As they climb the stairs into the theatre, Annie begins to
unravel her winter clothing. First
taking off her gloves, and matching wool scarf, and then the heavy thermal knee
length coat designed for the snow. She
debates whether to take the button down sweater off as well. She remembers what Jennings reminded her just
before leaving on her trip that the best way to stay warm is to dress in layers
as needed.
Just behind her on the stairs Elliot is following while
chatting with Ariel Gray who is very artificially enthused about the upcoming
musical. Annie smiles to herself
recalling that when she made the suggestion to go to this particular musical
last week, Ariel Gray scoffed but evidently her tune changed when she found out
what company she would be keeping.
The theatre is warm with a chorus of voices humming in
excitement. The musicians in the pit can
be heard tuning their instruments and doing a quick personal run through of
more difficult sections of a piece. The
soft recessive lighting reflect off the backdrop on the stage in preparation
for the performance. The velvet curtains
sway gently with the air conditioner attempting to cool down the theatre as the
program is about to begin.
Directly by a tuxedoed usher to their seats, Beth rushes in
first but then decides she doesn't like the view, "Annie, why don't we
switch seats. I think you'll can see
better here than me".
Not caring where she sits only appreciate of being there for
the performance, Annie lets Beth move back into the aisle and then finds her
place. Beth starts to move in next to
her but is thwarted by Elliot who quickly moves in next to Annie. Not wanting to be upstaged, Ariel shuffles in
next to Elliot and leans gently falls against Elliot's knee while placing her
purse on the floor. Ariel then decides
rather than placing her coat on the floor and laid back evening in the chair
she is sitting in, she moves her coat to take over the left side of her
assigned seat so that she is 'forced' to move closer to Elliot touching his arm
and knee because of the closed-in space.
Elliot returns a smile as they touch but politely adjusts himself to
move even closer to Annie who is right up against the wall.
Beth jealously noticing what is happening leans over to
Ariel and vehemently whispers, "Put your coat underneath you or under your
seat like everyone else. It is taking up
my space to store your coat!"
Unwillingly and a bit miffed but feeling obligated to, Ariel
moves her coat to the proper place and finds that she has more room to breathe
this way in the small compact area.
Elliot relaxes and stretches his legs for a moment that were beginning
to feel cramped in the balcony area.
Pretending to be unable to see the orchestra pit, Ariel
leans over into Elliot brushing herself against his shoulder, "Can you see
the violins from here?"
"No, not really.
I don't think that anyone was meant to" offers Elliot rather
startled by her closeness. "I think
all of us have a good view from where we are sitting though".
"Yes, I suppose so" agrees Ariel taking out some
lipstick and refreshing her makeup in the darkened theatre and then moving
closer to speak softly to Elliot " Beth is so bad at these things, can you
tell me Elliot, is my lipstick on correctly?"
"From what I can see it looks fine, Ariel" flatly
states Elliot turning in his seat towards Annie "What do you think so
far?"
"Well, it hasn't started yet. But I've really been looking forward to
seeing this even though it has been on Broadway for years" explains Annie
having read all of the cast profiles in the program. "I've seen quite a few of the actors
before in other productions. They were
quite good, so this should be too!"
"I was surprised to see Rick again. What is he doing in town?" asks Elliot
with a sharp tone in his voice and rolling up his program into a stick at the
same time and pounding it against his leg.
"I don't know exactly.
I didn't have a chance to ask him why he was here. We just had a few minutes to speak together
before you arrived" explains Annie wanting to keep the memories of her
conversation with him private until she has time to reflect on it.
"Well, I'm glad you're here with me. He's such a bore. This is a much better way to spend an
afternoon than with your head stuck in a book" bluntly replies Elliot not
appreciating anything that might have to do with literature.
"Rick's a great guy once you get to know him and quite
intelligent too" defends Annie acutely aware that she would rather spend a
boring afternoon discussing a book than at a musical with Elliot while her
sister and best friend flirt with him.
"Maybe there is more there than what meets the eye, but
I certainly don't see it" reflects Elliot trying to make an impression
that will devalue Annie's respect of Rick.
Annie can feel her anger rising but attempts to ignore his
comments. "How long did they say
the musical lasts? I have some things
that I need to do afterwards."
"Let's see, I think it is 2 hours and 40 minutes with
the intermission" offers Beth at the other end of the aisle wanting to be
included in the conversation.
"We need to play to go to one together every
week!" exclaims Ariel cuddling into Elliot shoulder for added affect of
her excitement at the prospect of more time together.
This time Elliot smiles back at her and then leans over towards
her "Not a bad idea. We'll definitely have to make plans for that
to happen."
In response Beth glares at Ariel as the lights begin to
flicker in the room to let them know that the show will be starting in five
more minutes.
Remembering to silence her phone, Annie takes her cell out
of her purse and notices the first call is from Rick but that he didn't leave a
message. Another call is from Alice
Hammer who did leave a recent message for her. She dials her password and then listens:
"Hey Annie! This
is Alice Hammer. Remember me? I'm sure you do, I'm just joking. Jennings and I have been scheming together
again and thought that a trip to New York this weekend might be a lot of
fun. We're taking the train up and will
arrive tomorrow. I was wondering if you
could meet us at the train station and if there might be a place at the Silver
Crest Towers where you are staying. Just
let us know. We are on our way!"
As Annie shuts down her phone, she giggles and is thrilled
that her friends will be joining her soon.
She hopes that they will maybe provide some encouragement where Rick is
concerned with her family too. The loud
speaker announces that the show is beginning giving a little background history
to the story that will unfold in great dramatic display before them.
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