Chapter 13

The following morning Amy awoke with a glow to her, both inside and out. She looked around the bedroom and didn't see John. Slipping out of the bed, she ran on her toes to the door and looked out into the living room and then into the kitchen, not caring that she was nude and could be seen by the people in the next building.

'He must have gone to work, ' she thought and then spied the note on the kitchen table. She scampered over to it and picking it up read it carefully, committing the message to memory.

Dearest Amy:

I love you. I love you. I love you.

But I must earn a living and have to meet a most important client this morning.

I also have a call in to a casting director, who is a friend. Still, it wouldn't hurt if you ventured out and paid a visit to one or more modeling and acting studios. You never know when you'll be discovered.

I shall be home early (5 at the latest) and we can continue where we left off--

PS: Last night - was definitely the best night of my life.

I love you. I love you. I love you.

John.

Amy's heart melted then and there. She sank to her knees and read and reread the note until Eve opened the apartment door an hour later and discovered her.

"So Miss Amy, tell me all about... Oh gosh... you have no clothes!" Are you sick? What is wrong, Miss Amy? Shall I call Mr. Prentice?"

Jolted out of her reverie by the maids questions, Amy returned to reality and although startled, maintained her composure.

"Oh, I'm sorry Eve... I was just reading this note..."

Eve took the note from Amy's hand and read it several times. As she did so Amy reflected that she and the maid had made love in this very room. My nakedness isn't new to her. But I probably should get dressed and start my day as John suggested. Oh... John...

"Miss Amy..." Eve began, "this is wonderful! I am so happy for the two of you!" She was hopping around the room like a five year old on Christmas morning, truly delighted with the news.

Amy thought she should try to explain her true feelings, "Eve, last night was..." But thought better of it and stopped.

"I had better get dressed," she said, and then a moment later followed with, "Oh, c'mon with me. We can talk while I shower and get dressed."

They passed the next hour doing exactly that. Of course Eve regaled Amy with her adventure with Mona too.

Then Amy rushed to the corner newsstand and picked up a copy of that day's Variety and quickly scanned the pages for possible tryouts and auditions. One in particular caught her eye. West Side Story was casting. That was a positive; she had played Maria in high school and a lesser role in a summer stock production. She knew the music and dialogue. Her hopes soared as she read on.

"MARIA: Understudy. This Role Is Pre-Cast. This Actress Will Also Play ROSALIA and Do Some Chorus Dancing. Young, Lovely, Open, Naïve, Romantic - Must Have A Strong Soprano. Must Move Well. Latina or Able To Play Latina."

Female: 18 to 25

Then a second role caught her eye:

ANITA: Young, Sexy, Passionate, A Hard Cynical Exterior With Warmth And Caring Beneath. Strong Mezzo with Belt. Latina or Able To Play Latina. (Must Come To The Dance Call).

Female: 18 to 25

Glancing at her wristwatch, she saw that she had an hour to make the dance call and raced into the bedroom, tossing her luggage on the bed and rifling through it until she found a pair of leotards and other dance paraphernalia. Then, she ran down the stairs not waiting for the elevator and hailed a cab.

Amy made the Dance Call with ten minutes to spare. Quickly she signed in and then looked around for a space to await her call. Finding a chair near a corner of the large room she sat down and looked around. There were twenty-four other girls vying for the role of Anita. Several were sotto voicing the song "I Feel Pretty" made famous by Rita Moreno.

Amy racked her brain trying to recall the steps she'd used in several of the dance numbers and as she was doing so, heard her name called.

"Yes!" she shouted out as she leaped from the chair, knocking it over.

"Let's see you dance, babe," a bald-headed man of about fifty called out. The quartet of musicians began to play a Latin dance number. The music seemed to transform Amy. Her hips and shoulders moved to the Latin beat of "America." Her long muscular legs teased every man and woman within viewing distance. She whisked her hair around, smiling seductively at the trumpet player. A man wearing eyeglasses and holding a clipboard, reached for her. Coquettishly, she slipped from his grasp only to spin and come to a halt inches from his outstretched arms. Then as she moved away, accentuating her hip movement and long graceful arms, the bald-headed man waved to the musicians to stop playing.

"Okay, okay, that's enough," the bald-headed man shouted and the piano player halted in mid-note. Amy, totally perplexed over the shortness of her routine stared at the bald-headed man as if waiting further instructions. He took her look in and figured that that was what she was waiting for and told Amy, "Take a seat on the left side, baby. We'll listen to your voice in a few."

With her heart beating three times its normal rate Amy did as she'd been told and sat next to a thin, raven-haired woman of perhaps twenty-three, who was talking quietly to a short blonde of at least twenty-six, or seven.

"So I put all that time into the friggin' relationship and what do I get out of it?"

The blonde, a confused expression on her face offered, "The furniture?"

The raven-haired woman gave her a quick look of distain that the blonde missed, and turned to Amy who was wiggling her rear on the chair trying to get comfortable.

The thin, dark haired woman answered her own question while seeking eye contact with Amy. "Nothing, not a God damned thing, except a royal pain in the ass and having to sweat out a period thinking the bastard had gotten me pregnant," she huffed.

"Who dumped who?" Amy asked trying her best to make conversation with the women.

"You think for a minute the bastard dumped me?" she hissed.

"I don't know," Amy replied and fought her instincts to keep from flinching under the woman's tirade.

"Hey! Quiet over there," shouted the bald-headed man, "we're tryin' to have a fuckin' audition here. Any more noise from that shitty mouth of yours Elsie and you're out on your ass. Got it?"

Elsie wanly raised her right hand in acknowledgement and slumped down in her chair.

"It's all over with now isn't it?" Amy asked.

Elsie gave here a look that said, what the hell are you talking about?

"I meant the relationship. It's over with, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"You do intend to move on with your life, right?"

"The fuck are you with all the questions?" Elsie snarled.

"Hey, I'm making conversation. Like you started it," Amy said getting red in the face and fearing she might have to fight her way out of the audition.

"Whoa," Elsie said, obviously very annoyed with Amy. "This audition's over, I think I'll kick your scrawny ass down Broadway to Twenty-Third Street."

The blonde, obviously not a dumb blonde, chose that moment to speak up. "Hey, Elsie, back the fuck off. The kid didn't mean anything Elsie. You wuz the one bitchin' about Charlie just like always. Ventin' I guess you'd call it, I was a shrink. But all the kid here did was ask if you're over him. You are ain'tcha?"

"Yeah, I'm over the fat fuck all right," Elsie admitted.

"So why pick on the kid here?"

"You're right, Linda, you're right." Elsie sighed, then looked at Amy. "Hey kid, I'm sorry I tried to bite your head off. I didn't mean nothing by it, honest. I just get so hyped up with these auditions. Go to one or two every day. Can't hold down a decent job because I'd miss one and then I get passed over time and time again. I just get pissed off, that's all. I'm really sorry." Elsie appeared to brighten a little and said, "Hey, my name's Elsie, what's yours?" and without waiting for Amy to reply, Elsie said, "and this here blonde bimbo is Linda."

"Linda, Elsie," Amy said, "Hi, I'm Amy, Amy Prentice."

"I haven't seen you around before today," said Linda.

"Well, I'm sort of new in town," Amy said with a shy smile.

"Just off the bus, huh?" Elsie said.

Amy nodded her head, then said, "A couple days ago, uh huh."