1 Chapter 1: Cabaret
Nancy’s POV
My team and I bow to the crowd as they clap and cheer us on. We just finished our production of “The Moulin Rouge” and the crowd loved it! Tonight we’re performing at Park Street Tavern, one of our more popular places to play gigs at. It’s a quaint little place that’s more restaurant than a bar but everyone in Columbus always calls it a tavern since it’s in the name.
The restaurant is well lit with lights above each table, the bar, and the stage. The navy-blue walls and dark wooden floors contrast with the lights to make the atmosphere perfect for a show and dinner.
I walk off stage as the clapping dies down and the customers focus back on each other. The owner of the tavern gives all the people that perform free drinks and a meal after their acts, so a couple of us head to an empty table and wait for a waiter to come over.
“You did so well tonight, Nancy! You should’ve been the lead way before now.” Julie, a backup dancer for tonight’s show, says and pats me on the back.
“Thanks, I was so nervous I’d mess something up being front and center.” I give her a small smile of appreciation as a waiter comes around. They take our orders and get us our drinks.
“Okay, everyone, I know you just want to eat and head home, but I wanted to let you know our next rehearsal is going to be in one week. We’re doing “Burlesque”, that’s always a pretty popular show.” Michael, our team manager, and instructor, tells us as our food arrives.
We all eat in silence, appreciating how good the food is.
“Do you want to come back to my apartment after this, Nancy?” Tara, another dancer, asks.
“No, I actually can’t hang out here too long. I’ve got a class tomorrow at ten in the morning.” I prefer morning classes so they don’t clash too much with my work schedule.
“How long do you have before you’re done with school?” Tara asks, leaning her forearms on the table.
“I’ll be done in a couple of months. I’ve already been talking to some different vet offices around the city about interning and stuff.” I can’t help the smile that appears when talking about my dream job. Cabaret dancing, or dancing in general, isn’t what I plan to do for the rest of my life. I’m in school to be a veterinarian; animals have always been better to me than humans and if I can help them in any way, I will.
“I’ll be right back, I’m gonna go use the restroom.” I get up and head toward the women’s restroom.
As I walk past the bar, I see a man follow me with his eyes. Trying to maneuver the heavy, silver bodysuit to where I can sit down instead of just squatting over the toilet is such a challenge! Pulling the black pantyhose up and matching black satin gloves on afterward, while making sure both are secured in place, is even more of a challenge!
While I’m washing my hands, a couple of girls come out of the stalls and start talking about the show.
“Oh my god! You played Satine tonight,” the one with a blond pixie cut screams. “You were absolutely amazing!”
“Ah, yeah, that was me.” I give her a small smile.
“You have so much confidence to go on stage and do anything! I’d stand there like a deer in headlights!” The redheaded friend says with wide eyes.
“You get used to it.” I shrug my shoulders. “I’ve been performing for three years now.”
They both smile really big and leave the restroom. I stand there for a moment, staring at myself in the mirror. I take off the top hat and red wig and shake my shoulder-length brown hair out. I wet some paper towels and wipe off my face full of makeup. I usually go without makeup, but that’s impossible to do when being on stage. Plus, with my paler skin, I look like a ghost under bright lights.
Throwing away the dirty paper towel, I take a deep breath and crack my neck before heading back out to the dining area. As I walk past the bar someone grabs a hold of my hand. Turning around, I see the man from earlier who watched me walk into the restroom.
“Hey, Satine.” He smirks like he just told a funny joke.
“Uh, hi,” I reply while pulling my hand away.
“Don’t do that, I just wanna talk to you. About the show.” He pulls on my hand until I stumble toward him.
“Hey-” I’m cut off by hands firmly placed on my shoulders.
Turning my head, I see a chest covered in a very soft-looking black dress shirt. I look up the chest to the man’s face. He has very pretty light-blue eyes, that’s the first thing I notice. The second thing I notice is the very intense, and not good intense, face zoned in on the man tugging on my hand.
“The lady isn’t interested.” His voice is so calm it's nerve-racking.
I check out the rest of his face as he and the other man have a stare-down. He has nice tanned skin, with his brown hair combed back. He must be a little older than me as I can see small aging lines around his eyes.
He cocks an eyebrow but doesn’t say anything else to the other man.
The man lets go of my hand and snorts before turning his back to us and continuing to sip on his drink.
