I turn to see what’s caught her attention. There are two small cameras on tripods set up in the back.
“What’s with the cameras?” she asks.
Her voice. She’s got the sexy raspy voice that I’ve always wanted. Though Judas says Cinny sounds like a chain-smoking old-lady hag. Anyway, it’s surreal to see and hear her this up close and personal. It’s like I’ve got an exclusive, all-access pass to her concert at Madison Square Garden and am watching the mic check from the front row. Her skin is all glowy, like she got an expensive body shine on the way to the studios, and even though she’s wearing very little makeup, she’s still so striking. She is the embodiment of celebrity. It’s in her slightest move. The way her long lashes almost rest on her cheeks when she blinks. The way her ruby-red, perfectly manicured nails gleam and glisten.
I look down at my own nails. They’re each painted a different color. Yellow, green, pink, purple, white—I look like human confetti. I sigh.
“Don’t mind the cameras, Cinny,” Alan says. “We’re thinking of completely changing the number is all. The team needs to watch together to decide on a new direction.”
“Thank God.” Cinny yawns. “Hate this choreography. It’s the worst.”
The guy in the spandex shorts and heels rolls his eyes and says, “Tell me how do you really feel, Cinny?”
He’s got a thick French accent, and it suddenly dawns on me who he is. It’s Elias Aubert. Broadway choreographer extraordinaire. He’s only twenty-five and is already so successful, along with his longtime partner, Nikolai. Together, they’ve won Outer Critics Circle Awards, Lucille Lortel Awards, and Tonys. The choreography must really be bad if Cinny is openly criticizing Elias Aubert.
“Don’t be mad at me,” Cinny states unapologetically. “Clearly I’m not the only person not feelin’ it. Or we wouldn’t be changin’ it.”
“We’re not changing it because we don’t like it though,” Robbie cuts in. “It’s changing because—”
“Uh-uh. Blah. Stop.” Cinny shakes her head. “I’m so not the one. Not about to be arguin’ with y’all. It’s changing. Good. Movin’ on.”
Whoa. In all the interviews I’ve seen of Cinny, she seemed nice and gentle. Always talking about her spirituality and how Yoga keeps her super zen. Was it all an act? Or maybe she’s just not a morning person.
It’s now deathly quiet in the room. Though the muffled rumble of Times Square below can’t be tamed, so maybe “deathly quiet” is an overstatement. In fact, either I’m hearing voices in my head, or there really is a choir of high-pitched screams coming from below.
“Do you guys hear that?” Cinny gushes.
Oh, good. She hears it, too. She rushes to the window, her mood completely flipped to cheery.
“Stop it. How cuuuuute!” She squeals. “A bunch of my fans are makin’ a scene, y’all. Come see this.”
Elias and Robbie exchange looks, but neither says a word in reply nor moves a muscle. The brown-skinned boy who looks familiar and the girl with the fiery red hair sigh dramatically. I also note that Zeppelin is staring at his phone as if Cinny’s screeching fans are of little interest to him.
Alan only claps his hands and states, “From the top. Everyone. Places, please.”
Cinny sort of smacks her lips but does move into position.
“I Think I Remember You” is one of the songs I’ve learned in my private rehearsals. It’s when Roman and Jewel meet for the first time. I scoot to the edge of my seat as Cinny moves front and center. I’m sort of staring at her knees to avoid eye contact. It’s weird. Truly. But my peripheral vision keeps all of her in clear view. And sure, I might be cross-eyed when this is all said and done, but at least I’ll be in accordance with the NDA. Anyway. Cinny does have presence. She stands there so sure of herself. So poised, so confident.
Similar to Shakespeare’s original play, the two meet for the first time at a party at Jewel’s house. A campaign party. It starts off like a typical meet-cute. They see one another from across the room and are drawn together, almost trancelike. Then their meeting morphs into a fantasy sequence. It’s a big company number. They sing a duet on the moving walkway, as time and all their past lives pass by them. In the song, they’re trying to figure out why they seem so familiar to one another. Of course neither is aware (yet) that they are the reincarnations of Romeo and Juliet, meeting for the first time in hundreds of years.
