"I want you to go out there and give the best dang performance you've ever given!"
"Okay, boss," I sighed. I felt so overworked, so underpaid, so unappreciated. I watched as my sister Rhenda came backstage in her totally slutty red costume with much red plumage. "Remind me again why the innocent act comes right after the hot and steamy act?"
"Because Mr. Barrossa has really bad timing," Rhenda teased. I raised an eyebrow at her, but let it go. "Hey," she whispered, pulling me aside. "Really cute guys in the audience: second row, fourth table to the left."
"You are so horrible, Rhenda," I grimaced. She held up her arms in a Hey-I'm-Just-Trying-To-Be-Helpful pose and stalked away to her dressing room. She had an audience of men clamoring after her. I didn't.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Mr. Barrossa (my boss and the owner of Barrossa's Bar) announced from the stage, "the lovely sister of Miss Rhenda Sullivan! The Epitome of Innocence! The Angel of the Singing Heavens! Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Reggina Sullivan!"
The audience exploded as Mr. Barrossa left the stage. I peeped out of the curtain and popped all the way out. It was obvious that I was a letdown after my super-sexy sister. After her bright red, tight-fitting costume, my calf-length, flattering-yet-concealing dress was quite a surprise…and not a good one.
I had to say, though, my act went pretty well. I only sang one song and it was a song about young love and the innocence of it all. It was my typical bit. But, I was really distracted. Those four boys in the audience (exactly where Rhenda said they would be) were really cute.
One was tall and gangly. He had triangular sideburns connecting to his dark colored hair and he was watching me with quite an amount of intensity. He looked like he was trying to understand what made me tick.
The one next to him had dirty-blonde hair and a very contented smile on his face. I'd seen this kind of face before. It was the kind of face that people wore when they were uncomfortable watching my sister's somewhat brash act.
The one next to this one was short. He looked like he was enjoying the act very much. He was grinning from ear to ear and leaning on the table. I wondered if he was enjoying my act or if he was just enjoying the fact that another girl was onstage. It could easily have been both.
The last boy really caught my eye. It may have been because I really have an eye for trouble. It may have been because his hair doubled the size of his head. Heck! It may have been because he was practically climbing over the table and his companions to get closer to the stage!
As my song came to a close and the audience clapped politely, this table exploded with applause. The four boys whistled, cheered, and shouted compliments. I blushed and quickly walked backstage.
"Whaddya do that for?!" Rhenda asked indignantly. "They loved you! Why don't you ever take the glory when you deserve it?"
"I dunno," I shrugged stupidly. That was the truth. I supposed that I had run because I was not used to getting so much attention. That was my sister's job, not mine! "Hey, boss, I'll be in my dressing room if you need me," I called to Mr. Barrossa. He nodded.
"Great show tonight, Redge!" he winked. I smiled back and walked hurriedly to my room, quickly closing the door behind me.
I scoped out the scene. My dressing room was comparatively smaller than Rhenda's. She had bigger, fluffier, crazier costumes. Mine could be stored all on one rack in the corner. My makeup station was smaller too. I pretty much wore heavier street makeup. No problem putting it on at home and no problem taking it off at home. The only things that were the same about Rhenda's and my dressing room were that we both had small couches and small bathrooms. No way were we sharing a bathroom like we had since I was born!
"Oy!" I exclaimed collapsing onto my couch. My dress billowed around me. There was a knock at the door. "Who is it?" I called weakly. I figured it was either Mr. Barrossa or Rhenda.
"Reggina, you have fans!" Mr. Barrossa shouted. I sat bold upright. Me? Fans? Not possible! No! I didn't have fans. Rhenda had fans. Not me! Not Miss Epitome of Innocence!
"Come in!" My voice cracked. Crap. The door swung open. "Oh!" I said in recognition. "It's you fellas." I have to admit it, I was grinning ear to ear at the sight of my fans from the second row.
"H-Hi, Miss Sullivan," the tall one stammered. "We really enjoyed your act." He had a Southern accent. Texas, it sounded like.
"Thank you," I smiled. "I'm glad I could please. I don't get fans very often."
"Why?" asked the one with sandy-blonde hair.
"Well," I sighed, "for one thing, I'm Rhenda's sister."
"Ah," the short one said nodding in understanding. "I see where that would dwindle your fan base." Was that a British accent? Yup. Definitely Manchester.
"Um…Miss Sullivan…" the tall one started.
"Oh please!" I laughed. "Call me Reggina. It's so much better than Miss Sullivan."
"Oh…okay. R-Reggina, my buddy Micky here wanted to know if he could have a…an autograph." I looked over at the one with big-personality hair. He looked like he was shaking.
"Sure," I shrugged simply. I walked over to my makeup station and picked up a pen. (I usually kept a pen backstage just in case I had a writing emergency.) Then, I turned around and glided back over to the boys. I figured if I had fans, why not charm them a little? "Got paper?"
"Well…um…I don't think…you see…" the tall one fumbled.
"Yes," grinned the blonde. He pulled out a club napkin and handed it to me gingerly, as if he might be too pushy if he handed it to me any harder. I took it from him and scrawled my signature across the bumps on the napkin.
"Good move, ol' buddy," I heard the tall one drawl behind me. I turned back around and handed them the autograph.
"All set?" I asked. The four boys nodded. They started to leave. "Wait!" I shouted after them. The short one (who was in the front of the exiting line) stopped abruptly and caused a chain reaction: blonde ran into short one, big-haired one ran into blonde, then tall one ran into big-haired one.
"What?" the tall one asked.
"Well…" I tried to find a way to put my request. It sounded pretty simple, but I wasn't sure. I'd never dealt with fans before. "What are your names?"
"Oh," the short one shrugged. "For a minute, I thought you were gonna ask us for our autographs." I was pretty sure this was meant to be a joke, but it wasn't a very good one. "I'm Davy Jones." Davy stuck out his hand and I shook it.
"My name's Mike Nesmith," the tall one drawled. I shook his hand too.
"Peter Tork," the blonde introduced himself. I smiled and shook his hand strongly. I looked at the last boy.
"That's Micky Dolenz," Mike introduced. I shook Micky's hand and he almost seemed to melt at my touch.
"Hesphensltipvisont," Micky grinned dumbly.
"Glad to meet you," I giggled. "Are you guys planning on coming to visit me sometime?" They all nodded and smiled eagerly. "Good! I don't get many visitors either. It's a lonely life." Peter looked sad for me. It was awfully cute!
"Of course they'll come to visit," Mr. Barrossa interrupted. "It's a great show with a great singer! Two great singers, if you count Rhenda Sullivan. They're the Sullivan Sisters, you know." That was Mr. Barrossa for you; always trying to advertise.
"Well, we should get going," Mike sighed. "We have a big day tomorrow, fellas."
"Aw! Can't we take her out, Mike?" Peter begged. Mike shook his head.
"Sorry, Pete, but we don't have the time tonight."
"Ah well," I shrugged. "There's always next time." I grabbed the napkin/autograph and scribbled my phone number on it as well. "Let me know when you're gonna stop by." The boys looked slightly bewildered at the writing, but managed to recover and leave.
"They were nice," Mr. Barrossa winked. "Great job tonight, Redge." I grinned. I felt great! I had fans! I wasn't just lurking in Rhenda's shadow now. I had my own claim to fame and it was exciting!
