Everything Within My Power

1: Lights, Music, Roses?

"Odette, two minutes!" I hear sound tech through the backstage speaker. I make my way through the back entryway to the stage. Time to shine, I think to myself. The curtains pull open, and the stage lights are warm. It helps, considering this dress is of a thinner material. Coming to my stopping point, I start the first number with my hand on the mic.

As I'm singing, I like to take notice of the crowd. Considering this place holds around seven hundred people, tonight is definitely a sold-out house. I always take note of the balcony to my right. I know Mr.Phutain is there with his select few for the evening. He's always using my viewpoint as a "spoil" for his "guest." I've never really imagined myself singing up here as those in the crowd are conversing, watching the background actors, and taking in the awe of each other's company. Every time I get on this stage, I get set back a few years to when I was at such a low place in life. I thought life was over for me back then, but now I realize how important life is. How much of a blessing God has really bestowed on me. From where I was to where I am now is breathtaking, to say the least.

I round out my final number and give a bow. That was the last show of the night and a long night at that. For the next hour, people will stay for the after-show until midnight, and then folks have to either go to the back of the building where the club is or leave. I never go to the back of the building; I've never been fond of the club scene. It's never suited me. Walking through the backstage hallway, I run into a few stage crew members. Tallie, Kyle, and Birdie are all trying to figure out a minor difficulty with the backstage curtain.

"Are you guys alright?" I ask, peeking my head over. "Odette Kyle pulled the wrong lever, and now the curtain for backstage is jammed! Mr.Phutain is gonna be so mad!" Tallie says as she continues to jam with the lever. "It was a mistake. Get over yourself, Tallie." Kyle rebuttals distastefully. Man, these two are really like brother and sister. "Odette, you've fixed it before. Can you look at it again?" Birdie asks. "Sure," I say as I move to the lever. I see the issue now; it was tied wrong. I ask Kyle and Birdie to hold the main rope up as I untie them and add the original rope back to its rightful lever. "Sometimes you have to look behind it; the ropes can get tied to the wrong lever sometimes." The three of them hugged and thanked me before running off to get back to their stations.

I pass a few after-hours actors as I return to my dressing room. Nikki and Candice gave me a dirty look and continued walking. They never liked that I got special treatment by having my own dressing room. Technically, it's not even mine; it's meant for 'singers,' and I just so happen to be the only one. I shrugged off their facial comment and walked into my dressing room. I come to my mirror and sit down, taking a deep, long breath before putting my head on the vanity. Im so tired. It's ten thirty, and I must be up at nine for class. Thankfully, my project is done, and my presentation is prepped. I just have to show up and follow the queues I've set for myself. I close my eyes for a minute or two before changing.

Two Hours Later

*Knock Knock Knock*

I jolt up from my vanity shoot. I must've slept longer than I thought.

*Knock Knock*

I rush over to the door, and open it. It's Mr. Phutain, "Odette! Glad to see you're still dressed I- Were you sleeping?" I swallow so that I don't cough with a dry throat. "Yes, sir, I accidentally fell asleep after the final show; I've been preparing for a huge presentation tomorrow," I say honestly. I never saw a point in lying about minor things. "Very well, get yourself together. I have a few associates of mine that I would like to introduce you to. They promised a donation to Pearl Repast based on your performance. The least I could do was introduce you." He says, taking a step back. "I understand. I'll be up there in two minutes." I say as I shut the door.

Moments later, I walk onto the floor from the server's pit. Still dressed as he asked. Mr. Phutain catches me out of the corner of his eye and waves me over. As I approached, I noticed four men, neatly dressed. "Gentlemen, the star of the show, Odette Sloan." I smile and give a small hello. One of them addressed me, "Hello, Odette. My name is Mark Thanes. Lovely performance tonight, I must say. You have an exceptional voice." He compliments me. "Thank you very much, I appreciate the recognition," I respond. Mr. Phutain chimes in, "Odette has been with me since the beginning of Pearl Repast, as some of you know. Although I'm not sure what I'll do in seven months, seeing how you graduate soon." He says. I understand these men are promising a donation, but I want to get home. "Where do you attend school, Odette?" Another man addresses me. "I am a senior at NYU, a business major." I reply, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." I quickly follow. "My apologies, my name is Patrick, Patrick Capps." He shakes my hand. "Very nice to meet you." We continued to make introductions and small talk. Their names were Patrick, Mark, and Thomas. I noticed only three of the men really spoke to me; there was one who only chimed in once or twice. It was too late to dig and discover who he was; I was so tired. I give Mr. Phutain an eye as he understands it's close to one in the morning. "Alright, gentlemen, it is getting late for Mrs.Odette here, so we best handle this arrangement and say our goodbyes." We all said our goodbyes, and I went to the dressing room again.

As soon as I got into my room, I took all the pins out of my hair and took out my low bun. It's elegant and easy to put in, but it feels phenomenal to take out. Letting my hair down, I massage my scalp before I hear a knock on my door. It couldn't be Mr.Phutain as he has never knocked on my door twice in one evening. "One second," I say as I straighten my hair out. Geez, I have a lot of it.

I rush to the door and open it. It's one of the men from earlier, but I never caught his name. "Hi, Odette. I am so sorry I didn't introduce myself to you earlier; I wasn't given a chance to. My name is Neil Abram. I wanted to meet you and give you this formally." He hands me a rose tied with a black ribbon. He intrudes before I can say thank you, "I don't mean to cut you off, but I think your voice is lovely. I've visited several of your shows, and you perform beautifully every time."

I blush and look to my feet before meeting his eyes again. "Thank you for both the rose and your kind words. The recognition means a lot to me. Sometimes, I go out there and think I bombed the whole show." I laugh lightly. He smiles, "I get the feeling; I'm sure we all have moments like that." We both laugh. "Well, I don't want to keep you as I know it's late, and I still have an arrangement with Erick back out front. Get home safe, Odette; I hope to see you sometime soon." I smiled. "Thank you, and you too, take care." I shut my door. Looking at this rose, I see the black ribbon is silk. It's a personal touch of his, I'm assuming. I take the ribbon off the rose and put it in my jacket pocket.

Quickly changing into a warm, dark outfit. I put my hood up and head to the station to catch my train. Making it home in one piece.  Alise must be sleeping, or I hope she is, considering it's two am now. I walk into my room, kick off my shoes, and crash into bed. As I took my phone out of my pocket, I noticed the ribbon had fallen. I put my phone on charge and held the ribbon, feeling the silk between my fingers. Thinking, his very own personal touch. I hope I can see him soon, and he seemed so genuine...

*Odette falls asleep holding the ribbon*