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When Alejandro gave the date and time of Calypso’s next big showcase over a group text, the remaining sirens immediately responded to confirm they’d be in the audience for support. Naturally, there was one exception. Rather than being “on call” to make an appearance of a patron, Amber decided her time was better spent elsewhere.
Amber spent most of her time at Evangeline’s, occasionally with Ruby and Vanessa on site. Thanks to the revenue from her last show, Michel and Misha had the remaining funds they required to gain full ownership. They planned to host their own show to celebrate and she offered her assistance wherever it was needed. But as busy as she was, it was a secret to no one where she’d rather be.
On the date of Calypso’s reopening, Vanessa noticed a significant change in the marquee and rushed to tell Amber. They’d had this conversation numerous times already so Amber quickly shut her down the moment she arrived. “I know what you’re gonna say, but I told you a hundred times. I’ve seen it all before. I have no interest in seeing Talia take a victory lap now that she has everything she wants. Again.”
Still panting to catch her breath, Vanessa urged her, “Check your phone. The marquee changed this morning. Emilia is going to be debuting a new routine.”
“What?” Amber looked at the screen on her phone and her heart sank. “I’ve already made a commitment to appear in a couple routines tonight. I can’t. Besides, it’s not like Emilia wants to see me. Pretty much given me the silent treatment since I had that stupid fight with Ruby.”
“Yeah, but you know how Talia works. When she has something big planned, it’s all about secrecy. It creates a bigger impact.”
“The Emilia I spent a month working with, she would’ve told me what’s going on. She stopped giving a damn about what Talia wants or needs. The fact I’ve heard nothing is all the confirmation I need.”
“What happened to the Amber I know? She fought hard to get what she wanted and it was amazing once she did.” Amber only shrugged and resumed the busy work she’d been doing before her arrival—going down a list, making sure that bar was stocked, and all the lights and electronics worked. All the while, she went out of her way to avoid eye contact.
Vanessa let this go on for five minutes before she could formulate the perfect response. “So that’s it, then. You’re just going back to being Carmen, the girl that ran away. Who’d rather hide out here instead of fighting for what she spent five years working for.” Amber shot her a “if looks could kill” glare but said nothing to confirm or deny her comments.
Exhausted, Vanessa threw up her arms. “Fine… I’ll go. But do yourself a favor before your big show tonight. Take a good long look at the name in lights at the top of the building and remember what that person enabled you to be. I’m proud of her and I think she would be too.”
After Vanessa left, Michel and Misha positioned themselves on either side of Amber. It was several moments before that fact registered with her. Focusing hard on the empty doorway to keep the tears locked behind her eyes, she responded, “I get what she’s saying but my mind’s made up.” She clapped her hands together and changed the subject. “Let’s get back to rehearsing. I have an old routine I want to bring back. I just hope I can remember how it goes.”
Vanessa wound up being the only siren in the audience. After leaving Amber to her business, she contacted Ruby, who declined to come for reasons outside of her control. She’d already passed the word onto her sister.
By the time she arrived, Calypso was half full. Some of the patrons that’d already been supplied with drinks broke away from their conversations and applauded her as she passed through. She offered a couple of smiles and nods as she made her way toward the staircase. Alejandro quickly finished his current drink order and rushed over to intercept her.
“Really? We’re still keeping up the closed rehearsal pretense?”
Alejandro extended his right arm to block her progress as well as escort her back to the counter. As he jostled a martini shaker and poured its contents over a line of four glasses, he explained, “this is actually more about Emilia than Talia. She was thrilled when we told her she’d be getting top billing tonight. Then nerves started getting the better of her when people started showing up.” He slid the glasses toward the anxious patrons at the far end of the bar and went right into Vanessa’s to-go margarita. “So I’m guessing it’s just you tonight?”
