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| "I can be good..." |
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| "...unless you wanna be bad." |
After several hours of dreamless sleep, Scarlet woke with a start around 9 o’clock the following morning. Several questions arose from her initial panic when it wasn’t immediately clear where she was and how she came to be there. She quickly reached for her phone on the nearby end table and the pieces slowly fit back into place. “Right… I’m on Amber’s couch because Javi…” The rims of her eyes itched with tears upon seeing “1 new voicemail” on the display along with 2 texts, the most recent one reading “text me if you need me, mi amor.” She wiped her eyes and the moisture that’d begun to accumulate under her nose. “He’s too good for me…”
Not wasting another moment, she listened closely to the voicemail. “Hi Scarlet, I’m just calling to see you arrived home safe. Listen, if you don’t want to talk and just need time alone to think, that’s ok. Just promise me you’ll try to take care of yourself. I’m always here if you need me for anything. With love, your Javi.”
Not wasting another moment, she listened closely to the voicemail. “Hi Scarlet, I’m just calling to see you arrived home safe. Listen, if you don’t want to talk and just need time alone to think, that’s ok. Just promise me you’ll try to take care of yourself. I’m always here if you need me for anything. With love, your Javi.”
Again, Scarlet mumbled, “he really is too good for me. Maybe I should tell him everything’s ok.” But after going through all the steps to call him back, she stopped short of hitting ‘dial’. If she talked to him, it’d be difficult to keep from crying and she didn’t want him to see any more of that side of her. Texting, she decided, would be a lot easier. After all, that’s how their relationship started in the first place.
Hi Javi- I’m fine.
Amber offered me a place to stay the night.
Sorry for leaving so fast.
Glad to hear you are all right
Once that was cleared up, she made several attempts to elaborate on her apology, but never successfully sent out an explanation. He finally messaged her back, apparently noticing that her typing was going nowhere fast.
You don’t have to worry about an apology.
I understood why you had to leave.
I don’t deserve you. But thank you. I’ll stay in touch.
She put down her phone on the coffee table and heaved an exhale as she bent in half. Things have become such a struggle and she was finally able to lighten the load off her shoulders. When she picked herself back up, she found a piece of paper on the table she’d completely missed.
The note read:
Scarlet,
My casa is yours for as long as you need it.
From Amber
P.S.
Your boyfriend kept waking me up with his calls. You should let him know you got here all right. Just because Talia lets her past get in her way doesn’t mean you should too.
“Hmm…” Scarlet studied the letter, somewhat bemused. “Amber’s comments almost sounded like friendly advice…”
Her phone rang before she could think on it any further. It was her sister. “Hey Ruby…”
“Where the hell are you, Scarlet? Javi came by last night looking for you. He said you ran off and you weren’t picking up his calls. I tried you a bunch of times after he left, and you didn’t…” Ruby ran out of air mid-sentence and had to catch her breath.
Scarlet seized this opportunity to skim through her call history because her home screen had no mention of Ruby’s calls. Not including the call accompanied by the voicemail, there was a record of five missed calls after midnight, two from Javier and three from Ruby. A third call from Javier was accepted after a temporary break in the action. That conversation went on for exactly five minutes. Before she could compare the time stamps of his voicemail and the text she replied to, another text from Javier appeared and it gave Amber’s note context Scarlet hadn’t anticipated.
“Scarlet?!” Ruby shouted, trying to regain her sister’s attention. “Damn it, Scarlet, answer me! Are you ok?”
Although her mind was still submerged in confusion, Scarlet recognized in the first few seconds of her answer that she was still stuck in a haze.
“Yeah, yeah I’m ok… hang on, I’m on my way back.”
After touching base with Amber, Emilia arrived at Calypso two days after their previous meeting with an old-fashioned tan suitcase by her side. She wore a white collared shirt with a navy vest and matching skirt. Her black ankle boots rested at the bottom of fishnet stockings. She swallowed hard before pushing the door open. Part of her expected Talia to be waiting for her and any hope of starting a new chapter immediately extinguished.
Once inside, that wound up not being the case. The only other soul in the building was Alejandro, sitting at his usual place behind the bar with ledgers spread out in front of him. However, in Talia’s stead lingered a sadness that made her absence more final than she’d anticipated.
“Hey Alejandro, do you need any help?” She asked as she approached the counter.
