Love, Lust, and Jealousy.
It's a story Cora knows all too well - not because it's her own, but that of her character in Illicit Affairs, the murderous romance that's about to take Broadway by storm. It's her crowning achievement, her pride and joy...
"Are you two enjoying yourselves?" Rasmus muttered as Siena reached for her can of hairspray and Cora grabbed her black lipstick.
She popped off the cap, twisted the tube, and grinned. "Pucker up, buttercup."
They were almost done transforming him for the party tonight. She'd never done a couples costume for Halloween before, but Siena, who was going as Catwoman, had thrown out the suggestion that they go as Edward Scissorhands and Kim Boggs since the event was movie themed.
So here she was, donning a simple white dress and putting lipstick on her boyfriend while her roommate sprayed his hair into submission. It almost felt like she was prepping for the show again even though they'd already done their one performance for the day, but there was a sense of relief that came with knowing that she was going to get out and have some fun. She loved this season of life—getting to be on freaking Broadway—but it didn't come without a price. Most of her daily activities revolved around conserving her voice and energy and making sure she stayed healthy, so she didn't exactly get out a lot.
There was something liberating about having a chance to let loose around people she would probably never see again. And if the party sucked...well, they could always just get drunk.
She didn't care if it meant spending her day off tomorrow hungover—Cora was going to enjoy herself tonight.
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The Ivory Lounge was hidden away in a corner of Brooklyn that Cora had not yet explored, but Sie promised them that it was amazing. She'd apparently been on several occasions with her grad school friends, the same group that was hosting tonight's party. It was foggy out, but even from a distance, she could see the light of the neon sign that read The Ivory Lounge in cursive font. It was tucked into the basement of an old building, so they had to descend a steep set of stairs to get to the front doors.
But entering was like stepping through a portal in time. The Ivory's aesthetic clearly hinged on Old Hollywood, on a world of glitz and glamor and trailblazing jazz singers crooning their songs while wealthy couples danced the night away. The bar was designed in an Art Deco style, but the patrons who sat at it were entirely from the present day—Cora spotted two Spidermen, a Princess Buttercup, and a Cruella de Vil ordering cocktails.
"Jackson said he saved us a spot," Siena said as she led them off to the seating area.
Cora had no idea who Jackson was—a guy Sie was seeing, perhaps, or maybe just a friend—but she wasn't too fussed about it. If he was important enough, she'd hear more about him eventually. Rasmus and Cora were a couple of steps behind Sie, and when he turned to her and mouthed Who's Jackson?, she just shrugged.
Jackson, it turned out, was a graduate student like Siena, only at NYU instead of Columbia. When the two of them settled onto the low, black couch across from Rasmus and Cora, he made no sort of territorial move to indicate that he and Sie were an item—no resting his arm on the back of the cushion, no taking her hand—but he was clearly checking out the way she looked in that tight catsuit. Sie's lips tilted into a naive smile, but Cora knew damn well she had a sixth sense for male attention. And she had no problem rejecting unwanted advances, so she must have been enjoying whatever this thing was with Jackson. Hopefully, Cora would be able to tell by the end of the night whether it was just a game of cat and mouse or a glimpse of something more substantial.
