Trina walked into Drew and Buck's apartment and frowned. Then she looked around the place, absolutely shocked. Buck wasn't taking care of himself, or the apartment. It was a disaster. She knew that Drew would be home soon, and she could not allow her dear friend to return home to - this.
She decided she'd start cooking for Buck first, and take care of the apartment while the meal was cooking. That was when she noticed that there was no food in the place.
Trina shook her head. Then she went back to her own apartment and started a stew. It would take a couple hours to properly cook. And during that time, Trina was going to attempt to locate the floor on the Wilmington apartment.
Buck was surprised when he approached his apartment. He heard what appeared to be a vacuum running. But who? "Sunshine!?" He quickly opened the door then frowned when he saw Trina. He stood there with his hand on one hip the other he ran through his hair. "Trina?"
Trina jumped and looked over.
Buck bit his lip as she turned off the vacuum holding her hand to her heart. “I didn´t mean to startle you. But can I ask what you´re doing? You don´t need to clean this place up. I can do it. It wasn´t that bad right?”
Trina looked to him. “You´ve been real busy Buck. I want to help. Have you heard from Drew?”
Buck nodded and pulled a letter out of his pocket. “Yeah I got this earlier today. She´s in New York. Well she didn´t say so that´s where it´s postmarked.”
Trina´s eyes lit up. “What does it say?! Is she coming home? I know she is Buck I feel it. Don´t ask me how I just have this feeling our Drew will be back soon.”
Buck felt as thought the wind had been knocked out of him. Trina looked so hopeful and after all she had been through he couldn´t break her heart right now. “Yeah maybe. She didn´t say. But she did write another letter. Guess it's a start.”
He turned his back and walked into the kitchen. The truth of the matter was Drew said that she felt it was only fair that they end their marriage so he could move on. He couldn´t find her to tell her he didn´t want to move on he loved her and wanted her back. Drew said she was going to file for divorce and he should be receiving the papers soon. His only hope was that when she did file he would be able to find out her location. A postmark from New York City was not enough for him to go on. But maybe Ezra could help.
He looked to the letter again as Trina finished vacuuming.
I love you Buck with all my heart and soul. But I can´t continue to dwell on what can never be. Both of us need to move on with our lives and it would not be fair for me to keep you in the dark an unable to move on in that life with Lacey or whomever you chose to share it with. I´ve done a lot of soul-searching these past few weeks. I realize that I should have stayed but I had no fight in me Buck. I do now but it´s too late to fight for you, you moved on and gave up a long time ago. I finalized that by leaving and losing our son. I´m so sorry and there´s not a day that goes by that I don´t think about you and Brandon--Brandon. My, our son. I bet he would have been so beautiful...
I´ll have my lawyer, well not mine mothers, get in contact with you soon. You´d be surprised how supportive mother has been of me. For the first time in my life she has been there. Held me when I grieved for our son and helped me to realize that I can´t keep you in limbo forever. She even told me she loves me, can you believe that? I´ll start divorce proceedings soon. Have a good life Buck. You´re a good man and I will always love you.
Wow I just read back over that and realized how final this really is. My heart is breaking here. Mother and I will be attending Ezra and Trina´s wedding. I hope that we can be adults and not-- well just make it the best day possible for my brother and his bride to be. Who knows maybe we can even manage to be friends again someday, I´d like that. Would you?
Drew
Buck shook his head, “Oh Sunshine---- It´s not over. It can´t be.”
~~~~
Laura walked over to the ten girls that were competing in the Arizona Queen pageant. They were using the local legion for rehearsal and interviews. She cleared her throat, waiting for the girls to quiet down. “Good afternoon, ladies,” she said. “As you all know, I am Laura Fitzpatrick, I am your pageant director for the Arizona Queen pageant.”
Laura stepped forward and passed out the folders she had in her hands. “I hope that you all looked over the papers I mailed to you upon receiving your applications and entry fee, this is a list of times for rehearsals and a few of the events you will be required to participate at if you happen to be chosen as the Queen or one of her court members,” she said. “You should have brought with you today your gowns for fittings, your interview suits as well as street clothes to rehearse in. You should be practicing in the shoes you are wearing during the pageant only. Those shoes will determine where you are at in the line up; and you should be breaking them in during the course of these rehearsals. I don´t want anyone limping on stage because they have blisters from too new shoes.”