“Yeah… Ruby is indisposed… at least for tonight, and Amber…” She hesitated to get the right words together. “I told her about the marquee change, but I don’t know… I can understand JP never wanting to come back here with what he’s been through with Talia, but she’d fought for Emilia for so long. It’s just strange that she’d give up like this. She’s so fixated on the fact Emilia hasn’t talked to her since the other night. It finally cleared the air between her and Ruby, but she still feels bad about the way she left things.”
Her head still swimming with their last conversation, Vanessa absentmindedly took a sip of her drink. It was perfectly tart like always. Then she looked up to find Alejandro slightly hunched over the bar, staring at a random spot on the counter with his fists clenched until his knuckles bleached. More patrons were calling out drink orders and started to get irate when he didn’t acknowledge them.
“Alejandro?” Vanessa eased her hand over his. When he finally met her eye, she asked, “what’s wrong?”
“Nothing…” He shook his head and filled a rocks glass with ice. “Emilia will be disappointed that the others couldn’t make it. Especially Amber. Just before I came out here, she was saying she was super excited to show it to her.”
“Do you want me to try calling her again?” She already started rummaging through her purse when he stopped her, “right now what I need you to do for me is fill the rest of these drink orders. Starting with this vodka tonic. I need to go back there to make sure everything is ready to go.” Vanessa slipped into her role as second string bartender as seamlessly as she’d done every other occasion she was asked. But even while her hands kept busy and the customers happy, her mind buzzed with numerous questions that would remain unanswered until the end of the night.
To Alejandro’s amazement, the stage was completely set and ready to go by the time he arrived. The only job left to him was turning on the music and the smoke machine and operating the overhead projector, a new apparatus required for the night’s two main routines. Talia was the only one there to greet him. Behind the closed door, Emilia paced the dressing room, occasionally shaking her hands hoping to rid herself of the jitters as Scarlet responded to whatever concerns she spoke aloud.
“How’s the house looking tonight?”
“Lively.” He winced before adding, “Vanessa was the only one who came. Ruby isn’t well and Amber…”
“Unbelievable.” Talia scoffed and started pacing herself. “I thought changing the marquee would do it, but she still treats this job like it’s a competition.”
“Are you really making this about you right now?” His voice briefly reached a higher octave, unable to contain his disdain. Talia hissed, urging him to keep his voice down. He sighed, collecting himself, “so what’s the plan after Emilia goes out there?”
She resumed her pacing. “Amber needs to be present for this to work. I can put off this new routine until then.”
He considered mentioning how Vanessa offered to try calling again but thought better of it. “Fine, when this is done, let me know what you want to do, and we’ll work something out.”
Alejandro glimpsed Emilia from across the stage. Her “deer-in-the-headlights” expression was gone. Through the curtains, she scanned the audience for the other sirens and sighed when she was only able to find Vanessa. Scarlet, who was waiting with her on the same side of the stage, squeezed her hand. They exchanged a few words that were inaudible over the crowd’s anticipation, but they were the last bits of encouragement she needed. She beamed up at her and caught Alejandro’s attention with a solemn nod. It was time.
Once the hype track faded out and the crowd was all warmed up, Alejandro announced into the microphone. “All right, everyone. Bring your hands together and give a warm welcome to the bright new star of our company, Emilia de la Rosa!”
Emilia closed her eyes, inhaled deeply and breathed out. “All right, this is it… time to finally put this behind me forever.”
A light fog coats the floor, adding to the ominous undertones of the dark forest backdrop. On either side, barren trees, their branches curved toward one other, form a nightmarish cage. Emilia meets with a howl when she enters from stage left. She lowers her red hood, unties her cape and drapes the garment over her arm. Underneath, she is barefoot, donning a white lace gown. The wear and tear of her journey shows in her white stockings, full of snags and holes. She places her basket on the floor and her cape on top before approaching the brick wall. A pair of glowing yellow eyes appears and she jolts backwards. Just as quickly, they vanish and the howl reappears.