“Emilia! It’s good to see you. No, I’m fine, thanks. It’s very sweet of you to offer… what do you have going on over here?” He pointed to the suitcase, his voice breaking with a newfound intrigue.
“I’m going to show Amber what I’ve been working on and I wanted to come prepared.” After thinking for a moment, she added, “you don’t have any other props I could use by any chance?"
Your boyfriend kept waking me up with his calls. You should let him know you got here all right. Just because Talia lets her past get in her way doesn’t mean you should too.
“Hmm…” Scarlet studied the letter, somewhat bemused. “Amber’s comments almost sounded like friendly advice…”
Her phone rang before she could think on it any further. It was her sister. “Hey Ruby…”
“Where the hell are you, Scarlet? Javi came by last night looking for you. He said you ran off and you weren’t picking up his calls. I tried you a bunch of times after he left, and you didn’t…” Ruby ran out of air mid-sentence and had to catch her breath.
Scarlet seized this opportunity to skim through her call history because her home screen had no mention of Ruby’s calls. Not including the call accompanied by the voicemail, there was a record of five missed calls after midnight, two from Javier and three from Ruby. A third call from Javier was accepted after a temporary break in the action. That conversation went on for exactly five minutes. Before she could compare the time stamps of his voicemail and the text she replied to, another text from Javier appeared and it gave Amber’s note context Scarlet hadn’t anticipated.
Tell Amber hi for me.
I feel like I still owe her for the Rumba routine she taught me the other day.
Of all our work on stage it’s the one I’m most proud of.
It showed the audience what I saw in you from the start.
Although her mind was still submerged in confusion, Scarlet recognized in the first few seconds of her answer that she was still stuck in a haze.
“Yeah, yeah I’m ok… hang on, I’m on my way back.”
* * *
After touching base with Amber, Emilia arrived at Calypso two days after their previous meeting with an old-fashioned tan suitcase by her side. She wore a white collared shirt with a navy vest and matching skirt. Her black ankle boots rested at the bottom of fishnet stockings. She swallowed hard before pushing the door open. Part of her expected Talia to be waiting for her and any hope of starting a new chapter immediately extinguished.
Once inside, that wound up not being the case. The only other soul in the building was Alejandro, sitting at his usual place behind the bar with ledgers spread out in front of him. However, in Talia’s stead lingered a sadness that made her absence more final than she’d anticipated.
“Hey Alejandro, do you need any help?” She asked as she approached the counter.
“Emilia! It’s good to see you. No, I’m fine, thanks. It’s very sweet of you to offer… what do you have going on over here?” He pointed to the suitcase, his voice breaking with a newfound intrigue.
“I’m going to show Amber what I’ve been working on and I wanted to come prepared.” After thinking for a moment, she added, “you don’t have any other props I could use by any chance?"
He quickly closed the books and locked them in the office. “Sure, tell me what you need and I’ll get it out of storage for you.”
“Are you sure it’s not too much trouble? You seem a little busy.”
“No problem at all. Besides, I’d been at work since sunrise. I could use the break anyway. So what should I look for?”
Emilia listed a handful of items as they walked side by side to the back storage unit. His eyes were red around the edges, so his previous statement hadn’t been an exaggeration. Despite this, his good-natured demeanor remained intact. “I’m sorry you have all this extra work to do…”
“Emilia, you don’t need to worry about me. All this is just part of the job. Vanessa already offered to help with the scheduling, so we’ll be fine.”
“Ok. I just don’t want you to feel like you have to lie to protect me.”
“Understood. That’s a promise.”
The two of them emerged 10 minutes later with a hospital room partition, a small table to lay the suitcase open and a small easel with a dry erase board. As Alejandro helped her set everything in place, Emilia mentally recalled the part of her conversation with Amber involving Alejandro. As casual as she could manage, she asked, “So what’d you think of Amber’s show the other night? Maybe it’s because I’ve been doing a lot of the same routines at rehearsal lately, but it felt like the best thing I’d seen in a while.”
“I really don’t like last minute changes like that. Talia and Amber might enjoy the unpredictability. But as the Americans say, ‘it could turn into a logistical nightmare.’” Catching Emilia’s bewildered expression, he explained, “Sometimes you can’t help but overhear some of the conversations from the tourists that come in here.” Returning to her original question, he said, “It’s almost like… something about you being here brought out that spark in her. And a few weeks before that, when you did that number with the twins. You have that spark that makes everyone want to do better.”
“Except Talia… if what happened the other day is any indication, nothing I could do will ever change who she is.”
