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| This scene doesn't take place in the dark... but this looked too cool not to use for the screenshot |
After Emilia’s departure, Amber spent the next several minutes readying the stage for her own rehearsal. Emilia took her suitcase and clothes with her, leaving Amber to place everything else back in storage. While doing so, she deliberately kept her eyes on what she was doing. Alejandro’s smile moments earlier was fresh in her mind. It was hard not to consider the possibility he was still watching her. Her heart thudded in her chest and her palms started gathering beads of sweat. Despite this, she kept her hands and her breathing steady as to not give anything away.
She finally allowed herself a glance in his direction when she reached the final item (the partition) to remove from the stage. In predictable fashion, his eyes were firmly on his work arranging the bottles behind the bar. He’d moved some of the more expensive spirits into the back and replaced them with a legion of cheap flavored vodkas. She mumbled, “Of course”… before shutting herself inside the storage unit.
Amber rested her back against the wall and sighed heavily. It was extremely rare to be alone at Calypso with Alejandro. But as much as she wanted to tell him everything she’d held back over the years, she knew the timing wasn’t right. Through a series of texts, Vanessa had brought her up to speed regarding Talia and the current state of affairs. A lot of uncertainty about the club’s future hung in the balance and it was up to the rest of them to make sure things didn’t end up in shambles. Amber could only laugh at the irony. “If Talia did her job as our fearless leader, we wouldn’t have to question whether or not we can stand on our own without her.”
Roughly 10 minutes later, Amber returned to center stage. The props she brought forward included a large pair of headphones and a makeshift DJ turntable. She was still figuring out the outfit for this particular number, so she just wore the black camisole, stilettos and tights from her duet with Vanessa. As she focused on what she needed to do, the echo of Alejandro’s feet up the steps made her heart skip a beat.
“What’ve you got happening up here, Amber?”
Coolly, she flipped her hair and walked past him to the stereo to set up her music. “A little idea I’d been brainstorming for my theme night… but I only have a vague idea of how this would fit into the storyline.”
“So, what? You’re thinking of something like a play or a musical?”
She sifted through the sleeve of CDs to keep her hands steady and her mind focused. “Something like that. The goal is that at the end of the night, the audience will learn something new about each of us they didn’t know before.”
“Ah, very nice. Do you mind giving me a little preview?”
Her breath caught. She mentally berated herself into snapping out of it, but kept the façade intact. “Don’t you have paperwork or inventory to take care of?”
“I’m good for a little while. Besides, my eyes need something a little more interesting to look at than just numbers and labels.”
Amber bit her lip but managed to hold back the growing blush in her cheeks in time to respond. “Sure, do what you want. Could you at least get off the stage so I can work?”
“Sure, can’t wait to see what’s next.” She met his gaze, which paired with another pleasant smile, before turning away and finishing her setup. Deep down, she wished she had something more concrete to show off for Alejandro but she wasn’t about to let this opportunity go to waste.
To kick it off, she strutted back toward the turntable with the slightest bit of wiggle in her hips. Once behind the table, she mimed some record scratches while holding the headphones to her ear with the opposite hand. One of the verses in the song rattle through terminology any DJ worth their salt would know. All the while, the lines dripped with cheesy innuendos. For the chorus, she broke away and brought out her inner sex kitten with lots of shimmies and hair flips. She kept an allure in her eyes and her lips locked into a flirtatious smile.
Meanwhile, the back of her mind tripped through a series of fantasies before settling on the one that had become her favorite as of late. She imagined being on stage alone with Alejandro with only a single spotlight above them for a light source. He was sitting in the café chair from her routine with Vanessa. At one point, she sits across his lap and gives him the sexiest lap dance a person could manage while keeping sex barely out of reach. His eyes and smile would marvel at the beauty of her curves and his hands would slowly reach out to wrap around her ribs. In her chats with Vanessa, she revealed how fantasizing helped keep her sane as the siren lifestyle wore on her more over the years. She never went into full detail on what they were about. She only revealed how they helped her cope on the nights she dreaded going to work and thanks to the blindfold, her clients were none the wiser that her attention wasn’t fully with them.
By the time Amber willed herself back into reality, the song had reached its end. She spied Alejandro over by the stereo hitting the stop button before the album progressed to the next song. Her heart sank when she realized not an ounce of excitement registered on his face. In fact, he seemed hesitant as he approached her. Was it concern or disapproval? Neither option was particularly appealing. As he inhaled to speak, she answered for him, “Let me guess… you didn’t like it?” She swallowed upon recognizing the smallest break in her voice.
He’d clearly noticed because his facial features softened in an effort to cushion the blow. “It’s not that I didn’t like it. I just don’t think this sort of thing is you.”
