 |
| Scarlet's living her best life |
Vanessa returned to Calypso the following day. Alejandro brought her up to speed the moment she arrived. “Good to see you, Vanessa. Amber messaged to let me know she’d be late. It sounds like Emilia’s routine is coming together really well.”
“That’s good…” She sighed as she laid her purse and her elbows down on the counter.
Before the silence between them grew too awkward, he addressed the elephant in the room, “So, how is she? Still not talking to you?”
“Yeah… the good news is that the flow of random strangers has stopped. It’s just been her and Carlos for the past day. He hasn’t given me much to go on but at least he’s someone I know we can trust in case something comes up.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “He is a good man… one of my uncles’ oldest friends. If they weren’t so busy with ongoing meetings… well, they’d be grateful someone like him was looking out for her in their place.”
“They can’t postpone just to check on her?”
“Not with these meetings… they focus on the next five years of business and possible personnel changes to go along with that.”
Noticing how Vanessa’s lips pursed with interest, he quickly steered the conversation back to Talia before further questions arose. No matter whose perspective it came from, it wasn’t his story to tell. “I’m assuming there is some bad news as well.”
Vanessa hissed to express her discomfort, “Well… whatever plan she had to keep herself numb to her feelings, she had to put it on pause. At least until the pain resides.”
“Pain?” Alejandro gasped, but before he could ask further, she clarified, “monthly women’s pains.”
“Oh…” Realizing he was blushing, he quickly cleared his throat and excused himself before returning to the office.
Vanessa leaned forward, sighing again as she recalled the state of things before she left. Through the course of the night, Talia’s cries of pain had woken her up multiple times. Then while she gathered her things before leaving, whispering from two distinct voices were barely audible through her walls. One was decidedly downhearted while the other tried its best to be optimistic.
As a courtesy, Vanessa knocked to inform the others. “Hey Talia? I’m leaving now for rehearsal. I know you’re still mad at me but if you need anything, I can pick something up on the way home.”
The door opened slowly, her heart skipping in response. It sunk when Carlos was the one peeking his head out the door. “I have everything handled, Vanessa. You have nothing to worry about.” He allowed her room for a proper glimpse. Talia deliberately avoided eye contact, staring at the floorboards. She was sitting up in bed, her bent legs still covered with a layer of blankets, with her arms wrapped around her knees. A white cord, to what Vanessa could only guess was a heating pad, stretched from under the blanket covering her stomach to the nearest outlet. Even without makeup and her hair in slight disarray, Talia still radiated beauty. But her self-confidence was so diminished, the signature aura that dazzled all who laid eyes on her was all but gone.
“Ok, thank you…” Carlos walked her to the door, assuring her in passing her he’d help in every way he can. It was his way of repaying Talia for her assistance with his “performance issues” two months ago.
* * *
Calypso saw a whirlwind of activity over the next several days. Amber and Emilia were nearly inseparable as they played different ideas off each other for the show. There would be three different sets: the back alley where Emilia did the opening number, the interior of a club where the bulk of the story took place and an exterior street view for Amber’s solo and the grand finale. As they experimented with different songs for various sequences, Amber said more than once how she wished they had a full script to set this show apart but wasn’t having any luck. A day or two later, Emilia came to rehearsal with three notebook pages full of ideas. While her character arc was completely fleshed out, she was unsure about the others.
“If the others just speak from experience and improvise, there’s a lot of potential for encore presentations. It would be a slightly different show every night. I also thought it’d be cool if we played off each other… not just attacking our exes but showing how we’re a group of friends that lift each other up.”
“So, kinda like a ‘sisters before misters’ type of thing?”
Emilia screwed up her face, somewhat confused, “I’ve never heard that phrase before, but I can’t think of a better way to put Talia’s philosophy.”
Talia’s name didn’t come up nearly as often as it used to, but when it did, an awkward silence filled the void until someone changed the subject.
“Have you figured out your character yet, Amber?”
“I have the song picked but I’m still working out the minor details…” She eyed Scarlet over by the bar stools where she was having a spirited conversation with Vanessa.
Ever since her falling out with Talia, Vanessa’s face had gained a few wrinkles from excessive worrying. Scarlet was the only one who asked her for any updates, but with so little to report, both of them lost the desire to dwell on something that would only depress them.
Through her regular texts with Javier, she asked about Juan Paulo once every day. The only response he could muster was a variation of “he’s keeping himself busy with his music.” Beyond that, she regularly filled him in on the progress with Amber’s show. Her enthusiasm was so palpable, even in print, Javier encouraged her more than once to ask Amber if she could join in. Whether they were messaging for 10 minutes or 10 hours, Scarlet abruptly ended the exchange every time he brought this up. Vanessa didn’t think too much of this until one day when Scarlet rushed into the bathroom with her hand clutched over her mouth before she could complete her latest reply. She peered over at Javier’s last text, which read:
You performed with me no problem
How hard can a solo be?
