by Unknown
“This is crew business, magic man,” said Clark, his voice deepening in warning. His posture stiffened and he leveled a hard gaze at Blake. There was an unspoken hierarchy in the cirque: Crew stuck with crew. Performers stayed with their own kind and never the twain shall meet. I’d been an exception to the rule, making friends with one of the star acts. Mostly because I hadn’t known I wasn’t supposed to.
I held my breath, gaze darting from Blake to Clark. Blake wore his stage costume of a black tux complete with tails. He reached inside his jacket--the one I’d stitched up--and pulled out a wand.
“Last chance to do the right thing.” Blake brandished the wand and waited.
There was silence for a moment and then howls of laughter.
“What you gonna do? Magic tricks? No, we’ll help the lady here with her boxes.” Clark shook his head and reached for my elbow, wanting to push me along.
I resisted Clark’s manhandling despite sharing his skepticism. I’d seen Blake do amazing tricks and illusions, but a shower of rose petals wasn’t exactly useful for self-defense. Did he seriously think magic was going to convince these thugs to leave me alone?
Unconcerned by the disbelief, Blake made a ‘tsk-tsk’ sound as the wand magically grew into a long staff. He brandished it with a flourish. “Give Ruby her boxes.”
I blinked in surprise that Blake even knew my name. I’d thought I’d ranked somewhere slightly below navel lint from the way he’d treated me. The guys took a wary step back, but Clark stayed put.
He spat on the ground. “It’s just an illusion, hombres. It’s not even real.”
“An illusion?” Blake quirked an eyebrow in amusement. “Let’s find out.” With a flick of his arm, the magician cracked the staff on Clark’s knuckles.
Clark released me with a howl of pain. The box he’d been holding under one arm dropped to the ground as he rubbed his hand. I scurried over and snatched up the package. Holding it tight against my chest, I looked at Blake with wide eyes.
He winked at me, a leisurely smile playing across his lips. He appeared to be enjoying himself. “Magic can be dangerous.”
The wand was now a wand again. He waved it in the air with elegant nonchalance and the road crew around me took another step back. They looked to Clark for leadership and he gave a subtle shake of his head. He wasn’t about to give up.
Hands clenched into fists, he lunged for Blake. The magician stepped to the side and the wand morphed into a staff again, thunking down on Clark’s skull. The big man dropped like a stone, his eyes glazed and half closed.
Blake whirled around and tapped the rest of the guys. Some he hit in the knees, others got it on their shoulders. By the time he finished, all my packages had fallen to the ground and the crew was on the run. Clark regained consciousness with a loud groan just as his posse abandoned him. He sat up, wild-eyed with confusion, but once he caught sight of Blake, he turned tail himself. It was all over in a matter of seconds.
I froze for a moment, eyes locked on Blake’s. His were a piercing blue that seemed to miss nothing. He watched me with a steady gaze and I flushed.
Breaking eye contact, I began to retrieve my packages. “Th-th-thanks for your help.”
He bent down and scooped up a box. “No problem.” He handed it to me and our fingers touched. I shivered at the frisson of electricity the contact sparked. Up close and personal, his charisma overwhelmed my senses. When I’d first arrived in New York City, I’d gone to visit the Empire State Building. Standing on the ground and looking straight up the skyscraper had made my head spin until it felt like I would fall right off the earth. Blake affected me in a similar manner.
I squeezed my eyes shut in an effort to dispel the dizziness. When I opened them, he was gone.
Chapter Two
“Ruby!” shrieked a loud voice behind me.
“Oh, what now?” I muttered as I turned in the direction of my name. It was all of six thirty a.m. at that point. First Clark, then Blake and now what? Surely I’d already met my daily quota for circus drama?
Krista came running toward me. The sight of the head cook gave me pause as, this time of day, she should still be sleeping like everyone else on the lot. Breakfast didn’t start until noon at the circus. “Lilli needs you. She’s hurt.” Her normally cheerful blue eyes were clouded with worry.
