evening performance

On Friday evening the theater was especially crowded. The silence in the dressing room was heavy on my ears. The slender fingers holding the makeup brush trembled slightly as their owner applied shadow to her eyelids. It was her routine, but Clarissa was already used to it. Every single day, sitting at her favorite place, she applied theatrical makeup. She was worried. Recently she has a secret admirer. Walking into the dressing room after a Friday evening performance, on the dressing table she found a lush bouquet of scarlet roses and a note saying that her performance was excellent. The note was signed with a capital letter "L". Clarissa tried many options. Lem? Light? Laurie? She also noticed that the sender had rather nice and neat handwriting. The look of deep brown eyes finds its tired reflection in the stained mirror. The work made itself felt. The face became noticeably thinner, dark circles appeared under the eyes, and the light in the eyes went out. Dovey often worked as hard as she could, while her colleagues spent time with friends or their significant other, Clarissa rehearsed and learned new roles. When asked when she would find a boyfriend, she answered that she was married to work. The world was grey. Since childhood, Dovey's mother had told her that she needed to find a life partner, that he would be more fun, that he would fill her world with color, but Clarissa thought it was all nonsense. The makeup was ready. *** Massive, red curtains open. Clarissa puts on a smile and gets into character. On stage she feels alive, free, uncertainty loses this war and freely retreats. The audience greets her with thunderous applause. Clarissa plays great. Playing on stage dilutes her gray everyday life and adds a small drop of color to her life. On stage, the emotions inside awaken from a long sleep. *** The play is over. Again a stormy ovation, again enthusiastic spectators. Clarissa is thinking about what she will do on her day off tomorrow. Now she will leave the stage, emotions will fall asleep again. Then she will come home and go to bed, and in the morning she will find that nothing has changed. Spectators get up from their seats to give flowers, chocolate, and other small gifts, and many people come up to Clarissa. She smiles tightly, thanking them. But one lady stood out to her the most. Curly, lush red hair, blue eyes like the ocean, looking straight into the soul, seemingly soft, alluring lips. The woman handed her a lovely bouquet of red roses, identical to the ones Dovey received every Friday. - What is your name? - Without thinking, Dovey blurted out. “Leonora,” the woman was a little embarrassed. “Oh,” Clarissa came to her senses. “Thank you very much for the bouquet,” the red-haired lady smiled and hurried away. *** The world seemed to fill with colors. The beautiful stranger diluted it. Clarissa returned to the dressing room and discovered that the bouquet was gone. She was truly upset. Dovey put down the flowers that she was given at the end of the performance, donated by the audience, and noticed that a small leaf, folded in half, fell out of one. Clarissa grabbed it and began to read, the note read: "Your playing is truly excellent, you are amazing" And below was a beautifully written letter L. Clarissa frantically took off her suit and changed into regular clothes. She gathered her things, put on her jacket and flew out of the dressing room like a bullet, raising a lot of questions from her colleagues. *** Dovey hurriedly left the building to find the same lady. She hoped she could return the favor. The hopes were justified. Leonora stood a little further from the theater exit and bought it. It was the middle of winter outside, snow flakes were spinning in a waltz, and upon landing, they dissolved on the ground. Dovey went to the redhead without hesitation. “Hello again,” Leonora shuddered a little and turned to her interlocutor. - Oh, it's you. “Good evening,” the woman answered dryly. “I wanted to thank you for all those bouquets and notes, it really motivated me to try harder,” Clarissa tried to catch her breath. - No need. - Leonora put out her cigarette. “Your game is truly wonderful,” the woman melted and smiled. -Are you free tomorrow evening? “For you - always,” Dovey grinned. - So you won’t mind if I invite you somewhere? “Of course I won’t, with you even to the ends of the earth,” Leonora smiled expressively again and gave her a piece of paper with a phone number. - May I accompany you? - the red-haired woman asked the question again, to which Clarissa nodded and took her arm. The world ceased to be gray for Clarissa, she found the person who filled every centimeter of it with bright color. Mom was right.