She rolled her eyes yet the amount of disdain she’d normally give was half its typical intensity. “It’d be good enough if it was Talia, but not for me…”
“Hold on, that’s not what I mean. Here…” He jumped off the stage and brought one of the chairs from the main floor up with him.
A glimpse of the fantasy flashed through Amber’s subconscious before she shoved it into the back of her mind. Over and over, she lectured herself, “knock it off, you have to hold yourself together.” Clarity of mind resumed, but with each passing second, she feared her façade was fading away.
“Sit down for a minute and catch your breath.” Amber wordlessly obeyed. By a stroke of luck, Alejandro took the reins of the conversation so all she had to do was nod. As he spoke, he paced back and forth with his hands folded behind his back while occasionally making eye contact with her. This new dynamic was similar to that of a teacher meeting with a student after class to explain how they weren’t living up to their potential. “This has nothing to do with Talia, I promise. This is about how you want to present yourself. What I just saw, I’m sure I’d seen half a dozen times before. I thought the whole point of this thing was to stretch into new territory. Give the audience something they hadn’t seen before.”
She stared down at the ground. “This is why it’s so frustrating spending so much time in other peoples’ shadows. It makes you forget what you want for yourself."
“Sounds like something you and Emilia have in common. She’s told me time and again that she feels like the little sister everyone feels the need to protect. What about you?”
Amber caught his eye then, noticing a slight raise of the eyebrow. “What?”
“What do you feel is your role in the group?”
“Besides always being second best?” She scoffed. She stood up and walked to the opposite side of the stage. Her arms crossed around her chest, a little tighter than she typically would to keep her composure. “Since the day I got here, I’ve always felt like an outsider. The bad girl.”
“Hmm… now that’s the kind of routine I’d like to see from you.” She faced him again. That wonderful smile of his was back. Amber felt her chest swell up with warmth, but again managed to keep her true emotions from reaching her eyes.
By the time Alejandro helped Amber move all of her props back into storage, it was a quarter past one. It was the first day in a long time she’d really enjoyed herself. She just had one pressing issue that needed to be resolved before she could continue forward.
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some unfinished business from last night I need to take care of.”
“Unfinished…” He stuttered, “did everything not go well last night?”
Amber couldn’t help rolling her eyes, but an odd playfulness came out of her as she reassured him, “keep your shirt on. it’s nothing I can’t handle on my own.”
“Well, would it be all right if I asked for a little more information? I already have enough on my mind to worry about. My imagination is the last thing I need to lose control of.”
A sarcastic laugh escaped Amber’s lips as she responded in her thoughts, ‘That makes two of us.’ Between Alejandro’s complexion and the beads of sweat forming above his brow, a familiar sight back when Calypso was on the brink of going under prior to Talia’s arrival, she took pity on him and offered as much as she could without revealing too much. For her sake and Scarlet’s. “I had to call my session short when Scarlet stopped by asking if she could spend the night.”
“Man,” he sighed, “I knew she was taking this thing with Talia hard, but I never thought…”
“Alejandro…” She interrupted, accentuating the seriousness in her tone.
“Ok, I’ll let you finish.”
“She’s ok. She just needs a little space to work through some things. You don’t have anything to worry about.”
“What makes you so sure? It isn’t as if you spend a lot of time together.”
“I’d say you have to trust me but that might be asking too much. If you’d rather get the full story from her, go right ahead. But in case you’ve forgotten, Scarlet isn’t Talia. None of us are. She’s overcome many things and she’ll continue to do so.”
Alejandro slowly picked his jaw off the floor and composed himself. “I believe you… that was a pretty nice thing for you to do.”
Her lips curled into a crooked smile. “Tsk, tell me something I don’t know.”
Amber spent her entire walk home on that single phone call. Her client was still a little put off by the interruption, but he calmed down when she explained the details. Except in emergencies, clients were bound by confidentiality, so she conveyed some extra details Alejandro didn’t get to hear. How Scarlet’s past was now affecting her present and she needed to sleep on someone’s couch to get her head straight. The contract was finalized just as her building came into view—with Scarlet standing out front with a suitcase.
Amber hissed and the voice on the other end called attention to it. “Tell you what… I’ll come to you. See you in 10.” She quickly hung up and trotted toward Scarlet. “Um… mind telling me what this is all about?”
“I’m sorry,” Scarlet bowed her head, “I know I should have run this by you before I did all this. I just thought I’d crash here for a few days while I figure things out.”
Amber averted her gaze and let out a heavy sigh as her hands found their way to her hips. “Did you talk to Javier like I asked you to?”
“Yeah. I mean, I texted him. He and Ruby are up to speed with everything.”
