Penny that morning didn't feel happy or relaxed at all. In fact she woke up to a strong urge to go to the bathroom.
Some people would call them nervous bowel movements.
Penny just found it slightly more pleasant that nervous vomiting.
Her stomach afterwards slightly a little lighter, but the same rock seemed planted to her gut. How could it go away then so many people relied on her having a perfect performance.
She left her room late that Tuesday morning, so late that Quentin was already at work. However, he did a note that some leftover breakfast was in the fridge. She first made a plain black coffee, no creamer and no sugar. It wasn't extremely pleasant, but she feared that the dairy with clog her voice and make it hard to sing, even though she has never experience that before. Opening the fridge, a cool blast continued to wake her up. She shivered at the feeling. She saw a plated and chilled egg sandwich with fresh tomato and bacon. She graciously took it out and started to eat it cold over the kitchen counter.
Sitting there alone reminded her of Ms. Birdie, her past maid and oldest friend. She wasn't here to celebrate with them. She was somewhere away with unknown people. She couldn't help but hold some animosity towards the older woman. Penny couldn't believe that the only person who supported her through life wasn't there. She has been keeping little contact, despite the constant emails she sends to her. It sucks. There is no other phrase that works better that "it sucks". She often trying to forget Ms. Birdie, especially in her work. She wasn't alone anymore and she was trying to embrace it. However, there are times, like when she was alone in the kitchen or cleaning, the woman creeps into her mind. She messaged her almost everyday, seeing if she will come for Christmas, but nothing yet.
She still had a lot of time before she had to go in, so she decided to actually work out. She didn't go to the third floor often. She wasn't one to workout and she hasn't had time to sit down and enjoy a movie. She need to clear her mind and emotions, as well as get herself pumped up for opening night.
She changes into a pair of spandex leggings, a low-impact sports bra, and an old college t-shirt. She really didn't want to tire herself out, since the night was going to be long and she was going to be hard at work. In the corner of the home gym was a Peloton Bike. Quentin really had money to spend. She hopped on and placed her legs on the petals. She looked at different workouts, "trails", and other functions on the giant screen. She decided to follow along with a profession on a beginner biking workout. She placed her water bottle a cup holder attached and started workout.
It wasn't long before droplets of sweat formed on her chest, arms, and forehead. Nothing about it was too difficult, but a lot of effort was needed. She was only half way through when she needed to pause for a slight water break. Then she hopped back on and biked her heart out. Her heart pumped, her mind was focused, and her muscles burned. It was a thrilling feeling once she was finished. Gingerly getting off, she had to reach her hands out for better balance due to weak legs. Even though her heart was still racing on the bike, she laid down on the cool gym floor and took a second to gather her breathes. She finished her time in the gym with a full body stretch. Using this opportunity to push her muscles to farther length.
Penny left the room feeling like Gumby and excited to dance on stage.
Penny's whole body when enter the shower was buzzing. Energy and excited, rather than nervousness, radiated from her body. No longer was she scared about messing up. She was started to get the thrill and joy of performing. Penny never felt more in her element, and she was surprised that a simple workout could do that. She supposed she just biked all those negative emotions away.
She took a longer shower than usual, but she had the time for it. First, the water was freezing cold, easing the sweat from her body. Slowly, she turned up the heat and warmed her body back up to an accepted temperature. Quickly drying off, she did some simple skin care so that her makeup can be applied easier. For clothes, she wanted something easy to take on and off, since she will be changing from street clothes to costume and, then later at night, costume to street clothes. After putting on approved underwear and a random bra that didn't matter, she clothed herself in cozy dark gray sweatpants and a soft purple shirt.
After her shower, it was already past lunch time, but she was still hungry. She took the time to make some random stir-fry from various things in the fridge. That was one of the last things she taught Penny before she-
No! Penny isn't going to be brought down by the thoughts of her.
Instead of being alone to her thoughts, Penny turned on her phone and played a random show on Netflix. It distracted her, and allowed her to cook lunch in peace. She continued to watch the show while she ate. Soon, she was done eating and didn't know what to do.
She had to arrive at five since the show started at seven, but that meant she still had two hours.
She started to fill that two hours with cleaning the kitchen and packing away leftover lunch for dinner that night. She also packed a few snacks, if she got hungry but there wasn't enough time to eat a full meal. Penny soon realized that she would have to rearrange her whole eating schedule, since dinner was usually right in the middle of preparation for the show. But...that felt like an after Christmas types of thing to figure out.
Going back to her room, Penny did her hair for the evening. It was usually brushed out curls, with the top layer of her hair placed into to high ponies. It gave Penny Harley Quinn vibes, since the character is a psychotic killer; however, it was more subtle, since the pigtails only contained half the hair on her head. The whole process was certainly the longest part of getting ready.
Firstly, she curled her hair with a wand, being careful not to burn any part of her skin.
Secondly, she sprayed though curls like lots of hairspray. Then rubbing her hands together with a dollop of clear gel, she raked her hands through the hair, separating the tight curls into loose brushed out one.
Lastly, she carefully sectioned the top layer of her hair into two section. Pulling the middle and bottom layer back, she is able to cleanly tie the two sections up. She finally added hairspray to the front of her head to control any fly away.
She looked at the time and it took up a majority of the time waiting to leave.
It was getting closer and closer to when she had to leave, so she packed a bag full of anything she might need, including her script (just for emergencies).
