Keeperofwords here: This four parter came about when my wonderful co-author asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I told her I wanted some
writing time with her. Our lives and schedules are so busy that making time to write is precious. We wanted to do something fun, fluffy and I think
we accomplished that. It was a gift to write with her and here's hoping the result is a nice gift to you our loyal "Fragile Universe" readers.
Hayley here: This kindhearted soul asked me for some writing time and my heart broke. I know our schedules are crazy, especially with me being at university. We're thankful for any time we get together and I'm very proud of the work we've accomplished the past couple of days. We hope you enjoy our four-part mini series, and keep an eye out for updates on Fragile Journey, Book 2 in the Fragile Universe. Love and Happy Holidays to all.
A Wicked Proposal
December 2010
Shelby Corcoran usually went straight to her dressing room after a show to go through the arduous process of taking of her green makeup. It was a painstaking process, requiring a very specific brand of face wash and a thirty minute shower, ten of which consisting of the actual scrubbing of her face. Tonight was different.
Tonight she kept her makeup on, slipped into her private car after signing autographs at her stage door, and made her way to the theatre where Cassandra was currently performing in "Cats" as Bombalurina. Cassie was sort of expecting her arrival-just not in bright green makeup and a $20,000 witch dress. Shelby had been invited to the Holiday Cast Party over at the Winter Garden Theatre. It was only a three minute drive from Gershwin, but her bodyguard had insisted lest she be bombarded by fans and end up late. She crossed her arms over her chest, stiff and achy from the cold, and couldn't help the smile that spread across her lips. What Cassie didn't know was that Shelby was showing up about two hours before she was supposed to, and that she'd be there for Cassie's curtain call.
The whole cast and crew were in on it, besides Cassie who figured it was just another normal night of performance. The theatre was lit and busy in the front, but Shelby slipped through the stage door in the back, thankfully unnoticed save for the guard who'd been expecting her. She made it into the green room and sat down, knowing she had arrived pretty early into Act II. The cast was on stage performing "Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat", and she had some time before she would have to make a move. Besides, Cassie's duet was next. Comfortable and more than content to watch her sensual girlfriend kick ass at her song, Shelby leaned back in a chair and watched the green room screen, waiting.
. . .
Cassie was on her game and she knew it. Her marks had been on all night, and she hadn't lost her breath once. Her notes were all in tune, and her muscles didn't even feel tired, which was a first. "Cats" was a demanding show, choreographically and vocally. She knew her duet was next and she was ready to kill it. She wondered how Shelby's show went, since "Wicked" was usually over by this time. She's probably in the shower, Cass reasoned, thinking to herself as she performed. Sometimes, she admitted, it was easy to fall into "auto-pilot" while performing scenes like "Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat". Poor Shelbs. She did not pity that woman's shower routine. It was much easier to remove her cat makeup, and that was saying something.
A crash sounded, the cue for Macavity's appearance on stage. You're up, Cass, time to focus, she instructed herself, pulling herself back together. Once her duet was over, the rest of the show was pretty smooth sailing for her. The hardest parts were in Act I.
She embodied her character and played off the high-energy of the audience. She wasn't sure what it was about that night, but something was different. She felt like she drank a whole pot of coffee before performing, and like the entire theatre had done the same. The cast was performing incredibly, and she wondered why they could never pull this off during rehearsal.
. . .
Look at my baby go, Shelby's proud heart couldn't take it. Watching Cassandra perform was always her favorite pastime. One of these nights she was going to take a night off and see the entire show, she vowed to herself. It'd been a long time since she'd done that. Besides that, she really was good friends with a lot of the cast. They played each other in baseball and got along very well, save for that select few, though every company had them. Many of them had been invited to Wicked's Holiday Cast party the week before, (so many, in fact, that Shelby often questioned why they bothered having two parties when they could logically combine them).
The show was nearly over now, and Shelby figured it was probably about time to get herself backstage. The orchestra would be expecting her by curtain call and she needed to be ready at the exact moment they were. She reached into her coat pocket to pull out a small little velvet box, slipping it into the pocket of her dress as she made her way out of the green room door.
This was her moment. This was their moment. Shelby felt more nervous than she had the night she had won her Tony. She wanted this to be perfect. Her Cassie deserved the best damn proposal Broadway could pull together. Shelby was so very proud of Cassandra July and the love the pair shared. They were both performers, and it felt fitting that the cast and audience shared the moment with them. Performing and Broadway had brought them together, after all.
The show went through the usual ebb and flow. Shelby used the time to go over what she was going to say in her proposal. She closed her eyes and imagined the performance and prepared herself much like she did before any other time she got on stage.
"Miss Corcoran?" a crew member whisper-yelled to her. "If you are ready. You can move to backstage right. We can get you in position when the cast lines up. We're going to close the curtain and cue the music."
"Right," Shelby told Gary, picking her hat up and placing it on her head. She looked at herself in the mirror and straightened it, psyching herself up. Elphaba firmly in place, Shelby grabbed her broom and moved to wait off to the side of the stage.
It did her heart proud to hear the audience applaud so enthusiastically when Cassie took her bow. She was so proud of all that Cass had accomplished during the show's run. People would remember Cassie's stint in "Cats" for years to come.
Once the cast was finished with their curtain call and before they could all join hands together, Shelby made her way onto the stage and the audience exploded, seeming pleasantly surprised. Hearing all the noise, Cassie's eyebrows scrunched together and she turned around, completely shocked to see her girlfriend on the opposite end of the stage. Even though her mic was still on, she sputtered out a, "Shelby! What are you doing here?" completely out of character.
