The Melody of Songbirds and Wolves

Chapter 2 - Opening Night

I awoke to the sun streaming into my room around 11:00 AM. My dreams had been filled with steamy scenes of Kyle's body on mine. I have never been so lustful in my life. It was like this carnal need I had to meet or my body would explode. That voice in my head came back. In a hushed tone, I heard, "He's not your mate.". Okay, weird. Is this voice my conscience? Is this God?! I'm losing my mind. I internally asked, "Mate? Do you mean soulmate?". Silence. I rolled my eyes at myself and got out of bed. I had just enough time to shower before I needed to be at the theater for call. I walked into my new bathroom, looked in the mirror, and laughed at the mop on my head. Thank goodness no one sees me like that. It's not cute. I wiped the sleep out of my hazel eyes and got close to the mirror. It felt like I had a stray eyelash in my eye, so I pulled down my bottom eyelid to see if I could fish it out. It's amazing how something as small as an eyelash can feel like a giant tree when it's stuck in your eye. After I succeeded in pulling the eyelash out of my eye, I looked at my freckles and admired them. Growing up, the girls all hated freckles. I have always loved mine and now they are "fashionable". I chuckled. Girls give themselves fake freckles, but I have a spackling of natural ones across my cheeks and nose. They are beautiful. I moved my eyes down to my nose and readjusted my gold nose ring. I never thought I'd be able to pull a nose ring off, but I think it suits my button nose. My dad says it looks like a tiny ski jump because of how it's shaped. I touched my lips lazily, they were a little chapped from all the kissing last night. I grabbed a tube of chapstick to put on when I got out of the shower. My lips are full, with my bottom lip being a little more full than my top lip. I think my characteristics make me cute. Only my father and Lila have called me beautiful. I wouldn't go that far. I know I'm pretty, but beautiful is a stretch.

I turned the shower on, waited for it to steam up my bathroom. I looked at my naked body in the mirror. I suddenly felt a stabbing pain radiate throughout my body. I'm only 24, so why is my body treating me like an old lady? Maybe the shower would help, so I hopped in and lathered myself up. The hot water felt so good on my body. It relaxed me enough to make the random pains go away. Once I had rinsed my hair, I shut the water off, grabbed a towel, and danced myself dry. I'm sure I looked very silly, but I was alone, so who cares? I was having fun. I sprayed a heat protector on my hair, then took to drying it. I would curl it at the theater after I did my makeup. Once my hair was dry, I applied astringent, eye cream, and moisturizer to my face. Then I grabbed my chapstick and generously applied it to my lips. I put on my tights, pulled my corset closed, and threw on some worn-out jeans and a loose sweater that fell off my shoulders. I slipped my feet into my black and white converse, grabbed my bag, and headed out the door. I knew that this was the last bit of calm I would have before the chaos of opening night hit. So I drove in silence to the theater.

As soon as I stepped foot in the opera house, people were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I dodged people moving props and chairs as I found my way to my dressing room. Finally, at my door, I stepped inside and took a giant breath. Opening night is always stressful. Everyone has jitters and we don't know how the audience will respond. Les Miserables is a classic Broadway show, so I'm going to assume it will be a hit when we perform, but you never really know. It's not an easy show to produce. I sat down at my vanity and began to apply my stage makeup and style my hair. As I was finishing the last of my curls, I heard a knock on the door. "Come in!", I sang in a silly voice. Lila opened the door and we both squealed as I jumped up and gave her a giant hug! She was holding a bouquet of peonies and a bottle of cold champagne. She knows I hate roses, so I was appreciative of the beautiful flowers in front of me. "I can't believe you flew all the way in from LA! I'm so happy to see you!", I said while hugging her again and jumping up and down like a little girl. "You know I could never miss your debut!", Lila said in return. I am so lucky to have such an amazing best friend. She led me back to my vanity and took over curling the rest of my hair. I had no idea I needed her here with me so badly. It took everything not to cry tears of joy. As she set the last curl, Lila coyly said, "So...", alluding to the barrage of texts I sent her about Kyle's extravagant kisses. She wiggled her eyebrows at me, which made me bust out laughing. "Okay, okay!", I said through fits of giggles. Just as I was about to begin, Kyle walked into my dressing room with a single rose in his hand. Lila stared at the rose with knowing eyes. We looked at each other and burst out laughing again. Kyle seemed very confused. Lila is as quick witted as me. She said without missing a beat, "Well, this must be Kyle.". I blushed and stood up to greet Kyle. Thanked him for the flower and introduced him to Lila. The two shook hands and then Lila said the most awkward thing she could have said. "You know Vera hates roses, right?". LILA! I was screaming on the inside. She's going to run this poor man off before I've had a chance to do anything fun! Kyle laughed awkwardly and said, almost defeated, "Oh, I didn't know that. I'm sorry, Vera!". I took the flower and said, "No, this is perfect. It's the only rose I like." Whew, saved the day. He gave me a quick kiss on my forehead and bolted from the room. "Lila!", I exclaimed. "He seems...nice", she said in response. I didn't have enough time to ask her what the issue was because it was time to warm up and run some of the numbers. I gave her a hug and she took off to sit in the audience. When I saw Kyle backstage, I apologized profusely. He was very understanding and kept reassuring me that he wasn't upset and he could see how much Lila cared for me. "She's protective", he said, tucking a stray curl behind my ear. I shuffled my feet a little, "Yeah, you could say that." I looked at him with anxious eyes. I think he picked up on my concern because he pulled me in for a giant bear hug and whispered that he couldn't wait to kiss me again. I felt heat creep across my face as he said that. "Me neither", I whispered into his chest. He let go and got ready for his entrance.