“Eh,” he playfully nudged her shoulder “I wouldn’t sell myself so short. You talked her into bringing me into a performance, remember? It may have been short-lived but at least it was something.” Just as quickly, his optimism dissipated. He stared into space with the kind of seriousness Emilia had only seen in him a couple times. “It’s a sad truth about life. As much as you wish people can change, they have to be the ones to make that choice.”
Emilia used the temporary silence to consider her new partnership with Amber, but also her perpetual refusal to work with Ruby despite the time they spent together. She paused halfway through scribbling her title on the dry erase board and thought aloud, “what if that happens with Amber? Will things be different with me and her than they are with her and the others?”
“Are you sure it’s not too much trouble? You seem a little busy.”
“No problem at all. Besides, I’d been at work since sunrise. I could use the break anyway. So what should I look for?”
Emilia listed a handful of items as they walked side by side to the back storage unit. His eyes were red around the edges, so his previous statement hadn’t been an exaggeration. Despite this, his good-natured demeanor remained intact. “I’m sorry you have all this extra work to do…”
“Emilia, you don’t need to worry about me. All this is just part of the job. Vanessa already offered to help with the scheduling, so we’ll be fine.”
“Ok. I just don’t want you to feel like you have to lie to protect me.”
“Understood. That’s a promise.”
The two of them emerged 10 minutes later with a hospital room partition, a small table to lay the suitcase open and a small easel with a dry erase board. As Alejandro helped her set everything in place, Emilia mentally recalled the part of her conversation with Amber involving Alejandro. As casual as she could manage, she asked, “So what’d you think of Amber’s show the other night? Maybe it’s because I’ve been doing a lot of the same routines at rehearsal lately, but it felt like the best thing I’d seen in a while.”
“I really don’t like last minute changes like that. Talia and Amber might enjoy the unpredictability. But as the Americans say, ‘it could turn into a logistical nightmare.’” Catching Emilia’s bewildered expression, he explained, “Sometimes you can’t help but overhear some of the conversations from the tourists that come in here.” Returning to her original question, he said, “It’s almost like… something about you being here brought out that spark in her. And a few weeks before that, when you did that number with the twins. You have that spark that makes everyone want to do better.”
“Except Talia… if what happened the other day is any indication, nothing I could do will ever change who she is.”
“Eh,” he playfully nudged her shoulder “I wouldn’t sell myself so short. You talked her into bringing me into a performance, remember? It may have been short-lived but at least it was something.” Just as quickly, his optimism dissipated. He stared into space with the kind of seriousness Emilia had only seen in him a couple times. “It’s a sad truth about life. As much as you wish people can change, they have to be the ones to make that choice.”
Emilia used the temporary silence to consider her new partnership with Amber, but also her perpetual refusal to work with Ruby despite the time they spent together. She paused halfway through scribbling her title on the dry erase board and thought aloud, “what if that happens with Amber? Will things be different with me and her than they are with her and the others?”
“Nothing is for sure, Emilia. Personally, I’d stay out of the gossip. I’m sure you’ve heard rumors from the others but the important thing I want you to worry about is making your own choices. She has her relationship with the others and she’s wanted this partnership with you for a long time.” He looked up toward the entrance just as Amber arrived, the main door squeaking closed behind her.
He smiled and raised a hand to wave hi to her. She quickly nodded when she met his eye, immediately turning her attention back to the vast display on stage. “I’ll just get out of your way then.” Alejandro hopped off stage. “Room’s all yours, Amber. I’ll be in the office if you need anything.”
“Sure, thanks.” Without another word, he crossed the room and promptly shut the office door behind him.
Loud enough for only herself to hear, Amber grumbled as she shook her head, “unbelievable… Talia’s out of the way and it’s still like she owns this place.” After that brief lapse, she composed herself as she approached. “How’s it going over there?”
“Hey Amber!” While she put the finishing touches on her setup, Emilia unloaded every little idea about this routine that had accumulated in her brain over the past two days. “Just imagine a smoke machine going on the side of the stage and I emerge from the mist as the song kicks into gear. I was also thinking instead of a curtain, I’d come out of a magician’s box—dark blue but adorned with stars. The rest of the stuff here was all I could manage on short notice. I really want to start getting things together.”
Amber’s eyes skimmed over the props present on stage. In addition to the curtain was a small table, which held an open suitcase full of clothes, and a large white board that read: “MAGIC SHOW! Starring…” in print. In script beneath, it read: “Whoever you want me to be.”
