I desperately wanted to look remarkable and hoped that Sophie's flair for fashion would help me now in this important dressing room moment. "You look stunning!" Sophie replied. "I would definitely buy that dress. You Jill, will be the Cinderella of the cast party." I didn't really believe her, but I hugged my friend for her words of encouragement. Sophie's kind words helped calm the butterflies in my stomach. I wasn't sure why I felt so nervous, I wasn't the one that would be performing on stage that night; I'd just be sitting in the audience. A traveling theatre group was coming to town for one night. I loved going to the theatre and I had been excitedly looking forward to this night for months. I even saved two month's worth of waitress tips for the event. Hard earned tips that bought me front row seats and expensive guest passes to the cast party following the play. The remainder of the money would go for my outfit. Sophie and I spent hours getting ready for our special night. The final touch of my beauty preparation was a pair of sparking earrings. "You look ready to win an Oscar." Sophie told me. "I hope Oscar is cute, nice and single." I joked. But it wasn't really a joke, I didn't have a leading man in my life and there were many nights I wished on the early evening star for a magical romance. But the prospects had been bleak for quite some time now so I had settled for finding inspiration and romance on the page, stage and screen.
