Chapter One- Broadway Constellations

Hi everyone! Here's a story with a focus on Angie's point of view. I hope you enjoy it and feel free to let me know what you think and leave a review. I

really value all your opinions! Thank you!

-Evelyn-ecrivaine

Angie Martinelli glanced at her watch anxiously while fixing up her breakfast. It was only five-thirty in the morning and she wasn't needed at her new job until seven. Plopping down at the kitchen counter she half-heartedly attempted to eat, but her mind was elsewhere and the piece of toast went untouched. Eventually, the attempts at having breakfast were abandoned and it was time to get ready. A new pale yellow dress the color of sunshine and a simple string of pearls was her final decision for the outfit of the day. As she headed out the door, again making sure she was not going to be late, she paused for a look at herself in the mirror; teeth brushed, hair made up to frame her powdered face, a slight hint of rosiness in her cheeks, eyelashes curled, and a pale pink shade of pink coloring her lips. She began to move towards the door but returned to the mirror, once, twice and finally a third time to check her reflection. After the fourth look in the mirror, Angie decided that her appearance was neat and pretty and left her apartment to begin her first day at her job.

The streets of Manhattan were bustling and busy as usual. Normally, the lively atmosphere of city made Angie feel right at home, but on this day, she could not afford to be late, or have a cup of coffee accidentally be spilled on her dress, nor her shoes splashed with mud. When she finally arrived at where her new job would be, she stepped back and admired the building. To an outside observer, it was an old rundown theater, considered one of the Broadway theatres, but nonetheless, nothing special and certainly in need of a long-delayed renovation. But for Angie Martinelli, it was much more. It was the place where her wishes and dreams resided. The golden lights that spelled out the theatre name may have seemed gaudy to some, but she viewed them as highly as the constellations of the night sky, an otherworldly sight that was always observed from afar and never close enough to reach. With a grin of excitement, she grasped the doorknob of the entrance and entered the theatre.

The theatre was only dimly lit; Angie was early, the light crew had not yet arrived and the theatre was empty. Finding no better way to pass the time, she made her way up to the stage and timidly walked on. It was her first time actually standing on a Broadway stage. Reaching the center, she looked out into the darkened seats of the audience and imagined the crowd standing and cheering. The spotlight would shine and she would gratefully acknowledging the applause with smiles and a curtsey. Better practice now, she thought to herself, and bobbed down in a little bow.

"Miss Martinelli, we pay you to be a stagehand here, not a performer!"

Angie quickly straightened and looked out into the audience to see the stage manager who had hired her a week ago.

"I'm sorry Mr Johnston," she mumbled with embarrassment, "I was early, and thought to pass the time…"

Johnston rolled his eyes. "If I wanted you on stage I would have hired you as an actress, Martinelli. Now off the stage."

Angie nodded and quickly obeyed.

Johnston spoke again with thinly veiled annoyance. "Your job here is quite simple, you run errands, whether it be for me, or the actors or the other stage people here; the customers and lighting designers. Do what you're told, and you won't lose your job. Clear?"

Angie nodded rapidly, eager to redeem herself after the embarrassing stage incident.

"Fair enough. Now go make yourself useful."

As people began to arrive at the theater for the workday, Angie was introduced to one person after another as the new stagehand. Immediately there was an endless stream of errands to run. Coffee to make, script notes to write, props to organize, the list extended into infinity. When the day was finally over, Angie's new job proved itself to be far more exhausting and far less exciting than she had expected. She hardly wanted to go work a waitressing shift at the L&L Automat. Her only hope was that her friend Peggy Carter would there. Though sometimes overly quiet, Peggy was one of her only friends. Angie wearily made her way to a bus stop and towards her second job. Luckily, Peggy was at the automat that night and patiently waited for Angie's shift to be done.

Peggy smiled as her friend approached. "How was the new job?"

"Terrible."

