Stage Lights (Solangelo AU)

1

"Look at me
I'm the King of New York!
Suddenly
I'm respectable
Staring right atcha
Lousy with stature!"
Nico di Angelo tapped his foot on the taxi floorboard softly to the beat of the song coming through his earbuds: King of New York from the Broadway musical Newsies.
It was very fitting for the day - but whatever Nico had playing usually was.
Today was the day that he was officially moving into his very own apartment in Manhattan - a 1,100 square foot loft overlooking Central Park. It was times like these he was thankful for all his father's money - otherwise there was no way he could have afforded such an ideal apartment.
He studied his reflection in the window - gray eyes, olive skin, black hair. He was wearing a light blue tee shirt and black skinny jeans.
He thought he looked the part for New York City theatre hopeful.
Nico was an actor - or, he dreamed of being an actor. That's why he was in New York City: Broadway. Live theatre. It'd been his dream for years. He'd auditioned for every school and community musical he could possibly audition for -and usually, he had a lead role, but it wasn't ever for lack of extremely hard work. He was ready for this.
"Sir? This is the address?"
Nico jerked his left earbud out, realizing the cab driver was talking to him.
"Sorry, what?" The driver asked.
"This is the address you need?" The driver asked again.
Nico leaned forward to check the address on the GPS stuck to the dashboard.
"Um, yeah, that's right," Nico confirmed.
The driver nodded and turned a corner quickly as Nico settled back into his seat, popping his earbud back in.
He watched as they passed places he'd been dreaming about for years: theaters such as the Neaderlander and the Gershwin, Times Square, and the Four Seasons hotel.
Nico had never felt more alive.

After a few more blocks, the car slid to a stop in front of a lovely apartment building. Of course, Nico had seen it before - he'd already gotten everything moved in - but something about this time was different. This was officially home now.
He paid the driver and stepped out of the car, throwing his backpack over his shoulders. He took a deep breath, his heart pounding with excitement, and walked to the door.
"Mr. di Angelo, right?" The doorman greeted, pulling open the door.
Nico nodded at him. "That's right." He stepped over the threshold, throwing a "thanks" over his shoulder.
Glancing around to make sure nobody was looking (even though the lobby was empty), Nico giddily ran to the elevator and pushed the up arrow. He and his sisters always fought over who got to push the elevator buttons. He didn't even know why, but the thought of it made him smile none the less.
The elevator arrived and he stepped inside, pushing the 7 button.
While he rose, he pulled out his phone and texted his little sister, Hazel.

To: Hazel🐼 1:22 PM
u said to let u know when i got here. im here.

She replied almost immediately.

From: Hazel🐼 1:23 PM
Good... this feels weird. I don't know what to say. Good luck, I know that you can do it. ;)

He smiled to himself and began typing again.

To: Hazel🐼 1:23 PM
Youll be ok. U can come visit me any time u want

From: Hazel🐼 1:23 PM
I know lol. Gotta go, call me later. Love u Neeks

He smiled even wider and slid his phone in the back pocket of his black skinny jeans.
The elevator door slid open and he hopped out excitedly and tore towards his door at the end of the hall. He shoved in the key and jerked the door open, grinning at the sight of the apartment that was all his.
He stepped inside slowly, pulling the door shut behind him. It was simple - the walls were bare (he needed to get some picture frames) and the refrigerator was empty (he hadn't had time yet for grocery shopping) - but it was still his very own. And something about that excited him very much.
Tonight, he would order pizza and watch something on Netflix. Tomorrow, he would go grocery shopping. He also had a meeting with an agent - step one to making it big on Broadway.
It was a great day to be alive.