//------------------------------// // Part Three // Story: Taking on a New Life // by AmethystMare //------------------------------// Taking on a New Life Part Three Written by Arian Mabe (Amethyst Mare) Commissioned by Kittenrose232 Adagio frowned. She seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. As she dropped her bag by the front door of her apartment, it no longer surprised her to see the light blinking on the landline phone, which she’d kept after she’d returned from the services as a man, Knight, to draw her attention to the fact that there was a message there. There was at least a message there every day lately. It was all the agencies hassling her, wanting her attention, wanting her to perform for them, like a cute little doll that could be paraded around on show at the drop of a hat. Look at her, look at her, they would all cry and proclaim. Isn’t she beautiful? Isn’t she wonderful? Isn’t her song just divine? Of course, Adagio was no fool and knew that the stage that it would give her to increase her power – the notion of which the siren inside her had planted in her mind – even though it was not what she wanted. She didn’t want someone taking a chunk of her earnings, greedily hoarding them, coveting them. Everything that she earned was her own and if she was going to step onto a bigger stage she would do it all on her own! However, that was more difficult a feat in itself for a woman who didn’t want to work with a big agency, one that had the time and the connections to force her into the spotlight, whether perhaps she wanted that or not. Adagio’s frown deepened, crossing her arms and staring at the phone as if it held information that could have changed her life. Sometimes, it did. What did she want? Oh, if only she knew. It’ll be fame, the siren whispered inside her mind, snaking and flowing. It’ll be glory. We’ll never want for anything everything again. All that I can feed on...forever! Adagio huffed and rolled her eyes, though she didn’t dare look in the hallway mirror. Sometimes it did not reflect the truth in her eyes, the shade of something darker, something evil, lurking there. Sure, and I’ll get a minimal cut of whatever they’re pimping me out for – and then what? What then? Tours and press meetings? Even in her head, she scoffed, hand on a cocked-out hip. Who wants that? I never wanted to be centre stage! The sense of the siren darkened inside her, though Adagio held her ground. The siren had been more and more vocal and she had had to pull out every last trick in her admittedly short book to keep her at bay. There was an opposing force there that had managed to put words to the sense and thoughts that had flitted into her mind so far, though the separate entity making herself known sent chills too down Adagio’s spine. There was, however, the chance to do a few gigs at the right price and those she took gladly, which was perhaps one thing that at least simmered down the siren inside her. She was always waiting though, urging Adagio on to cast her spell over people, the woman not wanting to be a puppet for agencies and corporations while she fought against simply becoming a puppet for the siren too. She could not deny that it felt good to perform, chest lifting with breath, her heart rising, the tightness in her throat spreading out and out as she drew all that dared to bear witness to her into her hold. They couldn’t take their eyes off her, Adagio the Siren, which had seemed like the obvious choice of a name when she had needed something a little catchier for on stage. “Adagio” should have been enough but sirens, of course, had more to their history that made people love her and she smiled down at her adoring fans from the stage, letting them worship her, adore her, all in her rightful place above them. The money was good too from doing the gigs, though she was in control of it and it was that control that Adagio was most keen to linger over, ensuring that nothing came to pass that she did not want. It was for her to take, not for them, and she performed with a smirk and a smile, one as interchangeable as the other as she manipulated all to her will. That did not mean that others did not benefit, undoubtedly, watching and bearing witness to the highlights of her singing time after time again, but it did mean that nothing was true and nothing was genuine with her anymore. It even led Adagio to question her own choices, though the siren pushed her away from that thought whenever she ventured too close to a terrifying truth. They love you, they adore you, she hissed, lavishing praise on her vessel. Give them more, give them all they want to see. And she could, if she had stepped forward a little more, just a little more. Her bar, however, was her second home, a domain that she well and truly ruled. After being promoted to bar manager, she had more power than she even felt she’d had in the forces, controlling who was hired and who was fired, shaping the place to her will. The tacky neon was pulled down and replaced with something a little smoother, a little classier – but not so classy, of course, that people who visited the bar would not drink heavily. If there was one thing that Adagio had learned there it was that drunken patrons tipped more heavily and that was something that she was more than keen to work to her advantage. The patrons changed a little there but, mostly, they dressed up the required amount to be