Jon had asked Vicki to meet him after work at the Shanachie. Not an unusual request in itself, given he was sometimes too exhausted to drive himself home, but tonight he had something else in mind. A little surprise. It had taken some doing, and he'd had to ask Mataya and the crew for help in setting it up, but they were only too happy to help aid Jon in his little scheme.
Vicki was usually only too pleased to pick him up when he asked her, knowing that this was a rare opportunity to be allowed to drive the Bentley. Rather than let him worry over her walking through the city after nightfall to get to the theater on time, she'd chosen to arrive early and watch the second night of An Ideal Husband, secured a complimentary ticket purely by virtue of being well known to the staff and crew. As the audience filtered out into the city, she made her way to the backstage door behind the public stairs, knocking gently to be allowed in.
"Oh, Miss Marshall!" A voice called, hurrying after her, a pretty young woman with chocolate brown hair, hands fluttering anxiously. Vicki might recognize her as one of the theater's ushers. "Ms. DeLuca wants to have a word with you in the theater!" Yeah, sure, she did. Or was it just a ruse to get her back into the theater for a special performance"
Paused in the act of opening that door, Vicki blinked, turning to look at the girl who came hurrying over. "Laurel, isn't it?" she groped for the name, smiling at the flustered look of the young woman. "I'm supposed to be meeting Jon, but ..." She glanced from the door to the young usher in front of her. "Well, I suppose if 'Taya wants a word, she'll have told him about it. Alright, I'll head to the auditorium. Thank you."
The auditorium was quiet, the lights dim but not completely dark, the crowd dispersed, the curtain lowered. The place appeared to be completely empty, not a soul in sight, no sign of Mataya or Jon or anyone.
To anyone not used to the silence of an empty theater, this might have been disquieting, but Vicki had worked in theater longer than she had in film. And besides, she knew that this theater was never truly deserted - Hortense, their resident Grey Lady, was always around, somewhere. But Laurel had said that 'Taya wanted to speak to her, so ...."Hello?" Vicki called, wincing at how hollow her voice sounded in the dampened acoustics of the place. "Mataya?"
The first hint that something was afoot was the sound of the curtain being drawn up and the lights coming on, the spotlight not shining on the stage but focusing on Vicki herself, standing there in the middle of the auditorium. And just as the spotlight found her, the figure of a man swept down from somewhere up above, clinging to a rope until he came to a landing on the stage. Clad in tunic and hose, a hat with a feathered plume upon his hand, he bowed lowly to the lady in the spotlight, and Vicki would more than likely recognize that figure as being someone very familiar.
She blinked in the sudden glare of the spotlight, laughing just a little in surprise, knowing how much work it took to rig a spotlight to aim into the auditorium in the first place. As her eyes adjusted, the shadow of her hand protecting her sight from the worst of the glare, she felt a wide grin curve her lips as the hero in hose bowed to her from the stage.
Jon swept the hat from his head as he bowed before her and went down on one knee, lifting a hand to shade his eyes and peering into the light to rest his gaze upon her. "But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks" It is the east, and Victoria is the sun." He moved to his feet then, sweeping the hat up and onto his head, moving with the surety and grace of an experienced actor. "See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O, that I were a glove upon that hand, That I might touch that cheek!"
She'd been about to ask what he was up to, before he started to speak. As the familiar words of her favourite solioquy rang out across the auditorium in a voice she could quite happily listen to for the rest of her life, Vicki felt her jaw slacken, her mouth falling open in quiet amazement. Her feet inched forward, carrying her toward the stage as she stared at Jon mesmerised in her own way.
Laying a hand against his heart, Jon followed Vicki's approach with unflinching eyes, voice hushed as though he were in the throes of love, but loud enough to carry past the footlights. "Did my heart love 'til now" Forswear its sight. For I never saw true beauty 'til this night." He moved toward her then, reaching out to offer her a hand and lead her onto the stage to join him.
"Oh, Romeo, Romeo," Vicki couldn't help grinning wider as she answered in a fond, but definitely sardonic as she mounted the steps up onto the stage, her fingers sliding through Jon's. You didn't spend your life in a theater and not learn some things, at least.