“Miss Fitzpatrick?” a young girl with blonde hair and brown eyes asked.
“Yes, Rianda is it?” Laura asked.
Rianda nodded. “Are we having the judge´s interviews today too?” she asked timidly.
“Yes you are,” Laura said. “And I was just coming to that. By the way, call me Laura, it´s much easier then Miss Fitzpatrick.” Laura smiled gently at each girl.
“You have a total of eight judges,” Laura began. “You will have a total of ten minutes for your interview. You may think that ten minutes is a long time, but you are answering the questions of eight very different people. What the interview does is show them how quick you are on your feet and how well you handle quick answers and speaking to a large number of people. I won´t lie to you, the interview is very important. This interview often determines who the new queen will be.”
Laura began to walk in front of the girls, looking at them one by one. “During each interview, you will learn small amounts of your stage presence and the walk you will have to keep,” she said. “Remember to smile, don´t let them get to you. Those people are not in there to grill you, they are just asking you questions. Allow yourself to fall into a casual conversation with them. Don´t be curt, allow yourself to relax. That is the easiest way to master an interview like this. Show presence. Make them remember you with your smile, your ease with yourself and how you hold yourself.”
Laura glanced down at her watch. “The judges will be arriving in half an hour, between now and then I want to assign all of you your contestant numbers,” she said. “Please line up the tallest to the shortest.” Laura quickly gathered the contestant numbers, noticing that many of her volunteers were showing up. Her mother and Mrs. Gentry were going to make sure the gowns fit the girls and would measure them for the last minute costume additions. Turning back to the girls she began to assign each girl with a number, telling them that each of them was going to do fine.
Lisa Lawerence, a rather tall, slim red head that showed a certain amount of clumsiness was the first contestant and Laura noticed she seemed a bit pale at the idea of it. “Lisa are you all right?” Laura asked with a soft smile.
“Do I have to be first?” Lisa asked.
“Unfortunately,” Laura said. “You are the tallest. But that means you will get your interview done first. Just be yourself, don´t let them see that you are nervous. If you stumble over your words a bit, just say excuse me and keep going.”
Lisa smiled. “Thank you,” she said.
Laura returned the smile and stepped back. “All right ladies,” she called out. “We are going to begin. One thing that I want you to remember is this. The night of the pageant, I will be backstage to see you off. Each one of you has already won in your own minds. Not many people can get up and do this, and every single one of you is setting aside some fear to get up in front of those people and do this. Just allow yourselves to be proud of that, and just have fun.”
Each of the girls watched her nervously. One by one Laura took them through the motions of the basic on stage presence they would need to have, and the walk they had to make in their gowns. She showed them how to pivot in their shoes, and how to turn in a way that would not let them trip, especially if they had a train or a sweep on their gowns that they might step on. As she was showing them where they would be standing on the stage, the judges arrived.
Laura nodded to them and turned to face the girls. “Ladies, if you will excuse me, your judges have arrived,” she said. “I am going to show them to the area will you will be judged. While I am doing that, I want each of you to take a break, get some water, freshen your make up before your interview. I will come and get you one by one, but first I want to introduce you to Trina MacKinnon. She will be the interview monitor.” The girls smiled at Trina as she stepped forward.
“Trina will be sitting in the room with the judges, her main purpose is to time the interviews, get the next contestant and escort her into her interview,” Laura said. “She will also be a sense of calm in your interview for you. If you need a bit of assurance, just look at Trina. If you wish to speak with her while I am with the judges feel free, also any of the volunteers behind me are available if you need them. Once interviews begin we will begin fittings and other areas of the rehearsal.” Laura noticed all the girls nodded, so she walked over to the judges.
“You seem to have those girls under control,” Josiah said with a smile.
Laura grinned at him then looked at everyone. “If you all will please follow me,” she said. The three women and five men followed behind Laura to a nearby room of the legion. “If you all will have a seat,” she said gesturing to the chairs behind the long table that had been set up.
