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Glamour
"I love you so much, Mommy."
"I know you do, sweetheart. Just sit back and watch Uncle Jeremy now, there's a good girl." Sarah did not comply, instead she inclined her head to one side, leaning it into her mother's breast. Linda squirmed uncomfortably, looking down to check that Sarah wasn't creasing the Dior blouse Jeremy had just brought her for her birthday. The silk had rippled slightly just above the crown of her daughter's head, and although Linda bit her lip gently in frustration she didn't have the heart to make her move. She forced herself to ignore the creases, taking mental refuge in the thought that she could send it off to the dry cleaners the next day.
She returned her attention to the stage, training her eyes on Jeremy. He made a wonderful Richard III, and as far as Linda was concerned the ghastly make-up that had been plastered onto his face and his painful-looking limp failed to dim his beauty. Watching him recite Shakespeare as if he had originated the words made her long to sigh.
Much to Linda's despair, Sarah didn't really understand what was going on. She tried to project the impression that she did, repeatedly answering enquiries about the plays she was taken to see by stating that she felt the actors had 'depth'. She was also very fond of the word 'sophistication'. Linda blamed Robert for this. If he gave a damn about culture, Sarah would have considered Richard III as fun and comprehensible as The Wizard of Oz.
Sarah fell asleep before the intermission, and her breath came in small, warm puffs that periodically gusted over Linda's naked arm. Linda didn't notice. She was far too occupied by the stage.
A roar of applause sounded at the end of the act, and Linda joined in, clapping furiously as she beamed down at the stage. Sarah stirred, yawning widely. "Is it over?" She asked.
"No, darling. It's just the break. Come on, we're going to go and see Uncle Jeremy." She got out of her seat, and found Sarah's hand. They hurried out of the box, and Linda began leading her sleepy eyed daughter through a maze of corridors. The first few they travelled through were richly decorated; they looked like they had been copied from the Hilton. The illusion of grandeur was stripped away by degrees as they continued; the ceilings they walked beneath soon boasted paper lampshades rather than chandeliers. By the time they were backstage, the floor lacked a carpet and the only light came from cheap, unshielded light bulbs that buzzed obnoxiously. They made Sarah's eardrums shake.
Sarah hated going behind the scenes of the various theatres her mother insisted on taking her to. Seeing how the plays were produced robbed them of some of their magic. She hated seeing the actors removing their make-up, and despised discovering how the marvellous feats made her gasp and clap when she was simply a member of the audience were achieved. But the worst thing of all was hearing the actors speak out of character. She didn't want to hear Titania talking about her brother's drug addiction to Hermia in the canteen, and clapped her hands over her ears and struggled to suppress a whimper when two bit-players started discussing the women they had fucked over the weekend in front of her. Somehow, both men had managed to forget they were in the company of a six year old.
Her experience of the theatre was made even more loathsome by the fact Sarah was taken to see plays that didn't make any sense. Sarah occasionally doubted they were being performed in English; her pet theory was that the actors were speaking in gibberish, just to confuse her.
But Sarah never considered telling her mother not to take her. Every moment she had with her was considered a blessing so Sarah said nothing, coping with the environment as well as she could.
Linda repeatedly nodded and smiled to people backstage, some of them stopped and attempted to talk to Sarah, causing her to dip her eyes and stare intently at her feet. They always insisted on patronizing her ('oh aren't you sweet! How are you enjoying the play, honey? Here, have some candy'), and if there was anything Sarah hated it was being babied. Being inundated with lollipops and pats to the head didn't make being treated like a toddler feel worthwhile.
Eventually, they reached Jeremy's dressing room. Linda didn't knock, sweeping in unannounced. She released Sarah hand and launched herself on the object of her affection - Jeremy. He was staring forlornly at his reflection, and failed to react. "What's wrong, darling?" Linda asked, draping her arms around his neck and leaning her head against his. "The performance went wonderfully. The audience love you." She planted a moist, crimson kiss besides his ear, murmuring something that Sarah suspected it was in her best interests not to hear.
He sniggered in disdain. "They're not supposed to love me, Linda. I'm hardly playing a sympathetic role."
"Oh. Well, what does that matter? I love you. I'd love you if you were playing Iago."
He didn't respond to her literary name-dropping, instead he looked away from Linda, gazing in Sarah's direction. He smiled at her kindly, rising from his chair and approaching her. He dropped to his knees, and looked directly into her eyes "How are you enjoying the play, dear?"
Sarah looked down instinctively, but to her intense surprise Jeremy put a finger underneath her chin, raising it gently. "Look at me, Sarah. You don't need to be frightened."
