The Mobster's Girl

Chapter Two

"Anyway, you enjoy your food now. You don't need to hear my troubles."

Stella frowned at him.

"You know I'm always hear to listen, Pete. That's what friends are for."

He smiled down at her again, his eyes filled with warmth.

"I appreciate you, Stella."

The door to the deli opened, and Pete had to attend to the new customer, so Stella finished her lunch quickly, left cash on the counter, then headed to the theater, where most of the girls were already gathered, all of them whispering to each other excitedly.

"The owner's coming tonight," Kate said excitedly to Stella as she walked in. "Rumor has it he's a real sheik. All the girls will be fighting for his attention."

Stella hung her purse on the hook in her cubby, then sat down at her vanity and began fluffing her hair, to make it look a little less like she had been caught in a windstorm.

"Oh, is he?" Stella replied casually, knowing full well that she was irritating Kate, who exuded excitement.

Stella changed her street shoes for her costume's silver heels, donned her headdress, then stood from the vanity and stared at the rest of the girls, who were all beaming with excitement.

Stella sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Fine, I'll bite. Who is the owner?"

Kate looked at her as if she was stupid.

"Jack Moretti, of course."

Stella felt her face pale at the sound of the man's name. It was the man that Pete was afraid of. If Pete was afraid of the man, surely that meant that Stella needed to be as well.

"Oh," Stella replied simply, unsure of what else to say. Kate was looking at her queerly, but didn't say anything else.

Lucky for Stella, she didn't have to explain her reaction to anyone, as rehearsal was about to begin. The girls trailed out of the dressing room and to the stage, where their manager spent the next couple of hours critiquing their every move. Stella was a bit offended at the end of the rehearsal, feeling as though he was picking on her specifically, but at the end of the afternoon, he pulled her aside and apologized.

"You know that I only want you to succeed, Stella. That's why I'm hard on you."

She nodded.

"I see something promising in you, Stel'; you'll be a big star someday. Promise you'll come back and visit the little people?"

That brought a smile to Stella's face, which her manager appreciated.

"Now, you girls go get some rest, and be back here in a couple of hours. We'll have important people in the crowd tonight, remember. I can't have us looking terrible in front of the owner."

Stella spent the rest of the afternoon in the girls' dressing room, resting, just as their manager had requested.

Most of the other girls went out and grabbed a quick bite to eat, but having eaten already, Stella decided to skip going to lunch with them.

When she had first joined the dancers, as a new member, she had found that it was difficult to make her way into the group. She could tell that she was different than the other girls, not bad different, just more reserved. It seemed as though the other girls noticed it too, and they simply tolerated Stella, and invited her to lunch only to keep her from feeling left out.

It bothered her a bit, but there was nothing she could do about it, unless she completely changed who she was. And who knew? Perhaps Chicago would change Stella, from the cautious, prudish girl, to a daring, outgoing woman.

The afternoon went by quickly enough, and soon it was time to change into their costumes. Stella could hear the voices of the crowd from the dressing room, and her heart began to beat wildly, as it always did before a performance.

Once everyone was dressed and positioned behind the curtain, Kate stepped forward and peeked behind the curtain, out into the audience. She let out a tiny shriek, which was inaudible to the crowd waiting for the performance, then turned back and looked at the girls.

"He's here! He's really here!"

A wave of excitement moved through the crowd of girls, and Stella couldn't help but satisfy her curiosity. She approached the curtain, where Kate still stood, and asked her to point him out to her. She wanted to know who the infamous Jack Moretti was.

"He's over there," Kate squealed excitedly. She nodded in the direction of a dark-haired man, who had his back to the girls. He was deep in a conversation with two other men who looked eager to be speaking with him, and somehow, he managed to look better dressed than the two.

One of the men apparently said something funny, and Jack threw his head back and laughed loudly, the sound audible over the sound of the crowd.

"Isn't he handsome?" Kate swooned over the sight of the back of Jack Moretti, and Stella looked at her oddly, but said nothing.

The girls got back into formation when their stage manager appeared and demanded they get ready, and within minutes, their performance had begun. The crowd had seemed to be louder and more interactive than others before, which was perhaps in part because of Jack Moretti's attendance, and Stella felt as though she performed better than she ever had.

Although, it was likely that nobody spotted her, as she stood in the back row, but a girl could dream.

After the performance, the girls were going to go back to their dressing rooms to change, when their stage manager stopped them.

"Mr. Moretti would like to meet you all. He was very impressed with the performance!"

The girls all chattered in excitement, once again unable to hide their emotions.

They lined up backstage, and waited for Jack to appear, so they could introduce themselves to him. Stella even found herself interested to see what the man looked like. After all, she'd heard so much about him in a span of a day, and had only seen the back of him.

As if sensing their impatience, Jack appeared backstage, with a grand introduction from the stage manager.

"Ladies, I'd like you all to meet Jack Moretti."