I turn to face the attractive man and walk around him. “Thank you, I greatly appreciate that.”
He smiles at me. “I know I just chased off one creep tonight, but can I get you a drink? I’d never seen such a performance like yours before.”
He’s so polite, and I can’t stop staring into his eyes. I unwillingly smile back and nod. He looks at me for a moment before turning to the bartender.
“She’ll have a Gin Fizz and I’ll have a Whiskey Sour.”
Our drinks are made quickly and I follow him to a two-seat table not far from the stage I was on earlier.
“Don’t worry, you’ll like it. It’s both sweet and sour; you can’t really taste the liquor," he speaks, voice lined with such assurance and confidence.
I stir my drink a bit before taking a small sip. “I don’t normally let someone order for me, but this is good.”
He gives me a crooked smile. “It’s gin, lemon juice, sugar, and carbonated water. The sweetness from the sugar and the sourness from the lemon juice mixed with the bitterness of the gin almost completely cancels each other out creating such a mixed taste that you don’t know what it tastes like. And the fizziness from the carbonated water is always a nice touch to any light drink.”
“Wow. That was … impressive. Are you a bartender yourself?” I ask even though I know he’s not based on how he’s dressed.
He lets out a breathy laugh. “No, I just store a lot of information in my head.”
“Well thank you for the drink, and for earlier. I would’ve gotten in trouble for smacking him had you not stepped in.” I give him a small smile and take another sip of my Gin Fizz.
“You should never get in trouble for simply defending yourself, but I’m happy to be of service. In return for being the knight in shining armor for a moment, can I know your name?” His voice is deep but so smooth, I could listen to him talk for hours and never get tired of it.
“I’m Nancy, Nancy Starr. And you?”
“Ronnie Ledger at your service.” He grabs my hand and places the lightest of kisses on top of it before laying it back down on the table. I feel my heart skip a beat at the sweet gesture.
“Tell me about yourself, Nancy. You seem like a very intriguing lady.” He leans forward on his elbows. I get the sense that he doesn’t do that often by how unnatural it looks.
“Um geez, I don’t know. I’m 24 years old, and I'm in my last year of veterinary school. I’ve been a cabaret dancer for almost four years.” I nod my head toward the stage next to us.
“Veterinary school, so you must like animals then,” Ronnie says as a statement instead of a question.
I nod my head. “Yeah, animals are great. They do everything based on survival, whereas humans do things out of anger, and greed, and guilt. Animals are pure. Humans just suck.” I let out a small chuckle, a little embarrassed about my small rant.
He nods and looks down at the table then back up at me, “I never thought of animals and humans in such a complex way. I like it.”
“What about you, Ronnie Ledger? Tell me your complex way of thinking about something.”
He puts his arms by his sides and leans off the table. “I’m 30 years old. I’m the CEO of my father’s car company that he started from the ground up. I have a doctorate in business administration from Harvard University. I like to travel when I can. And sitting here with you has been the highlight of my night.” He leans forward on the table again and smiles at me with such an easygoing smile.
“So you didn’t enjoy the show as much as you led on,” I say jokingly.
Ronnie lets out a chuckle. “Beautiful, talented, and a sense of humor. What else are you going to surprise me with tonight?”
I quickly check my phone and see we’ve been sitting here talking for almost an hour. I need to get back to my dorm and go to bed since I have class early in the morning.
I look up at him. “How about my phone number?” I hold my breath waiting for his response.
“If you hadn’t said that, I was going to insist on it.” Ronnie holds his phone out to me.
I take it and add my number to his contacts, then I send myself a text message.
“And now I have yours.” I hand him his phone back and stand up.
“I do have to leave; I’ve got class early and don’t want to be late.”
Ronnie stands up and holds out his hand. I shake it, but he doesn’t let go.
“Did you drive here yourself or can I get you a taxi?”
“I drove on my own, well with some of my coworkers, but in my car. They’ve already gone home though. Not in my car, I still have it here.” I’m not sure where the sudden word vomit came from, but I’d like it to stop anytime now!
He laughs again. “That’s a shame. I would’ve liked to give you a ride home. But I’ll see you again I hope.” He finally lets go of my hand.
I smile at him before turning around and walking to the exit. At the doorstep, I turn my head and quickly look at him one more time. Tonight was one of the best nights of my life!
