The Sirens of Calypso- Chapter 47- Monster Aftermath

            Talia saw the crowd off with a smile and a heartfelt thanks. Alejandro kept himself busy clearing the stage of props and equipment, but he did so with a shifty expression that made the lump in Amber’s throat throb uncomfortably. His attention was clearly on Talia and what she had planned next for him.
            Once the venue was empty, Talia launched into her tirade. “You’re through, Alejandro. Now you will pay the consequences for your actions.”
            “Oh no…” Amber barked in a threatening tone and rushed up the steps. “I don’t know what you think Alejandro did this time but…”
            “Glad you could finally make it, Amber. Some of us were worried you wouldn’t show.” She threw a knowing look at Alejandro, who could only shrug and roll his eyes.
            “Yeah because the last thing I had any interest in was seeing you give another smug performance like that. The act’s really getting old, Talia.”
            “The response from the audience tells me something else. They welcomed me back as if I’d never left.”
            “Tsk,” Amber scoffed, “they come for a good show but don’t get to see the meaning behind it. Now cut the bullshit!”
            “Hmm, Alejandro claims you have changed but you are still selfish as before.”
            “That’s rich, calling me the selfish one here!”
            Despite Amber becoming more agitated by the second, Talia kept her flawless composure as she shifted the conversation elsewhere. “Yet you waste your time attacking me… don’t you even care about Emilia? Is she not the reason you came tonight?”
            “Emilia…” Amber’s bravado vanished and the unevenness of her tone reflected that.
            Talia cocked an eyebrow. “Remember starting that fight with Ruby when she interrupted your big night? Alejandro was too busy intervening he wasn’t paying attention to Emilia and she had no choice but to walk home alone. It’s fortune for her Juan Paulo was there to save her from her attacker. Or far worse would’ve happened.”
            “Shit…” Amber gasped. She almost lost her footing in her half inch boots. Alejandro quickly rushed over to catch her before she completely lost her balance.
            Talia ignored this and urged, “do you not agree that his negligence is punishable?”
            Alejandro rubbed Amber’s back in an effort to calm her breathing so she could speak. She closed her eyes tight and concentrated hard. “No… that’s not what happened at all. Vanessa and I both gave her the option to leave and she did. I never thought…” She opened her eyes and her train of thought screeched to a halt.
            Emilia, who’d heard all the shouting through the door decided she’d had enough. She warily analyzed the situation. Based on everyone’s expressions, no one anticipated the possibility she’d been listening to any of it. They’d been equally caught up in the excitement of the argument.
            Amber took a step away from Alejandro toward her. “Emilia, are you okay? I just heard...”
            “Yeah… all things considered, yeah, I am ok.” Then, in a move that drew a gasp from Talia, Emilia crossed the room to stand by Amber. She didn’t make eye contact with anyone until she dug in her heels. “You know what I just realized? When I joined the sirens, I was told repeatedly about our code and our rules. The big one was always ‘our past traumas are for us to tell.’ You are literally breaking your own rule just so you can win this stupid fight over me. This needs to stop now!”
            Somehow when Emilia shouted at the peak of her vocal range, the echo of her voice bounced off every corner of the building. It was enough to draw Scarlet and Vanessa out of the dressing room. Both were as stone-faced as the rest of them. Scarlet, after the pin drop moment passed, abruptly ended her conversation, “I’ll see you later, sis,” and hung up.
            Talia sized everyone up individually before addressing Alejandro, “well, you were right, Alejandro. Amber took responsibility like you said she would.”
            “As I’ve told you many times, it is not my fault you do not trust my judgment. Now can we drop this ruse? No one is getting fired today.”
            “Wait, what?” Amber gulped as her relief bled into her anger. “This whole thing was just an act?!”
            On the other side of the room, Scarlet and Vanessa shook her heads with disgust. Too exhausted from all the drama to start into a rant of her own, Vanessa simply stated, “Why doesn’t this surprise me?”
            Emilia echoed their sentiments to Amber. “Unbelievable… I really thought after what I went through that Talia could be honest with me. Yet here I am hearing her undervalue me behind my back. Again.”
            “I’d say ‘welcome to the club’ but honestly this is just sad. Not even Talia’s own protege is safe from her scheming.”
