Never Let Them Define You

OPENING THE CURTAINS

"Can't believe you managed to get them to go through with the show," comments Brian.

"Never a doubt." She looks around anxiously at all the theatergoers pouring into the lobby.

"Anxious about tonight?"

"Oh, no, it's not that." She keeps looking until she spots a striking and familiar woman with a face like hers, then waves her down. "Mom!"

Her eyes shoot wide and she runs to her as fast as she can through the crowd, then hugs her. "Hey, darling."

"I'm so glad you could make it!"

"You think I'd miss this? Pfft, not a chance in hell!"

"Hello, Miss Nova," says Brian.

"Hello, sir..." She leans over to Cassandra and whispers, "Who is this?"

"My man," she whispers back.

She looks back and forth at them. "I thought we agreed that was a bad idea."

"No, the guy I slept with."

"What are you guys saying?" asks Brian.

"Family things."

"Yeah, just filling me in on some stuff," asserts mom.

Cassandra glances back. "Alright, I hope you both enjoy the show, but I gotta go and, uh, do the show."

"Good luck." Her mom throws two thumbs up and smiles intensely.

She hurries off to the backstage area, then sees Josephine, and approaches her. "Is everything good to go?"

"Should be, we'll be going out in three."

"Okay, awesome."

Ronaldo approaches both of them. "Cassandra."

"What is it?"

"Don't screw this up."

"I'll pretend that's just a friendly remark." She smiles fakely, then watches him head off, and frowns a bit.

"Worried?" asks Josephine.

"No, no, just need to be certain; I won't die if this goes wrong, but it would be very hard to recover from."

"I understand where you're coming from." She puts a hand on her shoulder and looks her in the eye. "I believe in you; you got this."

She nods and gulps, then walks over to a costume rack, and looks for her initial set.

"Scared?" asks Stacy.

She flips through several outfits before finding it, then turns to her and smiles. "No, because I got you, and the rest of this great cast and team."

"Can I hug you?"

"Absolutely."

She hugs her tight and whispers, "Thank you...for your help."

"You're welcome."

She lets go and blurts, "I don't think I could have done this without you, if you hadn't started coaching me, I don't know...you're amazing!"

"Please, calm down, all you need is the flame inside you; I just helped you reach it a little quicker."

"You do coaching?" asks another dancer.

"Not if I have to coach a thousand people."

She laughs, then hears a blaring trumpet player begin to play an ominous melody. "You're on."