Bewildered, she observes her surroundings. In time with the music, the other girls enter from opposite sides. They linger in the background—where they will remain until their presence becomes necessary—to give Emilia full use of the floor. At the same time, a disfigured shadow appears in place of the evil eyes, mirroring Emilia’s flexing from her torso outward and back again. She addresses the audience, drawing attention to the creepy shadow and her unease about its movements. Her footsteps soft, she treads lightly towards the brick wall as if drawn to it. The shadow’s fingers stretch toward her and roll backwards, eliciting a trance. Emilia’s progress stops on her left foot, but her body continues forward into an arabesque, her raised right leg forming a straight line with her left.
Emilia feints losing her balance, only to fall back into the safety of Talia’s arms. Talia then lifts Emilia over her head, her legs pointing outward. With Scarlet’s aid, she helps her right herself at center stage. Taking hold of her raised left leg, Emilia rotates once clockwise before coming down on her right knee with her opposite leg jutting sideways. She lays down parallel to the audience and arches her back upward with her hand grasping her chest. Talia grabs her hands, pulling her off the ground to face the crowd again. Together, they dash backwards and gyrate their bodies accordingly when the adrenaline of the chorus hits them. Their movements are identical, but the flourishes Emilia attained through her jazz dance training make it impossible to look at anyone else.
Swaying to the beat, the other girls retreat into the background for the duration of the second verse. Emilia engages the shadow in avid conversation. She braces herself against the brick wall. Her face lights up with joy and ecstasy. But this time when the shadow reaches for her, she backs away and runs off in the opposite direction. Her friends surround her once more.
As the routine progressed, Emilia began to feel the magnitude of the subject matter. Her sculpted eyebrows and light blue eyeshadow became less visible to the crowd as she dropped her gaze. Even her favorite bit of choreography—her hand clasped over her heart and her chest pulsating in time with a particular line of lyrics—had become less impactful. She drew backwards, her friends following her lead. Shakily, she looked to them in an attempt to ground herself. The change in her composure hadn’t registered with any of them. She inhaled, but her chest tightened up, allowing little oxygen through.
“Am I having a panic attack?” she whispered. Incidentally, the jazz steps and pirouettes she planned for this verse omitted themselves from her memory. Talia took notice then and asked if she was all right. Between the droning of the music and the growing buzzing in her ears, Emilia didn’t hear her. Talia broke from the supporting ranks and rushed to block Emilia from continuing. As if in slow motion, Emilia fainted. Scarlet reached forward to help break her fall.
A hush broke over the crowd, their concern more palpable after Alejandro rushed to the console to pause the music. Emilia revived within seconds of blacking out. “Emilia, are you all right?” Talia ran her fingers through her hair, frantic.
Emilia took inventory of her surroundings, the concern on her friends’ faces. She caught her breath now that her chest had loosened up. “I’m fine,” she exhaled and leaned forward.
“Emilia, I cannot allow this to continue. I really think…”
“Talia, please, I need to finish this final minute.”
Talia shook her head and opened her mouth to speak when Scarlet interrupted, “She’s right, Talia. Let her finish this. I can look after her while you perform your solo.” Her arm wrapped around Emilia’s back, Scarlet helped her to her feet. The rigidity in her stance, Talia quickly realized, couldn’t be argued with.
“Just one more thing…” Running a finger down the front of her dress, Emilia undid the three buttons. The hidden layer of fabric underneath had a large starburst of red symbolizing a heart that had been ripped out. “Ok, I’m ready. Let’s finish this.” Both of them helped her to her feet. Talia eyed Alejandro and nodded. He sighed but returned her nod with the bravest smile he could muster before pushing play. The rest of the routine was flawless and ended with such a bang, the brief intermission was all but forgotten by everyone but the Calypso collective.
Without missing another beat, the dance resumes. Their fingers curling to mimic claws, everyone throws themselves into the animalistic choreography to become monsters in their own right. At times, acting as if they’d lost their minds, but the sick beats of the music could easily be blamed.
