<div style="text-align: center"><a href="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/attachments/6495/" target="_blank">View attachment 6495</a> <a href="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/attachments/6496/" target="_blank">View attachment 6496</a><br/>
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"Are you nervous?"<br/>
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"Why would I be nervous, Lorna?"<br/>
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"It's not uncommon for first timers to have stage fright."​</div><br/>Delfina chuckled and shook her head as she applied the last touches on her lips, the ruby red lipstick complimenting her brown skin nicely. "This isn't my first time," She said. "I love performing, you know that. In fact, it's where I'm most comfortable." Looking at her friend through the mirror, she caught the unmistakable expression of concealed doubt. Lorna was such a worry wart. Delfina supposed it was one of the many reasons she loved her so much; what she lacked Lorna seemed to have in abundance.<br/><br/>"Lorna," She said, finally standing from her chair to close the short distance between herself and the woman in question who was a few years her senior. "Quit fussing over me and go sit in the lounge with the girls. Enjoy yourself."<br/><br/>The woman chewed thoughtfully on her lower lip with a look of indecision in her eyes. Delfina supposed she was debating her options - not that she had many. "Very well, I will. On the condition that you promise to find me in the lounge afterward. I don't want to see you mingling with the men. They're vicious here."  Delfina understood she wasn't referencing the married men nor the single ones, but rather the men of business; the ones with pretty words and empty promises young girls with stars in their eyes fell for.<br/><br/>Not long ago Delfina had been one of those lambs, and had it not been for Lorna she would have willingly followed the herd of wolves in sheep clothing. Now, she didn't even want to entertain the road she would have walked, infinitely happier with the one she was on now.<br/><br/>"Fine. No mingling. Just you, me, and the girls. Maybe we could even go to Ciro's."<br/><br/>That seemed to please Lorna, and soon enough Delfina was on her own. One look at the clock told her that she didn't have long, so she simply contented herself with giving herself one last look-over in the mirror. Her off-the-shoulder red dress and pinned up hair were still in presentable condition. Satisfied, she exited the backroom, only to bump into the the showrunner who had been coming to tell her to be ready.<br/><br/>Once on stage, Delfina took her sweet time cozying up to the microphone, taking the time to look back at the band and smile, and watching them smile back, as if she hadn't been rehearsing with them for the few days. Lorna and the girls were sitting in front, and she smiled at them, too.<br/><br/>Being with such great company made for an easy, flawless show. She'd started with a slowed down version of Fats Waller's<i>Honeysuckle Rose</i>, and ended her performance off with Margaret Whiting's<i>That Old Black Magic. </i><br/><br/>It was Lorna's wide grin which confirmed what Delfina thought as she stood up on the stage - tonight had been one of her best performances to date.