It was showtime.
This week had been full of rehearsals, interviews, and a schedule to have additional guards posted on every entry.
I even had a few men roaming the back alley.
Nothing was going to ruin this night. As director, I am expected to watch from the safety of the wings, but to honor my father, tonight was the only night I would be performing.
The news had flooded the streets at the reveal.
'New Director of the Peacock Theatre to perform for one night only!' It read.
It was a full house, which meant more chances for the stranger to come back hidden in the audience. I sat in my vanity with the other girls, they chattered on about anything and everything. I was putting on my blush when I heard a frantic knock on the door.
"I need to speak with the Director!" a muffled voice cried out. One of the girls called out if everyone was decent and they all said yes and let Carlos in.
I was worried. Has something happened? Did someone else get murdered? My thoughts ran wild.
"Carlos what's the matter?" I stood up from the chair
"Its Kelly! She quit!" He exclaimed as my heart dropped.
Kelly was our leading lady. Our Mauricette.
"Quit! Why!" I exclaimed trying to process this.
"Apparently she took off with that guy she has been seeing for months…to PARIS!" He says running his hands down his face, the stress was getting to him.
I looked at the clock and noticed we had 10 minutes till showtime.
"What about her understudy?" I ask as he shook his head
"She's sick with the flu, I only have one option…" Carlos says hesitantly
"And that is?" I question putting my hand on his hips.
Carlos looks at me knowingly as I slowly begin to realize what he meant.
"Oh no. No, no, no. Me?! I am only supposed to appear in one major scene," I say
"But you are the only one who knows this show in and out. You are the last option!" He urges as I stood still.
'This is only for tonight; then her understudy can take over' I thought
I groaned
"Fine! But go tell Alice to loosen some of the costumes, I have to redo my make-up" I say as he breaks out the biggest smile and nods his head before bolting back out the door.
I raced to the vanity as some of the girls flocked to help me change my hair.
A few minutes later. I see Alice racing in with her mother with the first costume I appear in.
"I have it all ready, hurry, we gotta hit the stage in 2 minutes!" She exclaims as they help me into the dress.
Thankfully, the changing rooms were a straight shot to the stage and I set myself into position.
The Overture started to play as the curtain revealed the set. The first number began and I was listening for my cue.
I spotted my friends giving me a thumbs up. I rolled by eyes and mouthed to Carlos.
'You owe me big time' He cheekily smirked.
In a blink of an eye I heard my cue and jumped out from my place on stage and began to belt out the starting tune.
A series of gasps were heard from the audience. But I ignored them and focused on myself.
I ran around and danced with the ensemble and at the end of the number we posed and I saw a series of flashes go off.
'Great..' I thought knowing that one flash was going to be plastered across the city by tomorrow morning.
The first act went off without a hitch. When the curtain fell it slightly muffled the audience's applause. I ran off stage and chugged the glass of water Carlos had for me.
"You did great in the first act! You are doing fantastic!" Alice says as she hugs me.
"Thanks, I swear Carlos, I am going to get you back for this," I wave my finger as he chuckled
"Yeah, Yeah, wait till after the show, boss" he said as I spotted our leading love interest with his fan-club, Charles. He looked a little annoyed with the ladies in his space.
Charles caught my gaze and I motioned my head for him to come over.
Excusing himself he walked up to Carlos and I as the girls somewhat glared at my figure. Before I could shoot a look back, they all scattered when I met their eyes.
"So, we need to talk about a change in the wedding scene," I say as Charles and Carlos looked at me oddly
"Changes? We didn't discuss changes?" Charles says as I rolled my eyes
"Well if I knew I was going to be the leading lady, then this would have been way in advance, However if you remember, this role was thrown onto me last minute so forgive me for not being diligent" I explain as he turned a little red.
"Ah, yes, forgive me I have forgotten," he says
"Not a problem, now for the wedding…" Irene groaned
The lights shone bright as we were near the end of the show.
There we stood, I was in a white dress, and a cheap veil with a fake flower bouquet. Charles had a black suit, top hat, and white gloves. The chorus sang our vows and then came the part I had been dreading.
"You may now kiss the bride!" they sang as Charles went to lean in. Panicking, I was about to lean away but then he impromtly shook his head at the everyone, and took off his hat and covered our faces as we silently stared at one another for a few moment. I have never looked at Charles up close, but the one thing I noticed was him quickly glancing at my lips.
The hair on my neck seemingly went stiff as the crowd, and the chorus went nuts!
They were cheering and applauding us. I could also see a few flashes from the edge of the hat. We quickly split and I could feel my face was red.
When the curtain fell we set up for the bow.
The curtain opened, and just as we rehearsed, everyone went in their groups and bowed to the roaring audience. When Charles stepped forward I swear the girls in the crowd were about to jump on stage. Then he motioned for me to come forward.
The crowd was loud, but when I stepped up, it went above and beyond. I smiled and took a deep bow and once again the curtain fell. I felt as if I could finally breathe for the first time. The cast started to celebrated their first successful show.
I smiled at their enthusiasm. The end of the show was an exhilarating feeling. I looked over to see Charles also smiling at their joy.
"Hey Charles," I say as he turns to me and puts the top hat under his arm
"Thank you," I say as he gives me a small smile.
"No, thank you, you stepped up and helped our first show be a hit! Hopefully the understudy is good, she has some big shoes to fill," Charles says as he nods to me and walks off to his friends near the door wanting to congratulating him.
I made my way through the cast, each thanking me, and congratuaing me. When I made it out the door I was greeted with my Mother, Gian, and Isabella with a bouquet of flowers. More specifically White Roses.
My eyes teared up. My father always gave me White Roses for special occasions.
My mother hugged me tight.
"You're father would be so proud of you," she said as I hugged her just as tight. I looked to see Gian and Isabella waiting their turn as I left my mothers arms and held mine out to them. They both almost knocked me over.
"Thanks you guys." I say as Isabella gives me the flowers.
"Who wants some ice cream?" I ask as they all agreed, I swore in that moment I could feel my fathers presence, his pride. It made me smile as I looked at the roses and gave them a kiss.
'Love you Dad,' I thought.