One lifelong masquerade
Summary: One stage, one pair of haunting mismatched eyes and one young woman trying desperately to escape her past...or at least fake her way into forgetting. One shot on Sarah's thoughts while she keeps seeing Jareth in the audience as she performs.
Disclaimer: I don't own the labyrinth...obviously. If I did I'd be living in some paradise writing up my next hit. But I don't live in some paradise, I'm not writing my next hit, therefore...I don't own the labyrinth... =P Enjoy!
This was it. Her heart was racing, her hands shook...every eye was on her. Her blood roared in her head, the butterflies were doing their number in her stomach, but this was the moment she lived for. She could feel her adrenaline pumping, and then she looked out into the crowd and for just one second a sense of serenity overtook her, everything stopped for just one moment. A quiet descended in the room a moment before her lines came, and a smile graced her lips. Stormy mismatched eyes locked on hers, and for that moment everything became clear. She felt calm, safe...nothing else mattered.
Her character's counterpart was coming to the end of his rather long rampage. She closed her eyes as he picked up a vase and threw it within inches of where she stood. She flinched slightly.
With bitterness dripping from his voice, Andrew, her acting counterpart uttered his lines. "As I now know how you truly feel, this is the last you shall ever see of me," He sneered as his character demanded, "my dear Miss Henley." With pure venom he finished his masterful portrayal and marched off stage right.
That was her cue... tears streamed down her face, words she knew like the back of her hand flowed from her lips. Her voice rose at the right moments and she choked off in pitiful sobs at just the right time. Words so close to her heart of a love that could not be mended. How appropriate that she should play such a character. A character who would only realize the love she felt once it was no longer within her grasp.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw several people wipe away a tear or two, and then she looked up into those mismatched eyes again. They never wavered, never blinked ...they remained fixed on her. A mask of nonchalance he had willed upon his sharp features, yet in his eyes she saw his warring emotions.
She smiled bitterly, as was fitting for the part she played, only... this time it was sincere. Not a day went by that she didn't see him sitting there, taunting her, reminding her of her youthful folly. How she wished he'd offered her everything under different circumstances, at a different time. But no...it wasn't meant to be. Despite her regret for what could've, maybe even should've been, she couldn't regret anything she had done for Toby. His life was more important than her love life. Her now non-existent love life. It wasn't Toby's fault. Not at all... It was her fault... It was the goblin king's fault.
The curtains dropped along with the facade. She hurried to her dressing room needing to get away from the crew...needing to breath, to refocus. After her venture in the labyrinth, the stage had become her refuge once more. Only now the stage wasn't escape from the grief over the loss of her mother, the anger she faced at her father's remarrying or the feeling of neglect from when Toby came. Now she fled the pain of losing a love that could never be replaced, matched or just be. But the stage was only an escape when she was in character or practicing... it only worked when she didn't have to think. She stared at her reflection, and grimaced at the pitiful look in her eyes. She was just another mess inside.
An untimely knock came on her door, "you're on in five, Miss Williams."
She sighed, grabbed the parasol for her next scene and glanced back at the mirror. The mask she had perfected over time fell into place. No one would ever know the pain she felt inside. After all she was an actress...this was her living and now the only safe thing to live for.
A/N: Haven't written anything in a really long time, feeling kinda rusty, but this randomly popped into my head. Figured I'd post it as a one shot, see if anyone liked it...could make into something more... let me know what ya think...if ya want to...if not... well, not much I can do really...and please no flames...that's just rude.