This is a work of fiction, with a few real life experiences added in. All of the characters in this story are fictional, and any resemblance to anyone else living or dead is probably a coincidence. Please notify me if you are archiving this and the other chapters of the story on a web site. Permission specifically granted to Sapphire’s Place and Crystal’s Story Site to archive this. If you intend to publish this story in magazine or book (paper or electronic) format, please contact me for arrangements. Additional information on this story may be found at: Zapped! at Stardust.

 

 

Dear Diary,

Saturday, January 4, 2003

I woke up Saturday morning to find Tammy snuggled up to me back to back. I had to go to the bathroom so I carefully slipped out of bed. As I finished up in the bathroom I heard a noise coming from the kitchen. The smell of frying bacon drifted out to excite my nose so I groped my way down the hallway.

“WOW. You’re quick, Tamm…” I stopped dead in my tracks at the sight of Barbara standing there cooking bacon. “Barb, what are you doing here?”

“I saw what you two looked like after the play last night. Besides, Tammy called me late last night and asked me to go over to her mom’s place this morning and pick up several changes of clothes for her. I thought I’d come over and get both of you moving. So how do you like your eggs?”

“Ahhh… Two, sunny side up please and some toast too. And coffee. Lots and LOTS of coffee…”

“How about Tammy?”

“She’s not up yet. Let me go wake her. Be right back.” I went back to the bedroom. I put my hand on her shoulder and gently shook her. She mumbled something about “Just ten more minutes, Mom!” and rolled over.

“Oh no young lady, you’re not getting off that easy. Get up NOW!” I pulled the covers back and pulled the pillow out from under her head.

“But MOM! It’s Saturday!”

“No ‘But MOM” Up NOW!” I had a feeling this scene occurred every Saturday morning at Tammy's house.

Her eyes popped open. She looked at me with a confused expression until she realized where she was. “Oh… sorry, Jen. I’m getting up”

“Barb is here fixing us breakfast. She said she picked up a couple of changes of clothes for you from your place. Figuring on staying tonight too?”

“It did work out pretty well didn’t it? Yes, I’d like to sleep over again tonight if that’s all right with you.”

“Fine with me. I’ll most likely be on autopilot again so the company is welcome. I hope I’ll do better after the play tonight than last night. We have two performances today.”

“That’s why I’m here. I’m gonna force you to take care of yourself. You’re gonna eat a good breakfast, have a nice relaxing soak, get dressed and then I’m driving you to the station to do the show. Then I’ll take you to the theater after we stop for a quick lunch. You’re going to eat something for supper too. You don’t need to get sick.”

“Uh… Tammy… Greg told me last night that someone donated a catered supper from Salvatore’s for the four Saturdays that the show is running. We’ll all have something to eat tonight.”

“WOW! I wonder who did that?”

“I asked Greg. He didn’t know. He just said that the person was a friend of the theater that wanted to remain anonymous.”

Tammy hopped out of bed and tugged me along behind her to the kitchen. “Morning, Barb! Thanks for picking up the clothes for me. You didn’t have to make breakfast. I was going to do that myself.”

“Just sit down and let me finish. From the look of it both of you had a bad time last night. I know that you’ll take good care of Jen while she’s at the theater so let me fix breakfast for you now.”

We both nodded as we sat down at the kitchen table. Barb put a plate in front of each of us with two eggs, several bacon strips and some hash browns. Toast with orange marmalade and a large glass of OJ waited off to the side. “Dig in you two.” She sat down at the table with her own plate.

“Barb, did you see the paper on the front porch when you came in? I want to see what that idiot wrote about the play.”

“Didn’t see it, Jen. Tammy can you go check please?” They looked at each other for a moment then Tammy jumped up to check for the paper. I began to wonder if something was going on here.

“Nothing there yet, Jen. We’ll pick one up on the way to the station if it doesn’t come by the time we leave.”

I shrugged and went back to eating my breakfast. The conversation this morning was at a minimum and we all finished in silence. Tammy cleaned up the dishes placing them in the washer while I finished my coffee. I was about to pour a second cup.

Barb frowned at me. “Jen, you really don’t need another cup. We don’t want you wound up too much before you get to the theater. You were bad enough after the show last night.”

I rinsed out the coffee cup and left it on the sink. “Was I really that bad, Barb?”

“Yes, you were. You were almost a basket case. I think it was from the excitement and the fact you hadn’t eaten anything. We’re not going to let that happen again today. That’s why Tammy and I are here.”

“I never get like this when I do the radio show. Thanks guys.”

Tammy started tugging on my arm pulling me toward the hallway. “Now we want you in that tub and you are to soak until you start to prune. Is that clear?”

“I won’t argue with that, Tammy.” I headed for the bathroom. We still had about two hours before I needed to be at the station so I didn’t argue about wasting some time soaking in the tub. I ran more hot water in at least once before my fingers started to wrinkle up. I shaved everywhere then I decided that was enough and pulled the stopper. A nice fluffy towel was waiting on the sink. I didn’t see any underwear waiting for me so I wrapped the towel around me and went back to my bedroom.

Tammy was there with my clothes for the day all ready. She had chosen another low cut push-up bra and matching panties. She tossed the bra and panties at me then waited for me to start changing. I just stood there.

“Jen! Get moving.”

“OK. Turn around.”

“Why?”

“I want to change that’s why.”

“Jen, you haven’t got anything I haven’t got. Maybe a little more of it but we’re both built the same. If I’m going to be your personal assistant in Orlando you’ve got to get used to this now.”

I considered her words for a few moments. “Point taken.” I dropped the towel and wriggled into the bra and panties. Another pair of sheer panty hose came next followed by a dress very much like the LBD I wore yesterday except that this one was red. Tammy had me put on a pair of red ear rings and a gold heart shaped pendant that hung in my cleavage. Red four inch heels finished out the look. She did my hair and makeup turning me once again into a Hollywood starlet. All I could do was stare at myself for a few minutes in the mirror while Tammy changed clothes.

“Come on sleeping beauty. We have to get moving now. You have a radio show to do this morning.”

“I’m coming mother.” I grabbed my coat and purse to follow her to her car. Barb yelled that she would lock up as we left.

We made it to the studio in one piece in plenty of time. I settled down and got ready to go live at eleven AM. Tammy brought up the network uplink and got the telephone line interface ready to go. Bang on the dot at eleven AM she started the theme music and voice over introduction. I noticed that Tammy had ducked down behind the console to get something from her bag. I let the announcement finish. “Good morning! I’m Jennifer Stevens and with me is Tammy Kelley my trusty assistant. Good morning, Tammy, how are you today?”

“Great Jennifer. For those of you outside the range of our flagship station WTGF, Jennifer has been a very busy girl lately. Last night she appeared in Victor/Victoria at the local community theater. She hasn’t seen the review in our local newspaper yet and I wanted to make sure you all heard this at the same time she did. The reviewer was pretty harsh on her in his column yesterday but it looks like he’s changed his tune now. Here’s what he has to say. I’ll read this directly from this morning’s paper.”

“Let’s see… oh, here it is… and last night I was served a large portion of crow and a slice of humble pie by a very pretty and extremely talented young woman. Many of you read my comments about Jennifer Stevens in yesterday’s column. I willingly admit that I have never been as wrong about anything as I was about her. I must explain.”

“As is my nature I sometimes go early to a performance’s opening night to get a feel for the behind the scene mood of the cast. I usually set in a dark recess of the balcony. I did just that last night and I was delighted that I did. Miss Stevens unknowingly treated the entire cast, crew and I to a wonderful impromptu musical performance. She used several tunes from a CD she had prepared at home using her own personal computer. The selections ranged from country to rock. The last song was a techno-pop tune written by Miss Stevens. She calls it “The Future is Now”. Her on-stage presence and vocal skills are simply amazing for someone that has never performed before. If she decided to go for a recording career my guess is that her first effort would quite easily break all previous sales records within a few days.”