“I´d like to thank all of you for agreeing to judge this year´s Arizona Queen pageant,” she began. “There are a total of ten contestants this year, and each of you received a copy of their bio last week to review for their interviews. You will have ten minutes to speak with the girls. Trina MacKinnon will be the interview timer. I must ask that you not discuss the results of the pageant outside of this room and only discuss any questions and opinions of the girls inside this room and amongst yourselves. Please do not ask Miss MacKinnon, myself or any other volunteer their opinions on the girls. The only time I wish you to come to me about a girl is if you have a question about their biographies you received. I don´t want any opinion I might or might not have about the girls to sway your decision. Are there any questions?” The eight people shook their head. “All right, I will give you all five minutes to go over the first bio for contestant number one who is Lisa Anderson, then I will ask Miss MacKinnon to bring her in and the interviews will begin.” With a smile at them, Laura turned and headed out of the door.
“The girls seem a tad nervous,” Trina said when Laura walked up to her.
“I was too when I competed,” Laura said.
Trina smiled at her. “You competed?” she asked.
Laura nodded. “I was the Arizona Queen eight years ago,” she said. “It´s one the reasons they asked me to organize it this year. Also it is the fiftieth anniversary, so we have a lot of former queens making appearances. Sue Rodriguez is a former queen as well. Winifred Landry was the original Arizona Queen, and she´s here. She´s going to crown the new queen with last year´s queen.”
Trina smiled. “This festival sounds so wonderful,” she said. “So…”
“Down home?” Laura provided with a smile. Trina nodded. “It is. My brother and his family are coming down. They do every year. It´s been a family tradition every year.”
“That sounds lovely,” Trina said.
Laura glanced at her watch. “I´m going to go talk to the girls then I´ll let you take Lisa back,” she said. She handed Trina a list of the contestants in numerical order that she had written down after assigning numbers. Trina nodded taking the list and the stop watch attached to the clipboard.
Laura walked over to the girls. “Ladies, interviews are about to begin,” she said. “Your judges are Josiah Sanchez and Ezra Standish, both deputies for the local sheriff. Chris Larabee, the local sheriff. Four Corners´s mayor, Carlton Watson. Cleaver Prescott, a businessman. Sue Rodriguez, owner of Sue´s Consignment Shop and a former Arizona Queen. Karol Mason, Four Corners´s veterinarian. And Betty Jo Carlisle, Pastor Carlisle´s wife.”
“Lisa, Trina will take you back to the judges,” Laura said. Lisa nodded and walked back with Trina.
“All right ladies,” Laura called. “Let´s begin.”
Laura showed all of the girls how to walk, stand and turn as each one was taken for their interviews. Only a few mishaps occurred with a couple of the girls, one tripping on her way to the interviews, another coming out in tears. All normal reactions Laura thought for each girl. She had her thoughts about the different girls, and who had the best chance to win, but she never showed any favoritism to any of the girls. Once she bid farewell to the judges, promising to see Josiah, Ezra and Chris later that night, Trina rejoined the other volunteers as they watched Laura teach the opening dance number to the girls.
Laura walked over and began showing the different volunteers who were working backstage the script line up and the different changes the girls would be making. She kept an eye on the girls as they rehearsed. She made some last minute adjustments and answered any questions the women had about the script and how things would flow the night of the pageant. Each girl would have a volunteer to work with them, making sure there were no last minute kinks that needed to be worked out before the girls went on stage. Laura told the women they could all get ready to leave when they wanted, that she was going to start winding down the rehearsal.
“Okay girls,” Laura called out. “Gather your things so you can get ready to go home. Talk to Mrs. Gentry about your fittings for your gowns and to my mother for your dance costumes. Our next rehearsal is tomorrow at four o´clock. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. You all have my home phone number and my cell phone number if you need to get a hold of me for any reason.” Laura smiled. “See you all tomorrow,” she said.
A few of the girls walked up, asking Laura some questions about the turns and the walks they would have to make, a little unsure of themselves. She easily showed them, reassuring them that they would have the walks down by the time the pageant got there. She talked with some of her volunteers before they too headed out, Laura having told Trina that she would come by the grille as soon as she was done at the legion. Laura gathered her things together, making a few notes here and there about things she would need to bring for rehearsal the next day based on the girls. She turned the lights off in the legion and glanced at her watch. The dinner at the Grille had started thirty minutes before by the time she finally locked the hall to the Legion and she headed to her car. The first rehearsal and interviews were officially over.
.