The Man in the Audience

Cavalier, Fin.

Your POV:

EARTH-616
David H. Koch Theater, Upper West Side Manhattan, NYC, NY.
12/21/23. 12:32 P.M. EST.

Dress rehearsal had just concluded, leaving me bored out of my mind. All dancers had to stay at the theater until showtime, only allowed to leave for lunch and come straight back. But the show was at 7:30 p.m. Our call time was at 6:00 p.m., so why couldn't we go home? I don't know. We just listen to whatever our director wants us to do. Ashlee and Claire wanted to go to lunch with me, so we were on our way to do that right now. We settled for Mediterranean cuisine, trying to keep ourselves light before the show.

We navigated down the streets to the restaurant together, chatting about the show later tonight. We were all really excited to showcase what we'd been working so hard on. We needed to make sure that all the blood, sweat, and tears we put into this paid off. Otherwise, it was all for nothing. That may sound a bit dramatic, but I was a perfectionist. I needed the show to go perfectly. At least for me that is. We soon arrived at the restaurant at the corner of 10th Ave. and W 55th St. As we entered, a strong aroma of food welcomed us in. Swirling around us like the ribbon of a rhythmic gymnast.

"Hey guys, welcome in! How many?" A young teenage girl approached us, obviously the hostess of the restaurant. She began to grab menus as she awaited our response, "Just the three of us." Claire said to the girl. "Alright! Follow me! Your server will be right with you." The hostess guided us to a table near a big window, giving us silverware wrapped in a fabric black napkin along with our menus. We all sat down at the table. Claire and Ashlee sat next to each other as I sat across from them. The hostess walked away quickly, going back to her stand up in the front of the restaurant. Soon enough, a waiter approached our table and introduced himself, "Hey, I'm Mike. I'll be taking care of you today! Can I start you guys off with anything to drink?" Our waiter asked, pulling out a notepad from his pocket. "I think we all just want waters, right?" Ashlee announced, looking at me and Claire. I nod in response, "Yeah a water sounds great." "Alright! Three waters," he spoke, putting his notepad away, "I'll bring those to you shortly!" Our waiter walked away, disappearing into the kitchen.

Claire sighed, resting her elbows on the table, "Dress rehearsal was tough today, eh?" Claire had been scolded a countless amount of times for not doing a part in her solo 'correctly'. During dress rehearsal, I felt kinda bad for her. She seemed embarrassed from being called out like that. Who wouldn't? "Yeah it was pretty rough. But at least it's over now." I say, rubbing my eyes. Ashlee laughed, "I don't know why our director is always so harsh on us. We're professionals for God sakes! We're not teenage students anymore. She acts like we don't have a clue on what we're doing and it pisses me off." Ashlee grunted. Our director was trained in Russia at Vaganova. The most elite ballet school in the world. They were harsh on their dancers, and I assumed that's where she got it from. Our ballet company used the Balanchine method of ballet, not Vaganova method, but our director knew both. "It's probably because of the way she was trained as a student," I brought up, "Vaganova is extremely harsh, but they bring up some of the best of the best." Claire nodded and looked over at Ashlee, "That's true."

Our waiter returned to our table with a tray of waters and some other beverages for separate tables, "Here you go!" He said, putting our waters down in front of us. "Do you guys want any appetizers?" We all looked at each other before I spoke, "I think we're all good with the waters for now." Our waiter nodded, "Sounds good! I'll be back to take your order soon if you're ready." He walked off, dropping other drinks off to the other tables. I took a sip of my water. The chilling beverage spilled down my throat, refreshing and rehydrating me from the intense dress rehearsal.