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| These cats may not be twins but they do have identical personalities, lol |
The reason Scarlet
was up half the night woke up her the following morning—a text from Javier.
Their series of exchanges began
after Emilia brewed them some tea to wind down for the night. Unsure where to
begin, Emilia made suggestion after suggestion, practically carrying the
conversation until she fell asleep. By that point, they learned he grew up in a
deeply rooted Latin community in Miami, his parents separated when he was a
teenager, and since moving to the island with his mother, he’d had no desire to
return. And how an old friend from high school would be staying with him for the
summer. Before she could ask more about that, he turned the spotlight on her.
Early in the dialogue, he set the
ground rule that they would only disclose what they were comfortable revealing.
He was candid in his texts, which put Scarlet at ease right away. Without going
into too much detail, she said she ran away from home because she didn’t get
along with her father, a new friend helped her get a job at the restaurant that
became Calypso, and she’d been dancing with Talia since she was 16. Sleep
caught up with her at that point, so she called it a night. His final text was
sympathetic: Sorry about the trouble with
your father. I came here with my mother so she could get away from mine.
All of the signs pointed to “yes,”
but Scarlet had trouble shaking the feeling she had upon reading Javier’s
morning text—asking where and when she wanted to meet. She enjoyed their
exchanges and really wanted to see him again, but she still had reservations.
The floodgate of memories that typically came when someone asked her out hadn’t
arrived. But as far as she knew, it was a matter of time before the beatings
and the habitual rape at the hands of her father resurfaced from her
subconscious.
She had to return to her apartment
anyway to freshen up and change for rehearsal, but more importantly, she wanted
to discuss this with Ruby.
* * *
“Hey, where’ve you been? I thought
you’d be back ages ago,” Ruby asked, nearly getting whiplash as her sister
dashed past her.
“Sorry, I lost track of time,”
Scarlet began as she ran into her room to find something to wear for tonight, “Emilia
invited me over to talk about last night. It was interesting to say the least.”
“Really?” Ruby slowly followed the
vapor trail through the living room to the hallway between the bedrooms. With
increasing interest, he observed Scarlet holding a red and yellow salsa dress
in front of her body in her wardrobe mirror. “What makes you say that?”
“Well, I can’t speak for Talia. That
was probably just another of her ‘performances.’ But…”
“But what?” Her smile hung open with
anticipation. “Don’t tell me I missed more.
The one time I don’t come to see Talia
in action.”
“I got us a gig for tonight… and I think
I met someone.”
“Oh?” She positioned herself behind
her so she couldn’t avoid her reflection the same way she’d been avoiding her
eye.
“Yeah.”
“He came up to me when I was leaving our tip.” Scarlet explained, “And we talked… and I was up some of the night texting him.”
Ruby returned a generous smile. “Wow. So, what’s he like?”
“Well, you said you wanted to try out this new number on a fresh audience. Plus the invite specified cha-cha and Paso, which is kind of our specialty.”
“In that case, we should join Talia for rehearsal sooner rather than later.”
“Yeah…” Scarlet trailed off as her sister went into her room to change. She followed, but chose to linger outside her door, leaning in the archway. “I hope she’ll be okay about Javi coming to see us. I need to run it by her before I text him again. I’m sure it’ll be fine—she seemed happy for me last night.”
“We all are. We know how much you’ve wanted to move on, but the right person had to come along.”
“I just feel like… this is my time, you see what I’m saying?”
Ruby combed out her bangs and replaced her diamond earrings with the pearls. “Of course. You never gave up on finding love, so if any of us has a real chance at getting that perfect ending, it’s you.”
* * *
Rehearsal was already in full swing
when the twins arrived. Talia, as always, was stage ready. She sported her
favorite red belly-dance outfit clad with rhinestones. She inspired such professionalism,
the others rarely appeared in anything but costume.
Scarlet raced up the stage first. “It’s my fault, Talia. I’m sorry. I got up late because I was texting that guy I met last night. I promise it won’t happen again.”
Her composure changed before either could blink. Disgruntled evaporated and understanding took its place. “No, I am sorry. This is a big moment for you. So, everything is still going well with you two?”