For the grand finale, Emilia replaces her red hood and cape and removes a hammer from her basket. The creepy shadow wavers upon seeing it. Small chunks of cardboard fly everywhere as Emilia exacts her revenge. The hole left behind is the size of a softball. She takes one side, Talia the other, and together, they kick the prop, knocking it to the ground.
Even from behind the velvet curtain, the warm reception of the crowd reigned for several moments. Emilia panted, her hands on her knees, “I guess I’m not quite ready yet. I started having flashbacks and I just froze…”
“Hey,” Talia put her hands on her shoulders, “I’m very proud of you, Emilia. You handled this with great courage. You should be very pleased with yourself.”
She nodded, smiling, but had trouble getting more words to come out. Scarlet quickly interceded, anticipating another fainting spell. “Come on, Emilia, let’s get you some water. Break a leg, Talia.”
“Thank you. See you two after.”
Alejandro turned off all of the electronics and effects and rushed back to Vanessa. She was on her cell phone, but her body language indicated it wasn’t going as well as she’d hoped. Her eyebrows knit together and her hands were shaking as she lowered it to her side. “Amber still isn’t picking up. Hopefully one of the people she’s with will give her the message.” She turned her attention back to Alejandro. “What happened up there? Is she ok?”
“Yeah, she’s fine now.” He stroked the back of his neck. “That caught all of us by surprise… Talia kept saying Emilia was rushing into this but she was insistent it had to be done tonight.”
Vanessa narrowed her eyes. “Alejandro… what’s going on? Why am I getting the feeling there’s more to this than Talia wanting to keep her plans top secret until showtime?”
He sighed. “Here, I’ll contact Amber. Maybe she’ll answer to me.” He dug for his phone behind the bar and dialed. “I can’t go into every detail but Talia isn’t happy with Amber after the way she left things the other night.”
Amber just finished the dance she choreographed in Evangeline’s memory when her cell phone started ringing. She ignored it, focusing her attention on changing into the outfit for her next number. A short time later, Michel banged on the dressing room door. “Amber, Vanessa called both of our phones. She wouldn’t tell us what’s going on but it sounds like there’s been an emergency.”
Her phone began ringing again and she finally relented. “Ok, fine.” She froze when she saw the new name on the caller ID. “Alejandro…” She answered, almost dropping it from her hands shaking. “Alejandro, what’s going on? Vanessa has been blowing up my phone. Something about an emergency?”
“Yeah, Emilia passed out on stage. She’s ok but you need to get here. Now!”
All of her bravado and the barriers she’d built up vanished in an instant. She put the phone on speaker as she finished getting dressed, trading her off the shoulder knit shirt and cutoff jeans for a leather skirt and a rhinestone studded black denim vest to match her boots.
“Oh god… how’d that even… never mind. I’m coming, I need to tie up some loose ends here and I’ll be right there.”
Alejandro looked up just as he was ending the call. Talia was standing at the top of the stage steps with her arms crossed. Based on her smirk, she’d overheard the whole thing.
“How’s Emilia?” Vanessa didn’t wait for an answer as she spoke those words. Finally having the opening she needed, she rushed up the stairs and left her coworkers behind.
Both stood in place for several seconds, staring each other down. Alejandro finally threw up his arms, exasperated, “Go ahead. Say I overstepped. But Emilia is still hurting and whether you approve or not, she needs all of her friends at her side.”
Coolly, she replied, “I am just surprised. You were against me doing this from the start. Now it’s thanks to you I get the chance to do it tonight.”
”Maybe I decided that I have had enough of your keeping secrets and all the competitiveness. The only way we can move forward from this is to do it together.”
“Hmm, meaning you would rather, how they say, rip off the Band-Aid than wait for the truth to come out later?”
”Something like that.” He shrugged it off. “All right, time to get all your props out of storage. But it has to be quick if I need to keep Amber occupied when she gets here.”