Penny called an Uber to take her to the theater, since Quentin was still at work. She texted him that she was leaving and that she will text him when she was there. She also shot a text to remind him not to forget the tickets for his whole family.
Right at five o'clock in the evening, she arrived at the stage door. The sun just set, but that didn't matter for the city that never sleeps, and it certainly didn't matter for Penny when she was just entering work.
She signed up and went to her private dressing room. Since Penny was the lead, she got her own dressing room, but often opened it up to everyone. It turned into a place to hang out among actors instead of a closed off room for arrogant stars. Sitting her stuff down, she first started on her make-up and then got into her costume. Her cuts on her legs turned into light scabs, but she still covered them all with plaster and covered that with makeup, and the covered her legs with tights. She shimmed up her light purple dress, yet waited to put on her shoes. She finally opened her door to the public. She was happy that her cast members respected her privacy when getting ready. Now that the door was open, there was no stopping all the girls coming in to talk.
They all gossiped and prepared for the show, waiting for the mic check, and warm-ups. They were finally called. Everyone was wired a mic and check to make sure it worked. They stood around the piano to do their usual vocal warm ups. Lastly they stood on stage, stretching and practicing hard choreography.
Then the dreaded: FIVE MINUTES TO OPENING.
Diane hurried on stage to give her opening night speech, "Okay everyone, this is the big night. Let me just reiterated how proud I am of you all. We have been working incredibly hard in a short period of time to make this work. I can't wait to show everyone how talents and amazing every single one of you are. Now, let's get out there and kick it!"
The place erupted in cheers, laughter and applause. Everyone rushed off stage and the current closed, yet they all stood at edges and peaked through holes to see how many people were entering the building. Penny went to check on her phone one last time in her dressing room. She got a picture from Quentin. It was him holding all of the tickets. She chuckled at the picture and put it away. She joined the rest of cast and crew behind stage waiting for it all to begin.
Soon, the five girls were ushered on stage, Thomas was ready on his side along with Adam, and Corey was waiting in his dressing room for act two. The only actor left on her side was Penny. The solid rock appeared in her stomach again, but somehow it grew. She repeated affirmations to herself, even praying to a God she doesn't even believe in. it shrunk the rock but it was still there. She grabbed her opening props, an empty circle tray and stood in the wings.
The curtains open, the first note starts...the show beings.
The five "strippers" open the show introducing themselves with there respected boyfriends and as well as the character Scarlet.
Penny waits, and waits.
1, 2, 3, 4
1, 2, 3, 4
Breathe in
Breathe out.
1, 2, 3, 4
It was time. She heard her cue and strutted on stage. The stage lights were only slightly blinding and she was only momentarily startled, but it never once threw her off. Like it was second nature, she started to sing with perfection and easy. She danced, hitting every move, and acted, embracing the different emotions of the character.
She tried not to look at the audience too much. She wanted to badly to search out the Romano family, but she feared it would make her loose focus and mess up. Then halfway through Act One, roughly her second kill, she spotted him...Quentin. Hazel eyes meet Green. He was smiling, she looked to the left and right, the whole family was smiling.
She was wrong.
Seeing the Romano family didn't make her feel weak or out of character. it made her feel stronger as a performer. She had one of the strongest support systems she could ever ask for and every single on of them was sitting in the audience for her.
By the end of Act One, Penny was really in the groove. She was in the moment. She was her character. With an audience fueling her and her family sitting in that audience, she has never felt more alive than this moment. Back in the dressing rooms for a fifteen minute intermission, she drank some water and sat down for a second as everyone talked about how the show was going. The consensus was amazing.
What felt like only ten second, the fifteen minutes break was close to over. Everyone was called back to places and Act Two began. She was thankful that Corey opened and not her. While excited to get back on stage, it was pleasant to pause for a moment and just watch others perform.
That too had to come to an end, because she was on stage once again. Act Two seemed to run a lot faster than the first. It felt like it never began, yet is was already over.
The final scene ended with her alone, in her usual outfit but with a navy blue zip-up sweatshirt hiding the top half of her body. She was alone in a police interrogation room and sang the final number. It had the same lyric as the opening number, Love Hurts, yet it was slowed down and changed slightly to expressed Scarlet's heartbreak. It was an emotion scene that Penny performed flawlessly.
For some reason, Penny always sympathized with this character and her emotions. She loved unconditionally but got hurt in the end. She didn't take the show as a lesson on love, but more as a reminder of want happened. It wasn't a triggering experience to be this character, rather it was an outlet of past emotions.
The curtains closed. The show was finished.
Everyone line up for curtain call, like they practice. They all went on stage. First were the five strippers. Next was Adam and Thomas. After that was Corey alone. That left Penny to go on along. She waited for her cue and ran on stage like how they practiced. Saw through the lights audience members stand up, especially the Romano family. She heard the applause grew, but heard whistling and extra audible cheers from a specific region.
She did her bows and held out her hands so they can come forward and all bow together. She felt her hand tug and saw the people next to her walk off stage. She was thrusted into hugs and high five with the people around her as they all walk to the dressing rooms. She talked and chatted as everyone got ready to go home. It was pretty late and they had to stay a little later to finish and clean. Penny decided to clean the space first and take care of her props first. By then most people have exited the dressing room hall. She closed the door behind her and dug through her bag to find her street clothes.
While rifting, someone entered her room.