presentable enough for her slightly more up-class establishment, although it was still a bar at the end of the day. She just wanted their money to flow more freely and a smile at the right times with the air that things there were just “so much more expensive” than the other riff-raff of the city made their pockets a little easier to dip into. Even cleaning up the lingering, sticky residue from the bar top had helped, though Adagio had had one of the other bartenders take care of that job. It might have messed up her nails. The siren too didn’t seem to mind the bar all that much, pointing out the patrons that might be more willing to part with their money as they entered, though she did not seem to see out of Adagio’s eyes. Rather, she more aptly sensed who was around, the forces and vulnerabilities of people, of souls that could be useful to her. She’d told Adagio how she’d taken over villages and towns with her sister sirens back in another world but Adagio had baulked the most at how she had boasted of how she’d taken over a school in their current world. Not to mention that the talk of “other worlds” existing was near enough more than she could handle – who would go after a school of all places? Thus, the siren’s brags had fallen on deaf ears, leaving her no better off with bragging her abilities than she had been when she’d begun. Do you know him? Adagio paused, fingers twitching even up on stage as she did her best to wave the siren out of her memories. The siren guided her eyes to where they needed to be, although the young man sitting at a table with a couple of people that she presumed were his friends was especially nondescript, nothing special about him at all. Brown hair hanging down around his ears and the back of his neck (probably due a cut), brown eyes that were a little bit hazel, a little richer than normal. Adagio frowned. What was so abnormal about that? His face was heart-shaped, however, with a narrower, more noticeable chin, a lightness in his laugh that, in some way, sounded familiar. With the microphone in her hand, she gasped faintly. “Donnie?” The name was whispered but someone heard it, the waitress fiddling with the sound equipment at the side (she’d probably unplugged something to clean again and was hoping against hope that Adagio wouldn’t notice). “What was that?” She called up. “Everything okay?” Adagio rounded on her, hair flying, lips contorting into a sneer. Even the siren reeled, taken aback. “What’s it to you?” She snapped. “Get back to table service! And the speakers better not be full of static from you moving things about – you always change the settings, Isabelle!” Isabelle didn’t know what else to do but to scurry from there with due haste, from the bar manager and singer that everyone had learned to fear, even if some would have said too that they were friends with Adagio. The patrons grew restless, however, and Adagio could rest assured that Donnie, if it was him from back in the days before she had left for her military calling, would not recognise. The only problem was, with her heart beating more quickly than it should have, she didn’t know whether she wanted him to recognise her or not. Things like that hadn’t made sense for a while. She still had a show to put on though and gave it her all, the spotlight on her, a hand flung high as if she was calling down another kind of spirit to aid her. Yet her eyes were only on one patron in the bar, curiosity brimming over. Who was he with? Why was he there? Had he gotten better looking? The last thought was a strange one but she couldn’t deny that he’d changed, the Donnie that she remembered being a bit of a dreamer who never quite seemed to know what was going on around him. Adagio smiled as she finished her set. “Goodnight, folks! That’s all from me on stage tonight but I’ll be back at nine sharp, Saturday!” They cheered for her but she had work to do as a bar manager, even though she could have easily have passed it off to someone else there, being that they hardly ever had any complaints for her to deal with. One of her younger waitresses, one who was barely old enough to serve alcohol, squeaked and smiled, a jittery, anxious sort, but Adagio did not pause as she brushed past her, snatching the tray from her hands. “This for the guys at the table of three?” Of course, they were, and she left a flummoxed staff member behind, something a little more than her usual customer service smile painted on. She plopped the drinks down with a grin, heart pounding. Even the siren coiled and twisted, waiting simply to see what she was going to do. “Hey, fancy seeing you out here!” She smiled, though, of course, Donnie only blinked. “I’m sorry, do I know you?” Oh, shoot... Of course, he didn’t recognise her! He didn’t know how she looked as a woman – that was a whole lot different to being Knight. Inside her, the siren smirked and chuckled, watching all with great interest. Nice going. Maybe you can twist his mind a little more still if you can keep this up... But Adagio was well-practised at pushing the siren inside. “Oh, thought I recognised your handsome face from someone who was here last week,” she covered up smoothly, a little flustered as heat leapt to her cheeks. “Perhaps I was mistaken... But it’s a pleasure to see you here now!” Donnie smiled and she offered her hand to him, ignoring the others at the table. In the moment, they were of no matter to her. But why