“The play started barely two hours later. To their credit, the entire cast presented an excellent stage version of the movie. I must again single out the performance of Miss Stevens however. Knowing the highly intelligent woman that she truly is, I found it amazing that on stage she presented the perfect image of the delightfully ditzy Norma Cassidy with flawless comedic timing and grace. You should RUN not walk to the box office to pick up your tickets for the remaining three performances of this play. Miss Stevens performance alone is a joy to view. I wonder what the play would be like if Miss Stevens were to play the lead role of Victoria Grant. Alas, we may never know. By the way, if you see someone eating crow in the balcony tonight that will be me.”

Tammy put down the paper looking over the top of the console at me. I frowned right back. “So there you have it folks. Our own Jennifer Stevens was a success at the play last night. For those of you that weren’t around to hear it here’s the song he mentioned in the article. The Future is Now by Jennifer Stevens.” She reached over and tapped the start button on the cassette deck then muted the studio microphones.

The music was playing over the studio speakers in the background. “OK. Go ahead and tell me that I’m fired. I’m just telling the truth though. YOU won’t toot your own horn when you deserve it so I figured I’d do it.”

I sat there several seconds composing myself while tears streamed down my face. “I ought to fire you on the spot but I can’t. I said I’d never be mad at you when you told the truth. I don’t necessarily agree with how you did it but you did it anyway. Let’s get this show finished so we can have lunch then get to the theater. I have two more shows to do today.” It took the rest of the tune for me to compose myself again. As the music ended, Tammy saw I wasn’t quite ready and did a toss to some commercials. That bought me a couple more minutes. The commercials were about to end. “We’re back in five, four, three, two…”

The bumper music started and I again greeted the listeners. “I’m back folks, I just had to take a couple of minutes. Yes, Tammy is still here, I thought about skinning her alive but the little minx is too fast for me. You should have seen me chasing her around the studio. I lost. Anyway, I’m sure there are people out there with computer problems so let’s get the show going. Tammy, who’s on the line first?”

“Jen, this will be Joe from Seattle. Are you there, Joe?”

“I’m here Tammy. I have a question for Jennifer. How in the world did you create ‘The Future is Now’ on a computer?”

“That’s a fair computer question. Joe. Keep in mind I’m not a composer through all of this. About a year and a half ago I had the tune running through my head and I just couldn’t shake it out. I started entering it one note at a time into some MIDI composing software I have. It took nearly a year for me to learn enough to get it sounding the way I wanted it. Lots of errors and botched notes at the start. Eventually I got it right.”

“That explains the music. What about the vocals?”

“I used a sound editing program to record the output of the synthesizer on the computer’s sound card as a wave file. Then I recorded the various vocals as separate tracks. I have two sound cards in that particular computer so I can listen to something at the same time I’m recording. The software has a feature that keeps all of the tracks in sync so it’s easy to overlay multiple tracks to build the song piece by piece.”

“What about the main vocal?”

“Tammy recorded what I did yesterday on a cassette tape. What you heard was my actual performance at the theater.”

“Thanks, Jennifer. Nice job on the song too. My last question is where I can get a copy of ‘The Future is Now’?”

“Nowhere I know about. I'm not planning on releasing it. I don't think it's good enough to inflict on the world. It's just something I was playing around with. Thanks for asking though."

“Sorry to hear that, Jennifer. I hope everyone floods your email box with requests so you'll consider releasing it.”

“Thanks for calling, Joe. Tammy, who’s the next caller?”

It went on like this for the rest of the hour. Nearly everyone that called wanted a copy of the song. I checked my email from the station and the list showed over a thousand emails with ‘The future is now’ on the subject line. That was after only 20 minutes into the show. I checked again just after the show ended and found almost five thousand emails with ‘future’ somewhere in the subject line. Tammy was looking over my shoulder.

“I told you that you were good. Do you believe me now?”

“I guess I’ll have to, Tammy. I’m not going to worry about this right now. I need to get lunch and head for the theater. Let’s get moving. There's just a little less than two hours until show time and counting.” I grabbed my things as we made a dash for her car from the warm studio. The icy cold wind sliced into every fiber of my body as I got into the car. “Damn, I hate central New York winters. Maybe I’ll move to Florida.”

“Wouldn’t help much. They get hurricanes there.”

“Can’t be any worse than freezing my boobs off.” By now, the little car was showing signs of heat inside. “Let’s get some drive-thru stuff and eat it at the theater. Ok with you Tammy?’

“As long as you eat something. What do you want?”

“Right now a bowl of hot and sour soup would taste real good with some fresh fried noodles. I think that’s about all I can handle.”

“I know just the place and it’s on the way too.”

We rode in silence until Tammy pulled into the parking lot at the Chinese place. “I’ll go in and get it. Is there anything else you want, Jen?”

“Ummm… Want to split an order of sweet and sour chicken?”

“Sounds good to me. Let me get in there.” She left the engine running to keep the car warm and disappeared in the front door of the restaurant. A few minutes later she came back out with a big bag in her hands. She passed it over to me as she got back into the car. The bag felt like it weighed a ton.

“My God, Tammy, what did you do? Buy out the place?”

“Nope. I got a couple of other things too. Maybe you’ll pick at all of them and have a better lunch than you would have had otherwise.”

I looked at her a moment and almost scolded her for what she was doing until it sunk in that Tammy and Barb really did care about me. I got a wonderfully warm feeling inside and melted back into the seat. I cried silently all the rest of the way to the theater.

Tammy pulled the car into a parking space near the door to the stage area. She looked over at me. I was still crying. She took a napkin out of the bag and started to wipe away my tears. “What are you blubbering about, Jen?”

"Nothing...umm… Let's get inside before the soup freezes."

This time Greg was the first one there. Tammy and I disappeared into a little out of the way room to eat our lunch. It wasn't out of the way enough since a couple of people found us. One was Sally Barton, the actress playing Victoria Grant. The other was Toni Everet. She was Sally’s understudy and had a dancing part and some chorus numbers unless she had to take over for Sally.

"Nice piece in the paper this morning, Jen. How much did you pay the guy to do that?" Her words dripped with venom.

"Just what do you mean by that, Sally?"

"Just what I said. Who are you to come in here at the last minute and steal the show?"

"Nobody. I didn't ask for this to be dumped in my lap. Go ask Greg."

"Hmph…You probably bought him off too."

"I can't change what you think of me, Sally. All I know is that after three more shows I'm out of here. I didn't want to do this and I'm still not entirely comfortable with it. Besides, can I help it if people like my performance?"

"Listen bitch, just keep out of my way. Do you understand?"

"Sally, we're stuck with each other. Why don't we call a truce and leave each other alone, ok?"

"No deal witch. Just climb back on your broom and fly out of here. I'll make your life miserable if you don't."

"Do you want Greg to cancel the next three performances because nobody else can do the role?"

"No."

"Then deal with it. Three more performances and I'm gone. Remember that."

She turned on her heel and stormed out of the room slamming the door behind her. Toni flinched noticeably. “Sorry, Jennifer. I just don’t know what’s gotten into her. She flipped out when she saw the review in the paper this morning. She’s been like this all day. Since we live next door to each other I’ve been riding in with her. She was really upset on the drive here.”

“That’s ok, Toni. Just see if you can calm her down. What I said is the truth. I never asked for this. I was pushed into it to save the four shows this weekend. I never knew that my performance would be as well received as it seems to be.”

“I’ll try to talk to her but I doubt that she’ll listen to anyone. Just watch out for her, Jennifer. I’m afraid she might try to do something.” Toni left to try to talk to Sally. I didn’t have much hope that it would do any good.

"WOW, Jen. What happened to get Sally angry like that?"

"The ugly face of jealousy I'm afraid. I probably got a much larger mention than the rest of the cast combined in the paper today and she's mad about it."

"Well it was only fair the way he trashed you in the paper the day before."

"You know that, I know that and probably everyone else out there knows that, Tammy. All she sees is the press and publicity. She thinks I'm trying to steal her chance at fame away from her."

"Toni is right, just watch out for Sally. I think she'll try to pull something today or tomorrow."

"I'll keep my eyes wide open, Tammy. Now let's finish up here and get busy. There's not much time left to get ready and you still have to set up."

