For the most part, everything at Calypso was normal. Talia maintained her strict administration of rehearsals and her trademark allure and charm made her live performances as scintillating as ever. The only instances contrary to this pattern revolved around Emilia’s arrival and departure. Although she upheld her façade in front of the others, she couldn’t shake the anticipation of crossing paths with him. Every time this endeavor proved futile, she cursed herself for getting her hopes up or that she was agonizing about this situation in the first place.
Emilia gave everything to each task assigned to her, but Talia’s rejection of her proposed routine was difficult to shake. Whenever she had time alone with Scarlet or Ruby, they asked her about it and encouraged her to pursue it, but to no avail. Everything was getting busier in the meantime so the timing never felt right to revisit the issue.
With Talia controlling so much of the content at rehearsals, Amber started utilizing other venues for her special project. The last thing she wanted was to introduce it too quickly, only for Talia to snuff out the flame as soon as she ignited it. She discussed various options for dance styles and music with Vanessa during their lunch breaks and she agreed to lend her assistance wherever needed. After all of the drama involving Juan Paulo in recent weeks, she welcomed the change of pace and scenery. Practice sessions began in Amber’s apartment, located on the ground floor of the same complex the twins had their place. Over time, these locations started to drift to the other side of town where two of her friends had business aspirations of their own.
Scarlet continued to split her time between Calypso and band rehearsals. During which, her sister, Vanessa, and Emilia took turns keeping her company. Sometimes when the band had days off, she’d run through some Rumba choreography with Javier and they’d give her different pointers. For one song in particular, Ruby suggested a pole to give certain moves more stability and Javier signed off on it immediately. Scarlet was so carefree on the stage with him, he was willing to do anything to make sure she was happy.
Occasionally, Juan Paulo would take a moment to exchange words with them, but it was rarely more than a minute or two. He’d bounce a few of his ideas off them before rushing off to write them down in his notebook. Vanessa suggested keeping his target audience in mind while selecting songs; Scarlet thought it was better to just to choose which songs fit well together. He agreed both approaches had merit to them, but it was difficult to choose when all he could think about was checking in on Talia. But he promised himself he’d give it at least a week before he blinked first.
* * *
During their previous conversation, Talia had promised Rodrigo that she would meet him after the following Wednesday’s show. Much of this had been forgotten by that morning when she woke up with a strange case of the jitters. She shot straight up in bed and spent the next few seconds rubbing her arms. Then as she bent forward to nurse a headache, she muttered, “It’s probably a strange dream I have no memory of. Nothing to worry about.”
She spent much of that day’s rehearsals talking to no one and only focused on the music. Vanessa and Ruby were going to be her partners on stage that day and she wanted a new playlist to keep things exciting for the crowd. She typically saved her best material for Wednesday nights so there was a lot of pressure to uphold those high standards. After she’d sat on the floor for hours staring at sleeves of CD’s, Vanessa pat her lightly on the shoulder. “Don’t overthink it. Just go with your gut. I’ll see you at ShowTime.”
Once alone on stage, Talia braced her forehead and mumbled, “Why does everything feel so hard today? Is it because this will be the first time I am alone with a man in weeks? What if nothing is better and all of this time away had been for nothing?” A shudder down her back briefly interrupted her breathing, but she quickly collected herself. “Stage fright has no place in Calypso. I need to make a choice and embrace it.” Opening her eyes again, her favorite album caught her attention and everything fell into place in an instant. “Yes, I’d been meaning to do my routine with this one for a long time. Tonight might finally be the night.” She raced to the bar to bring Alejandro up to speed. “Do you have a set of bongos lying around? I need you to accompany us for my solo.”
“Of course,” he casually responded in the midst of updating the inventory sheets. “Always happy to help.”
“Good,” she exhaled, suddenly exhausted from this release of pent up stress, and pat the counter twice. “Thank you, Alejandro.”
“Thank you?” His head shot up. “Are you sure you’re feeling ok?” Her face promptly resumed the passive-aggressive expression he was most familiar with. “Right… I almost forgot who I was talking to here. All the same, have a good show tonight. Also…” he pushed the paperwork aside so he had room to rest his elbows, “I wanted to say I’m sorry.”
“Ugh,” she rolled her eyes, “what could you possibly have done this time?”
“No, I mean about the other week. I may not always agree with the way you do things, but I shouldn’t have interfered.”
“Well, when he told me you banned him from coming here again, I wasn’t surprised. I knew you were just itching for an excuse to be rid of him. There’s no use worrying about that now. Our particular arrangement needed a change of scenery anyway.” She inclined an eyebrow, “Anything else?”
Alejandro balked in defiance but bit his tongue. “No, everything is good.” A quick hair flip and she was gone. His posture slumped in defeat. While grateful Talia didn’t bite his head off this time, her answer wasn’t exactly the one he’d hoped for.
* * *
When word got out that Talia was premiering a brand-new routine, Calypso filled up fast. Regulations only allowed a maximum of 200 people in the building, leaving hundreds more with no choice but to seek other means of entertainment. Those lucky enough to gain admission left their drink orders with Alejandro and got comfortable. Talia was rarely the first siren to take the stage and tonight was no exception.
Ruby warmed up the crowd with one of their standards. Poles slowly emerged through the stage floor and the crowd was quick to express their enthusiasm. Although she had several years’ experience under her belt courtesy of the strip club her father co-owned, she was always picking up new tricks. Each time the chorus hit, the choreography got more elaborate with a barrage of flairs and flips. This drew startled gasps from the audience, who followed with ravenous applause.
Backstage, Talia nodded, her eyes glowing with pride. “She never fails to entertain.”