Although her eyes darted in various directions at first, they returned to Jeremy eventually. He looked ghoulish, his skin had been caked in white paint and his eyes were surrounded by rings of dark grey powder. Overall, his face was reminiscent of a death mask. Sarah had bolted into the bathroom, shrieking hysterically, upon seeing it for the first time. On this occasion, she simply muttered her answer "It's okay."
"You don't need to say that if that isn't what you think. You have a mind, you have opinions. I would like to hear them."
Sarah lifted her eyes to her mother. Linda's attention was occupied exclusively by her dress, which she was in the process of smoothing down. The child returned her attention to Jeremy, looking at him steadfastly as she told him "It's boring, and I didn't understand a word anyone said."
He smirked at her. "There, that wasn't difficult, was it?"
"You mean you're not angry?"
"Of course not. Shakespeare isn't meant for little girls-"
"Hey! I'm not little! For your information, I was seven two weeks ago." She frowned at him, ensuring he was left in no doubt of her displeasure.
He laughed at the solemnity of her expression "Very well, what would you like to go and see, Miss Williams?"
She screwed up her face, concentrating as she thought about what to answer. "What about Annie? I'd love to go and see it, will you take me? Jessica at school went to see it when it opened, and she said it was the most wonderful thing she'd ever seen. She's always showing off about it, she gets on my nerves..." Sarah's voice trailed off as she thought about blonde, butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth Jessica Berry. Off the top of her head, she couldn't think of anyone in her class that she hated more.
"I'll take you; I'll even introduce you to the cast. I'm certain Jessica won't be able to beat that." Sarah was speechless for a moment, but after taking a few seconds to let the truth sink in she squealed in delight and threw her arms around Jeremy's neck, burying her head into his shoulder.
Linda watched her child's ecstasy with a small measure of amusement "You spoil her as if she were your own daughter."
"No, dear. Look at it this way – we have been subjecting Sarah to our theatrical tastes for the last week, I think it's high time she subjected us to some us hers."
A harassed looking adolescent entered the room, panting. Sweat streamed down his ugly, acne pitted face and his words emerged as gasps "Mr Clavell! Mr Clavell! You have thirty seconds before you're on!"
He disentangled himself from Sarah's arms, rising. Sarah lifted her head to look at him, marvelling at his height "I must say goodbye." He announced "I'll meet you both here after the show. Enjoy it" he looked down at Sarah, who continued to gaze at him as if he had just revealed himself as an angel "In you're case, enjoy your nap." He left, and Sarah heard him complain to the porter as he walked away "It's Cla-vell, not Clarvell" he aped the boy's pronunciation of his name, producing a lengthy, nasally drawl "Will you please attempt to remember that in future? I am an important man in this theatre, do you have any idea…" the rest of his words were drowned out by Linda, who seized the opportunity to announce that it was time she and Sarah returned to their box. They couldn't afford to miss Uncle Jeremy beautifully pronounced recitals of Shakespeare.
Sarah laughed giddily. She was very proud of herself by the end of the performance; she had kept her eyes open throughout it all. Paying attention was easy when she learned it was simply a matter of devoting all her attention to Jeremy's chalk white face. The words he was saying didn't really matter, the only thing of real interest about his performance was the way he said them.
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Jeremy stuck to his promise, and he and Sarah had the best seats in the Alvin Theatre the following Saturday. Sarah loved every second of singing orphans and ludicrously inept villains, and was left star struck after patting Annie's dog and shaking hands with the girl who played her. During their meeting, Sarah seized the opportunity to ask the girl if her mop of springy red curls was a wig (the answer was yes). Although neither Jeremy nor Sarah noticed, she didn't ask for her mother once.
Sarah left the theatre belting out Tomorrow. Jeremy didn't have the heart to tell her she couldn't sing, and disregarded the glares she received from some of the more ill humoured members of the audience. The faces of the crowd were ignored in favour of Sarah's beaming face, and their conspiratorial whispers were smothered by her happy, high pitched voice.
Jeremy only had eyes for Sarah; it's safe to say her elation would have blossomed into ecstasy if she had noticed.
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A/N: Three down, three to go. Apologies for use of a 'naughty' word, I needed something shocking and have raised the rating of this accordingly (it's practically skyrocketed, from K+ to M in one giant leap!)
Please point out any errors to me; because this is longer than the other installments, there is more chance that I have missed things!
I will reply to reviewers tomorrow, I'm sorry but I really need to get some sleep!
Kindly leave a review in the box, muchas gracias!
P.S. This is attempt at posting Mk. 2. Version One had something of an identity crisis towards the bottom of the page…
