Felicity

Monday, November 25, 2013

Chapter 9. Edie and Allen

They were both somewhat tall and lanky. Each seemed to be forever smiling. They were both in their late twenties.

He was the set designer for both the opera and ballet companies, which shared the same venue. She was second violin for both the opera and ballet orchestras.

Both were gay.

Even though they knew who the other was and orbited the same world they did not personally know each other. That changed after a late summer rehearsal. The season's first opera was a few short weeks away and Allen spent a Wednesday overseeing the erection of the sets while Edie and the orchestra rehearsed the score.

Late that afternoon Allen was painting over the scratches and nicks that inevitably occur when a set is first erected and moved, he though he was alone.

Suddenly an absolutely gorgeous violin air drew his complete attention. It was coming from the orchestra pit. He put his paintbrush down and walked over to it and lay on the floor with his head over the edge and listened.

Allen often picked someone or something to watch for a period of a few days. It was just a quirk but he had made some interesting discoveries doing that. He had done that all of his life.

Edie had been his subject for two weeks. He had yet to notice that was more than twice as long as he had spent on any of his other subjects. It was Edie playing the air.

When she was finished Allen asked what it was she was playing.

She thought she was alone too and was startled by his voice.

"You scared me half to death! Don't do that," she said.

"Sorry. I was doing some repairs up here and heard that beautiful piece and wondered what it was."

"Thank you but it's just a doodle, nothing special."

"It certainly was special, you better write it down before you forget or I will turn you in to the muse as a very selfish person."

"Come on, it was not that good."

"It was better than good, it was mesmerizing. It made me want to hug the air the notes were flying though."

Edie giggled and said, "That is the best piece of malarkey anyone has thrown at me. Thanks."

"You are welcome although it was not malarkey. You know, you are only the second person to say that word to me."

"Malarkey?"

"Yes, a rare word indeed. How did it end up in your vocabulary?

"My grandfather told me it was more ladylike than bullshit."

"Ah, a wise man indeed. My grandfather told my cousins to say malarkey too but one prefers cow hockey and two prefer bullshit.

He told me to go ahead and say bullshit so there would not be any misunderstanding. Listen, since I threw such a fine piece of non-malarkey to you could you reward me by playing the doodle again?"

"I'll try."

Edie began to play and though some passages were the same it was clearly not the same piece.

They both groaned and Allen said, "Oh no, you lost it. Aoede will be pissed."

" Who is Aoede?"

"The Muse of Song, one of my favorite goddesses."

"Maybe you can get her to help me a little. I am having problems with the score. Believe it or not I have never played it before. In fact I have never seen it"

"La Boheme?" Really?" Oh wait, that's right. You can't see a damn thing from down there. I have a DVD of it from the La Scala Company. I will bring it to you tomorrow."

"Thanks, that would be nice," Edie said as she packed up to leave. "I am going to be late for a date thanks to your very fine malarkey."

"Oboist?" Allen asked.

"How did you know that?"

"I have watched her hitting on you the last two weeks. Will there be a video?"

Edie laughed and gave him the finger.

Somewhere in the space between Edie and Allen the Goddess Klotho, the spinner of the thread of life, was exchanging high fives with her sister the Goddess Aoede.

Allen resumed his repairs of the set with a smile. That had been his most pleasant conversation with a woman in a long time.

A few minutes later he stopped and closed his eyes. In his head he heard Edie's entire doodle clearly. He rushed to the office and transcribed it.

He was missing a bridge.

Allen knew that it never helped for him to wrack his brain trying to remember anything. The memory would come when it was ready.

Edie went home and got ready for her date. She was distracted by her run-in with Allen. She of course knew all about him she thought. He was a fast rising artist that was reputed to be an expert in all facets of the arts. Some thought he was a genius.

She had heard that Allen was the first set designer in memory to be admired by his crew, or at least they were not actively plotting to murder him. He treated everyone the same friendly courtesy from the artistic director to the big donors to the carpenters and stagehands. He was reputed to be gay but Edie could not remember anything that would confirm that.

