Enchantment
3 Years
3 years had passed since the tragic death of Satine, the Sparkling Diamond as she was known. I never knew her, but there are portraits with her all over the Rouge Theatre. Also, there is an elephant which no one is allowed to enter. Ziddler says that it was hers; they have kept it exactly as it was since she died. But there is another half to this story, another half that is generally ignored amongst the Diamond Dancers. A story of a young man, a young dreamer. A young dreamer who I will never forget. For this young dreamer, this young man was the one I loved. I am not Satine; I am just a dancer. A dancer who fell in love.
"Girls, Curtain call!" Ziddler yelled, of course we all ran at the sound of his voice. Making our way through the wooden maze of the backstage theatre; desperately trying to avoid the barriers which had not been sanded in a long time, each one very much waiting to give each of us a painful splinter. Ziddler clapped his hands and started twirling around shouting his old saying "The Show must go on!" I never really cared for that saying, but my best friend Krystal loved it. Reminded her of the first ever show, when she watched the sparkling diamond perform for the last time then suddenly meet her demise. Krystal was only a lighting girl, she couldn't dance nor could she sing but she could listen: and she could talk for Paris.
"Roxanne!" Krystal called out, "Roxanne!"
"What is it? Be quick about it I have to be on stage in a minute!" I replied, anxiously moving forward to get to the curtain,
"I just talked to Rose the costume designed, and she says that there is an old woman in the audience looking for some dancers for a big show in London!"
"London! Wow…" London, a city filled with such mystery for me, it held such promise, such future, such destiny. Maybe it even held the man of my dreams.
"Well don't stand around gaping! Get out there and impress her! Give it your all."
I did give it my all, but the woman just sat there twiddling her thumbs. Uninterested in me, but she did take one dancer. Rose. A beautiful young woman, with not a false step or stray hair in any of her dances; she was seen as perfect by everyone: including me.
Whilst I despaired of the vast and disappearing future, I was not aware of some deeper trouble which would change my life forever. Ziddler sat alone in his office, signing papers. Until a man walked in, the Duke's son Charles; definitely not a handsome man, his eyes were cruel, almost red. His small moustache almost covered a scar which ran from the corner of his mouth and almost up to the corner of his eye. His suit was grey with a white shirt and grey striped tie.
"Ahh Charles, what can the Rouge Theatre do for you today."
"Close Harold Ziddler."
"I am sorry…"
"Ziddler, face the truth. This theatre is barely making ends meet, you haven't put on a good show in 3 years, and your popularity amongst the people of this city is dramatically dropping. Your beloved theatre is turning back into the old Moulin Rouge; a place for underdogs, except with no payers."
"Charles please, give us some time. I swear to you that you will see a show within months that is Spectacular Spectacular."
"Ziddler, you do not have months. According to this, you have 3 weeks so if I were you, I'd get a move on." Charles left an ultimately stunned Ziddler alone to ponder his future. Ziddler knew that there was only one man who could save his beloved Theatre from closing. That man, was Christian.