Phoebe had arrived in Marigold and yesterday she had done her best to see most of the city as well as get a job done. She had found one to work in the theatre of Marigold which had been interesting, it had been a lot of concentration because most of the time if she went to see a play, she would only see it for the beauty of the actors as well as the clothing. Now she had to pay attention to exactly what they were saying and when and that the spot light was all the time on Alice Nightingale. She had seemed like a sweet woman but Phoebe got the shivers from her when she smiled, it all seemed fake and not in the slightest bit sincere. As long as you praised Alice or said something good about her, she seemed to beam like a rainbow and she was fishing for her own pot of gold. Phoebe didn’t want to complain too much because for obvious reasons, she was just new in town, only trying to find jobs. She didn’t know Alice and what she had done her whole life apart perhaps from being an actress but sure she might be nice to the townspeople, perhaps, I mean you never know. Phoebe had not worried about that in the first place, because it had been just one job. However the next afternoon, when she came home from a tiring job, there was a letter for her at the desk and it wasn’t from Mary or her father as she had not written to them yet that she was now in Marigold instead of in Era. She was sure both hadn’t got the time to write her anyway, so for now it didn’t matter that much, but it was still a bit sad that it was not much of a priority for her. Her name, properly written as Phoebe was written in a neat handwriting with a swirl underneath to impress the one that had to read it. Phoebe had turned the envelope left and right to see if there was a name from the one who send it. And in the end she found Alice written underneath her thumb, exactly at the place where she was holding the folded paper. She quickly opened it, wondering what the actress would have to tell her but it was about a job. She stared at it with disgust, someone (this Alice) asked her to play a role in a play, something she would never consider. Sure she was pretty enough but to remember lines?! Worst of all, she had to play a male character, there was no beauty in a woman playing a man! It even used to be the other way around since females weren’t allowed on stage. But not even that was perhaps the worst, it was also the main lead role. Well apart from the one from Alice of course but Phoebe had to play Romeo? How would she remember all those lines and did she make a heavy voice? She better hurry to talk to Alice.

She quickly switched to her flat ballerina shoes because heels wouldn’t be a good idea now. She had no idea what she had to wear anyway because she was going to be a male. Or well she wasn’t so sure if she wanted to do but she would get paid so why would she deny it. She would only deny it if Alice would demand her hair to be cut. But she doubt that, why else would she send an invitation. She hurried down the road from the inn that she was staying towards the theatre that was just a bit outside the town. It wasn’t a long walk but there were a lot of thoughts going on in her mind and she was wondering if she shouldn’t just refuse because she doubt she would be able to perform like that. When she entered the theatre, she didn’t even bother to knock on the door, she simply entered this time. That’s how actually annoyed she was by this invitation but Alice and some other players were on the stage, ”Oh good you are here.” she was immediately ushered to the stage and would play a role that wasn’t made for her, the script was pushed into her hand and she looked at all the lines. That were quite much, thank god she was banished as Romeo at some point, saved her a few lines extra. She would do a few scenes with Alice before she pushed her away to her own changing room to learn her lines in piece. When she was done with that, although she believed that she was never done, Alice assured her there was always someone close to her that could whisper a part of her line to her so she would continue. Her hair was fixed, which felt heavy now it was all wrapped up that made it look short and all. The outfit was nice, even though it was for a man, but it fitted her fine with some adjustments. She was a little bit scared for the public but on the other hand, she was vain enough to like the idea that people were staring at her.

”Is the day so young?” she spoke when it was her moment to appear on the stage and make her first line and so she went on. She spoke with a loud voice because Alice had told her it was the idea. It was a tough job, she couldn’t frown when she was thinking about her lines but she had read the book or well the play and she could vaguely remember everything and indeed there was someone that would help with her lines. When it was over and she could get back on to the stage to take a bow, there was a standing ovation and she was so happy to see that. It gave her an euphoric feeling in her stomach that seemed to be permanent for a while and she would bow once more and leave the stage. She shook her hair loose and walked into Alice her changing room, whom told her that it was a test and Phoebe didn’t like that at all. But she refrained from saying that. She collected her jewels and went to another changing room to change into her own clothing.