We finished our lunch and Tammy took the leftovers out to the car. The cold temperatures in the unheated car would keep the food just fine. We could warm it up again in the microwave at home for a late night snack before bed. I went to wardrobe to get dressed then waited on the old couch for makeup. Since it was rather messy I waited as long as I could before having it applied.

I found a copy of the Entertainment section from the morning paper on the couch so I began reading the review. As it turned out, he did mention the rest of the cast by name and had lots of good things to say about everyone including Sally. The only reason I could think of for her reaction was that she was worried that Greg might actually replace her with me in the lead when Julie came back.

I stayed on the old couch for a little while longer. Just as I was ready to go to makeup, a delivery person followed Sally onto the stage. He was carrying a huge bouquet of flowers. Sally just stood there glaring at me.

"Are you Jennifer Stevens?"

"Yes, I am."

"I have a delivery for you. Can you sign this please?" I signed his delivery slip then he handed the flowers to me and left the stage. I put them on the floor and looked at the card that was attached.

When I opened it up it read "Congratulations on your successful opening night. We hope you'll be able to do our show. Looking forward to talking to you on Tuesday. Mark." The card had a large mouse ears corporate logo on it. Sally snatched the card out of my hands and read it.

"So that's what you're up to you bitch."

"Sally, this has nothing at all to do with this play. I'd tell you more but I can't talk about it right now."

"You’re not going to come in here and run over the top of me just to make yourself look good. You're going down hard blondie." She stormed off the stage slamming the stage door behind her.

A few minutes later Tammy came backstage to tell me that Greg had requested a meeting of the cast in the makeup room. Since I had to get my makeup and hair done anyway I headed there. Sam was waiting for me again and in fifteen minutes I was transformed into the dizty blonde bombshell my role required. Greg came in just as Sam finished. He stepped up onto a chair to get everyone’s attention.

“Attention everyone, I said settle down! First, I want to let everyone know that the remaining three performances this weekend all sold out earlier this afternoon. That’s the first time it has ever happened in the history of the Community Theater group. We owe it all to Jennifer Stevens, our fill-in for Julie Walters.” A round of applause spread across the room. Sally just stood there with her arms folded across her chest glaring at me.

“The other announcement is that thanks to a friend of the theater who wishes to remain anonymous, there will be a supper buffet served on-stage starting at around five thirty tonight and the remaining Saturdays of the run of the show. Please clear the stage quickly so the caterer can get set up. I also need to remind you that you MUST change out of your costumes before you eat. We won’t have enough time to clean a costume if you spill something on it while eating. That’s all I have today. Break a leg everyone!”

Greg stepped off the chair leaving the room to return to the box office area. I got out of the makeup chair heading back for the old sofa on the side of the stage. Adam joined me a few minutes later. “Hello, love. Want your meltdown kiss for the night?”

“I’m afraid I’ll have to pass on that this time, Adam. I need to be as sharp as I can be tonight. Maybe tonight a little fear will be a good thing for me.”

“What’s going on, Jen?”

“Sally and I had a confrontation earlier this afternoon. Seems she’s not very happy about all the publicity I’ve been getting because of the play. Something else is bothering her too. I can't figure out what it is though.”

“You didn’t go looking for the publicity, it just happened. What's she upset about?”

“She found out about a deal I have with a business and she’s all bent out of shape believing that I’m using the play to gain more exposure. She wouldn't listen that the deal had very little to do with the play.”

“So what’s this deal that you mentioned anyway?”

“I wish I could tell you and the rest of the cast but I can’t. Nothing is certain yet. When I can tell everyone I will. For this afternoon just hold me tight, Adam.”

We snuggled together on the couch for what seemed like hours but it was actually only about 20 minutes. The noise from the other side of the curtain grew louder as the audience filed in from the cold. Just before show time the din was amazing. A hush swept over the theater as Greg began his announcement, an exact copy of the one last night, then the orchestra started up. A few minutes later the curtain parted as the first act got under way.

The afternoon show was another stunning success. We got another six curtain calls. We could have probably gone to at least ten but we needed to clear the stage so the caterer could set up for the buffet.

Sally just walked off the stage after the last curtain call. She tried everything she could to upset me during our brief appearances together on the stage. I stayed in character throughout the play and never once dropped out to respond to any of her childish tricks. I did have to improvise several lines of dialog when she skipped over some key elements in the play that would have totally ruined the performance. The fact that the audience howled with laughter only angered her even more.

After changing back into my little red dress I got into line to get supper. As I neared the end of the buffet line Greg pulled me off to the side then got everyone's attention.

"I have another announcement to make." He motioned to someone off-stage. I heard a rumbling sound as a cart with a HUGE cake was rolled out onto the stage. My jaw dropped as I read the icing letters on the cake, "Happy Birthday Jennifer!", in letters that had to be four inches high.

The cast and crew started in on a ragged rendition of "Happy Birthday" to my nearly total shock. I'd been so busy the past few days I forgot all about today being my birthday. When I changed they had retained the same birthday and simply changed the year of my "birth" to match my apparent age. According to my driver's license birth date I was twenty-five years old today. I felt like forty-six, which is what I was mentally.

A pile of presents appeared on another cart as the song ended. Everyone was shouting for me to say something as I stood there in near total mind lock. Greg stepped in and rescued me.

"I'm sure that this has overwhelmed her and she'll need a little time to find her wits again. Jennifer, if you'll do the ceremonial cake cutting we'll get on with supper." He handed me a knife and I cut myself a corner of the cake. I found that it was vanilla butter-cream icing on a dark chocolate devil's food cake, my absolute favorite combination of cake and frosting.

I put the slice of cake on another small paper plate then headed for the old couch. Tammy was already on the couch and had saved me my usual spot. “That went great, Jen. That's the first time since I've known you that you were at a loss for words."

I realized at that moment who had tipped off Greg and the cast about my birthday. "Tammy I should be mad at you for all this but I can't. Thanks." I reached over and hugged the stuffing out of her. "Thanks for being my best friend!"

"No problem, Jen. Thanks for being my friend and such a great boss!"

We sat eating our supper for a few minutes then the conversation started up again.

"Jen, that was sort of strange out on stage. She tried so hard to force you to mess up. I thought Sally was going to have a stroke or something when she got so mad. You never even flinched once under her barrage.”

“It was that visible from out front?”

“Sure, I overheard several people wondering what she was doing. If the critic was here he’s sure to pick up on it and mention her poor performance this afternoon.”

“Let’s just hope he waited for tonight’s performance and that she’ll decide to give up her little games to ruin me. It just won’t work because I won’t LET it work. She’s only hurting herself by doing it.”

“Where did she go, Jen? I haven’t seen her in the food line yet.”

“Probably sulking in one of the private dressing rooms. I saw Toni a little while ago carrying two plates into the hallway. I haven’t seen either of them since.”

“If I see Toni do you want me to have her come see you?”

“Would you, Tammy? I hope we can head this off before it escalates any more. Maybe I’d better fill Greg in on this too. If you see him tell I need to talk with him.”

Tammy waded into the sea of bodies milling around on the stage. A few minutes later Greg wandered over. “Jen, we’ve worked together long enough that I know how to read that face of yours even though you’ve changed. Let’s have it.”

“You asked for it, Greg. Sally is really mad at me because she thinks I’m trying to steal the show and her role out from under her. We both know that’s not true.”

“I was wondering what was going on between you two on stage this afternoon, now I know. Thanks for handling that as well as you did. It must have been very rough.”

“It was and it’s probably going to get worse tonight unless she decides to give it up. I told her that after the last performance this weekend I was gone. She won’t listen to me or anyone else, Toni has been working on her all night.”

“Want me to say something to her?”

“That might only make things worse if she thought you would consider booting her out. Let me try to handle this one, Greg. The worst than can happen is she’ll keep trying to torpedo me and maybe succeed. I’ll just have to be on my best guard to deflect it. She’s only hurting her own performance anyway. Tammy told me quite a few people in the audience noticed something wrong.”

