Chapter 2: Pink
Roxie Hart was concerned. Ever since they had arrived in Detroit, her singing partner, Velma Kelly had not been herself at all. Of course, Roxie thought with a slight smile, she wasn't sure who exactly the other half of their double act was in the first place, but going on what she described flamboyantly, yet quite accurately as 'The Hotel and Nightclub Tour of the World' with her for several months now, she had begun to grow wise to some of Miss Kelly's old tricks.
Roxie slowly let the smile slide away. Quite frankly, she was concerned about the older woman's recent behavior. For one thing, Velma hadn't so much as bossed a single bellboy, or Roxie for that matter, around since they had arrived at the next stop of The Hotel Tour. She hadn't lost her temper and started yelling at their latest ill-fated pianist over anything from arrangement to pitch once, or had a good long row with the owner of the club, or with Roxie for that matter.
In fact, she'd been outright quiet lately, not that Velma was ever really loud. Roxie laughed at how badly she'd just contradicted herself, recalling the last time Velma and the manager of The Onyx had gone at it over their place on the night's program. Of course, Velma was loud, but she wasn't chatty like Roxie herself was.
Velma Kelly was one of those people who had the rare gift of never saying a word too much, or a world too little for that matter. Somehow, that made Velma's words count for more than Roxie's, like a rare painting or vase, because hers came about far less often. Roxie had also noticed that Velma could talk for hours without ever really saying anything. Come to think of it, she hardly knew Velma at all, despite all their time together. That also worried her.
Velma's silence unfortunately wasn't the only thing that had Roxie wondering. At the moment, she was fast asleep and still wearing all her makeup from the day before. If nothing else, Roxie had learned two things Velma Kelly was a fanatic about over the past couple of months: She took the welfare of her sensitive skin very seriously and always had to be awake and dressed, or rather undressed, at the crack of dawn.
Normally, it was Velma who ripped the sheets off Roxie's pleasantly slumbering body with frightening precision and a sickly-sweet smile, overriding her groans and protests with a sarcastic "Good morning, sleepyhead," or on a day when Miss Kelly's mood was not quite so sunny, "You'd better get your ass out of bed, Hart, or we'll be late, and it'll be both of ours!"
But this morning it was Roxie who was awake and dressed, waiting for the opportune moment to fling aside the heavy curtains and bathe the room in yellow. Just as she was preparing to do so, Roxie caught a glimpse of her partner's sleeping face, dappled by tendrils of morning sun.
She had never seen Velma sleep before. Roxie had never understood how Velma ever got any sleep. Velma was a night owl and an early-riser, and Roxie was neither. She was struck by how vulnerable Velma looked when she was sleeping. Somehow, the absence of a seductive glare or half-closed eyes that said, "I don't give a shit," all too clearly made her look so innocent, as fragile as glass.
However, Roxie's desire to introduce Miss Kelly to a little thing she liked to call karma was too tempting to resist for long. She flung open the curtains and cried, "Let there be light," with a girlish giggle. The fragile expression on her partner's catlike face shattered, and Roxie found herself looking once again into the cool face of the Velma Kelly she knew.
"Jesus, Roxie," she muttered with heavy eyes. "What the hell are you doing up?"
With a wonderfully phony smile Roxie shot back, "I'm afraid you've mistaken the time, Miss Kelly."
Velma barely raised an eyelid. "What time is it, then?"
"Eleven," Roxie said with relish. The expression on Velma's face was absolutely priceless, as she shot out of bed and into the bathroom, cursing and kicking things all the way. Now that was more like it.
After saving a lamp that had been upended by her still sleep-addled rival's famous temper, Roxie Hart stood back and enjoyed every moment of it.
I really needed a lighter chapter to balance out that last one and was it ever fun writing it! Thank you all for your reviews, because they're to blame for putting this authoress in such a light mood (or maybe it was just the elephant ears she ate on her class trip.) Well, I'd just like to say thank you. THANK YOU! Believe me, I could not have done it without you! (Sound familiar?) I promise there will be a lot more action in future chapters. I just needed to set the stage, put down a foundation, have fun, and...well damn those elephant ears!