“Good…” Amber strode past her and opened the door for her. “I did say you’re welcome for as long as you need, and I hold myself to that. I just want to be sure I won’t have to worry about my door being broken down because nobody else knew where you were.” Scarlet bit her lip while Amber’s attention was elsewhere. After reading the note from that morning, she was able to recognize when Amber was using sarcasm to mask her true intentions. She may have been putting emphasis on how this would be an inconvenience, but the fact she didn’t immediately say no told her what she needed.
“You might want to stay out of my room. It’s still a bit of a mess, but otherwise feel free to help yourself to all of the facilities. I have to go finish what I started from last night. Ugh,” she groaned as she went through her drawers to grab a few trinkets and ties, “I’m so glad this is the last time I’m doing this. I never thought I’d make another house call after what happened last time.”
“Hey, wait…” Scarlet immediately abandoned her suitcase and ran after Amber, who was already halfway out the door. “Do you want me on standby as your wingman?”
Amber whirled around. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s something I do with Ruby. I may not be in the apartment when she has someone over, but she asks me to have my phone nearby in case she needs assistance. She’s never had to use it, but I always insist on it. It’s the least I could do for everything you did for me last night.”
Amber quickly turned away to hide her blush. “Ye…yeah, sure. I’ll probably be fine. I’ve had this one a few times before, but if it’ll make you feel better, sure.” With that said, she pushed herself forward before she could respond further with a “thank you.”
* * *
Amber’s session went as planned. She even enjoyed herself despite the fact all of her limbs were restrained. The payout made the whole ordeal worth it. She called Scarlet to reassure her everything went fine. Once that was out of the way, she ran through her plans for the day with an amendment or two. “You’re on your own for lunch, but I can bring back dinner. Is there anything special you want?”
“As long as it’s nothing spicy, I’m good with anything, thanks.”
“Oh, and Emilia is supposed to stop by later tonight. If I’m not back by then, accommodate her however she needs, even if it’s just giving her feedback.”
“Ok, ok, you got it. You’re really excited for this, aren’t you?”
“No offense, but any chance I get to do something that doesn’t involve your sister is exciting. Later.” She abruptly hung up then. The smile that stayed behind was impossible to shake off until she returned to Calypso. Part of her even wished it and her upbeat attitude could stay forever, but she knew they couldn’t. Not until she was absolutely ready.
Alejandro looked up when Amber reentered the building. He called over, “I got what I needed from Scarlet. The story checks out.”
“Great… now if you don’t mind, I have work to do.” She avoided his gaze when she said this, but she missed the knowing smirk he wore in doing so. Scarlet wasn’t the only person that day who found the secret code for her signature sarcasm. As the album played over the speakers, she laid on the stage on her stomach, her feet crossed in the air, as she jotted down notes. But while the ideas flowed seamlessly, the transitions proved elusive. Frustrated, she left without a word to Alejandro, who’d disappeared back into the office.
He did however leave a note at the bar reading: “Great job today. Looking forward to seeing more tomorrow. P.S. Emilia’s favorite is tandoori chicken from the Currying Favor food truck.” She rested her hand on her heart. Today felt like a dream and she hoped with everything in her that she wouldn’t wake up for a while.
Food in hand, she started the trip home. A few blocks away, she heard a vibration that built as she drew closer. It was obviously music, but typically Calypso was the only place where it played that loud. Her apartment came into view a minute later. Light peeked through the closed curtains. Her door was open by the smallest crack.
“That’s strange,” Amber wondered as she tiptoed closer, “why does this feel like a scene from a movie where all this anticipation builds up…” She slowly poked her head inside and she was stunned almost beyond description.
The music in question came from a stereo Emilia had brought over with an MP3 player nestled in its holder. In a flash, she did another costume change. This time, pulling two ribbons apart changed her schoolgirl uniform into her vest from the start of her previous routine. The whole set up was an even feistier version of the cheerleader routine, but Emilia took her notes about not smiling and embodying the essence of the song’s message. The chorus had footwork Amber could only describe as Riverdance meets Swan Lake, Irish step fused with ballet.
Amber stood in the doorway completely unnoticed for the entire song. She was tempted to interrupt somewhere to say that was good for now, but she honestly didn’t want it to end. So she waited until Scarlet turned off the stereo before she gave herself away with slow applause. “Now that’s more like it. I think we have our starting point.”
***
Music: "Starstruck" by Lady Gaga (feat. Space Cowboy and Flo Rida)
-What took place in the fantasy sequence was my original plan for the scene. I decided maybe a year after I originally wrote it that it was the wrong move. It'd be way too forward for Amber's character to literally give Alejandro a lap dance- especially when she's biding her time to come forward about everything
The song at the end of the chapter- that'll be a surprise. But it's from someone from American Idol I bought an EP from on iTunes.
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