The air was so full of hairspray it stuck in the air. Evie supposed that at least it dulled the lights on the dressing room mirrors, which illuminated every inch of the subject in the mirror. Most of the other girls were relaxed and chatting excitedly about their break. It was probably about an hour until they went on, but Evie's nerves were already giving her trouble. She rubbed her hands together and tried to work some of the knots out of them when Lisa walked up behind her. Lisa put her hands on Evie's shoulders and they made eye contact in the mirror.

"Let's just go out there and make it our own," when Lisa spoke she was as confident and unshakeable as ever. "We have one more and then it's you, me, PJ, and Marilyn by the ocean for two weeks." She gave Evie's shoulders one last squeeze before moving to sit in front of her own mirror. Evie couldn't tell if it was her nerves or if the chatter in the room had been steadily getting louder. She returned to putting on her makeup. It was a process she knew so well she suspected she could do it without the mirror. Evie was trying to tell herself that her anxious energy could be attributed only to the fact that it was their last show before vacation. Their vacation wouldn't be very relaxing if the last show was anything but perfect. They'd get a call from New York with new workouts and rehearsal schedules and Lisa would insist on starting immediately.

Evie knew deep down she was actually nervous to have Jake watch her dance. It only seemed to be dancing that unnerved Evie. Her presentations in school were always composed and her days in flight school were marked by nothing but a devoted flight instructor and a positive atmosphere from the other students. She didn't put her heart into flying or speaking or anything else like she did when she danced. She thought people must be able to see straight through her and into the most intimate parts of her thoughts. Normally, she would revel in that knowledge; In the knowing that she was a one in a million emotional dancer. Her turnout could probably use some work though.

Evie's thoughts were interrupted by Marilyn sitting at the mirror next to her. She brought with her an understated sex appeal. Marilyn was the most innately sensual person Evie had ever met. She didn't even have to try, but rather she just seemed to glow with it. When her perfume reached Evie's nose, Evie found herself less in awe of Marilyn.

"Do you think," began Evie in a teasing tone, "that if you went one day without bending the rules the Earth would cease its rotation? Do you do this for all of our wellbeing Marilyn?"

"You are hilarious. I do it because everyone likes my perfume and I want it to mix with my sweat a bit." Marilyn paused and took in Evie's face before adding, "You know? So my pheromones mix with artificial smell?"

"Oh sure of course."

"You think it's gross," Marilyn said matter of factly. There was no goading in her voice.

"Yes." At Evie's honest response, Marilyn chuckled. Marilyn was convinced she sat at the apex of what was universally sexy. And to be honest, Evie didn't have much insight in the sexy department. "Well, let me smell you when you get off stage and I'll let you know if you're insane or not."

Evie was doing push ups backstage as a Navy representative was on stage introducing them. She liked to do push ups shortly before going on stage to help with her nervousness. What are nerves if not energy that needs to go somewhere? When she had had an elegant sufficiency, she stood and brushed off her hands.

"Better?" The voice that appeared at her side was PJ's. PJ was so go-with-the-flow that Evie struggled seeing PJ going to these lengths to relax before showtime. "You're gonna be great. He's going to be mesmerized."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Evie's reply was neutral but it elicited a laugh from PJ. PJ squeezed Evie's hand before walking to her place. Evie knew exactly what PJ was talking about. Evie had had breakfast with PJ that morning and they'd talked about Jake. Apparently, Evie hadn't done a very good job at appearing like a normal 29 year old instead of a high school girl who'd doodled Jake's name on her notebook. As the man on stage's speech wound down, Evie stepped in between the other girls and into her spot.

This year the Rockettes had toured with a Fosse tribute as their closer. It was Evie's least favorite combination. Sure the black leotard was cute and comfortable, but Fosse was just so not her style. She was thankful for the signature Fosse turned in knees, but could have lived without the stupid jazz hands. Their final song was, "All That Jazz" from Chicago. As the Bebe Neuwirth recording wound down and their choreography ended with them in chairs, Evie took her first real breath in hours. She inhaled the applause and exhaled any lingering restlessness. As the lights went out and they lined up for bows, somebody coughed and said, "MARILYN." This reaction caused a chain of laughter down the line. Most of the girls were in a more jovial mood now moments away from vacation and were willing to overlook Marilyn's rule breaking perfume.

The dancer next to Evie was Amy, who turned to Evie and said, "She's one a kind, our Marilyn."

"Oh yea she's a…something," replied Evie, paying extra attention to the word "something".

When they were all off stage and back in a dressing room, Marilyn found Evie and PJ who were taking their makeup off slowly as they talked. Both Evie and PJ could tell Marilyn was buzzing about something.

"We're going out," said Marilyn.

"Of our minds?" replied PJ.

Marilyn playfully directed, "Bitch," to PJ before continuing, "We're going back to the Hard Deck. Amy said they were talking to some of the Navy boys and everyone's going. It's gonna be awesome."

PJ was clearly exhausted when she said, "I'm going to turn in. I'm pooped, but you guys go have fun."

"Evie?"

Evie knew there was no way she was saying no. She wasn't going to pass up the chance to see Jake again, but she didn't want to seem too eager in front of Marilyn. So she simply said, "I'll go, but I'll probably leave before midnight."

"Perfect," Marilyn sent PJ and Evie air kisses before turning to walk away. "Oh wait! Evie, smell me."

Evie walked over to her and bent her head to Marilyn's neck and sniffed. "Ok. I kind of, and I do mean kind of, get it."

Marilyn gave her a self satisfied smile before turning and leaving. "Be ready in 30 minutes," she said to Evie over her shoulder. PJ just gazed at them with a look of confusion.

Evie was walking arm and arm with Lisa and Marilyn up the beach. She had taken off her stage makeup and had opted for just moisturizer and mascara for the night; Her skin had been through enough. The parallels between this night and their first night here two days ago was not lost on Evie. The sand squished between her toes and she was happy she'd opted for sandals, which now swung lazily from her fingers. She was happy. Evie wasn't a particularly melancholic person, but the moments where she found herself perfectly, irrefutably happy were few and surely this moment was one of them.

The bar came into sight and so did the small group of people standing out front. This group consisted of Amy who was flirting easily with two men, not in uniform, but standing too straight to not be military. Lisa greeted Amy who said they would meet them inside after sending off the two men outside. Apparently, they weren't staying.

The door of the Hard Deck opened to reveal a very similar scene to their last visit. Ok, maybe it was a little rowdier. Evie couldn't stop herself from searching for Jake. When she couldn't spot him immediately she had to momentarily give up and go with her friends to the bar. They ordered their drinks. Marilyn opted for just a Coke tonight. Most of the Rockettes were there tonight and so many Navy personnel that the bar seemed smaller than before. The air was heavy with body heat and everyone was shouting even though the music wasn't that loud. Two men in uniform walked up to the girls at the bar.

The taller man had just a mustache and was easy going while the shorter one was clean shaved and shifting his weight between his feet. They introduced themselves as "Payback" and "Fanboy." Evie supposed that if they were going to spend their vacation in San Diego by the beach that she'd better get used to the call signs as formal address thing. The group chatted amicably amongst themselves for a while, and it was clear that Fanboy was really into Marilyn, when Evie spotted someone familiar walking towards them.