“Huh,” Amber mused with a smirk creeping on the right side of her face, “Such eagerness… sounds like this will be quite the show.”
Emilia began the music and immediately got into character. In the same three seconds it took Amber to recognize which song it was, she slowly covered her mouth with her right hand to hide her reaction. She’d only spent a few hours with Emilia in the time she’d known her, but she never imagined anything like this.
Despite the suggestive lyrics, the routine began innocently enough. Emilia employed all of the tricks she’d acquired from her jazz training. A lot of quick turns and spins. Leg extensions where her legs went up so high, the rest of her body had to lean at a 45-degree angle to keep its balance. Half the time, her fedora (bejeweled in a band around the middle) served as an extension of her lines and the other half, it was a prop she tossed in the air or rolled down her arm. Each time, she caught it long before there was any danger of it hitting the ground. All of this happened in the first 45 seconds and Amber marveled at every second.
Then things took an interesting turn. For a brief second, Emilia disappeared behind the partition and emerged in a form-fitting lacy white corset. She did another leg extension and a spin. During which, the top of her garment flopped away from her and a flicker of black was briefly visible under the bow. The lyrics dabbled back and forth through opposing phrases. Again, for a brief instant, Emilia went behind the curtain and emerged in something new. This time, it was a black flapper dress with a line of shimmering fringe draping from the bottom. More staccato jazz nuances followed. The only difference was the way Emilia batted her eyelashes and pursed her lips. Amber succeeded in keeping her face neutral as the performance continued. In the confines of her mind, meanwhile, a flurry of activity took place for the remainder of its duration.
“Scarlet!” Ruby shot up from the sofa in the living quarters when her sister slipped inside their apartment.
Seeing Ruby’s anxious approach with arms open wide, Scarlet’s back hit the wall and she cringed into herself. “Please don’t…” Recognizing this guarded position from yesterday, Ruby immediately backed away. “I’m sorry. I’ve just been so worried…”
“I know… I just couldn’t come back here last night after…”
“What? What happened?”
Scarlet quickly wiped her eyes in case the tears started coming up again. “I dreamt that he found me… Javi was lying in a pool of blood… it seemed so real.” She covered her mouth to muffle any screams that might come up. Instead, all she found was hyperventilating.
“Maybe you should sit down before…” Ruby tried again to approach, but even slowing her pace wasn’t good enough.
“Don’t tell me what I should do! Every time this happens, we go through the same thing and it never helps me. That’s another reason I went over to see Amber instead of coming back here.”
“You stayed over at Amber’s? Hey, wait…” Scarlet brushed past her so fast, it took a few extra seconds for it to register in her brain.
To keep herself busy and out of her sister’s line of sight, Scarlet spent the next several minutes washing her face and rummaging through her clothes.
Ruby leaned against the door frame, slowly taking it all in. “Amber let you crash on her couch last night? That was nice of her… if it was me, she probably would’ve slammed the door in my face.” She didn’t know whether she meant that as a joke or a savage opinion; regardless of the motivation, Scarlet offered nothing in return. She redirected, “What are you going to do about Javi? I understand Talia ditching JP, but Javi has been really good to you. I don’t want to see you lose that because of our bastard of a father.”
“I know,” Scarlet exhaled, “I’m still figuring that out too. He did leave me a voicemail and a text… so I texted him back. We’re still going to stay in touch, but I don’t know if I can…”
Scarlet stared down at the mass of clothes she’d piled on her bed and took a few deep breaths. Slowly, Ruby reached toward her arms and rubbed them to ease the shaking. “It’s ok… we can figure this out together.”
Scarlet sniffled, swallowing back her tears. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, Ruby, but don’t you think we would’ve figured it out already if we could?”
Ruby thought over what this implied and she didn’t like it any better than the current situation. But for her sister’s sake, she was willing to do anything to help. “I think it might be good for you to take a long hot shower. And if you still want to go through with whatever you’re thinking once you’re done, I’ll support you all the way. Even if it’s something I can’t be part of.”
Scarlet spun around and hugged her sister tight. There was no verbal “thank you” but Ruby accepted it as a substitute. In one sweeping motion, Scarlet grabbed her towel and a change of clothes and disappeared into the bathroom.
With a huge smile on her face, Emilia panted, “so, what’d you think?”