Zeppelin and Cinny slowly make their way across the room to connect at the center as the pianist bangs out the complicated melody. Zeppelin wraps his arm around Cinny’s tiny waist, lowers his head into the nape of her neck, and Cinny spins out of his grasp.
This move activates the moving floor, which causes Cinny to yelp, lose her footing, and fall flat on her ass, crashing into the leggy redhead in the process. There is a collective gasp from everyone (myself included) as the pianist stops playing, the floor stops moving, and Cinny rolls onto her back.
“This fucking floor!” She groans.
Alan steps forward. “How can we help, Cinny?” He’s calm, as if Cinny’s literal fall from grace hasn’t bothered him in the least.
“One. This floor is a hazard to my life. How do we make it safe so I don’t die?”
Since Robbie is in the back manning the cameras, Alan’s gaze shifts to Elias, who is operating the floor device from the side of the room. Elias sort of tosses up his hands like, Don’t ask me!
“What if we cue the floor after you spin.” Alan asks the question, but it sounds more like a statement. “So it would be...” Alan looks back to Elias. “What would it be?”
Elias stands. “Love,” he says to Cinny. “If you are counting out the move, it would be six counts to get settled with Zeppelin. Everything else would remain the same.”
“Fine,” she mumbles. “Also. The background girl is too close to me.”
The “background girl” spins around to face Elias. She looks like she’s about to speak, but Elias holds up a hand to silence her.
“Her name is Lorin,” Elias says.
“And I’m not a background girl,” Lorin adds. “I’m a swing.”
Cinny shrugs. “Not sure what the difference is but okay.”
I bite the inside of my cheek to keep my jaw from dropping. Of course I know what a swing is. It’s someone in the chorus who learns multiple roles in case an understudy has to fill in for a lead. They’re arguably the hardest workers on Broadway, having to master their role and countless other roles.
Rather than add fuel to the fire of Lorin and Cinny, Alan motions to the pianist and calls out, “From the top please. Lorin and Damon, sit this one out.”
The two move to sit in a corner of the room.
Zeppelin and Cinny start from the beginning. This time, on the spin, even though the floor isn’t moving yet and Lorin is nowhere around, Cinny trips over her own two feet, and she and Zeppelin clunk heads when he reaches to catch her before she falls. It’s a successful (although painful-looking) save, and the two continue their duet on the now-moving walkway.
I know I’m supposed to focus on Cinny, but it’s not easy. Not just because she’s half-assing her way through the number, but also because Zeppelin is distracting. I can’t keep my eyes off him. No wonder they wanna change the choreography. He’s totally upstaging her!
Still, no matter how spectacular he is, he’s essentially a Roman without a Jewel, because Cinny (the Cinny I’m used to seeing) has left the building. She looks bored, she’s sluggish, she’s barely on key. And why is she singing in her head voice when Zeppelin is belting out notes like he’s the reincarnation of Freddie Mercury?
This song is worse than a train wreck. Train’s derailed, on fire, and about to blow up any second. At long last, Zeppelin and Cinny make it through the awkward performance, and I’ve managed to jot down a few pages of notes. I exhale, and I swear everyone else in the room does, too. It�
��s over. Hallelujah.
“Don’t hate me,” Robbie calls from the back of the room. “But we had a major camera glitch. We need to run it one more time.”
“Fuckin’ kidding me?” Cinny hisses. “Why do y’all care about a dance that’s getting canceled?”
“Just humor us?” Alan asks dryly. “And take it from the top. The sooner we get it over with, the sooner we can move on. We have a lot to do today.”
But instead of getting into position, Cinny strolls back to the window, and the Times Square screams go up to maximum hysteria volume. Whoever is down below must be able to see her, because she waves, and the screams amplify.
“They are all so cute. I gotta go say hello. Wesley?”
Her security guard stands slowly from the chair he’s been sitting on near the door.
“Walk me downstairs so I can sign some autographs for these cute little kids.”
She can’t really think it’s okay to leave rehearsal?