“Yeah, it is. In fact, he wants to see me again tonight and I really want you to meet him. Just to make sure he’s okay.”
“I would be happy to. This is a private event, but I think I can make an exception for this one. Text him back and tell him to meet us after dress rehearsal at 7 o’clock at this address.” She handed over her phone, which displayed a text with the location.
Scarlet exhaled as if she’d had her heart in her throat for the past 90 seconds. She caught both of them up with the details she had so far and they nodded encouragingly. Even Talia seemed intrigued about him and men rarely impacted her this way.
Clearly, Javier had been waiting for this response because he replied right away. Her wide smile shrunk as she read it. “Oh… I must have let it slip about this new club looking for a band. He’s asking if we could get an audition for his… I’m sorry, Talia, I know it wasn’t my place to mention that to him.”
“No, it’s ok. There’s only two local bands auditioning. One more should be no problem.” She waved away her concern. “Did he give you any information? How long he’d had this band, if they write their own songs or do covers?”
“In our conversation last night, he was saying how he and a friend of his gave up music to support their families and with his friend in town for the summer, they wanted to try again. I think they both write their own songs, but I didn’t get a chance to ask. At least I don’t think I did… it was a long night.”
“Hmm… Assuming they have the talent, I see no reason why not.”
Regaining her confidence, Scarlet recalled, “He did say that he does karaoke a lot at Eclipse. That has to be a good sign. You know how the crowd can be when the acts are terrible.”
“All right. Text him back. Have him bring a demo and we’ll go from there.”
* * *
The
new venue was small, roughly the size of the stage and backstage areas at
Calypso. A wooden dance floor, the building’s newest addition, took up most of
the room. There were a few vintage pub tables with stools located closer to the
entrance, but the row of metal chairs six feet from the stage would serve as
designated seating for tonight’s VIPs. The sirens brought along garment bags to
accommodate their costume changes. Alejandro, meanwhile, was in charge of music
and transporting various other props they would need. Considering the owner was
one of the brothers’ closest associates, Talia wanted to be sure not to skimp
on quality as well as keep their options open if they ran long.
Scarlet’s
nerves gave way to jitters of excitement as the next hour drew nearer. She
committed to each of the numbers they ran through in dress rehearsal. It was
when the music stopped when she fidgeted, paced, and checked the time on her
phone every few seconds.
Just
as Talia began approaching, another pep talk evident in her posture, Alejandro
intercepted her by the arm. She flinched, about to slap it away when his stoic countenance
stopped her. “Know what, Talia? I got this. Scarlet, I’ll meet Javier by the
entrance and bring him to you.”
“Are
you sure? You already have enough to do as it is…” Scarlet began apologizing, but
he wouldn’t have it.
“All
of which I am more than happy to. Don’t worry about me. Besides, what really
matters is that you are happy.” He
turned to Talia. “I promise, as soon as I’m done, I will have everything
finished in time.”
For
a flicker of a moment, she saw the man she almost took a chance on, before “the
great betrayal.” But for Scarlet’s sake as well as recalling the fact Alejandro
was her friend long before she was, she merely pushed his arm off hers and let
him go.
“Hey
Talia, thanks.”
“It
is fine.” She waved it off, more so out of distraction.
“No,
really,” Scarlet came over and gave her a warm hug, “I really appreciate you
being so supportive of this. Even if this doesn’t last more than a couple
weeks.”
“Hmm,
you don’t really believe that, do you? The way you talk about him...”
“I
guess not.” She let go. “But I do wonder how you are okay with that and you
can’t even take your own advice.”
“Because I trust your judgement. You know
exactly what you want and finally, you found the courage to go after it. I accepted
long ago that I can never have any of this. Even if I wanted to.” She stepped
away, breaking eye contact and put that wall back up immediately. “Don’t turn
this into a big deal, ok? Vanessa and I already had words about it last night.”
“We
just want you to be happy. Like you want for us.”
Talia
searched for another direction to focus but stopped when Alejandro returned
with a tan-skinned gentleman with face-framing facial hair. He wore a black
pin-stripe collared shirt with the first two buttons undone and tan slacks.
Scarlet
clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh my… it’s him. He’s here.”