It was time. The house lights dimmed and the orchestra began to play. The beautiful introduction to "Defying Gravity" broke out, silencing the audience. Shelby loved this song and new it was quickly becoming a song the would define her as an artist and a voice flowed freely and smoothly through the song, as it had earlier that evening. Although this stage didn't have her flying machine or her cape, she didn't need all of that, and treated the song more like an acoustic version. It gave her time to get Cassie used to the idea of her being on stage with her. To get her through the shock before she got to the part where Cassie would need to be in her right mind.
Once that song finished and the audience applauded feverishly, Shelby cut the orchestra off before they could start the second song. "I'm sorry, all of you amazing people, I don't mean to steal your show. Thank you all so much for letting me do this…" she spoke into the microphone, blushing though no one could see it through the green. Feeling the audience (and Cass) needed a bit more of an explanation, she reached out for her girlfriend's hand and the woman took it, laughing nervously.
"I'm sure," Shelby spoke to the audience. "It's sort of odd, to see a cat and a witch together on stage...well, maybe not that odd," she realized and laughed her famous cackling laugh, true to character. "But I have something I want to say to Cassie and I've been given permission to do so, so, tonight you're getting two shows for the price of one, how does that sound?"
Cassie watched in awe as the audience ate Shelby up, loving her energy. Shelby Corcoran if you're doing what I think you're doing… her eyes might as well have had cartoon hearts swimming in them, her actual heart throbbing against the walls of her chest, as if trying to get closer to Shelby.
With a nod of Shelby's head, the orchestra started up again, and Cassandra recognized the song immediately from Shelby's show.
"Kiss me too fiercely, hold me too tight," Shelby sang, pulling Cassandra closer to her side. "I need help believing, you're with me tonight…"
Cassie covered her face, completely taken aback by Shelby's grand gesture. Although embarrassed by the moment, she was absolutely adoring the attention and the romance of the moment. It was intimate. Even with an audience of thousands in front of them, it was perfectly intimate, and Shelby was the only person who could have ever understood that.
"My wildest dreamings, could not forsee, lying beside you, with you wanting me…" the audience was exploding with excitement, as was Cassie, all of them now acutely aware of what was happening. "And just for this moment, as long as youre mine….come be how you want to," Shelby had skipped to the end verse, likely because it fit better. "And see how bright we shine! Borrow the moonlight, until it is through…."
Cassie joined in on the harmony, unable to help herself, tears in her eyes though she'd never admit it. "And know I'll be here, holding you...as long as youre mine…" they finished the song together and Shelby wiped a stray tear from her face.
"What is it?" Cassandra asked, true to the end of the song.
Shelby laughed at how well Cassie was playing along. "It's just...for the first time...I feel...Wicked."
The song ended and the audience continued to give the standing ovation they hadn't sat down from since the end of "Defying Gravity".
"Cassandra July," Shelby took a deep breath. "I am so very in love with you that some days I can hardly wrap my head around the concept." She looked up at Cass from where she was on bended knee. "You are the music that makes my heart beat. You were written into the script of my life for a reason. A very important reason. You are my show stopper, you are my Tony Award, you are what I've always been looking for. What I've waited for my whole life. And I know that we're young, but it's better that way, because now I know with certainty that if you'll have me, we can grow old together and be in each others' lives for as long as absolutely possible. I couldn't ask for anything better than that. I sing to you tonight to show you and the world that our love defies gravity. Our love is unlimited, and as long as you're mine, I know my life will always be full of happiness and bliss. I hope you'll let me fill your life with the same. Cassandra July, I want to make beautiful music with you.I want to build a life with you full of duets and share life's stage with you."
Shelby reached into her pocket and pulled out a velvet box. The diamond shone brilliantly under the spotlight. She stretched out her hand expectantly, so nervous her hand had a slight tremble. She thought she knew what Cassie would say, but until she did, Shelby's stomach would not stop doing flips.
"Cassandra July...will you marry me?" Shelby asked finally, blinking back tears as she looked into the eyes of the love of her life, more emerald than the city itself.
Cassandra was choked up and though she tried to answer, her voice caught in her throat and she had to clear it before she could speak. "Shelby…" she couldn't hide her tears anymore and she put a hand to her mouth, breathing between her fingers before pulling it away, albeit shakily, and reaching it out towards Shelby so she could slide the ring on her finger. Her mind was reeling with all kinds of romantic responses. Her heart was pouring with love and her emotions didn't allow her to do anything but cry and whisper, "I love you so very much. Of course, of course I'll marry you."
A collection of "aweeeeee" rang through the theatre and Shelby beamed, her mega-watt grin lighting up the stage more than that spotlight ever could. She slipped the ring onto Cassie's finger and picked her up into her arms, hugging her tightly. The sound around them was so loud they wouldn't have been able to hear anything else being said between them, but neither one of them had to say a thing. They could feel their shared adoration for each other, and the cast behind them applauded loudly, Cassie's friend Tony yelling, "Thatta girl, Cassie!" loudly from the back and making everyone giggle. Flower petals were thrown from all directions and the orchestra started into a round of "Season of Love" from the musical RENT. The women couldn't help but laugh, giddy beside themselves as they pulled apart from their embrace and faced the audience once again, wiping last tears from their cheeks. It was the most over-the-top, Broadway proposal Cassandra had ever seen and she loved every second of it. The women held hands tightly and took a bow together, both of them grinning from ear to ear.
"Did you hear that? We got engaged!" Cassie yelled out, smiling and pulling rose petals out of her wig.