My stomach dropped. The burlesque dancer and I had become fast friends from the moment we met. We shared a mutual love of sequins, a belief in their liberal use and our rounded curves almost looked like a matching set. She had saved me from sleeping in the odious crew trailer by inviting me stay with her in her RV.
If they’d told me I would be sleeping in a sectioned off semi trailer, I would have turned down the job flat. Yeah, theater work was hard to come by in this economy, but I would never be so hard up as to agree to six months of what amounted to living like one of the Box Car children. I’d loved those books as a kid, but they hadn’t had the ‘neighbors’ I did. Mainly Clark and his ilk.
Thank God for Lilli who took me in like a long lost sister.
“Where is she?” I asked. When I’d tip-toed out this morning, she’d been fast asleep.
“In her trailer and she’s asking for you. They’ve called an ambulance.”
My mouth dropped open in shock. An ambulance? Oh my god. With a nod to Krista, I hustled my way to Lilli’s bright blue RV. Dropping the boxes outside the door, I rushed inside.
“Lilli?”
“Over here.” She was on the couch, her leg propped up on pillows. She looked pale yet somehow still radiant, her fair skin contrasting with her bright red hair. Stan, the stage manager, hovered at her side.
I gasped when I saw that her knee had doubled in size and put a hand to my mouth when I spotted the giant goose egg on her head. “Oh my God. What happened?”
Lilli snorted and then winced in pain. “I had to pee and I tripped.” She gestured to her knee. “I think I blew the joint.”
I hustled over to the tiny RV fridge and pulled out some ice. Wrapping it in a towel, I pressed it against her temple. “How did you hit your head?”
“My head?” She looked at me, confused. “I didn’t hit my head. It’s just a migraine.” She put her hand over the towel and held the ice in place.
Stan and I exchanged equally serious looks. This was beyond bad. It was a catastrophe. Lilli was one of the circus’ main attractions. The media called her the New Queen of Burlesque and she’d starred in everything from music videos to her own calendar. She was the pin-up star of my generation and I’d about died from happiness when we first met. I’d made more than one sewing pattern inspired by her.
Stan cleared his throat. “You may not know this Ruby, but if Lilli doesn’t perform tonight, she’ll forfeit her earnings for the entire run.”
“That’s terrible,” I said. “Can they really do that to you?”
She nodded. “I’ll lose everything. The trailer, our new show, everything.” Tears glistened in her eyes.
I wanted to cry with her. She was my next job and, if she went bust, so did I. The plan was to go out west and launch a burlesque review after the cirque closed. She’d asked me to be the costume designer, which was a serious promotion for me. We’d been discussing the details for months.
Stan gave me a meaningful look. “But, if she can provide an acceptable understudy, the contract holds.”
Lilli’s green eyes pleaded with me as the meaning of his words sank in. I knew where this was going.
“You mean me, right? You want me to perform?” I felt hot and cold all at once. “I’m not a professional dancer.” Yes, I’d been learning all her routines, but mostly so I understood how the costumes needed to move during a striptease. I didn’t want to design anything that would take Houdini’s talents to escape. In striptease, wardrobe malfunctions were when the clothes wouldn’t come off.
“You’re just as good as me,” Lilli said earnestly.
I rolled my eyes. We’d had this discussion many times
before where Lilli tried to convince me I could dance burlesque and I refused to believe her. Studying burlesque as a costume designer and being any good at it were two different things in my book.
She gave me an encouraging smile.“You know the routine. My costumes will fit.”
I nodded, reluctantly conceding she was right. I did know the routine and we were the same size. I’d enjoyed passing the time learning burlesque, and, yes, once or twice, I wondered what it would be like to perform. I’d always been too big to be seen, but meeting Lilli had shown me a different take on my size. ‘We’re not big, we’re lush, dear’ she’d said to me once when I’d expressed some reservations about stripping down to pasties and a thong. Going that far in front of just her had been bad enough. The idea of an audience was...terrifying.
“I’m not you on stage,” I whispered.