Amber really wants to work with you
She won’t say it but when she taught me that dance I could tell she did it to make sure you were happy
Vanessa started toward the bathroom when a startling realization made her take pause. For the first time in several days, the stage was completely silent. Amber was next to the stereo console, her pointer finger firmly on the pause button. Emilia asked Vanessa, clutching her fist to her chest, “is everything ok?”
Vanessa opened her mouth to answer but Amber quickly stepped in, “no… it’s not. I should’ve known this wasn’t going to be a perfect solution.”
Vanessa studied the knowing glint in her eyes and asked, “what do you mean?”
“I thought Scarlet would feel better if she stayed in touch with Javier even if it was just texting. I think we’re at a point where that isn’t working anymore.”
“I don’t understand,” Emilia shook her head, “I’d been at your place almost every night and she seems fine to me.”
“Yeah but after you leave, she chooses that exact moment to stop texting him and call it a night.”
“Unbelievable…” Emilia groaned, “I thought we were finally at a point where we can talk to each other about everything.”
Vanessa rubbed her shoulder. “You need to remember, Emilia… Scarlet has been through much more than most other people can begin to imagine. My abusive relationship with Richie was child’s play compared to how she and Ruby grew up.”
Amber turned her head down, rubbing her own arm out of nervousness. Emilia tilted her head for a better look, just barely able to notice the blush that colored her cheeks.
“What are you thinking, Amber?” Emilia asked. Vanessa held her breath, anticipating a comment about her own past. Even though she was the only one privy to Amber’s former identity, she still kept the full extent of her past under lock and key. Ultimately, she was disappointed, but not wholly surprised, about her pivoting in a different direction.
“As much as I want to blame Talia for Scarlet not getting the chance to work through her pain, we don’t have any time to waste on that.” When she finally resumed eye contact both of them, Amber’s face was marked, not with smugness, but with sympathy, catching them completely off guard. “As much as this show needs another role, Scarlet might need the opportunity more.”
Vanessa added, “Just going off this last text exchange with Javier, she’s still struggling with the idea of leading a solo. That might be what’s really upsetting her.”
Almost on cue, their conversation was interrupted by a toilet flush from the ladies’ room. While Scarlet run the taps, Amber quickly delegated, “I think I have an idea that might work. Emilia, we’re going to do something a little different tomorrow. We’ll need to arrive here a little earlier to get everything set up.”
“Sure, I can do that.”
“Vanessa, I need you to come by my place so you can be there when Scarlet wakes up. I’ll text you when we have everything set over here and you can come on by.”
“Sure…” She studied her face and, again, tried to discern the glint in her eye. Even though working with Emilia had made Amber more of an open book than she used to be, she still hadn’t lost that flair for unpredictability.
* * *
The nervous excitement Vanessa and Scarlet felt on their way to Calypso the following morning evaporated into awe the moment they walked through the doors. With a little help from Alejandro, Emilia and Amber transformed the stage into a catwalk. Spotlights lined both sides of the foldout walkway. At center stage, a microphone stood lonely, eagerly waiting to be wielded.
Scarlet thoughtfully paced the room, taking in every detail for several minutes until she was able to compose a coherent thought. “So, what’s all this?”
Amber replied, “we’d been working hard for a while. I thought it’d be good to take a day off to let loose and have a little fun.”
“You know, Amber, you could’ve just come to karaoke with us all those times I asked you. You didn’t have to do all this.”
“Actually,” she stepped forward to partially close the gap between them and handed her a CD case, “I’m not doing this for me. You get to choose the first song.” Scarlet studied the cover art and immediately recognized it as the music for Amber’s soon-to-be theme night. “By now, you should be familiar. Which of these is speaking to you right now?”
“Really, Amber, you’ve done more than enough for me lately. You don’t…”
Vanessa interrupted, finally finding her voice, “come on, Scarlet. What have you got to lose?”
Scarlet turned to Emilia and saw an equally encouraging smile.
“Ok, fine. One song.” She handed the CD back to Amber. “Track 6.”
Smiling with her lips but otherwise keeping the rest of her face neutral, Amber responded, “coming right up.”
The song began as a sad ballad. The narrative brought Scarlet back to the first time her father snuck into her room in the middle of the night to cut her hair short. A sob lingered in her throat from the memory of him saying “now none of the boys will look at you the same way again” as well as numerous times she lied to her friends about “forgetting” to take out her gum before bed.
The tears streaming down Scarlet’s cheeks soon dried up as her voice slowly gained strength and resolve. After the first chorus came and went, the ballad transformed into an up-tempo empowerment anthem. She removed the microphone from its podium. As if possessed by the music, she strutted down the runway with reckless abandon. Her legs automatically performed her signature “blink or you’ll miss them” cha-cha steps. The biggest surprise, however, was the killer stare in her eyes. The other girls looked at each other, mouthing “wow” before returning their full attention back to the catwalk.
