The roar from that final ovation refused to die quiet, echoing off the high ceilings like thunder trapped in a bottle, bouncing back louder somehow, the kind of sound that rattles teeth and settles deep in the chest like a second heartbeat.
Chandeliers swayed slow and lazy overhead, golden light shimmering across the walls in waves that made the whole theater feel alive and breathing heavy, the air thick with the smell of hot spotlights baking wood and wool, spilled coffee cooling in cups, the sharp salty tang of sweat from a thousand bodies still buzzing on pure raw energy that wouldn't fade.
