Peggy Carter nervously clutched the program in her hand. She was seated in a small theatre, seven rows back from the stage, almost directly in the center. The dark burgundy curtain shrouded the stage in secrecy, but she knew behind it lay a set resembling the dining area of an old Victorian mansion.
After spending weeks of running lines with Angie, she could probably quote the play by heart. She certainly knew Angie could, and it was her roommate's dedication to her craft that had finally paid off. Originally just an extra with a small walk-on part, Angie had received the call this morning that both the female lead and understudy had fallen ill with what they assumed was food poisoning. Since Angie was the only other female in the cast who knew the role, they needed her to fill in.
When Angie had called Peggy at work to tell her, Angie's voice was brimming with excitement.
"I've finally got a lead role, English!" she'd exclaimed and then gone on to haltingly ask if Peggy would be able to make it that night.
Truth be told, Peggy was ninety percent sure she couldn't, but she wasn't about to tell Angie that. With assurances she'd do her very best to make it, she'd hung up the phone and marched into Jack Thompson's office to tell him to find someone else to do surveillance that night. It'd taken several minutes of heated arguments and Peggy eventually pulling out the heavy ammunition of reminding Jack she knew the truth behind his Navy Cross before he eventually relented with a scowl and the comment that she didn't play fair.
Peggy couldn't disagree. She often didn't play by society's rules and, when it came to Angie Martinelli, rules didn't matter in the least.
Opening her program, Peggy glanced at the insert inside announcing Angie would play the lead this evening and briefly skimmed over her bio. It was succinct with the names of several small off-off Broadway shows she'd had bit parts in, but Peggy had a feeling after tonight, her bio would increase substantially over the next year or two.
As the curtain lifted and the orchestra pit swelled with the sound of strings, Peggy's heart raced with excitement.
Angie Martinelli's time had finally come, and Peggy knew she was going to show the world just how brightly her star could shine.