It was Jon's favorite of all the Bard's plays, and it was a role he could play in his sleep and probably had. To his credit, Jon didn't break character, keeping a straight face and going down on one knee again in front of his beloved Victoria. He drew something out from inside his tunic and took her left hand in his, uncurling her fingers so that he could slide a sapphire and diamond ring upon her finger, one that had been given in love once before and passed along to be given in love once again.
He quoted Juliet now, instead of Romeo, as the words seemed to fit the occasion. "My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have for both are infinite." And once the ring was upon her finger, he pressed his lips to the back of her hand in a tender kiss. "I have asked thee once, fair Victoria, and I ask thee once again, wilt thou be my wife, to love and to cherish for the rest of my life?" He lifted blue eyes to her, having to blow away the feathers from his hat that kept drooping over into his face.
Her jaw dropped open once again as he went to one knee, recognising a little belatedly that he was proposing again. And this time he had a ring; something tangible and beautiful and elegant that she could never have guessed at looking so at home on her finger. Part of her mind wondered briefly how he'd known what size her finger was, before she shut it up with a snort of laughter for the feathers that obscured their view of one another. Smiling in amusement, she bent down, blowing the feathers out of his face herself. "Oh, Romeo," she giggled softly, leaning close to touch her lips to Jon's nose affectionately. "Be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Marshall." There was a pause as she thought over that bastardization of the Bard. "Doesn't really work, that one, does it?"
He finally cracked a grin, breaking character, and sweeping her up into his arms to swing her around in a circle, as they were joined by a small crowd of cast and crew who were breaking into a round of whoops and applause and popping open bottles of champagne. "I love you, Victoria Marshall," he told her amidst the cacophony of celebration, and made it official by kissing her right then and there. Leave it to theatre people to pull something like this off and then to want to celebrate with a party.
She laughed aloud as she was swept off her feet, one hand sweeping that ridiculous hat off his head as he spun her about in the midst of their friends' celebratory laughter and cheering. "God help me, I love you, too," she chuckled back to Jon, nuzzling into his kiss with tender affection before breaking it with another laugh. "Even if you are almost totally insane."
His laughter echoed hers, his face beaming with happiness. His friends were her friends, and he couldn't have pulled this off without their help and probably not without a little scheming with Mataya. "Almost but not completely," he agreed with a grin, setting her back on her feet and reaching for that hat to set it atop her head. He turned her toward their friends, lifting their clasped hands into the air and taking a bow, to another round of applause. The champagne was about to flow freely, along with the congratulations.
Vicki was usually only too pleased to pick him up when he asked her, knowing that this was a rare opportunity to be allowed to drive the Bentley. Rather than let him worry over her walking through the city after nightfall to get to the theater on time, she'd chosen to arrive early and watch the second night of An Ideal Husband, secured a complimentary ticket purely by virtue of being well known to the staff and crew. As the audience filtered out into the city, she made her way to the backstage door behind the public stairs, knocking gently to be allowed in.
"Oh, Miss Marshall!" A voice called, hurrying after her, a pretty young woman with chocolate brown hair, hands fluttering anxiously. Vicki might recognize her as one of the theater's ushers. "Ms. DeLuca wants to have a word with you in the theater!" Yeah, sure, she did. Or was it just a ruse to get her back into the theater for a special performance"
Paused in the act of opening that door, Vicki blinked, turning to look at the girl who came hurrying over. "Laurel, isn't it?" she groped for the name, smiling at the flustered look of the young woman. "I'm supposed to be meeting Jon, but ..." She glanced from the door to the young usher in front of her. "Well, I suppose if 'Taya wants a word, she'll have told him about it. Alright, I'll head to the auditorium. Thank you."
The auditorium was quiet, the lights dim but not completely dark, the crowd dispersed, the curtain lowered. The place appeared to be completely empty, not a soul in sight, no sign of Mataya or Jon or anyone.
To anyone not used to the silence of an empty theater, this might have been disquieting, but Vicki had worked in theater longer than she had in film. And besides, she knew that this theater was never truly deserted - Hortense, their resident Grey Lady, was always around, somewhere. But Laurel had said that 'Taya wanted to speak to her, so ...."Hello?" Vicki called, wincing at how hollow her voice sounded in the dampened acoustics of the place. "Mataya?"