Clearly Alan and I are on the same page, because he says, “Cinny, you can’t possibly think it’s okay to leave. Right now. In the middle of rehearsal.”
“Relax, Alan.” She moves toward the door. “These are the kids who will be buyin’ tickets to the show. Imma sign a few autographs and be right back up. Thank me later.” And with that, she and Wesley exit into the hallway.
Alan looks so mad that I swear I can see steam coming out of his ears.
“We have to move on,” he declares. “We’re already behind schedule. We can’t wait for this again.”
“I didn’t catch much footage,” Robbie says sadly. “There’s almost nothing to present to the producers. Unless you want them to see Cinny falling on her ass, we need to do it again.”
“Jesus Christ, I’m getting too old for this shit,” Alan mumbles.
It sorta feels like I’m intruding on this personal moment of frustration. Since there is no way to give them privacy, I try my hardest to sit as still as a stone and stare at my notes, wishing I could offer them some sort of assistance.
“Last time, she signed autographs for one whole hour,” Elias complains. “Remember that?”
“How can we forget? It was yesterday,” Zeppelin adds.
Hearing his soft voice makes me look up and...whoa...into his eyes. He’s looking right at me. Why is he looking at me? I place my hands over my cheeks to see how warm they are. They tend to turn blazing when I’m nervous. I force my gaze back down to my script.
“How about this?” Elias calls out. “I will be Jewel for the producer video so we can move on.”
I look up again. Zeppelin seems surprised to see Elias moving toward him.
“May I?” Elias asks, batting his eyelashes dramatically. “Be your Jewel?”
“You’re not the Jewel of my dreams.” Zeppelin laughs. “But if you’re my only option—”
“I’m an option!” I stand.
Temporary insanity. I think that’s what happening here. Yes. That’s it exactly. I am unequivocally, without a doubt, one thousand percent, completely out of my damn mind.
Elias gives me a look that seems to say, Who the hell is this girl?
“Am I Jerzie Jhames?” I ask. Wait, why am I asking what my name is? “I mean, reverse that. I am Jerzie Jhames. I’m Cinny’s standby.”
“Jerzie?” Alan slides off his baseball cap and scratches his bald head. “Have you even learned this choreography?”
As a standby I don’t get to rehearse with the cast. I learn the numbers only by watching. But I have a slight superpower that Alan doesn’t know about. I learn quick. In fact, after watching only once, I know the entire dance.
“I have one of those weird minds.” I knock on my forehead with my knuckles, which, ow. It’s the spot that just got whacked with the door, and yep, Zeppelin was right. There’s a bruise, all right. I’m sure it’s not as big as it feels. “I memorized it already. It’s pretty straightforward. Except at the key change when Roman and Jewel switch positions and Jewel walks backward for eight counts.” I hold up my script. “That’s what I have in my notes anyway.”
“Impressive.” Elias claps his hands excitedly. “Très bon! Come.” He moves to me, gently takes my arm, and guides me to the front of the room.
I notice Alan and Robbie both glancing at the door.
“Do not worry,” Elias says to them. “She is busy being adored.”
“Let’s hurry anyway,” Alan declares.
Elias pushes me into position as the pianist begins with the soft chords that start the song.
Okay, this is happening. It’s really happening. I take a moment to compose myself by closing my eyes and taking a few deep breaths. I push aside any and all nerves and allow that magical thing to take over the way it always does when I perform. Jerzie goes away to present someone new. When I open my eyes, the piano chords are a gentle lullaby. The room is my stage. Zeppelin and I cross slowly toward one another, and I forget the cameras—I forget everything and everyone but us.
I have to admit, it’s nice to stare into his blue eyes and not have to feel bad about it or quickly look away. They draw me in. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear he really was in love with me. Who could look at me in such a way? No one has ever looked at me in such a way.
We meet in the center of the room and press our hands together. There is so much heat emanating off him that when we touch, my body feels like it’s been ignited. I am a flame. I work hard to keep my knees from buckling and turning to cinder.