“I heard the same comments from dome people on their way out. Let me know if you need my help, Jen. Otherwise I’ll stay clear unless it starts to effect the show more than it has already.” He left me setting alone on the couch. Toni was standing off to one side and saw that Greg had moved away. She came over to sit beside me.

“So how’s Sally doing?”

“Not good. She’s still fuming mad at you. All of her little attempts to get you to trip up didn’t work. I don’t know what she’s planning but it doesn’t look good. Watch out for yourself tonight.”

“Any idea of what would get her to calm down?”

“Maybe if you died right now, that would probably do it. I still don’t know what made her this way. I’m sorry I can’t get through to her, Jen.”

“Has she said anything to you about any roles she’s up for lately?”

“Yes, she’s up for a dancing role in some special that MouseWorld is doing near the end of March. She kept mumbling something about you getting a bouquet and a card from them earlier today. What’s going on?”

“I think I know but I’m not certain enough to say yet. Let me work on it. Ok?” Toni nodded as she stood up then disappeared into the crowd. A few minutes later Tammy came back.

“Did you see Greg and Toni?”

“Yes and I think I might have found the problem. According to Toni, Sally is up for a part in the special I might host. She thinks that I’m going to try to take away her chance to be in the show as a dancer. That’s what has her so mad at me. She found out about my involvement when Mark from their office sent me a bouquet this afternoon. I think I know how to defuse this whole situation. Did you put my cell phone in that large purse you stocked for me?”

“It’s there. Do you need it?”

“Yup. Use it to call Barb on her cell number and get Mark's cell phone number. I need to talk to him fast. I hope she has it in her day planner.”

“I’m on it, boss.” She vanished into the darkness on the almost deserted stage. There was still about an hour until the next show. While I was waiting for Tammy I decided that I needed to get back in costume. Dolly and Maggie helped me change again then I wandered back to the couch.

Another ten minutes passed before Tammy came back with the cell phone and a scrap of paper. “Got it, Jen. Barb had it in her notebook. Here it is.”

“Thanks, Tammy. I need to do this myself. Scoot and get ready again.”

“Let me know, ok?” I nodded as I dialed the number. A voice answered on the other end.

“Hello?”

“Mark?”

“Yes. This is Mark.”

“Hi, Mark, Jennifer Stevens calling.”

“Well hello, Jennifer, I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon. Did you get the bouquet?”

“I did and it's lovely. I hope I didn’t call at bad time.”

“It’s fine. What can I do for you?”

“First, I want to tell you that I’ve decided to go ahead and host the show. There are details we need to work out so I’ll give you a call in your office on Monday morning to get started.”

”That’s great, Jennifer. Welcome aboard. I assume there’s more?”

“Can you tell me if they’re casting any parts for the show? I’m doing the play with Sally Burton. She says she's up for a dancing part.”

“Let me make a call and I'll ring you back in a few minutes. Give me your cell number.” I gave him the number and waited for a return call.

About ten minutes later my cell phone beeped. "Hello?"

“Hi, Jennifer, this is Mark. Yes, she got the part. We haven’t been able to reach her by phone to let her know. All we keep getting is her answering machine. She hasn’t called back yet. If we can’t reach her by the end of the day on Monday we’ll have to call the next choice on the list”

“Mark can you stand by at this number? I’ll have her call you right back. By the way it’s ok to tell her about my involvement if she asks.”

“I'll be here.”

“Thanks, Mark. I’ll talk to you on Monday. Bye!”

I searched almost every square inch of the theater and found Sally sulking in a small room away from the main traffic of the backstage area. She glared at me when I opened the door and walked into the room.

“What are you doing here, bitch?”

“Saving your sorry ass, that’s what. Here. Take my cell phone and call this number. Ask for Mark and give him your name.”

“Why should I?’

“Just do it.” I sat down in a chair and watcher her slowly dial the number.

“Can I talk to Mark please? This is Sally Burton calling… No. I didn’t get your message… I WHAT?… I did?… But how?… She did huh… How did she… Really?… Thanks, Mark. I’ll get your office number from her and call you on Monday. Thanks again, Bye!”

She looked up at me with an expression of great sadness mingled in great joy. “I guess I really screwed up didn't I?”

“My guess is that if they defined the word ‘asshole’ in the dictionary that your picture would be in there as one of the prime examples.”

“I was pretty bad. Can you ever forgive me after what I did?”

“Sally, I do forgive you. Otherwise I would never have come in here and had you make that call. It would have been easier to say a few choice words to Greg and had you fired from this play. I could have torpedoed that job at MouseWorld if I was really pissed about this. I’m not mad at you, just upset at the way you treated me before you even understood the situation. That’s all.”

“I promise I’ll work on my attitude.” She started to cry by the bucket full as we hugged.

“Hey! Stop that. You’re ruining your makeup job!” I glanced at her watch. “Oh shit, we’re late. Come on!” I grabbed her arm and pulled hard. We had about ten minutes before the opening curtain. I’d make it ok but Sally wouldn’t unless we hurried.

Somehow she managed to turn off the water works as I stuffed her into the makeup chair. “Sam, fix her up while I get the rest of her costume.” He started to clean her up and put on new makeup. I grabbed the rest of her first costume and headed back for the makeup room. Sam just finished when I came in the door.

“Move, Sally, two minutes!” We ran for the backstage area as fast as our heels and tight skirts would let us. I got her into position and shoved the rest of her costume at her. I went tearing back to the makeup room to get my own makeup and hair finished. I think Sam broke his previous speed record when he finished. I retrieved the rest of my costume and assumed my now standard position on the old sofa.

Greg appeared on the sofa a few minutes after the play started. He whispered in my ear. “Well?”

I whispered back. “All taken care of. The war is over. Tell you afterwards.”

Greg nodded then went to do whatever it is that directors do while the play is running. Adam slipped in beside me and put his arms around me. We snuggled in the darkness like that until just before our first appearance.

The second performance of the day turned out to be the best of the three so far. With the pressure off of Sally she really sunk her teeth into the role giving a great performance. The audience roared with applause when she stepped onto the stage for the first of eight curtain calls. During one of them, someone presented her with a bouquet of at least two dozen roses. She motioned for me to come forward and handed the bundle of roses to me and kissed my cheek. I split the bundle in half and handed one bundle back to her and hugged her. The audience went wilder still as we both waved. The curtain finally closed and stayed closed. It still took another few minutes for the applause to subside.

Sally and I collapsed on the old sofa. “Wow, Sally, you really nailed it tonight. A great job!”

“Thanks, Jen. You were pretty good yourself. I really enjoyed the scene where you were talking with King Marchand about him not being able to get it up. The audience was absolutely howling!”

“That wasn’t too over the top was it?”

“Nope. Just right, didn’t you hear the audience?”

“I was too busy. At least after tomorrow I can watch it from the pit like I usually do.” Greg picked that moment to come over to us.

“So what was the problem between the two of you?”

Sally winked at me. “Gee, Greg, was there a problem? Did you hear anything about a problem, Jen? I didn’t hear anything about a problem. If there was a problem I’d certainly know about it.” She squeezed my hand.

“Nope, no problem at all that we know of? Right, Sally?" She nodded yes eagerly. "Just who started that ugly rumor, Greg? As far as I know there never was any problem between the two of us. Right, Sally?”

“That’s right, Jen.” Greg’s jaw dropped open as he shook his head. He shrugged then walked away muttering something about having an all-male cast for his next show.

We laughed ourselves silly. “Will he be all right, Jen?”

“I think so. I’ve known him for around thirty years and he always recovers from these shows. I’ll talk to him first thing tomorrow and let him know what went on if that’s all right with you.”

“Fine with me. Hey, times a wastin’. Let’s get out of this stuff and back to street normal.” She got up and pulled me onto my feet. We walked arm-in-arm to the makeup room getting stared at by the rest of the cast. They had been witnesses to the battle that took place between us during the earlier performance.

Getting out of costume and makeup took only about thirty minutes. We were both done when Tammy bounced up to me. “Looks like you two kissed and made up tonight.”

“We did, yes. The war is over permanently isn’t it, Sally?”

