Chapter 5 - The Rehearsal
"Well this is it guys," Aja said confidently. The group was eating breakfast and getting ready to start the day. "It's a big day for us. Ethan starts their Broadway rehearsal tonight, and I got my training shift. Which musical was it again Ethan?"
Ethan tried to talk but forgot they were drinking their liquid breakfast. "W-" Ethan wiped their mouth. "Wicked! I'm playing Nessarose."
"Yeah, I'm not sure why I asked because, to be honest, I dunno anything about that, sorry" Aja snickered.
"Rude!"
"Alright, kids, no more fighting. I'll see y'all tonight. Good luck to the both of you!" Fae was dressed up in an all-black suit with her large bag hung over her shoulder. "Bye!"
Ethan and Aja spent the rest of the day full of nerves.
"Aja?" Ethan asked Aja hesitantly.
"Yeah?"
"Okay, I may have been downplaying by like.. A lot."
"What do you mean?"
"Okay so like," Ethan's breathing picked up. "You know how I said I got the part as like, a background character with, like, barely any lines?"
"Umm, yeah I guess I remember that." Aja nodded slowly.
"Okay so maybe I actually got cast as one of the leads? That's what Nessarose is, it's one of the main character's sisters…" Ethan swallowed a hard lump in their throat.
"Oh god Ethan, don't worry about that! You're going to be just fine, that means they love you!"
"Yeah, but what if I choke? Then they'd give the job to my understudy. And I don't do well under that kind of pressure. It's just too much, god why did I even accept the role?" Ethan was spitting out words at a mile a minute.
"Ethan, calm down, you're going to be okay." Aja glared at the younger roommate. "Please. Go to your rehearsal, kill it, meet some other hot Broadway performers. You know, that kind of thing."
"Pleek Bestie, no hot Broadway performers are going to want this emotional wreck." Ethan laughed.
"Don't be so sure about that! You don't know about that!" Aja exclaimed.
"Oh god, now you're starting to sound like Fae" Ethan burst into laughter, causing Aja to snort.
/
Ethan had left the house and Aja got ready to make her way to the Spotlight Diner. The Diner was not too far from the apartment, only a 15 minute train ride away.
Arriving at the diner felt nostalgic, even though the first time she went was only a few days ago. Walking in she found a bunch of staff bustling around cleaning up from the lunch rush, people wrapping utensils in napkins at a spare table, waitresses rushing back and forth with trays of food, busboys cleaning up dirty dishes with the cries of kitchen staff wailing from the back area.
"Hey, Aja!" Santana came out of nowhere to greet her.
"Oh my god, hey Santana!" Aja was so happy to see the waitress.
"Mercedes told me to give you this!" Santana held out a bright red uniform lined with white trim. "And this." A nametag Aja. Wow, it was official!
"Thank you very much" Aja smiled while taking the uniform and name tag.
"I can't wait to see you in that," Santana smirked. "You're going to look so cute."
Aja blushed. "Could you show me where the bathroom is?"
"Well, I'd be delighted…" Santana's smile grew devilish as she grabbed Aja's hand and lead her towards the washroom.
When they arrived outside the door Santana leaned into Aja really close. Aja closed her eyes anticipating a kiss, however, was left with a single finger placed over her mouth.
"None of that at work, although I really want to, I also really want to keep my amazing job." Santana looked into Aja's eyes lustfully. "Although we do get a whole hour break in between lunch and dinner shifts…"
Aja felt it getting 10 degrees hotter and started to sweat. "Santana I-"
"Shhh… now go get changed and I'll introduce you to the crew." Santana winked. "Oh and Aja?"
"Yes?"
Santana leaned in and gave Aja a kiss. "Here's one for good luck…"
/
Aja left the washroom in her new uniform to see Santana smiling like the biggest dork she was. "Alright, come with me madam, I will give you the tour," Santana said in such a prim and proper voice.
"Why I'd be delighted" Aja mimicked the tone back.
Santana pushed open the swinging doors to reveal the kitchen. "This is Sam, he's our head chef around here. That's his sous chef Samira. They make up the heart of the kitchen." Samira smiled and Sam came running over.
"Hey, Aja? Nice to meet you. Sam Evans. I never trashed a hotel room. Or did drugs." Sam had this weird fake accent to his talk.
"What?" Aja was confused.
"Sean Connery," Sam said back using his normal voice.
"Haha, well alright, nice to meet you, Sam." Aja chuckled. He was such a character.
Santana grabbed Aja by the shoulders. "Okay I think we should let the staff prepare for dinner tonight, let's get outta here"
"Okay," Aja followed Santana out of the kitchen down the hall to a small office.
"Here's Mercedes, the general manager of the place, I think you guys met on the phone."