The anticipation made Emilia’s entire body shake with excitement like an overzealous puppy. “How’d I do? Did you like it?”
Trying to let her down easy, Amber let her trademark sarcasm take over as she came on stage, “Well, if your goal was to make something that’d make Talia freak out, I think you made your point. I swear, the two of you have this weird mother-daughter dynamic going on and this felt like a teenager getting back at their parents for not extending their curfew.”
Emilia ground her teeth. “You’re right. She’d never let me do anything like this. I just thought that’d be a fun showcase for your production.”
“Yeah, but…” Amber sighed, slowly crossing her arms, “what do you want people to know about you after watching this? The point of this show is for us to show who we really are. Just by watching this, I wouldn’t know who you are. This either says you are still trying to find yourself or you’re trying to be mysterious and trust me, you’re not seasoned enough to make mysterious work.”
“Ugh,” Emilia threw up her arms and started pacing. “Honestly, I thought this was the kind of thing you wanted. Between the lingerie and The Underground… I’m always doing what other people want, but they never want to hear what I want to say. Why did Talia hire me at all if I’m not allowed to have a voice?”
Amber nodded, thoughtfully. “Trust me, I know it’s frustrating to have your creativity stifled.” She walked behind the partition, finding a tearaway of the vest and skirt from the first verse. The suitcase was full of different costumes, including a schoolgirl uniform and a sexy nurse’s outfit.
“I figured I’d do different costumes every show to keep people on their toes.”
“I mean, it’s a cute idea, but I don’t think it’s the best thing for you. Maybe for Scarlet and Ruby… I set them up with a routine a little while ago, but I never imagined anything like this where they’re doing that whole Gemini thing.”
“Which one?”
“The one with the jewel thieves.” Amber quickly turned the conversation around before follow-up questions arose. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. Not everyone gets it right the first few times. And just from watching your other routine with the twins, it’s clear they believe in your ideas. You’re not alone in this.”
“So now what? What do you think I should do?”
Amber raced over to the stereo and picked up the sleeve of CD’s on the nearby shelf. “We might need to start from scratch. If that album doesn’t work for you, we’ll have to find something else that will.” As Amber slowly flipped through pages, it didn’t take long for Emilia to realize some sleeves were empty. Each had a note stating the album title, artist and the track listing attached, but also had in bold lotters FOR AMBER’S USE ONLY- DO NOT TOUCH. Emilia looked at her with an inquisitive expression and Amber quickly added, “Talia has stolen some of my songs over the years. I finally decided to take back the music I’m super attached to so she doesn’t turn it into something so good anything I do will come up short. The alien routine I did the other night came about after she stole another song with the same idea behind it… it didn’t even work the way she wanted it. So, I lost that song for nothing.”
Emilia acknowledged her plight with a nod and they continued forward. She recognized the next two albums from her own collection. As she traced her fingers over them, Amber noted, “Vanessa wanted to use some of these for her birthday, so I left these for her.”
“I have these too, but I haven’t listened to them in years.” Her eyebrows crinkled for a moment before she said, “Track 2 on this one has an interesting title. I kinda wanna see what that one’s about.”
Amber followed her line of sight and murmured, “Huh, not sure if I remember this one… sure, put it in and we’ll find out.”
As Emilia set everything up, Amber’s chest swelled with warmth and she reached her heart to keep calm. Even if this was another mistake, she was ecstatic that her vision of working with Emilia was finally becoming a reality. The song began with a monologue, giving Emilia a little extra time to take center stage and revert her wardrobe to the white corset. She closed her eyes and let the music move her. Her arms spread apart, but there was very little movement below the waist. There was a bang-bang-bang just before the chorus hit and Emilia braced her right hip and shook it on the beat. Slow motion cha-cha followed and became the mainstay of the dance. The lyrics, astonishingly enough, fit Emilia’s life at Calypso and how everyone had been so overprotective.
Once the song ended, Amber clapped. Emilia blushed, rubbing her neck. “I mean, it’s probably not a good fit for the show but…”
“It’s a perfect fit for you. That’s good enough for now. After we’re done with all this, that’s the first thing we’ll work on.”
“But we still don’t have a number for the show…”
Amber started pacing, letting whatever came to mind be spoken. “I still think you need to do something that’ll endear you to the audience, give them something to root for. If there was maybe something like your cheerleader routine, but instead of playing the victim, you’re taking ownership of your life. I’m guessing it was about an ex-boyfriend?”