Amber spent most of her time at Evangeline’s, occasionally with Ruby and Vanessa on site. Thanks to the revenue from her last show, Michel and Misha had the remaining funds they required to gain full ownership. They planned to host their own show to celebrate and she offered her assistance wherever it was needed. But as busy as she was, it was a secret to no one where she’d rather be.
On the date of Calypso’s reopening, Vanessa noticed a significant change in the marquee and rushed to tell Amber. They’d had this conversation numerous times already so Amber quickly shut her down the moment she arrived. “I know what you’re gonna say, but I told you a hundred times. I’ve seen it all before. I have no interest in seeing Talia take a victory lap now that she has everything she wants. Again.”
Still panting to catch her breath, Vanessa urged her, “Check your phone. The marquee changed this morning. Emilia is going to be debuting a new routine.”
“What?” Amber looked at the screen on her phone and her heart sank. “I’ve already made a commitment to appear in a couple routines tonight. I can’t. Besides, it’s not like Emilia wants to see me. Pretty much given me the silent treatment since I had that stupid fight with Ruby.”
“Yeah, but you know how Talia works. When she has something big planned, it’s all about secrecy. It creates a bigger impact.”
“The Emilia I spent a month working with, she would’ve told me what’s going on. She stopped giving a damn about what Talia wants or needs. The fact I’ve heard nothing is all the confirmation I need.”
“What happened to the Amber I know? She fought hard to get what she wanted and it was amazing once she did.” Amber only shrugged and resumed the busy work she’d been doing before her arrival—going down a list, making sure that bar was stocked, and all the lights and electronics worked. All the while, she went out of her way to avoid eye contact.
Vanessa let this go on for five minutes before she could formulate the perfect response. “So that’s it, then. You’re just going back to being Carmen, the girl that ran away. Who’d rather hide out here instead of fighting for what she spent five years working for.” Amber shot her a “if looks could kill” glare but said nothing to confirm or deny her comments.
Exhausted, Vanessa threw up her arms. “Fine… I’ll go. But do yourself a favor before your big show tonight. Take a good long look at the name in lights at the top of the building and remember what that person enabled you to be. I’m proud of her and I think she would be too.”
After Vanessa left, Michel and Misha positioned themselves on either side of Amber. It was several moments before that fact registered with her. Focusing hard on the empty doorway to keep the tears locked behind her eyes, she responded, “I get what she’s saying but my mind’s made up.” She clapped her hands together and changed the subject. “Let’s get back to rehearsing. I have an old routine I want to bring back. I just hope I can remember how it goes.”
* * *
Vanessa wound up being the only siren in the audience. After leaving Amber to her business, she contacted Ruby, who declined to come for reasons outside of her control. She’d already passed the word onto her sister.
By the time she arrived, Calypso was half full. Some of the patrons that’d already been supplied with drinks broke away from their conversations and applauded her as she passed through. She offered a couple of smiles and nods as she made her way toward the staircase. Alejandro quickly finished his current drink order and rushed over to intercept her.
“Really? We’re still keeping up the closed rehearsal pretense?”
Alejandro extended his right arm to block her progress as well as escort her back to the counter. As he jostled a martini shaker and poured its contents over a line of four glasses, he explained, “this is actually more about Emilia than Talia. She was thrilled when we told her she’d be getting top billing tonight. Then nerves started getting the better of her when people started showing up.” He slid the glasses toward the anxious patrons at the far end of the bar and went right into Vanessa’s to-go margarita. “So I’m guessing it’s just you tonight?”
“Yeah… Ruby is indisposed… at least for tonight, and Amber…” She hesitated to get the right words together. “I told her about the marquee change, but I don’t know… I can understand JP never wanting to come back here with what he’s been through with Talia, but she’d fought for Emilia for so long. It’s just strange that she’d give up like this. She’s so fixated on the fact Emilia hasn’t talked to her since the other night. It finally cleared the air between her and Ruby, but she still feels bad about the way she left things.”