“That’s right, you’re you and you are amazing.” She reached out and gave my hand a squeeze. She believed in me. Probably an unfortunate side effect of almost cracking her skull open.
“I don’t know. I can’t...” I closed my eyes, trying to process everything. It was too damn early for this. I hadn’t even had any coffee yet. Let alone breakfast. Where was the pause button when you needed it?
A siren sounded in the distance. The ambulance was coming, as if the universe had heard my plea for a pause and answered me with a fast forward.
“You’ll lose your insurance won’t you?” I opened my eyes and looked at Lilli. She was paler than usual, her expression anxious. Normally she was all about the glamour, even off stage, but for the first time since we’d met, there wasn’t a speck of glitter on her.
She nodded. “Everything.”
I didn’t understand how someone so famous didn’t have any money, but from what little Lilli had said, she hadn’t hit a big payday yet. The Cirque contract was her first real job after gaining some notoriety. She’d agonized over how to spend her money wisely--I knew this because she constantly second-guessed herself--and had settled on the trailer and the show, but now that was about to go poof. Unless... I blinked trying to scrub the thought from my mind. My brain responded to my attempt at denial by helpfully producing a mental picture of me on stage in front of a booing audience.
Oh god.
“Please, Ruby.” We looked at each other and I knew I was going to do it. We were friends. She was my meal ticket, too. If she went down, so did I. Besides, with her head injury, she needed insurance. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t help her.
Oh god, oh god, oh god.
“I’ll do it.” My words came out in jerky little gasps. I’d wanted them to sound smooth and confident, like Lilli. Instead I sounded like a scared little girl.
Stan arched a bushy eyebrow at me.
“I can do it,” I said in response to his unspoken doubts. “The only thing is, I’ll need some help with the costume maintenance.” I couldn’t stitch everyone else up and prepare for my stage debut. Something had to give.
Stan stared at me for a long moment, weighing his options. With a curt nod, he finally said, “The performers can do some sewing in a pinch. I’ll let them know.” With that, he brushed past me and out the door, muttering something about ‘the last show curse’ under his breath.
Not long after that, the ambulance pulled up. If anyone had still been asleep, they weren’t anymore. Doors opened and slammed shut as the circus gathered to see what the emergency was. I motioned the paramedics into Lilli’s RV and quickly packed a bag for her to take with her.
As the paramedics loaded her into the back of the ambulance, she looked down at me and winked. “You’re going to be fabulous, Ruby. It’ll be magic.” Always over-the-top she made a gesture with full on jazz hands. Not even pain could stop her from keeping it Broadway.
I rolled my eyes. “Is that another way of saying barely adequate?”
“You, my darling girl, are going to shine. Wait and see. I know these things.” She tapped her head and then winced as she made contact with her goose egg.
“We’re almost ready to go, m’am,” said one of the paramedics. He was a clean cut blond with well-defined muscles. I could tell from the way he looked at Lilli that she’d made another conquest even without make-up and a lump on her face that looked like she was trying to hatch something from her brain. She had natural charm and few people didn’t fall under her spell.
Lilli nodded that she’d heard him and said to me, “Take care of the RV, will you?”
“Of course. I’ll hold down the fort until you’re better.” After tonight’s performance everyone would go their separate ways. The cirque management would return to their home in upstate New York while the acts moved on to the next show. Lilli and I had planned to do a week on a beach south of LA while she set up audition venues, but now we would stay put until she was well enough to travel. Except for Lilli’s company, I didn’t love the RV lifestyle, but just then its flexibility came in handy.
“Thank, you, doll. “ She held up her phone. “Text me after the show, okay?”
I snorted. “You want the blow-by-blow of my humiliation?”
She frowned. “No, your triumph.” When I didn’t say anything, she gave an impatient shake of her head. “Darling, I didn’t teach you my routines just so you could make costumes. No, I saw something in you. A spark. A little light wanting to burn, not fizzle. You think the spotlight is only so the audience can see you, but it also lets you finally see yourself. Tonight you’ll know who you really are.”