Amber bit her lip, strategically covering her mouth with one hand to hide her smile. Not only did the music work its magic for Scarlet as it had for her on numerous occasions, she found herself tripping through a daydream. She imagined how this number would fit in the context of her show. Scarlet would start singing in the shadows of stage right and the spotlight slowly illuminated her figure. She pictured her as she was the day she arrived: fishnet stockings full of holes, eyes bleeding mascara, skirt torn at the hemline. Then when the dramatic change occurred, lights would flash rapidly as she did a quick costume change. Once the lights settled down, she’d be at center stage in a gorgeous black dress ending in a mullet skirt accented with matching lace. She’d wear a wig of long flowing hair and parade herself with unshakable confidence.
The other numbers they had planned for the show so far flashed before her eyes but sprinkled between every other instance was Emilia’s original idea. While her song choice didn’t work for the show, the quick-change motif had a lot of potential to create some incredible show-stopping moments.
“Amber? Hey Amber!” She shook her head out of the fantasy, discovering that Scarlet was calling her name. “I asked how you liked it. That was ok, right?”
“Yeah,” she quickly cleared her throat and paced while maintaining perfect eye contact, “that was more than ok. You’ve never looked better.”
Vanessa interceded, “you looked like you were thinking hard about something. What’s on your mind?”
She held her right pointer finger out in front of her and waved it a couple times as she gave an abridged version of her epiphany. Omitting her thoughts on Scarlet’s wardrobe, she explained Emilia’s quick change idea and how it could be used to distinguish between the performance numbers and everything else in between them.
Emilia’s mouth hung open, her face aglow with joy that her first idea still had a use for the show. But after Amber finished, she added, “That sounds amazing… but I don’t think it’d be a good idea to use it too much. If every number used a quick change, the audience will learn to expect it and it’ll stop being a surprise after a while.”
“Hmm… I think you might be right. Less is more, after all.”
The rest of the day was spent holding a marathon brainstorming session. The tracklist was narrowed down to six songs- a solo for each of them, a duet between Emilia and Vanessa and a large group number as its conclusion. The quick change would be reserved for Emilia to open the show with a bang and the epic finale. Scarlet asked where her number would fit in and Amber assured her there was plenty of room for flexibility. “It could be halfway through the show or it could be an encore at the end.”
Emilia and Vanessa supported this but were sure to remind her they’d still love her even if she got cold feet at the last minute. She acknowledged them with a gracious nod but spent nearly every minute since watching Amber as her head teemed with too many questions to count.
Before turning in for that night, Scarlet finally asked, “hey Amber, how is it that you know me so well but we never spent more than five minutes in the same room together?”
She rested her back against her bedroom’s archway and crossed her arms securely under her chest. “I’m not sure what you mean by that.”
“That whole story you pictured for me in the show… that was the exact image in my head. Except for the costume change. That’d be a little much.”
“Right. Look,” she stared at her feet hoping to gather her thoughts and edit them so she wouldn’t give herself away completely, “just because I focus on myself all the time doesn’t mean I’m blind to what everyone else is doing. I’ve overheard enough conversations you’ve had with the others even I know your backstory by heart.”
A nervous laugh escaped Scarlet before she regained control of herself. “I’ve told a lot of people, haven’t I? At least it gives them a little comfort that they didn’t have it as bad as I did.”
“That still doesn’t make happen what happened to you ok.” Noticing the slight break in Amber’s tone, Scarlet refocused her eye line on her. Amber kept her deeper emotions hidden without exerting any effort but felt comfortable enough to offer a rare compliment. “You are the nicest person I know. The fact you started out in such a horrible place while still having generosity and compassion in your heart, I admire that more than I can…” She turned away to wipe away her tears.
“Are you ok?”
“Yeah,” she cleared her throat again, still fidgeting, “old demons …”
“Will you tell me about them sometime? I promise it’ll stay just between us.”
Amber took an extra moment to make sure she was composed before looking back in her direction. Her tentativeness put Scarlet on edge and the longer it went on, the more she doubted this conversation’s future. For a brief moment, she asked herself if she truly believed sleeping on Amber’s couch for the last few weeks was going to change anything. “Sure…”
“What?” Scarlet gasped, “really?”
“After we put on the show, I promise I’ll tell you everything.”
What happened next took both of them equally by surprise. Scarlet threw her arms around Amber for a hug. “It means so much that you’re trusting me like this.”
So many thoughts ran through Amber’s head and none of them came out. She’d wanted this for such a long time and at long last, it felt everything she’d prayed for was finally coming true.
Before they left for their separate corners, Scarlet announced that she was ready to move back in with her sister tomorrow while swearing to keep a tight lid on what they were working on.
Amber nodded. “Thank you. I mean, no offense, but the only way I want to see Ruby anywhere near this show is in the audience.”
***
Music: "Hair" by Lady Gaga
No comments:
Post a Comment