“It should never have started, Jen. It was entirely my fault. Thanks for coming to bat for me.”

“Hey, you got that role all by yourself. I just made sure that the message got delivered. You’d better trash that old answering machine and get a new one too.”

“I’m making a little bonfire tonight. Guess what’s going to be at the center of it.”

“There goes the answering machine.” We giggled as we walked to the stage door.

Toni met us at the stage door. “What happened between you two? The whole cast is buzzing about it.”

“Why don’t you fill her in, Sally. Tammy and I are heading home. It’s been a very long day.”

“That’s right you did your radio show before you got here today. See you tomorrow, Jen.” She gave me a hug as they went out to their car.

“What do you think, Tammy. Just head home or do some pizza?”

“Let’s go home. We have the leftover Chinese in the car we can warm up. You look loads better than last night, Jen.”

“I feel better too. I guess I have to eat three solid meals a day from now on while I'm doing things like this. I used to be able to run on my reserves when I was a man. I had extra body fat to draw from. I don’t now.”

“What little body fat you have now is in exactly the right places in exactly the right amounts, don’t you even THINK about getting rid of any of it. Now out to the car. You’ve got one more performance tomorrow then you’re clear of this. Now MARCH!”

“Yes SIR, SEARGENT, SIR!” I snapped to attention and saluted then marched to the car. The wind whipped around my legs and toyed with my sensitive parts. God how I hate central New York winters.

The car warmed up inside after a few miles. We made it back to my house, had a little snack on what was left of the Chinese and went to bed. I doubt that either of us was awake for more than a few minutes after our heads hit the pillows.

Sunday, January 5, 2003

When I woke up the bed was empty next to me and the clock said almost eight AM. The smell of cooking bacon drifted into the bedroom. I thought I'd have some fun with Tammy so I played possum and faked being asleep. I heard her call for me once to try to wake me up. I just huddled in the bed under the covers. A few minutes later I felt a hand shaking my shoulder.

"Awwww ma, do I HAVE to go to school today?" I swatted at the hand shaking my shoulder. "Just 10 minutes more please?"

Tammy didn't say a word. Instead she yanked the blankets off the bed. I just began feeling around like I was looking for the covers to pull them back over me. The next thing I felt was a pair of hands searching for my ticklish spots. She finally found them and I squirmed and giggled for a few seconds. I was finally able to grab one of her hands and flip her over me onto the bed. I started searching for her ticklish spots and soon a tickle war was in full progress. It lasted only thirty seconds or so before both of were out of breath from all of the giggling.

I looked over at Tammy. "Truce?"

"Yup, besides I left the bacon cooking. If I don't get it I'll be giving you burnt offerings for breakfast."

"I'll be there right after a bathroom trip." Tammy bounced out of the bed heading back to the kitchen. I headed for the bathroom.

While I was finishing up in the bathroom I heard the phone ring. I heard Tammy yell "I'll get it." After a short pause, "Jen, it's for you. It's Sally."

"I'm coming." I washed my hands and headed for the kitchen grabbing the phone laying on the counter.

"Hi, Sally, what's up this morning?"

"Jen, have you seen the morning paper yet?"

"No. Is it important?"

"Yes, go get it. I'll hang on. Look at the front page." I put the phone on the counter again and retrieved the paper from the front porch. I waited until I was back in the kitchen to open it.

The headline read "Local actress and passenger injured." I read the first paragraph of the article then grabbed the phone. "How bad, Sally?"

"Toni has a broken leg. I've got some bad cuts and bruises along with a couple of black eyes. My left arm is fractured and a couple of ribs are cracked too. We hit a patch of black ice on the way home last night. The car hit a phone pole."

"Does Greg know yet?"

"I called him first then I wanted to call you. Jen, I want you to go on in my place. Neither of us is in any shape to go on stage. We won't be until well after the play is over either."

"What about Julie's role?"

"Greg called her and she's agreed to start again today. If you give Greg a call at home, he has all the details worked out."

"Are you sure you want me to do this, Sally?"

"I'm sure of it. Just tell Mark what happened and that I still want the role if I recover in time. I've got to go. The nurse needs to change my bandages now. Jen, I know you'll do just fine. Please do it?"

"I will, Sally. Just get well as fast as you can. Come and see us at the theater when you're able, ok?"

"I'll try. Thanks, Jen, I have to go. Bye." I put the phone down, walked over to the kitchen table and collapsed in a chair. I motioned for Tammy and handed her the paper. A few seconds later her bottom hit the chair hard too.

"My God, Jen. Is she ok?"

"Both Toni and Sally are doing fine but they won't be able to complete the show dates. Sally asked me to take over her role. She says Greg has it all worked out."

"Are you going to do it?"

"If I don't the play won't run. The group doesn't have enough left in the treasury to pay the bills they have right now even with sell-outs of the last three performances. They were counting on the funds from this show to balance the books and get a little ahead for the next show. I really don't have any choice."

"Let's call Greg." She ran to get my purse. I kept a small book full of phone numbers in there at all times. "I got Greg's number." She dialed the phone then handed it to me. A male voice answered.

"Hello"

"Hi, Greg. I just heard."

"Hi, Jen. Are you going to do it?"

"Yes. Where do we go from here?"

"Meet me at the theater around nine thirty. We need to work on costumes and hair. Dolly, Maggie and Sam will meet us there."

"See you then, Greg. Bye." I put the phone back on the hook. "Go ahead and serve up breakfast Tammy. We have to be at the theater at nine thirty to figure everything out."

"Breakfast coming right up then."

Tammy served up large portions of hash browns, two eggs and several strips of bacon for each of us. Toast and OJ completed the meal. "No coffee for you today. We're both going to get wound up enough as it is."

"I agree. Just make sure I get something for lunch. I'm going to be running on nerves through this whole thing."

"I'll take care of it. Finish up than go take a shower. No time this morning for a tub session. I'm not even going to make you wear a dress or skirt today. Just put on a comfortable blouse and jeans. No heels either. It's cold outside so choose warm stuff. The temperature is down in the low teens and the wind chill is in the single digits."

"Typical central NY weather. I'm finished so I'm headed for the bathroom."

Tammy took care of the dishes then headed for my bedroom to get dressed. I took a real fast shower then got dressed. Tammy found a blouse and jeans for me. I put on two pairs of socks and my favorite boots. I was more interested in warmth than style this morning. I did a quick comb and brush on my hair. I caught up with Tammy in the kitchen again. She was making several sandwiches from peanut butter and jelly. At least if I got desperate I would have something to eat.

She stuffed the sandwiches in a bag along with a stack of crackers and a couple of candy bars. We grabbed our purses and coats to head for the car.

We made it to the theater just as Dolly and Maggie arrived. We followed them inside to the wardrobe room.

"So you're going to do it then?"

"Yes, Dolly. I have to. The group will go under if I don't. There's not enough money yet to pay off all of the bills on this play or get set up for another one. I'm sort of stuck."

"Come on then, strip so I can get these costumes altered. Tammy, outside."

"Nope, she can stay. Something I haven't told the rest of the cast yet is that I'm going to be hosting a live TV special from Orlando in a few months. Tammy is going to be my personal assistant. She may as well learn from two of the best in the wardrobe world."

"Then if she stays she works. Tammy, there's a whole rack of stuff back there with a Victoria label on the rack. Wheel the whole thing out here please." Moments later Tammy appeared with a large rack full of costumes.

"I change into all of that?"

"Nope, some are spares just in case. You have 6 costume changes though. Let's get the female costumes first."

Over the next hour, I tried on all of the female costumes as they made alterations. Unlike the Norma costumes, these changes were more or less permanent.

"That about does it Maggie. Want to try the iron maiden next?"

"I'll get it Dolly." Maggie brought back a contraption that looked like some type of torture device. It looked sort of like an overgrown corset except the laces were at the top not in the middle.

"What's that?"

"That, Jen is what we use to hold down your breasts and fill out your middle. It has a filler that adds several inches to your waist. The corset like section will hide your breasts. Some additional padding in the 'male' outfits takes care of the rest."

"I just got used to having these things and now you want me to bind them down?"

