now make out where she stood – she was almost directly above Abel, who was making a good effort to let the song flow out in a fluid yet entertaining way. After all, the seats that stood before both of them would be filled with tens of thousands of excited fans in the next hour or so.

Coloratura sat down on the ottoman, flicked the switch on her microphone, and happily hummed away while making a quick melody on the piano. Even though he couldn’t see her from where he was, Abel just looked up and smiled.

“One last brief rerun!” Amir called out. Coloratura quickly shut off her mic, shuffled off the ottoman, and walked back down the narrow alley. In no time at all she was gliding down in the elevator and was back on the main stage floor.

“Your breathing’s a little fast,” Abel remarked. “Bit of stage fright?”

“I actually was a little worried about you in that respect,” Coloratura panted. “I mean, look at all these seats – this is like the biggest show ever!”

Abel chuckled. “Not the biggest, but one of the largest, yeah.”

“I am embarrassed to admit, Abel, in all my years as a pop star, I’ve never done an elevation style concert setup,” Coloratura confessed. “So being up there was… quite the experience.”

“I can only imagine it,” Abel said with a wink. “Now let’s go again and try to pick out any misplacements. Everything’s gotta be as perfect as can be.”

“It’ll be as good as we make it to be, dear friend,” Coloratura replied, raising her hoof. Abel stuck out his fist and they shared a brofist.

While Abel continued practicing his singing and stage moves below, Coloratura zipped back up to the alleyway and crossed it. But as she reached the platform, she noticed that it was covered in a translucent veil of sorts. Looking up at the rigging that held everything in place, there were a couple ropes designed to pull it away smoothly but quickly. Suddenly a huge smile swept across Coloratura’s face as she realized the cleverness of Abel’s plan. He wanted to reveal her to all his fans in time with her hit song “The Magic Inside”, and do a duet partially through it.

Author's Note

The friendship increases between the stars as the final steps occur before the big show. Studied a lot of videos of the Weeknd's Starboy Paris concert and his 2013 Kissland tour behind-the-scenes for this. Could add a bit more details though...
Enjoy this chapter! The hiatus is over, I'm going to finish this very soon.