“Not
only handsome, but a sharp dresser too.” Ruby mused, her fist resting under her
chin. “He must really like you.”
Scarlet
softly rolled her eyes at her sister. “Well, I did imply tonight was kind of
important.” As he drew closer, it became harder to maintain control of her
smile. She decided to meet him halfway, Ruby and Talia flanking her
automatically. It was a tactic that tended to intimidate men or make them think
twice about the intentions they came with.
Javier,
however, was unfazed. He locked eyes with Talia and Ruby, nodding, before he
addressed Scarlet. “Wow, Scarlet, you look even more amazing.”
“Talia
insists we have a sense of professionalism while we perform. Even in rehearsal.
Javi, this is Talia and my twin sister, Ruby.”
“Yes,
I’ve seen you two pole dance at the karaoke nights. The synchronicity is
top-notch.” He flashed them a thumbs up with a wink.
Ruby
responded, “I learned that at a strip club owned by a friend of our father’s.
I’m not proud of it, but it was the best lesson. Learning to lose yourself on
stage. There’s no better adrenaline rush than performing.” At the mention of
their father, Javier turned his attention back to Scarlet. She brushed her ears,
trying to be casual about it, but upon meeting his eye, she stopped. Just as
quickly as her breath was stolen, she regained it thanks to a smile and another
nod.
“Here,” Javier reached into his back pocket. “We
cut this demo in my home studio this morning. It would be an honor if you
listened to it.” Talia swallowed back the urge to scoff, however sincere his
compliment was, passing the CD case over to Alejandro who took it to the sound
system. “Just as fair warning, it’s rock music, so it starts a little loud.”
A
guitar solo ripped through the speakers, but it settled into an invigorating
groove within seconds. The singer had an edge to his voice that paired well
with his great sense of melody. Ruby and Scarlet were both in awe, their smiling
mouths agape. At the same time, an odd sense of intrigue washed over Talia that
left her mentally scratching her head.
After
it finished, Javier clarified, “That’s me on guitar and my friend JP on vocals.
He woke up with it in his head and insisted we record right away.”
“That is quite impressive. And yet,” Talia
absentmindedly added, “oddly familiar.”
“Would
you like to meet the rest of the band? I don’t know what your plans are after
your set but if you’re interested, I could have them come by a little earlier before
it’s time for the audition.”
Talia
began pacing, appearing oblivious to Javier’s proposal. In reality, she was
trying to place the singer and where she might have heard him before. Ruby
nudged her before she completely lost herself in thought. “Yes. Yes, you can
bring them backstage after our third number. If you will excuse me, I need to
take care of a few things in the front of the house.” Exchanging no more
glances or words, she disappeared through the curtain.
Ruby
interceded before awkwardness could take root. “Don’t mind Talia. She just wants
everything to run perfectly tonight. Being a workaholic helps her survive the
craziness of our lives.”
“Oh,
I understand. I can be that way with my music sometimes too.” He raised his
hands. “Well, I’ll leave you ladies to it. Break a leg.”
“Thank
you,” the twins said in unison and laughed upon realizing it. Scarlet giggled,
“I swear, we’re not those clichéd kinds of twins who always finish each other’s
sentences.”
“Hey,
don’t worry about it. I’m not.” He winked before leaving them alone.
Scarlet’s
legs trembled like they just became jelly. “Oh my God, he’s so cute.”
“He
looks like a really good one, Scarlet. If you weren’t my sister, I’d be here
wondering what exactly you were so nervous about.”
“Well,”
she sighed, “one step at a time, right?”
“Exactly.”
She looked up to find the house lights blinking—their five-minute warning.
“Come on, we better get ready to go.”
Their
set consisted of three routines: two solos and one group number at the end. Scarlet
and Ruby opened with their latest and most ambitious TwinSanity routine to
date. Amber, who shared two nights a week with Ruby, coined the term once in
rehearsal. Although she’d said it in an off-handed way, Scarlet liked it so
much that she insisted on keeping it. She and her sister were so precise with
their synchronicity, anyone who didn’t know better would mistake them for the
same person. But unlike their earlier routines, this one had a story to it.