The orchestra began turning their instruments, which set off the excitement for the rest of the cast. All the off-key notes from each instrument are like a war call for us. The nerves set in and we all get super focused for the next three hours. Everyone is saying, "break a leg!", to each other. This is one of my favorite feelings of all time. There's nothing quite like it. Kyle made his entrance across the stage and nailed everything. He was perfect. Soon it was my turn. I walked to my mark and looked out into the audience like I always do. I like to make eye contact with different people. It connects you to each other in a special way. If I can connect people to my character and make them bond with me, I'm doing my job well. My character, Cosette, was created to be loved by the audience, so it makes my job a little easier. I made eye contact with several audience members when I spotted a man a few rows away from the stage. He was staring at me with wide eyes like he knew me. There was so much fire in his eyes, it startled me. I heard the word, "Mate" from that voice again.. My heart began to pound. It felt like it was going to leap out of my chest. Was I having a panic attack? I've heard about people having them and saying it feels like a heart attack, but I'd never had one before. I snapped back to reality when the actor who plays my father on stage, Jean Val Jean, touched my arm. How long had I been staring at that man? I hope I hadn't missed any of my cues. I looked back at Jean val Jean for answers. Then I heard my cue and knew I hadn't missed anything. Thankfully, staring at him only felt like an eternity. I moved on without missing a beat, but as soon as I was able to get off stage, I ran to my dressing room. I locked my door and leaned my back against the wall, taking several deep breaths. Who was that man and was he the reason my heart tried to exit my body? I can't look at him again. I made a mental note to avoid his gaze at all cost. After I calmed down, I went back to the wings and waited for my next stage cue.

As I stepped on stage to sing, my mind went blank. My eyes immediately went to the mystery man. It's like they had a mind of their own. I felt like I had no control over them. I tried to pull myself together to sing, but the only word that came out was, "mate". I looked at my stage dad with scared eyes. He helped me improvise some lines to get back on track. I looked back at the man. He was staring at me strangely. That's when I noticed the woman he had an arm around. Mind you, I had no idea who this guy was, but it felt like my heart shattered when I saw his affection towards that absolutely stunning woman. I'm sure the world could see the pain in my eyes and then the utter confusion that replaced it. He never broke his stare. It was like he knew something I didn't. How could he know something about me that I didn't know? Things were getting weirder and weirder. I looked away, but when I looked back, they were both gone. I breathed a sigh of relief and continued on with my scene.

It's tradition to meet the audience in the foyer after the show to greet them and take pictures. Lila made her way through the bustling crowd and pulled me aside. "Are you okay?! What happened up there?", she asked frantically. "I have no idea, Lila. Stay with me tonight so we can talk about it?", I asked. She nodded as I was pulled away to take more pictures. I felt so distracted trying to smile for pictures while also scanning the crowd for the mystery man. We were linked. I just didn't know how. After the audience members dissipated, I found Lila and took off for home. I didn't even try to find Kyle because I was so freaked out. I sent him a quick text that I was leaving with Lila and left. As we pulled into the driveway, I noticed someone leaving my neighbor's house. It was too dark to see a face, but I could tell by the silhouette that the person was a woman. I followed the direction she was walking from with my eyes and found a face looking back at me, lightly illuminated from the soft glow coming from his partially opened door. If my heart had stopped I wouldn't have known the difference. The voice came again. "Mate".