"That's how it works, hon. Let's get this on you." She wrapped it around me. A few hooks closed it loosely around me. She began to pull on the laces to compress my chest. "Let me know when it gets uncomfortable."

"It was before you put it on me."

"Stop whining!" I stood there as they tugged and pulled. I felt like I was going to faint so they stopped to take a measurement of my chest.

"You can let her out some Maggie. She's not as large as Sally so we won't have to make her as uncomfortable. They loosened the laces a bit and I was able to get more air.

"Once we get this adjusted there are a couple of clasps that we'll use during the show to make getting this thing on and off much faster. We set up a small changing area behind a screen and you'll change there. Both of us will be there to help. You have some very tight changes to make time wise. If we can, I'd like to try to run through them before the play starts to check the timing. There's one spot where we have less than two minutes to change you from a man to a woman."

"What about my hair?"

"Greg called Sam to come down and check out the wig situation. He should be here any minute. Greg should be turning up any time too."

A few minutes later we heard a knock on the door. "Jen, its Greg. Are you in there?"

"Yes. Dolly, Maggie and Tammy are here too. Give me a few minutes and I'll be out."

"Dolly, let's try one of the male costumes to see how she looks in it."

"Ok, Maggie. Which one?"

"The first change is fine." Dolly took a suit, shirt and pants off the rack.

"We got creative with these. The shirt is actually part of the coat as are the sleeves of the shirt poking out of the arms of the coat. You just put the whole thing on and zip it up for a fast change. We don't have much room for alterations so I'm hoping these fit well enough to get by."

The pants had an elastic wait that would be hidden under the coat. They seemed to fit well with the extra padding around my middle. The coat went on ok but it felt a little loose in spots and a little tight in others.

"I think we can get by with this, Dolly. Jen, go show Greg what you look like in this and see what he says."

I headed out to the stage to find Greg setting on my favorite old couch. "Well, how do I look?"

"If I couldn't see your face and all that hair I would think you were a man under there. This just might work."

"It has to work, Greg. Remember the bottom line?" He frowned.

"Yeah, I do. Go on and check out the rest of the costumes. I saw Sam come in a few minutes ago so he'll be ready for you when you're done in there."

"Tell Sam I'll be in as soon as Dolly and Maggie are finished with me. Maybe another thirty minutes or so." I trudged back to the wardroom resigned to my fate. The 'iron maiden' chafed against my skin as I walked. Fortunately, it tended to stabilize my hips so they didn't sway as much. That helped walking more like a man would. I just was getting used to the feminine feelings, now I had to relearn how to be a man all over again.

I was a little wrong in my guess of how long it took. It turned out to be closer to forty-five minutes until Dolly and Maggie were satisfied that everything would work. I finally caught up with Sam as I slumped into the makeup chair.

"How are you this morning, Jennifer?"

"I've been better, Sam. What are you going to do to me."

"That depends on what we can do with your hair."

"What are the options?"

"The best one is to shorten what you have and color it for the female part of the role. We can use a wig for the male part if I handle the cut properly. The other option is to use wigs for both if all of that hair will fit under them."

"Let's try keeping my hair intact first. I haven't told the rest of the cast yet but I have something coming up where I need to keep the look I've got already. If we can't work it out I'll have to have to go with your initial suggestion and wear a wig for the other job."

"Ok. Let's see what I can do to keep you looking like you are when you're not Victor or Victoria."

Over the next hour, he packed my hair tightly under a flesh colored plastic cap that fit very tightly on my head and was glued temporarily in place. Next, a long dark brown wig with Victoria's hairstyle was placed over it. Sam said he couldn't fix it on with adhesive since I needed to change to Victor's hairstyle quickly. I looked at myself in the mirror marveling at the change in my appearance from just the hair color and shorter style.

"Well, Jennifer, I think this just might work. Let's try the male hair style and see what that looks like."

"Go ahead, Sam. This feels uncomfortable but I think I can tolerate it for the show." He gently took the long wig off replacing it with one much shorter. Depending on the way it was combed out it could either look like a short woman's cut or a slightly longer men's hairstyle. This was the wig I would wear for most of the show since Victoria adopted her dual roles near the start of the play.

"Yes, this will work. Let me leave this one on you. Go back to wardrobe and get dressed in the first male costume then come back here and we'll work on the makeup."

"Thanks, Sam. I'll be back as soon as I can." I made a side trip to the lady's room. While I was there, I took a few minutes to look at myself in the mirror. I doubted that I really looked masculine enough to pull off the role but there was no other choice. I mused that I now was proud of my feminine appearance and somewhat concerned at loosing it, and myself again, doing this role. I realized then that I really didn't need to worry too much. The swaying of the breasts on my chest, the fact that I now needed to sit down to pee and that my period would be starting again in a few days would remind me in no uncertain terms that I was now fully female. I was just playing the role of a woman playing a man who was a female impersonator.

I returned to the makeup room after the change to the first male costume. Sam applied the proper makeup then I headed for the stage again to find Greg. I decided to try the overall character so I lowered my voice a bit and cranked in a slight accent. The iron maiden helped reduce my hip sway down to the point that there was only a slight amount noticeable. Since the Count was supposed to be slightly effeminate, it looked almost right somehow. Greg did a double take when he saw me.

"Is that really you inside there, Jen?"

"I am Victor, sir. Who might you be? I do not believe we have been introduced." I offered my hand to shake his.

"That's absolutely perfect, Jennifer." I dropped out of character and sat on the old couch beside him.

"Thanks, Greg. I'm drawing on who I used to be. It's kind of hard since I locked all of that away to be able to act properly as a woman. Just when I thought I had things all sorted out this comes along."

"I know it will be hard on you. If you feel you're going to have problems after today's show I can try to find someone else."

"Thanks, Greg. I'm going to go change back into the first costume and wig now. I'll wait for the makeup until just before show time. Are you going to let the cast know?"

"Just as soon as they come in." I nodded the headed for wardrobe and makeup. Most of the cast had gathered in the seats when I got back.

Greg got everyone to quiet down then started to speak. "By now most of you have seen the morning paper or heard about the accident last night from other cast members. Sally and Toni are recovering in the hospital but will not be able to perform the role of Victoria Grant. The play will go on however since one of our cast members has risen to the challenge of the role. Jennifer Stevens will take over the part at the urging of Sally Barton. Julie Walters is returning today to play Norma Cassidy. Please give Jennifer all the help you can. She has only agreed to take on the role for this performance. I hope she may be able to continue on in the role until the end of the play."

The cast applauded for a few seconds then Greg motioned for quiet. "Two hours until show time folks. Let's get busy." The cast resumed their preparations while I wound up on the old couch backstage. Tammy was waiting for me. She held out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a bottle of cold soda from the concession stand.

"You need to eat something, Jen. This is the best I can do right now. I'll get you something better at the intermission."

"Thanks, Tammy but I'm not hungry right now."

"Eat it anyway for me? I don't want you getting sick."

"I may get sick anyway, Tammy." I accepted the sandwich and took a bite and a drink of the soda then tried to change the subject. "All set out front?"

"Everything is ready, Jen. Got a case of butterfiles?"

"Not any worse than Friday night."

"Cut the crap, Jen, this is Tammy talking…"

"Oh hell, I couldn't be wound up any tighter if I tried. I finally know what a deer feels like in the headlights of an oncoming car."

"At least you still have your sense of humor. You'll do just fine, Jen. Everyone out there will give you all the help they can. Just do the best you can and everything will fall into place."

"I wish I could believe that. The thing that will fall into place will probably be me into the orchestra pit."

"Jen, you've never frozen up before and I see no possible way you'll start now. You've been through a sex change not of your own choosing, rescuing kids from a burning bus, several tornadoes, so many live radio shows I've lost count and three live performances of a play that you had only one practice to prepare for. If you haven't gone stark raving bonkers from all of that by now I doubt that you ever will."

"Thanks for the pep talk, Tammy, but I'm still not convinced. I had to lock away all of my old male feelings and behavior and now it's all coming back if I want it to or not. I'll probably choke tonight."