Edie thought he was very good looking, for a man.

Edie had been looking forward to her date that Wednesday night. She was puzzled that it had suddenly become an afterthought.

Allen went home and immediately searched for the La Boheme DVD, found it and placed it on the table by the door so he would not forget it.

He got ready for his own date, a date he no longer wanted.

For him the relationship he had carried with his counterpart at the Music Hall had died from lack of interest several weeks before. Allen was sure that he knew that too.

Allen called him and cancelled the date. By the time they finished their conversation they both understood there were not going to be any more dates. It occurred to Allen that the guy sounded as relieved as he was. They did thank each other, it had been nice while it lasted and that had been eight months, a record for Allen.

He was dressed and free for the night. He was not aware of where he was going until he was parking his car at the most popular lesbian nightspot in town.

He had many friends in there of course and because he was alone many asked about his relationship.

He replied that his relationship had been sent out to live on a farm.

As soon as he said that one of the guys grabbed his hand and pulled him to the dance floor.

There were gay men in the club each night and they tended to be the more effeminate types, including some very passable transvestites. At times there were some bisexual couples looking for an adventurous woman and/or transvestite to take home. There usually were some straight couples there, most accompanied by a gay friend. It was a fun place.

Allen was a perfectly straight looking and acting male with no outward signs of his sexual orientation unless he wanted to show it.

He had a very fine "queen" persona that he at times used for the amusement of others, and himself. He was a very handsome redhead who dressed well and pretty much got what or who he wanted. He was at ease in any setting, including a lesbian club.

Allen loved to dance and was good at it. He danced with perhaps eight women and two other guys even though he dismissed any chance of an adventure that night.

It was late in the evening when he again felt himself dragged to the dance floor.

It was Edie.

Edie somehow knew he would be there and had insisted on stopping by on the way to her date's house.

It was while Edie and her date were eating dinner that she mentally absorbed what Allen had said to her that afternoon.

He had watched the woman hit on her for two weeks.

Allen had watched her.

Before that thought got carried away she mentally added, or her date.

Dancing with him was fun, she noted. It did not feel like a mating dance. She smiled at her sudden insight.

Allen and Edie tried ridiculous dance moves on each other and laughed and clowned their way through a long number. When the music paused Edie's date took her hand and danced with her.

Allen waved at both girls and retreated to the bar. While he waited for the bartender it occurred to Allen that he was done for the night and simply left the club.

On the way home he stopped for a pastrami sandwich and a beer. He was home in bed before the clubs closed.

Before he fell asleep he denied to his brain that he had gone to the lesbian club in hopes of seeing Edie and that as soon as that was accomplished the rest of the evening did not matter.

Allen was and expert at lying to himself.

Edie was less successful at that. She knew she was done with her date before closing time and asked her date to take her home. She allowed kisses and some groping but as her date drove home that night she kept asking herself what she had done wrong.

Edie knew that had she taken her straight to her house they would be in the middle of passionate sex by now. She knew the night had changed when she danced with Allen. She did not know why.

The next Thursday morning started with a full run-through of act one. Everyone was very busy. Allen was sitting in a mid-orchestra seat making sure his sets did not overwhelm the performance but were still was an asset to the production. He was seated with his fellow ghouls, the sound director, the light director, the stage manager and their boss the artistic director.

Stand-ins stood for the principal singers; the stars would not be coming in for another two weeks. The orchestra did not play.

As usual for the first run-through there were many details to work out and the usual major disaster. For Allen it meant re-doing one corner of the first set because the lighting made the apartment colors look garish. He also had to come up with a way to provide more depth out of the apartment window.

It was the first and last set in the opera and it had to look like a dilapidated bachelor pad. It moved easily and silently. Allen was mostly happy with it. He then walked up to the balcony seats and noted a small area over the window had not been painted. He made notes on that. He was still up there when the cafe set was brought out. He saw no problems and walked down.