            Continuing the ongoing trend, Talia shifted the narrative once more. “So strange… you never take a risk for anyone else, Amber. Why now? And why was my act with Alejandro so distracting you forgot why you even came here tonight?”
            Amber blushed but ground her teeth to hold herself together. “I bet you’ve wanted to get rid of him for years but couldn’t find a way to do it. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time you’ve done something like this.”
            “And what is that supposed to mean?”
            “You have no use for men besides sleeping with them. Meanwhile, Alejandro is willing to do everything for you and you don’t even care. But he’s done a lot for the rest of us.” She looked around the room and received nods from the other girls. When Amber turned back to Talia, she was staring at her feet, not looking at anyone. It was becoming clearer by the minute she was losing ground and running out of options.
            Then she thought of something. In her view, it was ludicrous but for Amber, it might not be. “So this isn’t because you have some silly schoolgirl crush on Alejandro or anything?”
            “That’s… that’s beside the point.” She spared him a glance but not long enough to gauge his reaction. “You just can’t accept the possibility that there’s more to Alejandro than you’re willing to see. When you disappeared into your shell, did you even say thank you to him for making sure Calypso didn’t go under? No. You took him for granted like you always have.”
            Exhaling, Amber clenched both of her hands into fists at her sides. There was no way around it. “But I never did… even when I first came here as a 14-year old runaway. We were never more than friends or coworkers, but I knew I could rely on him. And yes, I developed feelings for him but by the time he was finally single and I worked up the courage to tell him the truth, I’d already lost my chance because of you.” In one final outburst of anger, she concluded, “you came and took everything I cared about. You fired Michel and Misha because you couldn’t have any men on your staff. You stole my idea to put on shows using dance and denied me a spot because I wasn’t sexy enough for your vision. But Ruby fit it perfectly. Scarlet finally had her sister back but there wasn’t a place left for me. I had no choice but to leave and start a new life somewhere else. It’s not like anyone would miss me, anyway.”
            “Wait a minute…” Scarlet gasped, immediately drawing everyone else’s attention to her. “Carmen?”
            “What!” Alejandro met the revelation with even more shock. “How did I not see this all this time…”
            Amber furiously wiped her eyes so she could see through her tears. By the time she regained her focus, Scarlet was all she could see as she threw her arms around her. She sobbed, “The night I had that nightmare and you stayed up with me… I thought that reminded me of someone I knew years ago but it was you this whole time.” She let go but held onto her arms with an iron grip. “This is why you always kept me at arm’s length? You didn’t want me to figure out who you really were?”
            “I know how much having your sister back meant to you, but I was so jealous she outshined me at every opportunity... I didn’t want to be remembered that way.” Thinking it over for an extra moment, she decided, “It sounds so stupid now… I practically became the worst version of myself just so Talia would accept me into the sirens. And I went out of my way to not have any friends because I couldn’t handle that amount of rejection a second time.”
            Scarlet shook her head, still processing, “I missed you so much. I didn’t just lose my best friend. I lost a sister.”
            “Except sisters tell each other everything… I never told you everything about myself. You were always an open book, but I feel bad I couldn’t find the strength to do the same.” Amber swallowed hard, bowing her head, “But… maybe now that the flood gates are open, maybe I finally can.”
            “Are you sure? You don’t need to rush into this. We have all the time in the world.”
            Amber shut eyes and took several deep breaths; she hadn’t realized how fast her heart was racing in her chest. Finally, she nodded. “Yeah but not here.” She briefly exchanged glances with Emilia and Vanessa and wordlessly invited them to accompany her on the way out. For a multitude of reasons, she couldn’t bring herself to invite Talia and Alejandro along. She wasn’t ready for those conversations quite yet.
            “Amber?” Alejandro called out to her when she had her hand on the main entrance door. She turned back towards him, unsure what she’d find. Her heart fluttered when she saw nothing but sincerity in his countenance. “We’ll talk about everything later, ok? I’ll make this right.”
            “Thanks, Alejandro. I’d like that.”
            The moment she left, Alejandro planned to turn on Talia to ask if she was satisfied with how everything went. Not surprisingly, the last sound he heard was the backstage door slamming shut.