"If you freeze up it's better it happens now rather than later, Jen. There are lots of people here that care about you and will try to help you through this. What if it happened in the middle of the special you're going to host? Want to make a fool of yourself in front of thirty million people on live television?"

"I never thought of it that way. I guess if I make it through this, I'll most likely make it through anything."

"That's the spirit. Just go out there and make 'em laugh!"

"You're not gonna start in with the 'Make 'em Laugh' number from 'Singin' in the Rain' are you? You're no Donald O'Connor you know."

"Well you're no Gene Kelly either. Debbie Reynolds maybe."

"Hmmm… maybe if I think of myself as the unsinkable Molly Brown I'll be fine."

"There you go, Jen!" Tammy looked at her watch. "OOPS! Time to get moving. The audience will be coming in soon. Time we both got busy."

"Thanks, Tammy. I needed that. Do me one favor?"

"What's that?"

"If I faint and fall toward the pit, get everyone out of the way so I don't hurt anyone?" Tammy broke out in a big smile and we both giggled. She headed for the orchestra pit while I headed to makeup for the finishing touches. I walked past the area backstage where I would do several quick costume changes. Dolly and Maggie had it all set and ready to go. We did get about half an hour earlier in the morning to go through the changes at least once. Greg said he could stretch as needed to let me get into the costume but the quicker the changes happened, the better.

I sat down in the makeup chair as Sam came over. "All set Jennifer?"

"No, of course not, but that didn't stop me the last three times."

"At least you're laughing about it."

"I might as well, crying doesn't do any good. I tried that already."

"Well, don't cry now, you'll ruin my makeup job." I settled back in the chair and let Sam work his magic. When I opened my eyes a few minutes later, I didn't recognize myself when I looked in the mirror. I had on a medium length brown wig and the stage makeup.

"Thanks, Sam."

"I'll be out there for the female to male costume change. See you then."

I walked out of the makeup room to go back to the old couch on the stage for a few more minutes. The crowd noise out front was growing louder as the audience filed in from the cold. I looked up to find Greg walking toward me. He sat down on the couch beside me.

"Thanks again, Jen, for taking this on at the last minute."

"I just hope I don't let you and the rest of the cast down tonight, Greg. Do you really think I can do this?"

"Of course I do. You handled the Norma part just fine."

"But I had a run-trough to get used to it. Now I'm going out there cold. I've got one heck of a case of nerves right now."

"Jen, imagine yourself in the middle of a large field far away from anything else. Take a few deep breaths and smell the grass and the fresh air. Go ahead and try it."

I closed my eyes and pictured a field near my old home in Canastota. I had spent many summers there playing. I took a few deep breaths and forced myself to feel the gentle rustle of the breeze and hear the birds singing around me. The tension just drained away completely. I held the image a few more seconds then opened my eyes again. "Thanks, Greg. That worked. Not like you said since I used a place that I remember when I was a kid but it did work. I think I can make it."

"I don't usually do this to my leading ladies but I think you can use this." He leaned over and gave me a big hug. I returned the hug and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. He blushed since he still tends to think of the old me sometimes. He got up and wandered off to do whatever it is that directors do just before show time.

Twenty minutes later the cast started to take their places on the stage as the house lights dimmed. Greg stepped onto the stage to make the announcement.

"Thanks for coming to our presentation of Victor/Victoria. As you are probably aware, Sally Barton, the actress playing Victoria Grant and her understudy Toni Everet were both hurt in a car accident last night on their way home. They will both recover but are not able to perform for the rest of the play. Julie Walters has returned for her role of Norma Cassidy. Jennifer Stevens will take over the Victoria Grant role. Again, thanks for coming tonight and please enjoy our play."

He stepped back through the curtain as the orchestra started playing. Fortunately, the Toddie character has a song at the start of the show so I wasn’t due on stage until about ten minutes into the production. I felt a pair of hands start kneading my neck. I looked over my shoulder to see Adam standing in back of me. He continued to massage my neck for a couple of minutes then turned me around to give me a kiss. I put my finger to his lips and whispered in his ear. “Not tonight. I need to be alert for this. Just keep that thought in mind for after the show.” I smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek. We stood there hugging each other until just before I was needed on stage. As I took my first step toward the stage I felt Adam's hand give me a gentle push.

The rest of the night is still blurry in my memory. I know I did well with just a missed line or two but covered well enough that the audience probably wouldn’t have known about it. All of the musical numbers went well and I even surprised myself by actually breaking a glass with my voice. Yes, it was a special one made of very thin glass designed to break easily but I did it by myself anyway. It was rigged to shatter but the special effects folks told me that the igniter didn’t go off. I think they were just fibbing to me to make me feel good about the performance.

The thing that surprised me most, and perhaps my most vivid memory of the whole evening, was the incredible applause from the audience and my reaction to it. I LOVED IT! They were applauding for ME and my performance in the play tonight! I wondered as I stood center stage if someone could get addicted to hearing it. In radio you never get to hear any applause from the audience, here I was being overloaded by it all. The thought flashed through my mind that I could get to like this a lot.

There were at least 7 curtain calls and probably could have been a couple more. As the curtain closed for the last time, I slumped down onto the old couch in the corner of the stage. The adrenalin rush was subsiding and was being quickly replaced by an overall weariness. A couple of minutes later Tammy sat down beside me.

“How are you feeling, Jen?”

“Better than after the first performance yesterday. Just a bit tired of course, I’m running on nerves right now.”

“Need anything before I start putting equipment away?”

“I’m all set, Tammy. Go take care of the gear. I’m going to relax here for a few more minutes then I'll get out of this costume and makeup. Things will have cleared out enough by then so I can take a little time doing it.” Tammy nodded then left to put away the sound system until next Thursday.

By now the theater had cleared out and the curtains were open again. I noticed the cast taking seats in the audience so I walked over to see what was happening. Greg got everyone’s attention then started to speak.

“As you know, we are having some financial problems this time. With the success of this past weekend and the total sellout of the 4 shows so far I’d like you to consider the possibility of adding another two to three weekends to our schedule. If the reviews are as good as the audience comments I’ve heard tonight the rest of the shows are likely to be sellouts too. We can certainly use the money in the bank account right now. I’ll ask you again after Friday night’s performance if you can handle additional performances.”

“Ah, Greg?”

“Yes, Jennifer?”

“I think I had better make an announcement now rather than next weekend. It that all right with you?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“Thanks, Greg. Since this may affect the number of performances we can do if the schedule is extended I need to tell you this now rather than later. On Friday, I was asked by the folks at MouseWorld to attend the opening of a new part of the theme park in Orlando. That’s supposed to happen in late March. Later that day I learned that they also want me to MC the ceremonies and host a live one hour TV show that same weekend. I’ve agreed to do it. It means that I’m likely to be gone for most of March with rehearsals and show preparations. If we do decide to extend the performance schedule it would only be to the end of February, possibly earlier depending on final arrangements with MouseWorld.”

A wave of applause from the cast and crew filled the theater. As they gathered around me, I got bombarded with questions about the show and the opening, none of which I could answer yet. I promised everyone that I would answer as many of their questions as I could as soon as I had any additional details. The crowd cleared out a few minutes later leaving me free to get out of the costume and makeup.

Twenty minutes later I was back in my street clothes minus the heavy layer of theatrical makeup, in fact I wore no makeup at all. I wandered back out on stage as Tammy was putting the last of the sound equipment.

"You ok, Jen?"

I plunked down on the old couch. "I think so, Tammy. I made it through this show and I still have my sanity. I think I can handle the rest of the run just fine."

"Umm… that's NOT what I meant. You've been through more in the last few days than most people go through in a month. How do you do it, Jen?"

"Damned if I know, Tammy. I just do it, I can't tell you how. It's a mystery even to me. It seems that by now I ought to be a drooling fool or something. My life has changed so much in the last six months that I almost can't remember the old one any more. I know it sounds impossible but I'm happier now than I have ever been and for the first time I'm becoming more at ease with myself."

"I'm glad to hear that, Jen. I've been worried about you lately."