However from the orchestra seats Allen saw the need to highlight some areas of the cafe and move a fountain to allow a coach to get by more easily during scene two. He made copious notes and drawings then went backstage to confer with his crews. He handed out their assignments and sent them home.

The shouting and movement on the stage had told him they were not going to be able to work on anything that day.

Allen was happy he was not the stage manager; he had a lot of people that seemed to have no clue where on stage they were supposed to be during the second scene. All players were members of the opera and dance academies run by the theater district and were supposed to be familiar with stage directions. They were not.

The mezzo that would be playing Mussetta was not known for her calm demeanor. She would not be amused.

Allen was about to leave the opera house when he ran into Edie. He handed her the DVD he had brought for her and asked for her DVD of her previous night.

She laughed and said, "Believe me, there was nothing of any interest to record. You disappeared early last night, did you have a more interesting project waiting?"

"Yes, pastrami on rye."

"Oh, I love that place. I usually eat a corned beef sandwich there and take a Reuben home. That can last me a whole day. I have already run through their menu once."

"Aahh, a girl after me own heart," Allen said in an Irish brogue. Would you have time for a loud hamburger across the street? It is almost lunch time," he said.

"Sure, good idea."

Across the street was a Hardrock Cafe, hence the loud hamburger line. They talked and joked around and led the patrons through the chorus of some rock tunes.

Edie suddenly rushed out in a panic telling Allen, "I forgot the time, I have rehearsal now."

Allen suddenly realized that as he was coming out of the opera house Edie was going into the opera house for a rehearsal. His workday was done but hers was just starting.

Even though she had been early to work Edie knew she had no business accepting an invitation to lunch from him. She apparently liked his company but knew to keep her priorities straight. She forcefully kept the question about a possible change in her priorities out of her head.

Allen however refused to believe that she enjoyed being with him as much as he enjoyed being with her. In fact he refused to acknowledge he enjoyed her company. Denial was one of Allen's strengths.

Klothos smiled as she shook her head.

Allen stayed at the Hardrock for a while flirting with the manager who flirted back even though he was married and straight. They were friends.

He was leaving the cafe when he saw Edie walking towards him.

She said, "There was pandemonium in there. We could not hear ourselves. Simon just looked at us, said, "Nine AM Monday," and left."

She had already secured her instrument in her car when she suddenly wondered if Allen was still at the cafe. She had hurried over and was glad to see he was.

She had no idea as to what she would do or say if he was. He thankfully taken that problem away from her.

"So, you are suddenly free for the afternoon?"

"Well yes, I guess so."

Allen walked her to a cab and as they got in he told the cabbie, "The Ball Park, please."

Allen had seen Edie wear the team ball cap often and figured she would not mind.

She was in fact very pleased indeed.

She wondered if she was on a date.

The ballpark was not far from the theater district but he took a cab because it was almost game time. They just made it for the first pitch. They chatted and cheered and learned a lot about each other. By the time their team's massacre was secured by the visiting team they were good friends.

After the game they walked back to the theater district and eventually to her car. Edie kissed Allen on the cheek and thanked him for a very good day.

As she drove away Edie thought to herself that even if it had not been a date she had still enjoyed it more than any she had recently.

As she drove away Allen said to himself, "Yes, it was a very good day."

As he replayed the afternoon in his head he wondered if he had just hijacked Edie into a date. He blushed when it occurred to him he had done just that. He would apologize to her on Monday he vowed to himself.

It never crossed his mind to wonder why she had returned to the Hardrock.

Allen's mind was occupied on Friday morning as he and his crews put the finishing touches on the sets for act one of La Boheme and began the final construction for act two.

He left for his hometown at noon and spent the weekend there at what turned out to be a rambunctious rehearsal dinner and fun wedding for one his favorite cousins.

It did occur to him that Edie would have probably enjoyed his weekend too.

