Cabaret Delancey 03 - Brunch
Old friend, new obsession. Vanessa is invited behind the curtain.
The idea was like a lover. A new flirtatious obsession. The cabaret. A secret theater. Vanessa was so spellbound, she almost walked into traffic.
New York had a way of keeping you on your toes. Even after four years of college and three years working in Midtown, Vanessa was still prone to stopping in the middle of the sidewalk to look up at something, only to be bumped into and cursed at by the locals.
She had to remind herself to keep moving. That was the primary law of the city. Just keep moving. You can take in the sights, the little chaotic tableaux, the oddities that were everywhere, as long as you kept your awe to yourself and for God’s sake, just kept walking.
That feeling of being an outsider could be disheartening sometimes, but it also kept things electric and new. There was something wild about the city, like every building could hold some secret, every corner could lead to some adventure, every quiet stranger could be part of some mystery.
Considering that made her cheeks flush. Considering that she had a few secrets. She had the mirror, the pictures, her little audience online. She would sit in meetings and wonder who else had secrets, what were they?
Those questions usually went unanswered, but occasionally she got a glimpse behind the curtain. She wondered if the cabaret might be one of those opportunities.
She was on her lunch break, hunting for the cafe she was supposed to meet Margot at and thinking about the date she had that night. Her date with the older man that made her squirm with flirting and threats of rather shocking things over text.
The cafe was a tiny place, a plate glass window with the name in gold foil letters. She made her way in and saw her old classmate sitting with a latte, looking far more put together and beautiful than Vanessa felt she could ever manage.
Margot didn’t see her right away and Vanessa took a moment to breathe, slow her racing heart, and let the blush fade from her cheeks. Margot with her stylish pixie cut blonde hair, her high cheekbones, her fair skin. Margot in her beautiful chunky knit sweater dress and boots.
They studied drama together, and dance, and music. Unlike Vanessa though, Margot actually got work in those fields. At least tangentially. She worked for a talent agency, while Vanessa had to crawl from theater into the dark arms of marketing. Still, at least it paid well.
“Margot!” Vanessa called and she seemed to shake herself out of that thoughtful reverie pretty people seemed to fall into in cafes. And she was pretty.
She was one of those porcelain-skinned blondes, who seemed completely unaware of the fact that she was a goddess. Vanessa was pretty much attracted to all women on some level, but Margot’s looks and her soft kind soul really made her swoon. She got stupid around her. Proving that to herself, she tripped and nearly fell into Margot as she walked to her table.
Margot smiled brightly and caught her. “Oh! Watch out, Van!”
Vanessa blushed and was generally mortified. She sat down next to her old friend and tried to banish the shame.
Margot didn’t care. She hugged her and Vanessa was enveloped in the sweet smell of her perfume. Something fresh, sweet, almost candy-like. The scent of an ingénue.
They fell into the usual catch up conversation. Margot went on about her family back in Connecticut. Vanessa talked about bad dates and good books. They fell into comfortable chatter that made Vanessa miss college, miss Margot.
“So… the experimental theater thing?” Vanessa asked, acting like it wasn’t the thing she had been thinking about all night.
“Right! So I was just talking about you the other day with Marcy Johnson. Do you remember her?”
Vanessa nodded, though she didn’t. She was too pleased that Margot was talking about her. It made Vanessa’s cheeks heat up.
“I was telling her about your photo project. I showed it to her on my phone and she loved it.”
Vanessa almost choked on her drink. She’d almost forgotten that she told Margot about the blog months ago over text. The knowledge that Margot had seen those pictures flashed across Vanessa’s mind. A flush of shame and a spark of pride. She decided to embrace the pride.
“Wow. That’s nice to hear. I’ve been working on it for almost two years now,” Vanessa said, almost surprised at the confident tone her voice took on. Her body felt activated as she looked for Margot’s reaction, which was as pleasant as if Vanessa said she still played tennis.
“That’s great! It made us think about this project we’ve been working on. Like I said, it’s sort of experimental theater and we thought you might be a good fit. I remembered how happy you were the last time we went to Marie’s Crisis. You seemed like your old self, belting out show tunes leaning against a piano. You were always the curvy sultry one. Not like us ballet girls,” Margot said with a demure laugh.
It was indeed Vanessa’s most natural state. She again felt flushed.
“So... they sing show tunes in this theater?”
Margot let out one loud laugh. “Well, no, not exactly. We do lots of things. It’s cabaret, performance art, burlesque. And it’s a secret. It’s in this little... well, I’m actually not even supposed to say what neighborhood it’s in. Anyway, I’ve done it a few times and it’s like being part of something... an art community. Marcy does a lot of the stage managing. Nina does a lot of the costumes, but I’m not sure you’ve met Nina.”
The word burlesque triggered some kind of alert in Vanessa’s brain, though she wasn’t sure exactly what kind of alert. The word secret definitely made her sit up straighter.
“It sounds amazing. Do I, like, audition?”
Margot giggled. “No, it’s not that kind of thing. You start out by just going to one of the performances. See if it’s something you like. If you are interested, you just think up a performance piece and tell the troupe about it. If it seems like a good fit, then you go for it. It’s all sort of organic. You might want to start with backup singing or something. You really just have to experience it.”
Vanessa’s mind filled with images of the movie Cabaret. A dark smoky club, flashes of bare legs, laughing, flirting, martini glasses clinking, wild times being had. Margot was part of that and thought of her!
“I’m definitely in. Text me the details?”
Margot smiled mischievously at that. “Well, that’s the thing. The troupe tries very hard to keep every aspect of this offline. So text me your home address and they messenger you a printed invitation. Don’t take any pictures of it and don’t tell anyone. It will all make sense once you see one of the performances.”
Vanessa swallowed. It was like everything Margot was saying was checking off some list in her subconscious. Secret art performance with beautiful people. Hand delivered invitations. She felt herself numbly nodding and typing out her information to Margot.
The rest of the conversation was a bit of a blur. Eating overpriced Niçoise salads and reminiscing about improv classes.
An hour later, back in the office, she switched into Corporate Vanessa. Pleasant, bubbly, but not too chatty. Talking only when appropriate. Not spouting the puns and lyrics that filled her head every moment. Not correcting people when they used idioms incorrectly. Not standing up for herself when superiors talked over her.
In her mind, though, she was already on stage. The secret stage. Invited behind the real and metaphorical curtains. She licked her lips as she considered this new seduction.