Her head still swimming with their last conversation, Vanessa absentmindedly took a sip of her drink. It was perfectly tart like always. Then she looked up to find Alejandro slightly hunched over the bar, staring at a random spot on the counter with his fists clenched until his knuckles bleached. More patrons were calling out drink orders and started to get irate when he didn’t acknowledge them.
“Alejandro?” Vanessa eased her hand over his. When he finally met her eye, she asked, “what’s wrong?”
“Nothing…” He shook his head and filled a rocks glass with ice. “Emilia will be disappointed that the others couldn’t make it. Especially Amber. Just before I came out here, she was saying she was super excited to show it to her.”
“Do you want me to try calling her again?” She already started rummaging through her purse when he stopped her, “right now what I need you to do for me is fill the rest of these drink orders. Starting with this vodka tonic. I need to go back there to make sure everything is ready to go.” Vanessa slipped into her role as second string bartender as seamlessly as she’d done every other occasion she was asked. But even while her hands kept busy and the customers happy, her mind buzzed with numerous questions that would remain unanswered until the end of the night.
To Alejandro’s amazement, the stage was completely set and ready to go by the time he arrived. The only job left to him was turning on the music and the smoke machine and operating the overhead projector, a new apparatus required for the night’s two main routines. Talia was the only one there to greet him. Behind the closed door, Emilia paced the dressing room, occasionally shaking her hands hoping to rid herself of the jitters as Scarlet responded to whatever concerns she spoke aloud.
“How’s the house looking tonight?”
“Lively.” He winced before adding, “Vanessa was the only one who came. Ruby isn’t well and Amber…”
“Unbelievable.” Talia scoffed and started pacing herself. “I thought changing the marquee would do it, but she still treats this job like it’s a competition.”
“Are you really making this about you right now?” His voice briefly reached a higher octave, unable to contain his disdain. Talia hissed, urging him to keep his voice down. He sighed, collecting himself, “so what’s the plan after Emilia goes out there?”
She resumed her pacing. “Amber needs to be present for this to work. I can put off this new routine until then.”
He considered mentioning how Vanessa offered to try calling again but thought better of it. “Fine, when this is done, let me know what you want to do, and we’ll work something out.”
Alejandro glimpsed Emilia from across the stage. Her “deer-in-the-headlights” expression was gone. Through the curtains, she scanned the audience for the other sirens and sighed when she was only able to find Vanessa. Scarlet, who was waiting with her on the same side of the stage, squeezed her hand. They exchanged a few words that were inaudible over the crowd’s anticipation, but they were the last bits of encouragement she needed. She beamed up at her and caught Alejandro’s attention with a solemn nod. It was time.
Once the hype track faded out and the crowd was all warmed up, Alejandro announced into the microphone. “All right, everyone. Bring your hands together and give a warm welcome to the bright new star of our company, Emilia de la Rosa!”
Emilia closed her eyes, inhaled deeply and breathed out. “All right, this is it… time to finally put this behind me forever.”
A light fog coats the floor, adding to the ominous undertones of the dark forest backdrop. On either side, barren trees, their branches curved toward one other, form a nightmarish cage. Emilia meets with a howl when she enters from stage left. She lowers her red hood, unties her cape and drapes the garment over her arm. Underneath, she is barefoot, donning a white lace gown. The wear and tear of her journey shows in her white stockings, full of snags and holes. She places her basket on the floor and her cape on top before approaching the brick wall. A pair of glowing yellow eyes appears and she jolts backwards. Just as quickly, they vanish and the howl reappears.
Bewildered, she observes her surroundings. In time with the music, the other girls enter from opposite sides. They linger in the background—where they will remain until their presence becomes necessary—to give Emilia full use of the floor. At the same time, a disfigured shadow appears in place of the evil eyes, mirroring Emilia’s flexing from her torso outward and back again. She addresses the audience, drawing attention to the creepy shadow and her unease about its movements. Her footsteps soft, she treads lightly towards the brick wall as if drawn to it. The shadow’s fingers stretch toward her and roll backwards, eliciting a trance. Emilia’s progress stops on her left foot, but her body continues forward into an arabesque, her raised right leg forming a straight line with her left.
