Chapter 33

 

Between Lovers

Chapter 33

© Lizzie 2003-present

 

 

+*+One hour until show time+*+

Alexandria was sitting in her dressing room silently praying that she wouldn’t forget any steps to the routines and that she could get through the night without throwing up.

There was a knock at her door and it was slowly pushed open, “Care for a few guests before you go out?” Ramon asked sticking in head in the room.

            Alexandria smiled, “Of course.” She stood up, walked to the sofa and sat down. The guests walked in and immediately started chattering away. There were hugs, kisses, playful pinches and slaps for good luck given to Alexandria.

Danny stuck his head into the room, “Thirty minutes…everyone needs to be in their seats.” One by one, everyone filed out of the room. Jacob was the last to leave because he wanted to talk with Alexandria before she went on stage.

Alexandria busied herself with the last of her dramatic makeup and when she turned around she saw Jacob still standing there and smiled at him, “If Danny or Manny catch you back here, they’ll be pissed.”

Jacob smiled and walked to her, “Small price to pay.” He said, “I just wanted to talk to you before you went out.”

Alexandria smiled, “Oh really?” she asked, “About what?”

“Your car…Christmas…us…” he said

“What about my car?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jacob pulled four pictures from his back pocket and handed them to her, “It’s all done and sitting in the garage back at the apartment.”

Alexandria took the pictures, looked at them and smiled, “You did a great job.”

“I know.” He said with a smile, “I hear Danny coming so I’ll get going.”

“What about what else you wanted to talk to me about?” Alexandria questioned

“I’ll do it later.” He said, “Jordan and your sister have a party set for you, but you didn’t hear that from me.” He laughed

Alexandria laughed as well, “I know, Brandy told me before she left.” She said, “But thank you for tell me. I’ll be sure to be ready so you can get me there on time.”

Jacob smiled, softly kissed her lips and turned to walk out of the room, “I love you…break a leg.” He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Alexandria pulled on her dance shoes and paused, “I love you…” she rushed to the door and opened it, but on the other side was Ramon.

Ramon jumped and grabbed his chest, “Jesus woman!”

“Sorry, Ra…did you see Jacob?”

Ramon walked into the room, “Yeah, heading down the side to go to his seat. Why?”

“He just told me he loves me…” she said

Ramon pulled Alexandria to the stool in front of the mirror, “Really, that’s great.” He said as he worked on her makeup, “What did you say?”

“I didn’t get a chance to say anything.” She said

“You can tell him tonight.” Ramon said. He finished her makeup just as Danny came to her room.

“We’re ready…”

Alexandria stood up, stretched a bit and walked to the door, “Think Broadway is ready for me?” Ramon and Danny laughed and followed Alexandria out to the stage area.

“Girl you know this isn’t Broadway.” Danny said, “This is Off Off Off Broadway.” Alexandria laughed and flipped him off.

The Master Of Ceremonies began the opening of the Christmas Eve performance by the New York Dance Troupe. “Ladies and Gentlemen, Mayor and  Mrs. Bloomberg and other honored guests, it is my pleasure to welcome you to this evenings Christmas Eve performance by the very talented dancers of the New York Dance Troupe. Joining the dancers on stage is newly acquired, so to speak, dancer, Alexandria Bradshaw. She joins us from The Dance Center and is simply amazing.” The MC paused and waited for the applause to stop before he continued on, “Alexandria and the others will be dancing to The Christmas Song, Baby, It’s Cold Outside, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, O Holy Night, Santa Baby, Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!, The First Noel, Winter Wonderland, Coventry Carol, Wonderful Christmastime, Silent Night and we will conclude the evening with a reading of ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas by a special guest.” He looked down at the card in his hands, “But before we’re dazzled by these wonderful dancers, we have a Christmas video tribute for Mayor Bloomberg and his wife.”

The lights were dimmed and a video began to play. There were various people wishing the Mayor and his wife a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. There were also messages from soldiers who called New York home.

The MC came back and introduced the first act. The lights dimmed and the music from The Christmas Song began to play. A single spot light came on over center stage where Alexandria and her dance partner were. Another spotlight came on over a raised platform where Sean Hayes and Dave Koz were seated with microphones. While they sang, Alexandria and her partner danced and were joined by other dancers. During the course of the song, one of the heels of Alexandria’s shoes broke.

‘Crap, my heel just broke.’

Alexandria thought to herself. She looked at her partner then quickly down to her foot hoping that he would see that she was trying to get him to look down.

He looked down at her foot then back at her, “One minute.” He mouthed and she nodded her head.

“Did her shoe just break?” Shia whispered to her older sister Brandy.

Brandy leaned forward a bit in her seat to see if she could get a better look, “I think it did.”

“Has she ever danced with a broken heel?”

 

“At Tia Dola’s wedding, but that had to be like ten years ago.”

           They finished dancing to the song and like required by the dance number, Alexandria was carried off stage as the curtain came down. She was placed on the floor and she quickly removed the shoe. Sean Hayes and Dave Koz exited the platform while Bebe Neuwirth and John Lithgow took their place. The MC came back to the stage and talked while the other dancers took their places. The opening music to Baby, It’s Cold Outside began to play. Next was Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas performed by Katey Sagal. Following her was Wendie Malick performing Santa Baby, Anthony Ruivivar performing Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!, and Jane French performing The First Noel.