The Story of Tonight

Chapter Three

Vanessa had dealt with a lot of uncomfortable moments over her thirty-three years. She was, afterall, human. However, sitting in the audience watching her ex perform for the past hour while her daughter remained engrossed by the show may now be on the top of her list. She had never been more thankful for an intermission, immediately excusing herself to the restroom. Although she couldn't dodge the long line outside the ladies' room, she was at least away from her daughter to process her overwhelming feelings.

When tears started to run down her face during the titular song, the attorney who was typically very in control of her emotions knew the rest of the show would likely continue down the same path. She was, more than ever, thankful for Lia's fixation with the show. Her eyes never left the stage, completely enthralled by the performances. Vanessa was sure she hadn't even looked at her mother since they had arrived at the theatre, immediately taking her phone out when the curtain closed to no doubt post about the night on some social media app of hers.

When Vanessa finally entered the bathroom, she understood why she had received odd looks from the other audience members. The mascara smudged under her eyes was dramatically evident. She cringed at the thought of him being able to see her in such a state; hoping that all she had heard about blinding stage lights turned out to be true. She quickly fixed her makeup and headed back to the theatre, not at all surprised to see the smile still plastered on her daughter's face, nearly bouncing in her seat.

"Is this not the greatest night of your life?"

Vanessa mustered up a smile, "It's been something."

Lia couldn't understand how her mom could remain so calm. From the moment she heard Leslie Odom, Jr. open his mouth, she was hooked. Any negative emotions she had had prior to the show instantly disappeared. She knew she would enjoy it based off of her love of the cast album, but the performances were unlike anything she had seen before. She wasn't accustomed to going to Broadway shows, though. Her mother had never been too keen on musicals.

"I think my favorite character is a tie between Lafayette and Angelica. I mean, I pretty much figured that going into this.  And did you see that turntable? How someone can rap that well all while trying not to fall is unreal."

"I'm glad you're enjoying it so much." Vanessa gave her a genuine smile. Although she would rather be anywhere else, she always wanted Lia to be happy.

"And can you believe Lin- Manuel Miranda is not only the star, but wrote the entire thing? Only someone of pure genius could do that! And I just read on twitter that after the show the cast will usually come to the stagedoor to meet fans. Mom, we have to go."

Vanessa was still processing her daughter's admiration for her newfound idol, let alone the idea of her actually having to come face to face with him, when the lights of the theater dimmed down and claps of the audience led her daughter to turn away from her and glue her eyes back onto the stage. She was now going to sit in her thoughts for the next ninety minutes, deciding how she was going to convince her willful daughter why that would absolutely not be happening.

One hundred and twenty minutes later as the two were crammed against other excited audience members, Vanessa wanted to kick herself for every time she had encouraged Lia to be a strong-minded woman. It was great in any other time except for now which led to her standing in the New York cold waiting to potentially see her ex for the first time in nearly fifteen years.

"I meant what I said, we are only staying out here ten minutes max. You have school in the morning, and I have work. We're not camping out until the middle of the night so that you can get a selfie."

"Okay, okay," Lia brushed her mother off as she repeated the same thing for what felt like the tenth time. She had no doubt that her calves would be killing her the next morning as much as she was standing on her tiptoes, but she didn't care. She wanted to be the first one to spot if a cast member came out behind the metal doors.