Emilia feints losing her balance, only to fall back into the safety of Talia’s arms. Talia then lifts Emilia over her head, her legs pointing outward. With Scarlet’s aid, she helps her right herself at center stage. Taking hold of her raised left leg, Emilia rotates once clockwise before coming down on her right knee with her opposite leg jutting sideways. She lays down parallel to the audience and arches her back upward with her hand grasping her chest. Talia grabs her hands, pulling her off the ground to face the crowd again. Together, they dash backwards and gyrate their bodies accordingly when the adrenaline of the chorus hits them. Their movements are identical, but the flourishes Emilia attained through her jazz dance training make it impossible to look at anyone else.
Swaying to the beat, the other girls retreat into the background for the duration of the second verse. Emilia engages the shadow in avid conversation. She braces herself against the brick wall. Her face lights up with joy and ecstasy. But this time when the shadow reaches for her, she backs away and runs off in the opposite direction. Her friends surround her once more.
As the routine progressed, Emilia began to feel the magnitude of the subject matter. Her sculpted eyebrows and light blue eyeshadow became less visible to the crowd as she dropped her gaze. Even her favorite bit of choreography—her hand clasped over her heart and her chest pulsating in time with a particular line of lyrics—had become less impactful. She drew backwards, her friends following her lead. Shakily, she looked to them in an attempt to ground herself. The change in her composure hadn’t registered with any of them. She inhaled, but her chest tightened up, allowing little oxygen through.
“Am I having a panic attack?” she whispered. Incidentally, the jazz steps and pirouettes she planned for this verse omitted themselves from her memory. Talia took notice then and asked if she was all right. Between the droning of the music and the growing buzzing in her ears, Emilia didn’t hear her. Talia broke from the supporting ranks and rushed to block Emilia from continuing. As if in slow motion, Emilia fainted. Scarlet reached forward to help break her fall.
A hush broke over the crowd, their concern more palpable after Alejandro rushed to the console to pause the music. Emilia revived within seconds of blacking out. “Emilia, are you all right?” Talia ran her fingers through her hair, frantic.
Emilia took inventory of her surroundings, the concern on her friends’ faces. She caught her breath now that her chest had loosened up. “I’m fine,” she exhaled and leaned forward.
“Emilia, I cannot allow this to continue. I really think…”
“Talia, please, I need to finish this final minute.”
Talia shook her head and opened her mouth to speak when Scarlet interrupted, “She’s right, Talia. Let her finish this. I can look after her while you perform your solo.” Her arm wrapped around Emilia’s back, Scarlet helped her to her feet. The rigidity in her stance, Talia quickly realized, couldn’t be argued with.
“Just one more thing…” Running a finger down the front of her dress, Emilia undid the three buttons. The hidden layer of fabric underneath had a large starburst of red symbolizing a heart that had been ripped out. “Ok, I’m ready. Let’s finish this.” Both of them helped her to her feet. Talia eyed Alejandro and nodded. He sighed but returned her nod with the bravest smile he could muster before pushing play. The rest of the routine was flawless and ended with such a bang, the brief intermission was all but forgotten by everyone but the Calypso collective.
Without missing another beat, the dance resumes. Their fingers curling to mimic claws, everyone throws themselves into the animalistic choreography to become monsters in their own right. At times, acting as if they’d lost their minds, but the sick beats of the music could easily be blamed.
For the grand finale, Emilia replaces her red hood and cape and removes a hammer from her basket. The creepy shadow wavers upon seeing it. Small chunks of cardboard fly everywhere as Emilia exacts her revenge. The hole left behind is the size of a softball. She takes one side, Talia the other, and together, they kick the prop, knocking it to the ground.