The
curtains open, revealing a pedestal with a velvet cloth draped over its
treasure. From opposite sides of the stage, the twins arrive at the exact same
moment. They wear masks over their eyes and nearly identical flamenco dresses. Scarlet’s—a
canary yellow with splashes of red. Ruby’s—an inverse pattern using the same
colors.
To
size each other up, they take turns doing identical choreography. A couple of
steps followed by a sweeping arm motion running from eight o’clock to two o’clock.
One echoing the other’s movements on a five second delay. Little by little,
they drift closer to one another until they’re two feet apart. Desperation
compels them to grasp each other’s hands and the struggle grows more intense. They
try to overpower one another, but their strength is equally matched. But as
they grapple, they remain on tempo with the music and retain the same elegance.
The routine ends differently every time to keep the audience on their toes.
Today, Scarlet emerges victorious. She takes the cloth on the pedestal and
throws it over Ruby’s face to obstruct her vision while she makes a quick
getaway with her trophy: a large multi-faceted jewel.
Talia’s
answer to this was far less insane, but she left an impression all the same. The
accompaniment track was purely instrumental—a violin with an Arabian flair backed
by a bongo percussion section. The tempo was fast and every seductive movement
from her hands to her hips rose to the challenge. Her eyes scanned her small
audience and each man had thirty seconds of exclusive eye contact.
The
performer of the group number’s track sang it entirely in Spanish. Talia took
inspiration from the Indian influences in the music to craft her attempt at the
Bollywood genre. With the twins at either side of her, every one of their hand
gestures had intention behind them. The chorus had them moving from left to right,
shifting direction every two measures. Following the theme of the previous
routines, large sweeping arm motions were at the forefront. Their hips, which
shifted toward the left in time with the vocal, drew just as much attention.
Although it was
just the one singer, the three of them split up the verses as if the song had
been done by a girl group. Each of them got to show off their different personalities.
Scarlet was the most playful, Ruby brought the most energy and Talia made every
moment seem effortless.
* * *
“Great job, both of you.” Talia
raised her hands and exchanged high fives.
“Once again, you ladies were amazing.”
Javier clapped his hands after parting the curtain. “That detail and precision—it’s
no wonder you are the best in town.”
“Hmm,” Talia mused, keeping her back
turned so only her friends saw her smirk, “flattery will get you nowhere with me.
But thank you.”
Scarlet approached, her eyes still
cascaded by her lashes. Javier lent his hand and she lifted her head as she
gave him hers. A gasp escaped when he gave it a kiss. His mustache tickled, but
she barely noticed with the adrenaline still fresh in her veins. He lowered his
voice so only she could hear. “My eye was on you the entire time.” His charm
rendering her speechless, a beaming Scarlet could only shake her head.
“Hey Javi, aren’t you going to
introduce us?”
Talia squared her shoulders, her right hand resting firmly on her hip. “Juan Paulo…” She started to speak, but for a reason she couldn’t explain, the rest of the words fell out of her head.
“Hey Talia,” he beamed, “I didn’t think I’d get to see you again so soon.”
“Yes,” she stammered, “I could say the same thing.”
“So Javi said he got us the audition. I can’t begin to thank you for that. It’s been a long time since I’ve been this excited about music and I hope maybe this will be our chance to make something happen after all these years.”
“Well,” she slowly crossed her arms and felt herself gaining back some traction, “getting the audition is only half the battle. The real challenge will be winning the headliner position. These men can be very critical.”
Completely unfazed, he grinned, “I appreciate your concern, Talia, but we’ll be fine.” Then he took a step forward and her heart skipped as she studied his face. She recognized the look in his eyes and his next comment confirmed her suspicions. “I never got the chance the other night, but since you’re here, I wanted to ask you. Maybe after we’re finished here, we could go out and…”
“Juan Paulo,” she hissed through an overcompensating smile, “could you excuse me for one moment? I still hear a good crowd out there and an encore might be in order.” She dashed off before his reaction could reach her ears.
***
Scarlet and Ruby- "Americano" by Lady Gaga
Talia (solo)- "Bellydance" by Edvin Marton
Siren group number- "No Hay Igual" by Nelly Furtado
Dance styles include, but not limited to: flamenco, Paso Doble, bellydance, Bollywood
Demo song- to be announced in the next chapter, hehe
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