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The tension is high in the rumbling theatre of voices and chit-chat. The curtains are drawn and the lights backstage are dimmed. It was opening night, and his career was starting. Standing in his dressing room, the young actor stared at himself in his brightly lit mirror. He believed that live theatre was a dying art, but he was thriving.
“Break a leg, June,” he told himself, leaning closer to the mirror to stare right into his eyes. “You got this. You always do.”Opening nights are a big deal. This was his debut— a talent scout could be in the audience. He could be discovered. This was his dream. His thick brow furrowed at himself, burning a whole between his eyes through the mirror. With how intense he was staring at himself, June didn’t even see the young man behind him that grabbed a hold of his hips and spoke beside his ear.
“You’re always talking to yourself— don't you think you do that enough being an actor?”
Jars and hairbrushes on the counter clattered as June jumped against the man’s chest.
“Jesus, Kalvin!” June gasped for the breath just spooked out of him as he touched his chest. Laughter escaped him once he shook the shock. “Why don’t you knock next time? I could have poked my eye out with mascara or something,”
“I did,” Kalvin countered as he rested his chin on June’s shoulder and placed a clear plastic cup full of chilled water in front of him. “You were so absorbed in yourself you didn’t even hear me,” he pouted.
June smiled as he looked at the man on his shoulder through the mirror. Kalvin always came to all his shows ever since highschool. The night of his third show in 10th grade, Kalvin brought him a bouquet of flowers and asked him out. June replied with the fling of his arms around the boy and kissed his acne covered cheeks.
It’s been 3 years since they’ve graduated and they’ve been together ever since. At this point, June was waiting for Kalvin to ask to marry him. June would, but when he gets discovered and makes stacks of money to actually afford a ring, then he will. He smiled and tiled his head to rest against Kalvin on his shoulder while taking the small cup and shooting the water back down his throat.
“Call me a narcissist,” he chuckled.
Kalvin rolled his eyes at the inside joke and let a smile flash across his lips, revealing his slightly crooked teeth. “Nervous?”
“Absolutely,” June sighed, letting himself slump and his shoulders to droop.
“Why?” Kalvin’s eyebrows shot up. “You’ve literally been saying this script in your sleep. I hear you,”
June laughed. Kalvin was always able to let his nerves loosen up before shows.
“I know, I know, but it’s different when its finally the night to preform,”
“You’re a pro,” He was unconcerned. If Kalvin was unconcerned, he should be too. “That stage was meant for you."
June allowed himself to smile as well. He turned around to give his supportive lover a good luck kiss on the lips, but he didn’t get to feel them. Dizziness overwhelmed his head, and his lower back bumped harshly against his table. The room was melting, and so was the face of his lover. His head lulled and he couldn’t hold onto his senses.
Kalvin kept a hold of his lover as he fell forward against his chest. Hazelnut hair tickled his neck and deadweight leaned against him. He continued to look at the mirror, teasing the idea of a smile across his lips.
Crooked teeth.
Kalvin reached forward to the table as he held onto his lover. Grabbing a small plastic bottle, he unscrewed the top and tilted his head back. A few drops should do the trick.
Screwing the bottle and setting it back where it was, Kalvin sniffed his nose and blinked his watering eyes. He looked back at himself in the mirror. Perfect.
Grabbing ahold of his lover, he cleared his throat.
5 minutes to be on stage.
“June?”