After that cryptic statement, the paramedics jumped into the ambulance and slammed the doors shut. I watched the vehicle lumber out of the lot, a chill working its way up my spine. The world was whirling out of control under my feet and it made my stomach lurch like I was going to be sick.
Chapter Three
I fidgeted off-stage as I watched Blake perform his last magic trick. The audience was enraptured with him as usual, especially the women. I sympathized with their sighs and gasps of pleasure as I’d been suppressing mine for the last several months.
Tonight, however, I allowed him to distract me. Just this once, I didn’t fight the tingle that ran through me at the way his bicep flexed as he pulled a rose out of the ether. When he bent over to bestow the bloom on a lucky audience member, I bit my lip at the sight of his backside.
If only he wasn’t wearing pants...
He turned, as if he’d heard my thought, and caught sight of me. There was a tiny little pause as he contemplated my presence, but I doubted anyone in the audience noticed. Having watched his show from this very spot for the last six months, I caught his flub though. I had surprised him.
Or blinded him, I thought ruefully looking down at my costume. Normally I wore all black like the rest of the crew backstage, but now Lilli’s sequin spackled outfit squeezed me tight. With all the bling, I probably reflected light like a mirror.
He blinked and produced another rose, seamlessly moving forward with his act. Every now and then he snuck a peek at me as if trying to sort out why I was there. Not wanting to disturb him, I stepped further back into the shadows.
Someone patted me on the shoulder then and whispered, “Break a leg, Ruby.”
When I turned to see who it was, they were gone. I knew it was just theater slang, but breaking a bone sounded like a great idea. My stomach roiled and I felt hot, like I had a fever. It was a bad case of stage fright flu. I wanted to cut and run, but held my ground through sheer will.
Why do I have to be such a good friend?
Because she’s hurt, duh.
I’d called the hospital and posed as her sister in order to see how she was doing. Her head CT scan had been clear, but she had a serious concussion and would be in the hospital for a few days. The knee would require surgery, but they weren’t sure yet if they would do it asap or schedule it for a later date.
Loud applause drew my attention back to the stage where Blake had finished his last trick. It was an impressive illusion where he acted the part of
a painter painting a rose still life. As he painted, the petals dropped from the real rose and the painting morphed from rose to heart to a silhouette of a lovers’ embrace. Audiences loved it and he often sold the canvas after the show for upwards of five hundred dollars.
To close his act, Blake gave one last sweeping gesture of his arms and a shower of rose petals rained down on the audience and they erupted into breathy ‘ahs’ and ‘ohs’.
The house lights then went dark to allow him time to exit the stage. They came back up to reveal our Master of Ceremonies. A rotund bald man, he always did his spiel with a cigar at his lips. He even puffed out smoke rings between words.
“Ladies and Gentleman that was Blake Cannon and the magic of desire. Now, I’d like to present to you the tease of desire, Miss Lilli Lush. She’s in her first season with the Cirque D’Amour and watch out, she’s pure sin.” He blew out a heart shaped smoke ring, and, as it dissolved, it seemed to take on the hourglass shape of a woman.
The lights went down again, the audience clapped politely, unsure of what to expect. Music came to life in a blare of sultry saxophone. I adjusted my costume one last time and made for the stage.
Here goes nothing.
Just as I was about to step out of the wings, a warm hand reached out and latched onto my forearm. “Ruby,” came the soft masculine voice I recognized as Blake’s.
I pulled myself free, annoyed. “Not the time, magician.”
He flipped his hand over and presented me with a rose, smiling when I jumped. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of a little magic.” He tucked the rose behind my ear and then gave me a little shove toward the stage. “Break a leg.”
The words followed me out onto the stage as I rushed to make my mark before the lights came on. My mind was a jumble of nerves and confusion at what had just happened. Blake had been an anti-social piece of eye candy for the last six months. So why was he suddenly not only saving me from the road crew, but also talking to me and putting conjured roses in my hair? I shivered at the question, the potential answers tempting me to dream.