“Yeah, we were going to move in together. Then he found someone else. After I caught him cheating, he tried to win me back, but it was too late. I was so done with him at that point…” Suddenly, she gasped, “Oh my god, I think I have a song that’ll work. But it’s by an indie artist so…”
“So what? Talia isn’t here to disapprove, is she? No, that’s exactly what we need to pump some new blood into this place.” She quickly checked the clock in the back of the room. It was well past noon by this point. “Tell you what. Tonight, we’ll listen together, and we’ll figure out the next step.”
“Cool, awesome!” Emilia rushed over and threw her arms around Amber. “Thank you.”
Amber let her stay in the moment for a second before breaking her grip. “Yeah, ok, that’s enough touchy-feely stuff. I’ll see you later.”
“Ok, thanks again.” She gathered her articles of clothing back into the suitcase and ran down the steps. Halfway down the floor, she looked to her right, “see you tomorrow, Alejandro!”
“You too, Emilia. Glad it worked out for you today.”
Amber froze and turned in the direction of his voice. It was hard to be sure from so far away, but it looked like he was smiling.
He smiled and raised a hand to wave hi to her. She quickly nodded when she met his eye, immediately turning her attention back to the vast display on stage. “I’ll just get out of your way then.” Alejandro hopped off stage. “Room’s all yours, Amber. I’ll be in the office if you need anything.”
“Sure, thanks.” Without another word, he crossed the room and promptly shut the office door behind him.
Loud enough for only herself to hear, Amber grumbled as she shook her head, “unbelievable… Talia’s out of the way and it’s still like she owns this place.” After that brief lapse, she composed herself as she approached. “How’s it going over there?”
“Hey Amber!” While she put the finishing touches on her setup, Emilia unloaded every little idea about this routine that had accumulated in her brain over the past two days. “Just imagine a smoke machine going on the side of the stage and I emerge from the mist as the song kicks into gear. I was also thinking instead of a curtain, I’d come out of a magician’s box—dark blue but adorned with stars. The rest of the stuff here was all I could manage on short notice. I really want to start getting things together.”
Amber’s eyes skimmed over the props present on stage. In addition to the curtain was a small table, which held an open suitcase full of clothes, and a large white board that read: “MAGIC SHOW! Starring…” in print. In script beneath, it read: “Whoever you want me to be.”
“Huh,” Amber mused with a smirk creeping on the right side of her face, “Such eagerness… sounds like this will be quite the show.”
Emilia began the music and immediately got into character. In the same three seconds it took Amber to recognize which song it was, she slowly covered her mouth with her right hand to hide her reaction. She’d only spent a few hours with Emilia in the time she’d known her, but she never imagined anything like this.
Despite the suggestive lyrics, the routine began innocently enough. Emilia employed all of the tricks she’d acquired from her jazz training. A lot of quick turns and spins. Leg extensions where her legs went up so high, the rest of her body had to lean at a 45-degree angle to keep its balance. Half the time, her fedora (bejeweled in a band around the middle) served as an extension of her lines and the other half, it was a prop she tossed in the air or rolled down her arm. Each time, she caught it long before there was any danger of it hitting the ground. All of this happened in the first 45 seconds and Amber marveled at every second.
Then things took an interesting turn. For a brief second, Emilia disappeared behind the partition and emerged in a form-fitting lacy white corset. She did another leg extension and a spin. During which, the top of her garment flopped away from her and a flicker of black was briefly visible under the bow. The lyrics dabbled back and forth through opposing phrases. Again, for a brief instant, Emilia went behind the curtain and emerged in something new. This time, it was a black flapper dress with a line of shimmering fringe draping from the bottom. More staccato jazz nuances followed. The only difference was the way Emilia batted her eyelashes and pursed her lips. Amber succeeded in keeping her face neutral as the performance continued. In the confines of her mind, meanwhile, a flurry of activity took place for the remainder of its duration.
* * *
“Scarlet!” Ruby shot up from the sofa in the living quarters when her sister slipped inside their apartment.
Seeing Ruby’s anxious approach with arms open wide, Scarlet’s back hit the wall and she cringed into herself. “Please don’t…” Recognizing this guarded position from yesterday, Ruby immediately backed away. “I’m sorry. I’ve just been so worried…”
“I know… I just couldn’t come back here last night after…”
“What? What happened?”
