I'll Follow Your Lead

Chapter 6 - My Hero

Jack had just finished his first shift at Rinaldi's - helping Elmer haul supplies from the delivery truck to the pantry – and he was sitting at the back of the dining room smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer. A few performers had already come and gone as the curtains opened on the stage once again. The band was playing the beginning of a jazzy tune and the curtains revealed something Jack had not expected. Dorothea stood in the middle of the stage. She was adorned in a beautiful pale blue dress the bottom of it trailed a bit behind her and every inch of the dress sparkled in the stage lights. She sparkled in the stage lights. Jack was speechless. He set his drink down and leaned forward in his chair as Dorothea began singing. Her voice was rich and clear as it rang through the dining room. Jack hung on her every word.

"Isn't she a star," Margarette sighed as she brought Jack his dinner – free of charge by request of Dorothea. "She's such a rare talent, that girl."

"Yeah, she is. I didn't know she sang," He said.

"She's a shy girl. She's been that way since she turned up on our doorstep," Margarette chuckled and gave Jack a fond smile before going back to the kitchen.

Jack fumbled for his sketchbook, desperate to capture this version of Dorothea on paper. He sketched quickly and loosely. He would return to the drawing later with details but for now, he mostly focused on actually looking at her. He knew that he would not soon forget her like this.

She had seen him in the crowd. How could she not have he was basically the only person there; well she certainly felt that way. As she hurried back to her dressing room to change back into her regular clothes, she was unaware that another man had watched her perform. The man from the café.

"Dorothea, dear, you're food will be ready in the kitchen when you're done!" Margarette called through the door of the small dressing room.

"Alright!" Dorothea responded. She carefully removed the gems that glittered in her hair and watched in the mirror as her hair fell over her shoulders and down her back.

"beautiful, is what I was gonna say."

Jack's compliments from the day of the party rang in her ears and caused warmth to bloom over her face and neck. A girlish smile stretched across her lips as she continued to undress. Just as she had managed to unlace the corset of her dress, someone knocked on the door. Dorothea thought nothing of it, believing it to be the old seamstress who usually helps her in and out of costumes - foolish

"Come in!" The door slowly creaked open, "You're a little too late, Inez, I've already got the corset off," She laughed.

"Then I suppose I have impeccable timing."

After quickly finishing his preliminary sketch, Jack rushed off to find out where he could see Dorothea. Finding his way back to the kitchen he met Elmer and Margarette chatting by the stove. Elmer was the first to notice the young man enter.

"Jack, my boy! Come back for seconds?" Elmer's deep voice broke into a rumbling chuckle. Jack smiled,

"Not this time. I wanted to know where I could find Dorothea. I want to tell her how well she did tonight," Jack sat his sketchbook on the kitchen counter before stuffing his hands in his pockets. Elmer and Margarette shared a look that can only be described as knowing.

"Of course! I was just heading that way to fetch her for dinner. Come with me." Elmer held an arm out to beckon Jack over. As they walked toward a hallway at the back of the room, the older man clapped Jack on the back. "Was this the first performance you've seen?"

Jack nodded. "She never even told me she performed here."

Elmer barked out a laugh and shook his head, "That doesn't surprise me-" He paused to say hello to one of the musicians as they entered the part of the hallway lined with dressing rooms, "That girl seems to be allergic to giving herself any praise."