Even from behind the velvet curtain, the warm reception of the crowd reigned for several moments. Emilia panted, her hands on her knees, “I guess I’m not quite ready yet. I started having flashbacks and I just froze…”
“Hey,” Talia put her hands on her shoulders, “I’m very proud of you, Emilia. You handled this with great courage. You should be very pleased with yourself.”
She nodded, smiling, but had trouble getting more words to come out. Scarlet quickly interceded, anticipating another fainting spell. “Come on, Emilia, let’s get you some water. Break a leg, Talia.”
“Thank you. See you two after.”
Alejandro turned off all of the electronics and effects and rushed back to Vanessa. She was on her cell phone, but her body language indicated it wasn’t going as well as she’d hoped. Her eyebrows knit together and her hands were shaking as she lowered it to her side. “Amber still isn’t picking up. Hopefully one of the people she’s with will give her the message.” She turned her attention back to Alejandro. “What happened up there? Is she ok?”
“Yeah, she’s fine now.” He stroked the back of his neck. “That caught all of us by surprise… Talia kept saying Emilia was rushing into this but she was insistent it had to be done tonight.”
Vanessa narrowed her eyes. “Alejandro… what’s going on? Why am I getting the feeling there’s more to this than Talia wanting to keep her plans top secret until showtime?”
He sighed. “Here, I’ll contact Amber. Maybe she’ll answer to me.” He dug for his phone behind the bar and dialed. “I can’t go into every detail but Talia isn’t happy with Amber after the way she left things the other night.”
* * *
Amber just finished the dance she choreographed in Evangeline’s memory when her cell phone started ringing. She ignored it, focusing her attention on changing into the outfit for her next number. A short time later, Michel banged on the dressing room door. “Amber, Vanessa called both of our phones. She wouldn’t tell us what’s going on but it sounds like there’s been an emergency.”
Her phone began ringing again and she finally relented. “Ok, fine.” She froze when she saw the new name on the caller ID. “Alejandro…” She answered, almost dropping it from her hands shaking. “Alejandro, what’s going on? Vanessa has been blowing up my phone. Something about an emergency?”
“Yeah, Emilia passed out on stage. She’s ok but you need to get here. Now!”
All of her bravado and the barriers she’d built up vanished in an instant. She put the phone on speaker as she finished getting dressed, trading her off the shoulder knit shirt and cutoff jeans for a leather skirt and a rhinestone studded black denim vest to match her boots.
“Oh god… how’d that even… never mind. I’m coming, I need to tie up some loose ends here and I’ll be right there.”
* * *
Alejandro looked up just as he was ending the call. Talia was standing at the top of the stage steps with her arms crossed. Based on her smirk, she’d overheard the whole thing.
“How’s Emilia?” Vanessa didn’t wait for an answer as she spoke those words. Finally having the opening she needed, she rushed up the stairs and left her coworkers behind.
Both stood in place for several seconds, staring each other down. Alejandro finally threw up his arms, exasperated, “Go ahead. Say I overstepped. But Emilia is still hurting and whether you approve or not, she needs all of her friends at her side.”
Coolly, she replied, “I am just surprised. You were against me doing this from the start. Now it’s thanks to you I get the chance to do it tonight.”
”Maybe I decided that I have had enough of your keeping secrets and all the competitiveness. The only way we can move forward from this is to do it together.”
“Hmm, meaning you would rather, how they say, rip off the Band-Aid than wait for the truth to come out later?”
”Something like that.” He shrugged it off. “All right, time to get all your props out of storage. But it has to be quick if I need to keep Amber occupied when she gets here.”
***
Music: "Monster" by Lady Gaga
If I could get anyone to choreograph this number, it would be Sonya Tayeh. She always did these cutting edge quirky jazz numbers on "So you think you can dance" that brought out the monster in everyone who worked with her-- and that's the ultimate compliment.
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| Sonya (left) Courtney and Mark dancing her routine "The Garden" (right) |
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