How She Felt
Disclaimer: Someday I might write a book that I can actually say I own, but this isn't a book is it? Since I doubt I'll make any movies, it's a pretty safe guess that I'll never own one - especially this one, which was made when I was in elementary school. Because, yeah, I was a genius at that age and could make a movie - totally. Um...no
Warning: Other stories that I've written are rated T 'to be safe'. They probably don't actually deserve the rating, but this one does. It's nothing really serious, but there are some mentions of alcohol and smoking and a few sexual references. Oh, and in case you didn't know, the whole story is set in a brothel, so all the female characters are prostitutes. Yeah -if you didn't know that, go watch the movie again - or for the first time more likely.
Singing lines taken directly from the movie are in bold.
Chapter 1: Jealous
"Don't mess this up Sparkles – it's the biggest night of my career and if you ruin it, I swear I'll kill you!" Nini told 'the Sparkling Diamond' as they dressed for the upcoming dances.
Sparkles – a.k.a. Satine – paused in applying her make-up. "The biggest night of your career, Nini? I thought it was my career on the line tonight!" She gave her that famous, dazzling smile that had long since ceased to dazzle her.
Before Nini could reply, she heard Harold's voice floating in, "The Moulin Rouge!"
"Come on, Nini!" cried Mome Fromage. "We're gonna be late!"
Nini followed the rest of the Diamond Dogs – minus Sparkles, of course, she didn't come in for another two dances – plastering a huge, suggestive smile on her face and gathering up her skirts, while answering Sparkles' question silently. If you can't make it – how d'you think I'll ever be able to?
Soon the dance became wilder, and for the next fifteen minutes, she had no time to think of anything besides the steps. She twirled and swished and marched her way across the floor, dancing with whomever came her way. Concentration. That's all it takes. So much concentration that it looks effortless.
That was what her mother, Desiree Rousseau, had told her, and that was how she lived her life. That was why she was the second-best performer here – why she wasn't the best, well, just ask Mam'selle Self-righteous Demon – whoops, Sparkling Diamond, Satine.
Almost before Nini realized it, the lights dimmed and the music faded away, leaving only the echoes of Harold's last words, "Can-can-can-can!" Their sign to clear the stage. As Nini took up her place in the middle of Arabia, Mome Fromage, and China Doll – elevated above the rest, of course – she couldn't help shooting Sparkles a spiteful glare and hoping she fell off the trapeze. Alas, her hopes were disappointed – on the trapeze Sparkles stayed.
Nini allowed her concentration to be broken – while still adding in her lines to the song – and searched the crowd for the man, the Duke that Sparkles was supposed to be catching tonight. There was Harold, talking to the kind of man that girls in their profession hoped never to have. Ugly and creepy, probably possessive. Their only redeeming feature was being filthy rich – which was more than enough to make up for everything else, but still. That kind was no fun to be with. Poor Sparkles. If that was the Duke, Nini almost felt sorry for her. Almost.
Her eyes drifted to the young man – boy, really – sitting at the next table. He was cute, if young and innocent looking. She doubted he'd ever been to the Moulin Rouge before – or even anywhere like it. But he was staring at Sparkles as though she were a goddess. Well, he wasn't the only one. Even among the Diamond Dogs, Nini was the only one able to see Sparkles for what she really was.
Sparkles and Harold disappeared beneath a wall of skirts to give Sparkles some time to change. At last, the attention wasn't focused just on her. "Ole!" Nini cried, stretching her arms to toward the ceiling, and whipped her skirt around a few extra times in case anyone was watching. Yes, she managed to catch some eyes – then Sparkles reappeared and Nini was forgotten once more.
"'Cause that's when those louses go back to their spouses!" Nini watched, absent-mindedly dancing and singing along, as Sparkles was born up by some dandified stage-hands and taken in the direction she was pointing – toward the Duke. "Diamonds . . . are a . . . girl's . . . best . . . friend!"
Nini's eyes widened in surprise – Sparkles had landed, not in front of the Duke at all, but in front of the boy next to him! She waited for Sparkles to correct the mistake, but she didn't. Instead, she asked the boy to dance . . . and he refused! No one refused a dance with Sparkles. She kept insisting until he got up – or was pushed up by the other men at his table – and joined her on dance floor.
He couldn't possibly be the Duke Sparkles was supposed to be meeting! What did she think she was playing at?
So shocked was she at the turn of events, that Nini forgot to find a partner for the dance portion of Sparkles' number until she realized that Arabia, China Doll, and Mome Fromage were already gone. She immediately began dancing by herself on the platform, as though she was supposed to be there – that was something else her mother had told her, If you make a mistake, make it deliberate.
"How can I be blamed for making a mistake when Sparkles is out there dancing with the wrong man?" Nini muttered out loud, not letting the smile leave her face even for an instant. She watched Sparkles and the boy spinning across the floor for the rest of the dance, wondering how Sparkles could've chosen him of all people for this all-important night.
No, no. She told herself quickly, as the badly paired couple parted and she made her way to the innermost circle below Sparkles, who was back on the trapeze. Not for the night – just the dance. The Duke gets the night. He has to.
"Diamonds! Diamonds! Square-cut or pear-shaped, these rocks won't lose their shape – Diamonds . . . are a girl's . . . best . . ." Sparkles took a deep breath, preparing for the last word – but it never came.
Everyone – even Nini, who had hoped for this earlier in the evening – gasped as Sparkles' hands slipped off the ropes and she plummeted toward the stage. Chocolat caught her, and Harold was able to convince the crowd that it was all part of the show (Harold, too, was good at making mistakes look deliberate), but as Nini hurried backstage with the rest of the Diamond Dogs, she glanced back at the boy that Sparkles had danced with.
He hadn't been taken in by Harold's enthusiastic cheers – he looked as though his best friend had just fallen from that height, and he hadn't believed for a minute that it was on purpose.
"Idiot," Nini murmured at him, though she wasn't sure what about him was so idiotic – maybe it was just because he'd stolen the Duke's dance.
Nini and Mome Fromage watched as Chocolat carried Sparkles seemingly lifeless body (oh, if only!) to a comfortable place backstage. Nini grinned lopsidedly and said quietly, "Don't know if that Duke's gonna get 'is money's worth tonight!"
"Don't be unkind Nini!" Mome Fromage answered reprovingly – even now, after Sparkles' biggest mess-up of her life, the others were still fawning over her. One thing Nini knew for sure: if she fainted in the middle of a dance, the entire cast of the Moulin Rouge would not be following her backstage to make sure she was all right.
"All right you girls!" the stage manager rudely pushed past Nini and Mome Fromage. "Back out front and make those gents thirsty!" Nini gave Sparkles one last, disparaging glance before following the others. "Problems?" she heard him ask Marie as they left.
Oh yes, special Satine – even gets decent treatment from the awful stage manager.
Nini let a wave of jealousy carry her back into the dancehall, thinking, If she doesn't get that Duke tonight – I really will kill her!
A/N: So I'm trying to stay as close to the storyline as possible, though as you'll see I will change up some things. Most of the places that Nini goes are either in the movie or undetermined - for example, I cannot find her in Diamonds dance anywhere. I can find Arabia and Mome Fromage and even a few glimpses of China Doll, but Nini is nowhere to be seen. Why? Because she was so shocked at seeing Christian with Satine of course!
Please review!