was her palm sweaty? “Donnie.” “Adagio.” Only then did his smile match her own, the bustle of the bar continuing around them. “That’s a great name!” His enthusiasm was catching but, alas, Adagio was well-aware that she still had more work to do, a couple of hours left still until the night was all wrapped up. With her best flirty wink, she popped the tray on her hip and fluttered her eyelashes in just the way that got her patrons stuttering and fumbling with her words. After all, she was just trying to get some more money out of them, better tips for herself and the place. Even Donnie was dressed nicely enough to be alright there, she was sure, even if she would have made an excuse either way. “Sure is – now, if I can get you anything else, you guys just let me know, hm? We’ll take real good care of you here, only the best.” The others laughed and blushed and jabbed each other in the ribs, her good-natured flirting ticking all the usual boxes. The show was something that Adagio seemed more than capable of performing with her eyes closed, easier still than even being up on stage, though Donnie’s eyes never left hers, the softness faded while they drew on deeper intent. She shivered. Yet the moment passed almost as soon as it made itself known. She turned back to the bar at a brisk clip, fussing with the classes. “Sarah! Take these glasses back! And we need another cask brought up – can you handle that?” It was genuinely asked but all well with her staff, everything running like a well-oiled machine with her commanding hand at the wheel. Crossing her arms, she pursed her lips and surveyed her strange, little domain, though a tap on her shoulder drew her attention rather sharply and rudely away. “Yes? What...” But she trailed off, finding Donnie there, a smile on his face. “Do you want to do a duet?” If the question took her aback, her answer did even more, the words leaping to her lips before she had a chance to say or do anything different. “Of course!” It was a chance, just one chance, and she found herself up on stage with him more nervous than she had been at performing in months. She shifted her weight and clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, the siren within her laughing and cavorting all the while with malicious glee. Oh, please... A weak human like that? But Adagio had to ignore her, ignore her as she had been doing for so very long already. It was her life to lead as she pleased, not the siren’s, and she had to push past all of that to find out...what, exactly? It was not too bad, not really, although she fussed with the tracks, trying to find something suitable, even though she’d never really worried about what she sang at all. With her voice, it was all phenomenal. “This one?” His grin brightened her night. “Sure!” He was so cheerful, so lively, the draw of him crackling in the tension between them, though it was a good kind of tension, something that made Adagio want to step closer to him, to feel the warmth of his skin against hers. He would not be as good as her, she was sure of that, but it was just a kindness to play up to what the bar patrons wanted too from time to time, something that she could use to bring them back time after time again. They did not announce themselves, simply going for it, Adagio throwing herself into the song with her whole heart and soul. Who she was trying to impress was beyond her but she didn’t ever step up on stage without the intention to put on the very best show possible in hand, a smirk on her lips as she swayed to the beat of the music. To her surprise, Donnie kept up with her admirably, his voice a little shaky at first and then growing stronger and stronger with every verse. His eyes caught hers and she flashed him a grin, leaning into her enjoyment of it, how singing simply cut everything else in her life off as if it no longer mattered. But it was the first time, as Adagio, that she’d sung on stage with someone else that made her heart pound like that, not just a patron who thought they were going to have a “a go” at karaoke or something like that, someone who could match up to her skill and talent even if after a rough start. And then she was blinking in the spotlight, Donnie standing so close that his shoulder brushed hers, breathing a little more heavily than she was proud to admit. Why that was so she could not tell but there was no needed answer to take the praise and adoration of her loving audience. She took a bow and gestured for Donnie to do the same and, of course, like everyone else who came under her influence, he did so instantly, the low, sweeping motion outdoing even her. But Adagio was not to be outdone as she pulled him back upright with a giggle and dropped a kiss on his cheek. It was no more than she would have done for anyone else but it, somehow, meant something different with him. Keep it together, girl... “Hey, that was fun!” She smiled, wondering if he saw something of Knight still in her or if she was that different. “We should do that again sometime. Do you want to come back Saturday night and join me for the show?” Adagio didn’t pay too much attention to the shocked look of her staff members, their surprise meaning nothing to her. She was a law unto herself and could do as she pleased, performing with who she pleased, and she told herself right there and then that she had found another way to bring money into her bar, even if she did not, technically