#ella01

She felt like a fish out of water, waiting in a lobby as ornate as Ella’s… although when it came to being around the other woman, that was a common thing for Adara. So used to the have-nots and the questionable tomorrows, it seemed like an impossibility to ever garner the same kind of status she had. There had to be a bottom to the food chain, didn’t there? She almost jumped at the sound of her cellphone ring, the unfamiliar number briefly putting her on edge. Was her building coming to collect, a debt accumulated from half paid rents… One message appeared in her voicemail,  “Hi Adara Phillips? Thank you so much for your audition, it was a pleasure to see you dance but…” Equity only. Without a degree. Etc.

It’d been a strange sense of inspiration that had driven her to try out for a company, dirty ballet shoes contrasting the usual pristine white as she performed. With the count of an enchantée par l'Oiseau de feu, a raw soul was bared for a table of men to see, each scribbling down notes. It was something she hadn’t done in a long time, hope pushed to action by a musician she’d met a few nights ago. She should’ve known better than to reignite those dreams, the disappointment coming to a close as Ella came into vision. Fabulous as always. Throwing her phone in her bag, her lips were pressed in a thin line- “I hope you’re in the mood for a drink because I need one. Or four... better yet, just a bottle of Tanqueray- cheap but effective.”