Never Let Them Define You

AFTER THE INTERMISSION

"What's the low-down on the Chicago situation?" asks a harried businessman, sitting across from a disgruntled woman eating a plate of pasta. "Are you gonna say something?" She continues to eat impatiently. "Well, you're wasting my time now; in fact, we're running out of time, period!"

She mumbles incoherently for a second, but is unphased in her efforts to consume the dish.

"What was that? Did you say something?" He laughs awkwardly. "I can sparsely tell you're here right now! Hello? Earth to Mrs. Davenport."

Before she can finish her meal, a salmon fillet falls from above right onto her plate. "Finally," she mutters and begins cutting into it.

"What are you doing? You're clearly not taking this seriously! I mean, I'm-"

A bratwurst falls onto her plate, bouncing off the fish, not interrupting her as she dissects it, and rolls onto the floor.

"I'm trying to talk to you! You...you're a lunatic, you know that? More than this, I've no idea what you intend on doing with your life! You're a broken girl, you can't be fixed!" More food falls on the plate but doesn't interrupt him as he denounces her. "What'd you think you accomplish killing that man at 17, or doing drugs, and having sex with miscreants; you're a glutton for punishment and a slut!"

She only eats more quickly and gluttonously as he continues. Meanwhile, a shadowy figure approaches from the edge of the stage.

"Why, you ought to be stoned for your clear abuse of privileges, lack of competency, and-"

A woman in a green leotard, whose head is obscured by that of a pig's, stands before them with hands on hips and looks down judgmentally. She doesn't look down at either of them in particular, but they both stop moving immediately, and place their hands face down on the table submissively. She glances back and forth at them, the man winces, the woman is nearly frozen, then she takes the man's hand and stamps it. She does the same for the woman, then pats her on the head, and the man after that. She grabs the plate of food and flips it over, then holds the plate to her chest, and nods.

They both shove their faces against the table and eat as quickly as possible, then the man utters, "Thank you."

The pig person walks off with her head held high and disappears again. When she gets backstage, Cassandra takes off the mask and wipes her brow, then makes her way towards the bathroom as she hears a jaunty but eerie orchestral tune play in the background. She opens the door, then sees Stacy applying lashes and smiling at her through the mirror.

"Hey, Cassandra; the part go well?"

She sighs heavily, then shrugs. "About as well as it could have."

"Something wrong?"

"Just stressed."

"Don't worry, we're all doing our best; you know that, and we know you got this."

"I know, I know, I mean, I kind of know...agh, I don't know actually!" She begins to pace back and forth. "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know!"

"Hey, relax, seriously...you're, like, the smartest person I know, plus, you have a genius way of seeing the world. You're playing chess and the audience barely knows checkers, so you blowing their minds isn't even a question, and this thing is totally gonna be a commercial success."

"How do you know?"

"I've seen a million plays that go round the country and are just...eh? But you? You're on a whole other level; you're a great, I'm serious."

"A great? You're not serious, I'm hardly-"

"Shut up, take a piss, and stop being crazy."

"Fine!" She heads into the stall. "But what if-"

"Shut up!"

After a bit, she steps out, leans against the wall, and grabs a tiny bottle of liquor out from her bra.

"Don't you have a scene to be getting ready for or something?"

"No, it's the intermission."

"Oh...oh yeah, the music; still, don't you have something you should be doing?"

"No, I kinda set it up so I'd be able to take a break during it."

"Well, that's smart...isn't your mom here, shouldn't you talk to her?"

"Oh God, no, I can't stand to hear her reaction until it's over."

"Why?"

"It's gonna throw me off if I even see her face; I can't be criticized mid-show by someone I care about, that's all."

"That makes sense...wait until you're out of acting mode."

"Exactly." She waits around for a bit, slowly sipping from the bottle, and the music stops after a while. "Gotta get back; the show doesn't wait."