Author: Ren Kayashima
Genre: Humor
Rating: K
Character(s): Penelope Garcia and Emily Prentiss
Disclaimer: Alas my top secret mission to steal the rights to Criminal Minds failed. At the last minute my repel line broke and I was arrested for trespassing on ABC ground. If you would like to help me with bail money…
Written for Chit Chat on Author's Corner's Round 12 Writer of the Silver Screen Challenge
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August 15, 2010
"I really don't think this is such a good idea," Emily Prentiss whispered as she followed her lime green clad friend past the heavy velvet curtains onto a stage. She looked around, but couldn't find a soul in sight.
The theater was dimly lit and empty. Glow-in-the-dark tape was scattered across the black stage floor. The beginings of a back drop was standing half built. Some closed paint cans had been left out, but the rest of the stage was devoid of any set or props.
"Em, think about it for a moment. The bright lights blaring down on you, blinding you as the scene unfolds on stage," Garcia grinned childishly. She waved a jeweled hand around as she spun in a full circle. "This is going to be possibly one of the greatest showings ever!"
Emily Prentiss had been having a rough couple of days. The mountain of paperwork was endless. She had bumped her head on the cupboard door yesterday as she moved to pull a coffee cup out, and now there was a bruise the size of a golf ball on her forehead. The air conditioner was also broken, and at this point her brownstone was unbearable. It just hadn't been her week, and now she wanted to curl up on the couch with a nice glass of wine and a good romance novel. Something to lighten her depressed mood.
"How were you able to get us inside?" Emily asked as she looked up at the rafters. She imagined a dark phantom walking along the planks looking for his next kill.
Garcia had dragged the low spirited agent on a surprise visit to the theater. She turned to face Prentiss. "Trust me, I've got some connections that even the President doesn't have," she winked. She looked at the seats and pointed to the center of the front row. "We'll be seated right there in two weeks. Until then we can socialize with the actors, tech, and directors. Maybe we'll grab some drinks - anything to ease the growing tension in your body my fair lady."
"Garcia, I'm fine," Prentiss sighed. "It's just been a bad couple of days. You don't need to do all of this."
"Sugar, when was the last time you had a decent night out on the town?" Garcia asked, placing her hands on her hips.
Emily looked up as she tried to remember the last time she could relax. Lately, that wasn't much of a possibility. She was always chasing the bad guys, making the world a better place for her make shift family. "I don't know," she hummed. "I think it was when you and I went to dinner with JJ. You know that night when we went shopping and you bought all of Henry's clothes."
"That was three months ago!" Garcia yelped in shock. Her best Gal Pal hadn't been out in forever by Penelope's standards.
"Why this show?" Prentiss asked suddenly, as she continued to look around the dark room.
"My Fair Lady is brilliant," Garcia gushed. "The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she's treated-"she began to recite.
"I shall always be a common flower girl to Professor Higgins, because he always treats me like a common flower girl, and always will," Prentiss finished with a playful gleam in her eye.
"You're a fan?" Garcia asked surprised.
"I acted in Shaw's Pygmalion in high school," Emily smiled. "I made some really good friends while I was in the play."
"Who did you play?" Garcia asked. She pictured Emily as Eliza Doolittle and it all seemed to fit.
Emily grinned as she walked off of the stage and towards the back of the theater. "Colonel Pickering of course," she chirped as she looked back at Garcia.
"You cross-dressed on stage?" Penelope asked excitedly as she rushed to walk by her friend's side.
"Not enough guys auditioned, and the one that did didn't make it very far," Emily explained as she laughed. She found her mood lifted and brightened as she relived the fond school memories. "I outshined every man involved with that play."
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Author's Note: While the challenge is a movie, I thought that maybe I would use the prompt with the play in mind. I'm much more of a stage girl anyway. I hope you enjoyed it all. I loved writing this small little piece. A special thank you to nebula2 who gave me the idea for this little ficlet when I was stuck.
Shane