He steps behind me the way he did with Cinny and wraps an arm around my waist. My eyes close as I feel the warmth of him pressed against me. His soft waves of hair tickle my cheek and neck when he leans in. No wonder Cinny kept falling! How can you concentrate with this perfect human’s body pressed against you? I’m getting lost in the sensation of him when I remember I’m supposed to be counting. Oops. Focus, Jerzie! Okay. I’m focused.
He’s resting his head in the nape of my neck, and I’m not sure if he was doing this before with Cinny, but I feel his lips graze my collarbone. Damn, they’re soft. It sends something pulsing through me that I’ve never felt before. What is this feeling? Oh shit, I’m not counting. Count, Jerzie. Count! I start the counts in my head, step, and spin.
The move is flawless, and the moving portion of the floor is activated. Zeppelin steps beside me and wraps his arm around my waist as we walk.
He leans closer and whispers, “A lot of touching in this scene. You’re okay with it?”
I nod.
“All of it? Promise I don’t bite.”
His breath is warm and tickles my ear. Bite me if you want! I think. I purse my lips together to keep from laughing and nod again to assure him I’m okay. With all of it. Now his fingertips gently slide down my cheek as we continue to stare into one another’s eyes. Just that quickly... I don’t feel like laughing anymore.
“I think I remember you.” We both sing. “But how can that be true...when I’ve never seen your face before. How could I... remember you?”
I know I’m supposed to do exactly what Cinny does, so as to not throw Zeppelin off, but Cinny wasn’t really doing much of anything. So, following Zeppelin’s lead, I belt out some of the notes and take a gentler approach when the lyrics move me to. I’m a mezzo-soprano, although some might call me a soprano, because I can sing the higher notes with ease, too. It’s just the lower notes feel perfectly placed within me. If I were to compare my singing voice to anyone’s, it would probably be Sia when I’m belting. Maybe Jhené Aiko when I’m not.
Now Zeppelin and I have reached the key change. This is where we switch places. He takes my hand, and I step into the turn. When I finish the eight-count spin, I’m the one walking backward.
It’s not like the floor is moving all that fast, but to add to the complexity of the backward walk and the moving floor, Zeppelin pulls me closer to him, so t
hat we’re sort of stepping in between each other’s legs. I’m looking down at first, sort of nervously watching our legs, hoping we don’t get tangled up and I fall splat, but Zeppelin lifts my chin so that I’m staring into his eyes again. Somehow, those eyes make me feel steady.
We continue the simple dance with the floor moving beneath our feet. He’s doing all the hard work. Moving around me. Jumping from one side to the other. Making me genuinely laugh with his silly faces. At one point, he drops to his knees and falls back onto the floor. I walk over him. He chases me. Grabs me again so that I stumble into his arms. It’s seriously so fun. It’s sexy, too. Especially when the laughter quiets and our hands and bodies connect. It’s exhilarating. If true love were a song and dance, it would totally be this one. I’m floating. I swear I’m soaring high above the clouds, and Zeppelin is my safety. He’s the wind. He’s my antigravity. My forever until eternity.
As the song nears the end, he steps behind me and presses his body to mine so that we’re so close, I pretty much feel all of him. And I do mean all. Whoa. He turns me around to face him one last time, just as the floor stops moving and the song ends.
I step away as Cinny did. That’s what’s in my notes. It’s the move that officially ends the number, and it’s the cue for Jewel to get whisked away by the actor playing the housekeeper—Shakespeare’s nurse. This is when she learns he is Roman, the son of Senator Monaghan. And he learns she is Jewel, the daughter of Senator Calloway. But as I turn to step away, Zeppelin extends a hand and draws me back to him. I sort of stumble right into his arms. He lowers his head and kisses me tenderly on the lips.
I hear a collective gasp from Elias, Robbie, Alan, the two cast members sitting in the corner, even the pianist. I’d gasp myself if my lips weren’t pressed to his.
The kiss lasts for a second. Maybe two. Or maybe this kiss is lasting for an eternity. Maybe, in some alternate dimension, this kiss is pretty much the spark that ignited the big bang. It’s this kiss that has spawned an entire universe. That’s what’s happening right now. Zeppelin and I—we’re universe building.
Roman and Jewel Page 5