With my arms open wide I leaned over and hugged the stuffing out of Tammy. She eagerly returned the hug. "I ought to tell you that Adam was looking for you a little while ago. I told him you'd be ready in a few minutes."

"Ready for what, Tammy?"

"Ready to go out to supper with him, of course. It's ONLY about seven PM and you do need to eat."

"You little matchmaker! Ok, I guess if I have to I might as well make the most of it. Stop by the office tomorrow and I'll know more about the Orlando stuff. I have to call them in the morning. Now where was I supposed to meet Adam?"

"He's waiting for you in his car just outside. He said he'd have it nice and warm for you."

Tammy handed me my coat and purse then pushed me toward the stage door to the back alley. True to his word, Adam was waiting in the car with the motor running. Ever the gentleman, Adam saw me coming and ran around the car to help me in. Moments later he was back in the car and we were pulling out of the alley.

"So where are we going, Adam?"

"I want Italian tonight, spaghetti in fact. Papa's is out of the question but Sal's is close enough. Besides, I made reservations for us tonight."

"ADAM! I'm NOT dressed for a place like that!"

"It won't matter to Sal or anyone else there, Jen. Stop complaining and just enjoy it!" Adam pulled me close and hugged me tightly as he drove. I gave in and snuggled beside him on the twenty-minute drive to Sal's.

I must have really been out of it because the next thing I remember is a hand on my shoulder gently shaking me awake. I looked up to see Adam giving back at me with a big smile on his face. "Hi, beautiful. You feeling better now?"

"How long have I been…"

"Almost an hour."

"Why didn't you wake me up when we got here. We ARE at Sal's aren't we?"

"We're here and I didn't wake you 'cause I knew you could use some rest even if it was for only an hour. You were running on adrenalin when we left the theater you know."

"I know. I feel better and I'm famished. Spaghetti does sound good to me now."

"Come on, Jen. Let's go eat." We walked into Sal's a few moments later. We left out coats in the coatroom then walked toward the main serving room. As Adam escorted me into the room, the room erupted in applause. As I looked around the room I realized that most of the cast and crew were here. I must have changed through seven or more shades of red as I blushed at the attention of my fellow cast and crewmembers.

As the applause died down, Adam steered me toward a table and pulled out the chair for me to sit down. Moments later, Sal himself was at our table with menus and setting up the table with silverware and glasses.

"SAL! Let a waiter do that! You're the boss!"

"Ah, but Jennifer, my love, only the boss is appropriate tonight to serve you. Your performance this afternoon was incredible. I ought to know, I was there!"

The smile on Sal's face told me not to argue the point. "Ok, all right, I get the point. Thank you, Sal. Adam, can I order?"

"Sure, anything you want."

"Ok, Sal, I'd like some angel hair with your finest sauce and lots of meatballs, some garlic bread and a glass of wine."

Sal scribbled my order on a small pad of paper then turned to Adam. "And for you, Adam?"

"I'll have the same, Sal. Sounds good to me and Jennifer is seldom wrong when it comes to food."

Sal bowed to us then left for the kitchen. Fifteen minutes later Sal returned with a tray overflowing with food. I started to protest so much food but both Sal and Adam told me to just be quiet and eat. Whatever I didn't eat could go home with me. All I could do was smile at Sal and Adam then grab my fork to dig in.

I have to admit that I ate much more than I thought I could. I stuffed myself with most of the huge plate of pasta and several slices of the buttery garlic bread. I think I went a little overboard and had a second glass of wine since I was starting to feel a little glow inside. I wasn't certain if it was just the pleasantly full feeling or the alcohol in the wine or the fact that I was still tired but I was feeling very relaxed for just having starred in the play with no rehearsal of the role.

The next thing I remember is a hand gently shaking my shoulder again. "Jen…. Jen? Come on, honey. It's time to go home."

"Home? I'm not home?"

"No, you're still at Sal's. I went to the restroom and you fell asleep!"

"Me?"

"Yes, YOU! Must be all that wine."

"But I only had two glasses."

"Two? Sorry sweetie but you had four by my count."

"Oh…" I started to stand up then the world took a sharp spin to the right, or was it me that took a sharp spin to the right? "Uh… Adam, help me… please?"

"All right. It was a big night for you and I guess you're entitled to be a little tipsy this time."

I felt Adam scoop me up and carry me to his car. I didn't feel anything else until another hand shook my awake again.

"You're home, Jen. I'm going to help you get inside, ok?"

It was all I could do to nod at his question. I felt him lift me out of the car. When the cold air hit me I came awake a bit more. He carried me up the front steps and put me down gently on the front porch. I teetered back and forth as I tried to get my key in the lock.

Adam let me try for a few seconds more then took the key out of my hand. The last thing I remember is one of Adam's strong arms snaking around my middle as my world started to spin in several directions at once…

***********************************

Friday, January 3, 2003 - 4:25 PM - Jennifer's Home/Office

Barb scurried around the office putting the last of the paperwork away and shutting down any unneeded office equipment until Monday morning. She surveyed the office quite satisfied that everything was ready for the start of the day on Monday. Tammy had spirited Jen away to the theater for the opening night of the play. Barb giggled softly to herself at the bemused look on the face of her boss in that oh so short little black dress and heels. Tammy had certainly dome her job in getting the conservative woman to spruce up. Their plan had worked out quite well.

Barb grabbed her purse and coat and was seconds from going out the door when the telephone rang. She sighed then snapped the lights back on and answered the phone.

"Stevens Media Services… can I help you?"

"Yes, you can. Is Jennifer Stevens there please? I'm James Randolph, her account manager at the bank."

"Sorry, Mister Randolph, she's not here at the moment. Can I take a message instead?"

"Well, maybe you can help. Are you familiar with her various accounts?"

"Yes, I am. I’m her office manager. Can you give me the pre-arranged security password, Mister Randolph?"

The bank manager said a series of letters and numbers as Barb checked them against a card from the small office safe. "Thank you, Mister Randolph. The password is correct. How can I help you?"

"I turned up something strange on a routine account check. We have an old account of Jennifer's that is showing some unusual activity. It was dormant and in her old male name then all of a sudden it was changed to her current name with a different mailing address than all her other accounts about a month ago. It does carry her Social Security number though. Do you have any record of any transactions on an account like that?"

Barb wrote the checking account number down on a pad of paper as he read it off the report. "No, Mister Randolph, I don't have any account with that number on the accounting system. What kind of activity have you been seeing?"

"Checks and deposits for tens of thousands of dollars at a time to and from various individuals and organizations. There doesn't seem to be any pattern to the transactions either."

"I have nothing that even closely resembles that kind of activity. Is it possible to send me a list of checks, amounts and payees and I'll look into this? I'm positive it isn't Jennifer that is responsible for this. It's not her style. She's very open about her financial matters. She has no need to hide things."

"I agree. Since it's her name listed as the account holder she is entitled to a list of the activity in the account. Do you have a fax?"

"Yes. The number is…" Barb read the number to the bank manage twice.

"I have it. I'll send it in just a few minutes."

"Thank you, Mister Randolph. I'll get back to you later in the day on Monday with Jennifer's answer."

"You're welcome…..Miss….?"

"Samuels, Barbara Samuels, but please call me Barb."

"And please cell me Jim, Barb."

"Ok, Jim. Talk to you on Monday. I'm going to be late if I don't get moving."

"Going to see her in the play?"

"Yes. How did you guess?"

"Remember, Barb that I'm in her home town. There's very little that happens to her that doesn't make it into the local paper. I'll let you get going and enjoy the play. I expect to hear how she did on Monday."

"All right, Jim. I'll have a full report. Bye!"

"Bye, Barb!" The line clicked then went dead. Barb put the phone down and picked up the pad with the checking account number on it. "No, I'm NOT going to ask her about this tonight. She's going to be wound up enough with the play without me adding this to her problems." She opened her top center desk drawer and tossed the pad inside then closed the drawer.

She retrieved her purse and coat then turned out the lights and locked the door behind her. About two minutes later the fax line started to ring then the machine spit out several sheets of paper.

to be continued