The first hint that something was afoot was the sound of the curtain being drawn up and the lights coming on, the spotlight not shining on the stage but focusing on Vicki herself, standing there in the middle of the auditorium. And just as the spotlight found her, the figure of a man swept down from somewhere up above, clinging to a rope until he came to a landing on the stage. Clad in tunic and hose, a hat with a feathered plume upon his hand, he bowed lowly to the lady in the spotlight, and Vicki would more than likely recognize that figure as being someone very familiar.
She blinked in the sudden glare of the spotlight, laughing just a little in surprise, knowing how much work it took to rig a spotlight to aim into the auditorium in the first place. As her eyes adjusted, the shadow of her hand protecting her sight from the worst of the glare, she felt a wide grin curve her lips as the hero in hose bowed to her from the stage.
Jon swept the hat from his head as he bowed before her and went down on one knee, lifting a hand to shade his eyes and peering into the light to rest his gaze upon her. "But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks" It is the east, and Victoria is the sun." He moved to his feet then, sweeping the hat up and onto his head, moving with the surety and grace of an experienced actor. "See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O, that I were a glove upon that hand, That I might touch that cheek!"
She'd been about to ask what he was up to, before he started to speak. As the familiar words of her favourite solioquy rang out across the auditorium in a voice she could quite happily listen to for the rest of her life, Vicki felt her jaw slacken, her mouth falling open in quiet amazement. Her feet inched forward, carrying her toward the stage as she stared at Jon mesmerised in her own way.
Laying a hand against his heart, Jon followed Vicki's approach with unflinching eyes, voice hushed as though he were in the throes of love, but loud enough to carry past the footlights. "Did my heart love 'til now" Forswear its sight. For I never saw true beauty 'til this night." He moved toward her then, reaching out to offer her a hand and lead her onto the stage to join him.
"Oh, Romeo, Romeo," Vicki couldn't help grinning wider as she answered in a fond, but definitely sardonic as she mounted the steps up onto the stage, her fingers sliding through Jon's. You didn't spend your life in a theater and not learn some things, at least.
It was Jon's favorite of all the Bard's plays, and it was a role he could play in his sleep and probably had. To his credit, Jon didn't break character, keeping a straight face and going down on one knee again in front of his beloved Victoria. He drew something out from inside his tunic and took her left hand in his, uncurling her fingers so that he could slide a sapphire and diamond ring upon her finger, one that had been given in love once before and passed along to be given in love once again.
He quoted Juliet now, instead of Romeo, as the words seemed to fit the occasion. "My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have for both are infinite." And once the ring was upon her finger, he pressed his lips to the back of her hand in a tender kiss. "I have asked thee once, fair Victoria, and I ask thee once again, wilt thou be my wife, to love and to cherish for the rest of my life?" He lifted blue eyes to her, having to blow away the feathers from his hat that kept drooping over into his face.
Her jaw dropped open once again as he went to one knee, recognising a little belatedly that he was proposing again. And this time he had a ring; something tangible and beautiful and elegant that she could never have guessed at looking so at home on her finger. Part of her mind wondered briefly how he'd known what size her finger was, before she shut it up with a snort of laughter for the feathers that obscured their view of one another. Smiling in amusement, she bent down, blowing the feathers out of his face herself. "Oh, Romeo," she giggled softly, leaning close to touch her lips to Jon's nose affectionately. "Be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Marshall." There was a pause as she thought over that bastardization of the Bard. "Doesn't really work, that one, does it?"
He finally cracked a grin, breaking character, and sweeping her up into his arms to swing her around in a circle, as they were joined by a small crowd of cast and crew who were breaking into a round of whoops and applause and popping open bottles of champagne. "I love you, Victoria Marshall," he told her amidst the cacophony of celebration, and made it official by kissing her right then and there. Leave it to theatre people to pull something like this off and then to want to celebrate with a party.
She laughed aloud as she was swept off her feet, one hand sweeping that ridiculous hat off his head as he spun her about in the midst of their friends' celebratory laughter and cheering. "God help me, I love you, too," she chuckled back to Jon, nuzzling into his kiss with tender affection before breaking it with another laugh. "Even if you are almost totally insane."
His laughter echoed hers, his face beaming with happiness. His friends were her friends, and he couldn't have pulled this off without their help and probably not without a little scheming with Mataya. "Almost but not completely," he agreed with a grin, setting her back on her feet and reaching for that hat to set it atop her head. He turned her toward their friends, lifting their clasped hands into the air and taking a bow, to another round of applause. The champagne was about to flow freely, along with the congratulations.