as yet, own it. That was in the works, however... She should have known better. Even the siren whispered to her that she should know better as she sashayed up to guests with a flirty wink and a wiggle of her hips. She didn’t tolerate idiocy and perhaps should have seen a tickle of that in herself too, snapping at her staff even while she sat down and confided in a friend over coffee. “Sooo,” Tracie said with a wink, black hair falling forward as she leaned onto her elbow, chain coffee cup in hand. “This guy... This guy you’re performing with...” Before, such a suggestive inquisition may have turned his stomach to a sickening twist of nerves but Adagio rolled her eyes, even though a blush prickled to life across her cheeks and neck. “Oh, I knew him a long while back,” she said evasively, almost bumping a passing, wobbling toddler with her foot as she jiggled it out beyond her table where people were moving back and forth. “He’s a nice sort, but a good voice on him. I should have thought of doing a duet a long time ago!” Tracie pressed her lips together, eyebrows lifted. “Hon, do you think you’re fooling anyone there?” Adagio blinked. “What do you mean?” “You’re clearly smitten. You’ve got it written all over you! Totally, freaking, utterly smitten!” “Oh, come ooon!” Adagio flung up her hands but, well, she should have known that she wasn’t fooling anyone, regardless of how much she protested. Tracie laughed and teased her lightly, though even she knew that she couldn’t push things too far, not with Adagio, a volatile powder-keg who would go off the rails if she thought that she was about to not get her way. No, no, no, she said, he was just in the show to make her money, though even suggesting that he would be a good draw at her outside gigs got her yet another raised eyebrow. What the hell was up with not being believed like that? Either way, the shows continued and she performed with Donnie, choosing songs together that were best suited to a duet where they could play off one another. There was a bit of dancing too, real dancing, not just her hypnotic sway and wiggle that melted the hearts (and the siren would have said the minds too) of everyone who watched her. Grabbing her hand, Donnie grinned and spun her around, catching her in one arm, though with her head bouncing off the inside of her skull she could only be glad in the moment that he was not so adventurous as to dip her too. It was strange to look up at him like that, feeling like they had already exchanged so many words and, at the same time, no words at all. Songs were not words, they were feelings, her head spinning as he drew her back to her feet. “Oh...” That was not the last of it though as he sat down with her after work, the late hour not seeming to bother night-owl Donnie at all. “So, you’ve handed out flyers but have you thought about doing a deal with local hotels?” He asked, his advertising know-how surprising her more than anyone else. “They could suggest you to people who are travelling or here on business, a local place that everyone goes to, something to get a feel of the city...” His ideas spilt out one after the other and she propped her chin on her hand, eyes almost half-lidded as she peered up at him through her eyelashes. He had some good ideas, even if he did let them run and run in a stream of consciousness, remembering them later even if he couldn’t remember which one, if any, had garnered the best reaction from Adagio. Donnie made it easy to listen to him, day in and day out, and her liking for his company grew and grew. She couldn’t have put her finger on what exactly about him that she liked but he had most certainly changed from the time when she’d last known him, more driven and more motivated again, although he was not the most ambitious person in the world by any means. Truth be told, an ambitious soul probably wouldn’t have matched up all that well with her. Don’t let this one go. In the dark of the night, Adagio stirred, the siren’s voice in her head waking her from what had been a rather pleasant dream, even if she would never have admitted to the content of it. That, in fact, would have been a shade too far even for her... “What are you on about?” She spoke out loud, grumbling, pressing the pillow over her head. She could have stayed in her mind, of course, and only thought what she wanted to say, even though that in itself was something that she forgot from time to time. Who talked in their head, after all? This man... He is a kind soul. “And since when did you give a flying toss about who is kind or not?” I don’t. “You do.” Only then was the siren silent, leaving Adagio to grumble and pummel her pillow, trying to find her way back asleep in the dark of the night, city noises rumbling around her. But it was Donnie that she saw in her dreams – nothing untoward or bad, of course, but they did leave her waking in a sweat, panting lightly, chasing after a future that she did not even know whether or not was hers to take for her own. She was a man but not a man, seeing the world more and more differently as Adagio, and she didn’t even know what to think about relationships, having hardly ever been in them. Life before just hadn’t left any time for that and she could not have said that she’d had very much interest in dating anyway, despite notable instances in her life. Where did that leave her though when it came to Donnie? Adagio tossed and turned, trying