Peggy sighed. She could certainly relate to the experience. The day at the SSR had hardly been enjoyable. However, there would be no confiding her frustrations to her friend, since Angie believed that she worked at a telephone company. Plus, it would hardly be right to burden Angie with her own problems, when her friend seemed already so upset. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

Angie sighed. "Well English, there's not much to say. It was terrible."

"But Angie, on the bright side, you're working in a theater-"

"As a stagehand. The biggest part of my day was getting coffee."

Peggy paused for a moment and tried to conjure up something that would cheer her friend. "Angie, I know how you feel. That what you want is so far away. But make the best out of what you have for now and I bet good things will come your way." She smiled reassuringly.

Angie grinned, "You know, English, I wouldn't believe that advice if it came from anyone else.

However, despite trying to make the best out of things, Angie's second day at work went no better than the first. After work, she headed for the library. The librarian who greeted Angie smiled and politely asked, "Hi, what can I help you with?"

"I'm looking for the old newspaper clippings on Captain America."

"Oh, someone else just asked for them, he's sitting over there," she gestured to someone sitting at a table across the library.

"Okay, I'll go ask for them myself, thank you."

Angie walked over to the man looking at the articles.

"Excuse me, could I maybe see those, when you're done?"

He didn't look up. Gosh, how awkward, Angie thought to herself. She cleared her throat, "'Ummm, 'scuse me?"

Still no response. She sighed and tapped on his shoulder, finally getting his attention. Angie smiled shyly when he met her gaze. How handsome he is! she thought. Certainly not in the flashy, showy way of an actor but he had a cool and calm look about him. After a moment, finally remembering to speak she asked again, "Can I take a look of those articles when you're done?"

"Oh, yes of course," he said distractedly and returned to his stack of papers without another word.

Being left standing awkwardly Angie jokingly asked, "Are you going to be done today?"

He looked up again, missing the joke. "Yes, just a moment, I'll be done."

"Okay, I'll just umm sit here then." Angie gracelessly plopped down into the seat across from him, topping off the incredibly awkward moment.

After what seemed like an eternity of only the soft sound of readers turning pages around them, the man finally looked up at Angie and wordlessly passed the stack of newspaper clippings towards Angie.

"Thank you," she said with a smile. "Could I have the rest of them please?"

The man looked down at the stack of papers that sat on the table in front of him and closed the manilla folder that held them. "Sorry, ah, you can't have these. Top secret." he said with mock seriousness.

"Oh… I see, well probably for the best then, I'm not exactly a very good secret keeper," Angie smiled, keeping up the charade.

"So… Are you a big Captain America fan or something?"

"No actually, I'm trying out for this part, Betty Carver, in this radio special called The Captain America Adventure Program, and it's based off of the real Captain America, so I thought I'd do some research." She paused, "I'm an actress, or well trying to be one anyways," she chuckled with a hint of bitterness.

He nodded, "I see. And do you really love theatre?"

"Yes, a lot. I'm Angie, by the way. Anyways, what do you do?"

"I'm a writer."

"Really, that's so interesting. I love to read!" she exclaimed. "Poetry or novels?"

He shrugged. "All sorts of writing, really."

Angie nodded, eager to hear more, "Have you got anything published?"

Her excitement was beginning to make him uncomfortable. "Not yet, no."

She nodded, "I know the feeling, I haven't got my big break on Broadway yet, but it'll come eventually." Angie was so happy to have someone to talk to that when she realized he was repeatedly checking his watch, a look a disappointment crossed her face.

The look did not go unnoticed by the man, and he suddenly felt terrible for disappointing such a clearly lonely girl who needed company. It was unusual for him to be so in tune with the feelings of those around him, usually he was so immersed in his work. But, there was something very special about the sweet, friendly girl he had met; he so rarely encountered traits like hers. "Listen, so I'm free tomorrow morning," he started, "Would you like to maybe go out for breakfast at the bakery by the museum? You know the one?"

Angie nodded with a smile and a laugh. "I'll need your name first, though."

"Oh, right. It's Thompson, Jack Thompson."

"It's nice to meet you, Jack Thompson."