Scarlet quickly wiped her eyes in case the tears started coming up again. “I dreamt that he found me… Javi was lying in a pool of blood… it seemed so real.” She covered her mouth to muffle any screams that might come up. Instead, all she found was hyperventilating.
“Maybe you should sit down before…” Ruby tried again to approach, but even slowing her pace wasn’t good enough.
“Don’t tell me what I should do! Every time this happens, we go through the same thing and it never helps me. That’s another reason I went over to see Amber instead of coming back here.”
“You stayed over at Amber’s? Hey, wait…” Scarlet brushed past her so fast, it took a few extra seconds for it to register in her brain.
To keep herself busy and out of her sister’s line of sight, Scarlet spent the next several minutes washing her face and rummaging through her clothes.
Ruby leaned against the door frame, slowly taking it all in. “Amber let you crash on her couch last night? That was nice of her… if it was me, she probably would’ve slammed the door in my face.” She didn’t know whether she meant that as a joke or a savage opinion; regardless of the motivation, Scarlet offered nothing in return. She redirected, “What are you going to do about Javi? I understand Talia ditching JP, but Javi has been really good to you. I don’t want to see you lose that because of our bastard of a father.”
“I know,” Scarlet exhaled, “I’m still figuring that out too. He did leave me a voicemail and a text… so I texted him back. We’re still going to stay in touch, but I don’t know if I can…”
Scarlet stared down at the mass of clothes she’d piled on her bed and took a few deep breaths. Slowly, Ruby reached toward her arms and rubbed them to ease the shaking. “It’s ok… we can figure this out together.”
Scarlet sniffled, swallowing back her tears. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, Ruby, but don’t you think we would’ve figured it out already if we could?”
Ruby thought over what this implied and she didn’t like it any better than the current situation. But for her sister’s sake, she was willing to do anything to help. “I think it might be good for you to take a long hot shower. And if you still want to go through with whatever you’re thinking once you’re done, I’ll support you all the way. Even if it’s something I can’t be part of.”
Scarlet spun around and hugged her sister tight. There was no verbal “thank you” but Ruby accepted it as a substitute. In one sweeping motion, Scarlet grabbed her towel and a change of clothes and disappeared into the bathroom.
* * *
With a huge smile on her face, Emilia panted, “so, what’d you think?”
The anticipation made Emilia’s entire body shake with excitement like an overzealous puppy. “How’d I do? Did you like it?”
Trying to let her down easy, Amber let her trademark sarcasm take over as she came on stage, “Well, if your goal was to make something that’d make Talia freak out, I think you made your point. I swear, the two of you have this weird mother-daughter dynamic going on and this felt like a teenager getting back at their parents for not extending their curfew.”
Emilia ground her teeth. “You’re right. She’d never let me do anything like this. I just thought that’d be a fun showcase for your production.”
“Yeah, but…” Amber sighed, slowly crossing her arms, “what do you want people to know about you after watching this? The point of this show is for us to show who we really are. Just by watching this, I wouldn’t know who you are. This either says you are still trying to find yourself or you’re trying to be mysterious and trust me, you’re not seasoned enough to make mysterious work.”
“Ugh,” Emilia threw up her arms and started pacing. “Honestly, I thought this was the kind of thing you wanted. Between the lingerie and The Underground… I’m always doing what other people want, but they never want to hear what I want to say. Why did Talia hire me at all if I’m not allowed to have a voice?”
Amber nodded, thoughtfully. “Trust me, I know it’s frustrating to have your creativity stifled.” She walked behind the partition, finding a tearaway of the vest and skirt from the first verse. The suitcase was full of different costumes, including a schoolgirl uniform and a sexy nurse’s outfit.
“I figured I’d do different costumes every show to keep people on their toes.”
“I mean, it’s a cute idea, but I don’t think it’s the best thing for you. Maybe for Scarlet and Ruby… I set them up with a routine a little while ago, but I never imagined anything like this where they’re doing that whole Gemini thing.”
“Which one?”
“The one with the jewel thieves.” Amber quickly turned the conversation around before follow-up questions arose. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. Not everyone gets it right the first few times. And just from watching your other routine with the twins, it’s clear they believe in your ideas. You’re not alone in this.”
“So now what? What do you think I should do?”