The following Monday Edie and Allen went out of their way to say good morning to each other. They "accidentally" ended up sharing a fried calamari appetizer at a Japanese restaurant across from the complex for lunch. They had each searched for each other after their work was done for the day but had not connected.

Klotho had them thirty feet apart but looking for the other in the opposite direction in which they were. She thought that was funny.

Tuesday they made formal plans to meet for lunch and after work for a drink. They had chosen places that the members of the company frequented at those times so no one took notice.

Edie and Allen were using that excuse to justify their companionship; they were just following the gang.

It was at last Friday night but Allen did not seem to be able to drum up any interest in going out. Free weekend nights were rare for him so spending it at home was a major event in itself.

He decided to do some cooking as he played Puccini Without Words on his CD Player.

Edie had mentioned that she had plans for that Friday night but had hinted he would be welcome to join her. Allen had stopped listening when she said her Friday night was not free so had missed the hint. Not that he intended to ask her out or hope they would accidentally meet someplace, of course.

Klothos showed some frustration but Aoede kissed her cheek and smiled. She had a plan.

Allen lived in a renovated downtown hotel that had been converted into luxury condos. He would not have spent the money to live there if it had not been for his grandfather's best friend. He had inherited it from him.

It was an easy walk to work for him above or below ground. Since he moved into the condo the downtown area had become a vibrant scene. He was very happy there.

His immediate neighbors were a gay couple to his left and a lesbian couple across from him. Both of the guys were chefs and they had gotten Allen hooked into the creative process in cooking. It was while staring at the pasta wondering how to finish it that the missing piece of Edie's doodle suddenly came to him.

He paused to write it down and overcooked the pasta.

"A small price to pay," he said to himself as he threw the pasta away.

He also burned the rice while he was at his computer trying to figure out how to copyright that piece of music for Edie. He decided he would just dump that task on his cousins Carly's lap. She was a lawyer in a large firm and worked with copyrights.

He had seen where a bit of arranging could extend Edie's air to about eight minutes. In his head he could hear a refrain and a coda. He knew it would be superb for a string quartet.

He now knew what he was going to give Edie for Christmas. He would take her to a premiere performance of her work.

It did not come close to sink into Allen's head that he had just decided to take Edie on a date almost five months into the future and present her with an extravagant gift. It was too good an idea for him to bother with details.

Aoede fought back a tear as Klothos kissed her cheek.

Allen had ruined two dinners so he dressed, went to the buildings parking garage, got in his car and again drove himself to a pastrami sandwich and a beer.

Edie was there. She was with an older woman and waved him over. He was introduced to her mother.

"I was wondering when you were going to get here," Edie said. "We were getting worried."

Allen was very quick witted and simply apologized and blamed a minor disaster at work. "Maybe we should not have skipped out from work to go shopping," he threw at Edie.

"It was your idea, don't blame me if your set disintegrates. I can get a note from my mother," she said smugly.

"Pretty please, one for me too," Allen begged her mother who did not seem to be able to control her giggles for a while as Edie and Allen continued their sparring.

Allen ate his corned beef sandwich, (Edie had talked him into one), while Edie and her mother Belinda shared a Reuben.

It became apparent to Allen that Edie had claimed to her mother that she did indeed have male friends and even a quasi-boyfriend. Allen had become the quasi-boyfriend when he walked in.

He did not know that when Edie was making such claims it was him that she had in mind. The phone call she had supposedly made to him was to time and temperature. The time had been 8: 49 and the temperature was 79 degrees.

At that exact time Allen was dumping his burnt rice.

Neither heard Klotho's nor Aoede's mischievous giggling at that exact moment.

For the rest of the evening Allen and Edie tried to trip each other up adding fictitious details to their relationship for the other to amend or embellish. Her mother laughed at the most outlandish claims but she bought the close friend/possible relationship part. That part rang true.

Allen had been with them for well over an hour when Edie's mother mentioned that she had always wondered about a nearby lesbian club she had heard about. Much to Edie's chagrin Allen piped up and while waving his car keys said he knew just where it was.