to find peace that would not come, not quite then. She could do something to change things but, well...she wanted to hang out with him. To say the least of it, he was a nice guy. And sometimes all someone had to be was nice without reason for her to feel a little more kindly to them. It wasn’t even that she was coarse and harsh with other people but more that she had a leg up on everyone else, standing tall above them, knowing her place in the world. Maybe it was that self-assurance that had led her to invite Donnie out with her to the gigs and such, knowing that he would not upstage her as much as he made her heart beat flutter and flutter. The siren pushed her on. He likes you, genuinely. Adagio rolled her eyes, earning herself a glance from Donnie across the dining room table, laid out a little more fancily than she would have done so if she was having friends round for dinner and drinks. The half-empty glasses of beer on the table were more their style than wine or anything too fancy and they laughed easily even as a rosy tint gleamed in their cheeks. “Is something wrong?” Donnie asked, her silence after whatever he’d asked her stretching out a little too long to be ignored. “You seem...different tonight.” See? He cares. Who else can you say that about? “No... No, everything’s fine. Better than fine.” Did she like Donnie? Oh, the siren had an answer for that, saying that she was being possessive over him, though she couldn’t blame her: after all, he was one of few that liked being around her and didn’t back off because she had an attitude or what-not. For it was not exactly that Adagio went around being mean to everyone by any means. No, a short temper was one thing and her brisk, snapped orders in the bar something else entirely, something that she felt had simply become a part of her. It was not how she’d been before but a better way, like slipping into just the right outfit that made her want to stand up tall and proud, to show off all that she had to offer. Of course, it was a given that she was a catch and there was no lust in his eyes...but something more. Or was that just her being hopeful? She didn’t want him to leave that night, having dinner there together under the pretence of prepping some material for a show, but he did anyway, everything normal, so very normal. Adagio made up an excuse to see him the next day, though that was a ruse and something that she regretted as soon as she saw him out on the street...with her. No, not Adagio: a young woman with blue eyes and a sparkling smile, a fall of perfectly straight, blonde hair that was the exact opposite of hers. With a tucked-in waist and a chest that drew the eye more than Adagio’s attire – when she was just out on the street, at least, and not on stage performing. It was her voice that was her main draw and not even her body would have turned the hearts of men to that extent, both men and women alike lusting for her. Do it. The siren goaded her on as the other woman leaned into Donnie and laughed, too loudly, her hair flying, surely wafting perfume into his face. What the siren wanted her to do was to use her voice, to let go of her humanity, to push on into a new way of being, though there was something still holding her back, the new Adagio standing tall and proud even as she smiled and tossed her hair back over her shoulder. She strode into the midst of their group as if it was nothing at all, taking centre stage and commanding Donnie’s attention. That was right. “Excuuuuse me!” “Hey, Adagio!” He grinned, his gaze locking onto her as if there was no one else in the street at that very moment, all of his attention on her and her alone. “You ready to go?” Even the siren grinned. Nicely done. Adagio didn’t need to thank her. It had been all of her own doing and there was nothing that anyone could do to step into her place, the other woman shoved aside quite neatly all the while being perfectly normal, yet her assertive self in a way that no one could frown on. Everything was just as she wanted it to be as she stepped away, arm in arm with Donnie, though a little smirk of triumph on her lips was not completely untoward. And, before her very eyes, everything seemed a little bit lighter and brighter, easier to manage. Things had changed so very much with the siren’s presence in her life and there was little else she could do but try to manage things as they were, stepping forward, one foot after the other. Though things just seemed easier with Donnie there, happier and softer, the urge to sing both fading and rising at the same time. Maybe the siren didn’t have to control her. Maybe she was, after all, in control of herself. It was worth a thought, but did she really have to come to terms with the fact that she was falling...for Donnie? And, if she was, was that even such a bad thing? “Here you go!” A little girl offered her a tiny flag, something to celebrate an event in their town, and Adagio could not help but smile, Donnie murmuring a soft sound of appreciation too. Maybe things were due to come right, after all...and she didn’t have to understand everything she felt either. Either way, things were okay. With the flag held between two fingers, she smiled, looking down, tucking a strand behind her ear. All the girly things that she’d never thought that she’d have any reason to do, much less for a man. She’d have to see about keeping Donnie around for a little while longer too...