Amber raced over to the stereo and picked up the sleeve of CD’s on the nearby shelf. “We might need to start from scratch. If that album doesn’t work for you, we’ll have to find something else that will.” As Amber slowly flipped through pages, it didn’t take long for Emilia to realize some sleeves were empty. Each had a note stating the album title, artist and the track listing attached, but also had in bold lotters FOR AMBER’S USE ONLY- DO NOT TOUCH. Emilia looked at her with an inquisitive expression and Amber quickly added, “Talia has stolen some of my songs over the years. I finally decided to take back the music I’m super attached to so she doesn’t turn it into something so good anything I do will come up short. The alien routine I did the other night came about after she stole another song with the same idea behind it… it didn’t even work the way she wanted it. So, I lost that song for nothing.”
Emilia acknowledged her plight with a nod and they continued forward. She recognized the next two albums from her own collection. As she traced her fingers over them, Amber noted, “Vanessa wanted to use some of these for her birthday, so I left these for her.”
“I have these too, but I haven’t listened to them in years.” Her eyebrows crinkled for a moment before she said, “Track 2 on this one has an interesting title. I kinda wanna see what that one’s about.”
Amber followed her line of sight and murmured, “Huh, not sure if I remember this one… sure, put it in and we’ll find out.”
As Emilia set everything up, Amber’s chest swelled with warmth and she reached her heart to keep calm. Even if this was another mistake, she was ecstatic that her vision of working with Emilia was finally becoming a reality. The song began with a monologue, giving Emilia a little extra time to take center stage and revert her wardrobe to the white corset. She closed her eyes and let the music move her. Her arms spread apart, but there was very little movement below the waist. There was a bang-bang-bang just before the chorus hit and Emilia braced her right hip and shook it on the beat. Slow motion cha-cha followed and became the mainstay of the dance. The lyrics, astonishingly enough, fit Emilia’s life at Calypso and how everyone had been so overprotective.
Once the song ended, Amber clapped. Emilia blushed, rubbing her neck. “I mean, it’s probably not a good fit for the show but…”
“It’s a perfect fit for you. That’s good enough for now. After we’re done with all this, that’s the first thing we’ll work on.”
“But we still don’t have a number for the show…”
Amber started pacing, letting whatever came to mind be spoken. “I still think you need to do something that’ll endear you to the audience, give them something to root for. If there was maybe something like your cheerleader routine, but instead of playing the victim, you’re taking ownership of your life. I’m guessing it was about an ex-boyfriend?”
“Yeah, we were going to move in together. Then he found someone else. After I caught him cheating, he tried to win me back, but it was too late. I was so done with him at that point…” Suddenly, she gasped, “Oh my god, I think I have a song that’ll work. But it’s by an indie artist so…”
“So what? Talia isn’t here to disapprove, is she? No, that’s exactly what we need to pump some new blood into this place.” She quickly checked the clock in the back of the room. It was well past noon by this point. “Tell you what. Tonight, we’ll listen together, and we’ll figure out the next step.”
“Cool, awesome!” Emilia rushed over and threw her arms around Amber. “Thank you.”
Amber let her stay in the moment for a second before breaking her grip. “Yeah, ok, that’s enough touchy-feely stuff. I’ll see you later.”
“Ok, thanks again.” She gathered her articles of clothing back into the suitcase and ran down the steps. Halfway down the floor, she looked to her right, “see you tomorrow, Alejandro!”
“You too, Emilia. Glad it worked out for you today.”
Amber froze and turned in the direction of his voice. It was hard to be sure from so far away, but it looked like he was smiling.
***
Music:
"Government Hooker" by Lady Gaga
-I'd originally planned to use this song for Emilia's number in Amber's show and ultimately changed my mind. I couldn't in good conscience make it work for someone as young and inexperienced as she is.
-Also, the whole idea of quick changing between outfits was loosely inspired by the movie "Chicago." Roxie always wore white and was the innocent girl. Velma was the one with the edge and wore a lot of black. Part of me can see them being two sides of the same coin.
"Overprotected" by Britney Spears
-The paragraph in the story before this song is played was true. I picked up that album for the first time in years to play all the way through. I didn't remember anything about the song itself but the title sparked my interest. No joke- it was a perfect fit. I do something with it later in the story but I wish I did better. If only there was a way to download what I visualize in my head exactly as it is so other people could experience it with me.
-The paragraph in the story before this song is played was true. I picked up that album for the first time in years to play all the way through. I didn't remember anything about the song itself but the title sparked my interest. No joke- it was a perfect fit. I do something with it later in the story but I wish I did better. If only there was a way to download what I visualize in my head exactly as it is so other people could experience it with me.
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