"That's right!" Aja smiled to greet Mercedes who was sitting at a desk.
"Hey girl, nice to see you in person. We need some more colour up in this joint." Mercedes laughed warmly. "Oh, you just missed Nicole, she was here a minute ago but took off to the bank to make a deposit." Mercedes waved her hand in the air.
"Nicole is the owner of Spotlight" Santana leaned in and quietly said to Aja.
Aja nodded her head. "I see."
"Alright now I have work to do, so get. It was nice meeting you, Aja." Mercedes's tone lifted as she said Aja's name.
"Okay, let's meet the rest of the staff who you'll mainly be working with." Santana led Aja to the restaurant floor which was really quiet since she first got there.
"This is Rachel, she's the head waitress around here. Unfortunately"
"What was that Santana?" Rachel quipped.
Rachel was all sorts of annoying. Aja had only heard her say only four words, and every syllable sounded irritating and fake.
"Nothing!" Santana's smile was so large her cheeks puffed into little balloons. "I was just introducing our new waitress, Aja"
Rachel looked at Aja up and down with a lifeless expression. "Alright. Welcome, Aja" Rachel quickly turned her head away to face the computer POS screen.
Santana rolled her eyes and turned Aja around to face the floor. "She's annoying, right? Imagine going to high school with her." Santana whispered to Aja.
Aja only shook her head and mouthed the words "Ouch".
"You know I can hear you Santana!" Rachel sang back.
"Whatever you say, dwarf!" Santana rolled her eyes again. "Come on Aja, lemme introduce you to the rest of the staff."
Aja followed Santana to a table where a group of waitresses was wrapping utensils into napkins. "Hey ladies, this is Aja!"
"Hi Aja!" The girls said in unison. The girls smiled and introduced themselves to Aja and Santana pushed Aja along.
Aja heard the door ring and turned to see another black person walk into the diner. "And this is JJ, they're our best busboy. They're also Mercede's kid, so be extra nice to them!" Santana nudged Aja.
"Hi JJ, it's nice to meet you." Aja smiled sweetly at JJ who was taking off their coat and removing their earbuds. JJ was just a teenager but dressed really cool and fashionable. Is this what kids are dressing like these days?
"Hm? Oh hey Santana. And sorry Aja was it? Finally some more colour up in this joint." JJ smiled and came over to give Aja a fist bump.
"How was school JJ?" Santana asked casually.
"Oh, y'know, same old same old. I'm counting down the days until Thanksgiving weekend."
"Would that be pretty busy here?" Aja asked the two of them.
"Yeah, it is," Santana started. "But it's a massive event here, we do a big show for the holidays, and it's a ton of fun. The tips are really good too."
"And no school for me!" JJ chimed in.
"That's right JJ, oh also, your mama was looking for you" Santana remembered.
"She always is." JJ fake groaned.
As JJ walked towards the office Rachel had an announcement to make.
"Everyone, upstairs for rehearsal!" Rachel's enthusiasm was so superficial it was painful to listen to it.
"Right, that was one place I had left to show you." Santana turned to Aja.
The staff made their way up to the stairs from the back area up to a full-on dance studio with mirrors, bars, levels, and props.
"Hey guys!" The group was greeted by a really tall Asian man.
"Hey Mike," Santana piped up. "We got a new girl, this is Aja"
"Hey Aja," Mike came over to greet Aja. "I'm Mike, I'm the choreographer for the place, and that over there talking to the other girls is Tina."
Tina heard her name and waved towards the three of them smiling.
"Tina, this is Aja!" Mike shouted pointing at Aja.
"I see that!" Tina shouted back.
"Yeah, we watched your video of you singing," Mike admitted to Aja.
"Sorry, I couldn't help but to show everyone…" Santana had a guilty smile plastered all over her face.
Aja couldn't help but to laugh "Oh my god, okay, I guess that's why everyone was looking at me as if they already knew me…" Aja couldn't help but to feel a little embarrassed but felt adored that Santana loved her singing so much she was willing to show it to everyone at the diner.
"Okay guys!" Tina commanded the floor. "Tonight we're going to be doing singer-songwriter legend Sara Bareilles' Love Song!"
The floor cheered including Aja. She loved that song!
"I think this will be a great opportunity to give Aja a time to shine, do you know the song?" Tina asked the darker girl.
"Every lyric!" Aja puffed her chest. This was her time to shine and this time in front of an actual audience.
"That makes things easier." Tina smiled.
"Alright guys, doors open at 6, so let's hurry and put together an easy routine for tonight!" Mike piped up.
Tina clicked on the Bluetooth speaker to play the song.
"5, 6, 7, 8…"
/