Vanessa agreed without hesitation, but her mind drifted elsewhere. Having spent so much time with Amber, she couldn’t help but be reminded of the numerous occasions Ruby showed her up. Talia had always set the standard and the others fought to maintain that same bar of excellence. Despite having the least amount of dance training, Ruby was the second-best entertainer in the group. It must have been so difficult for Amber, struggling for years to step out their shadows. Goosebumps broke out over her entire body when she suddenly remembered she was the one that had to follow. “How can I hope to compete with that?”
“Vanessa,” Talia reached over to embrace her shoulder, “you know there is no competition here. All I ever want for you is to go out there and be the best version of yourself. No one else can do that but you.”
“Thanks, Talia.” She gave her a quick hug and Ruby a high five before getting everything ready for her number.
Vanessa returned to the stage with a belly-dancing outfit of her own. Both pieces were canary yellow with flourishes of orange. Dozens of coins cascaded the band around her waist. Her music had some Middle Eastern nuances, but her routine offered much more variety. The selection featured an assortment of styles. Naturally, there was samba and cha-cha, but there were hints of pop and jazz as well. It took several years of experimenting and searching for inspiration across countless comedy/musicals in TV and movies, but she finally found a formula that worked earlier in the year. The reception was not only warm, but even more elated than the previous time she’d performed it.
“What did I tell you? I knew you would be great out there.” Talia threw her arms around Vanessa, shaking with excitement.
“Thanks, Talia…” She was so high on euphoria, words failed her. That is until she noticed Talia didn’t immediately let go. “Ok, now it’s your turn.”
“Right…” She let go. “Of course. In ten minutes, then.” She raced off and shut the bathroom door behind her. Ruby and Vanessa faced each other with equal bewilderment. Talia emerged a short time later with a braver face but didn’t acknowledge either of them as they took their starting positions.
Along with a set of bongos, Alejandro brought the large Oriental rug Talia asked him to pull out of their storage unit. Over the years, she’d asked for a series of random props and accents for the shows. Even if she had no immediate plans for them, they would be on hand in case the perfect occasion arose. Everyone rolled out the rug and worked together to place it exactly in the center of the stage. Then each of the girls knelt down to slip off their heels and put them aside. Their feet were always pedicured to perfection, but the anklets and nail polish matching their outfits brought their sense of glamour to another level. Alejandro took a few moments to admire the change in scenery but excused himself to wait for Talia’s signal by the stereo.
“Talia,” Vanessa whispered, prompting her to turn her head in her direction, “I’m not sure what’s going on with you today, but everything is going to be all right. We’re here for you.” She and Ruby were a few feet behind, each at a 60° angle, forming an equilateral triangle between the three of them. Talia’s eyes were shifty and uncertain, but she managed a smile as she reached a hand back towards them. The other two did the same until they met in the middle. She then adjusted her gaze to Alejandro and nodded.
By remote control, Alejandro turned on the music and opened up the curtains to an eruption of cheers. All three sirens, dressed in matching belly-dancing outfits in their signature colors (Talia in red, Vanessa in yellow and Ruby in orange), swayed to the music following the same 8-step sequence. They stepped out with their right foot and swayed their hips in the same direction, reset in the middle and did the same on the left. It was similar to a basic cha-cha step, but much slower and with more emphasis in the hips and torso. The unique rhythmic patterns of the song gave it a lot of character, so Talia decided it would create the best effect if their dancing brought it to life in three different ways. No matter what, Vanessa and Ruby had to be in sync with one another. In the verses, they continued the steps from the opening instrumental sequence and Talia added more flourishes to coincide with the beat’s irregularities. All of her years of belly-dancing experience came together in a span of mere seconds. Just before the pre-chorus bridge, she’d revert to the first eight steps and the others coordinated in an elaborate series of hip movements and hand claps. Then for the chorus, they all did the same extensive choreography at once.
The second verse was when things started changing. Vanessa and Ruby remained committed to their roles. Unbeknownst to them, Talia found herself doing a lot of her steps by muscle memory alone as her mind drifted elsewhere. She skimmed through the crowd to connect with a handful of people for a few seconds each. This was standard procedure, allowing her to uphold the same level of engagement from start to finish. But as the lyrics started to resonate, she realized she was looking only at the men in the audience. And not just the men, but she was searching for one man in particular. Many of the words in the song mirrored what he had said to her in their last conversation.
Alejandro took his place at the bottom right corner of the rug. The sirens all paused when he turned the music down just enough for his bongo playing to be more audible. Talia had suggested it to add another layer to the performance; judging by the ecstatic uproar, this addition was greatly appreciated. Then after he left, everything resumed as normal, both choreography and music.
Meanwhile, Talia started having second thoughts. The initial plan was to do one final number where each of them got a solo and they came together for a big finish. She quickly decided there was somewhere else she needed to be. As the music faded out and Alejandro closed the curtains, she grabbed her clutch and heels and dashed through the stage’s exit door, leaving concerned outcries from her friends far behind her.
***
Music:
"Love Game" by Lady Gaga
"Love Game" by Lady Gaga
Ruby would do some insane pole dancing routine to this with a lot of aerial work
"In my Pocket" by Mandy Moore
Not sure if I mentioned this in a previous post, but I originally planned this number for the birthday chapter... and I sorta forgot I put it here.
But this would be similiar to the final Toros performance in "Bring it on" where they took inspiration from various movies and styles
But this would be similiar to the final Toros performance in "Bring it on" where they took inspiration from various movies and styles
"Wait for you" by Nelly Furtado (group number)
Belly-dancing with clapping in time with the percussive moments in this song
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