Applause filled the small theatre, accompanied by the sound of patrons discussing the play they just witnessed. Valentina waved her broad hat while bowing, a smile on her face. Soon, as the guests started to leave, she made her way to the backstage of the Théatre Helicon. The name was rather fancy for what in reality amounted to a third-rate back-alley theatre but, well, the owner loved his mythology.

She chatted a bit with the other cast members but soon slipped into her private dressing room. A private room wasn’t a common privilege in an establishment such as this, but ever since Valentina had started attracting large crowds by playing the transvestite roles in the raunchy plays that were the theatre’s mainstay, she’d been able to negotiate a much better contract with the owner. He couldn't allow her talents to go to the competition after all.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she slipped out of the costume. It was supposed to be a recreation of an old Spanish nobleman’s attire, but of course much more tight in certain strategic places. It was already warm in and of itself, but to wear it on a hot summer night like this… It didn’t seem like very practical attire for someone in Spain, reallu. It certainly would’ve landed her sick in bed with a heatstroke back in Tuscany.

Once back in her normal suit, she took a moment to sit before the mirror and collect herself. Wipe of the sweat, get her hair presentable again and just calm herself down a bit. Unlike some of her costars, who would go straight to bed after a show, acting always left her buzzing with energy for hours after. So a few moments to steady herself and think on what to do with the rest of her night were a necessity.

Luckily the erotic displays she had to put on didn’t excite her as much as they had in the past. Back then she’d sometimes forget her lines, caught up as she was with looking at the other actresses! And all the rapt attention from the audience, both male and female, hadn’t helped. But you got used to everything, she supposed. Now it was just a job, albeit a job she was damn good at.

A knock on the door and a loud voice from outside interrupted the woman’s thoughts.

“Valentine, darling, are you going to make us wait much longer? We don’t have all evening!”

Valentina rolled her eyes as she walked out into the hallway, immediately knowing who the voice belonged to. A couple of women stood outside, two of which she immediately recognised: a rather chubby brunette dressed in a suit like Valentina and a slightly taller black-haired woman in a flapper dress. The black-haired woman was already filling the small hallway with cigarette smoke, but that didn’t prevent her from walking over and greeting Valentina with several kisses on the cheek.

“Oh you were absolutely splendid tonight! They really outdid themselves with the costume this time. Particularly the tights.”

The woman winked as she said that. The brunette, Laura, rolled her eyes, though she smiled at the two.

“She always does a good job, are you really surprised, Aurelie?”

Aurelie gave her a half-hearted glare.

“Of course not, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t congratulate her, dear!”

Valentina shook her head, a fond smile coming onto her face. She knew what those two were like, if she let them continue they’d be in this hallway for ages. But she wasn’t sure she would survive that long without starving to death.

“If you two are going to continue this, can we at least go to Chez Marie first? Putting on a performance like that makes you hungry, you know."

At that Laura grinned at her. It made the hair on Valentina’s neck stand up. Laura was up to something.

“Not this time, I’m afraid.”

Aurelie joined in on the grinning, looking just as smug. Great, it was a combined effort. 

“We have someone to introduce you to instead. Edwige, dear, you don’t need to stand that far back!”

From a bit further down the hall a girl stepped forward and Valentina wondered how she hadn’t noticed her before. The girl was easily a foot taller than everyone in the room. She had curly blonde hair that came just to her chin. Her dress, while definitely several years out of date, was still lovely. The girls face had a certain sharpness to it, but any hostility was removed by big brown eyes and a blush that was, in Valentina’s opinion, very cute.

Santa Maria preserve her, she was exactly Valentina’s type.

The girl spoke up in a quiet voice:

“H-hello.”

Before Valentina could respond Aurelie started explaining:

“Edwige here is very taken with you, you know. We’ve seen her come to every play you've put on recently, and not a single one where you didn't take part. So we thought, why not bring her along to meet you? Plus, the poor dear is new in Pigalle. Maybe you could show her around, hm?”

Aurelie winked at her. From the smiles she and Laura wore, Valentina could tell they knew exactly what they were doing. She shot them both a half-hearted glare before turning to Edwige with a practiced, charming smile.

“Of course, I’d be more than happy to show the lovely mademoiselle around.”

She reached out to take Edwige’s hand and leant down to press a kiss to it. The growing blush on the girl’s face was a great reward. She just about managed to stutter out a response.

“Thank- Thank you very much…”

Seeing their plan had been set in motion, Aurelie and Laura left with shouts of ‘have fun’ and some suggestive winks, leaving the two women alone in the hallway. Valentina turned to Edwige again.

“So first things first, what’s your actual name? Your accent is definitely not French, and I know from experience Aurelie has the most annoying habit of making every foreign name French. Even if she has to dredge them up from the history books she likes so much.”

The other girl giggled at that, a very pretty giggle.

“Yes, she did do that… It’s Jadwiga. Jadwiga Lachowska.”

Valentina smiled at her.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you Jadwiga. I’m Valentina Gabrielli, but,” she winked, “if you come to see my plays so much, I’m sure you already know that, don’t you?”
Jadwiga’s blush came back in full force as she looked away embarrassed.

“Y-yes, I do. You… You are very pretty, miss Gabrielli.”

Valentina chuckled. This girl was just too cute wasn’t she?

“Well, thank you very much, darling. And just Valentina is fine, you don’t need to worry about formalities. Now, how about I show you around Pigalle like I promised them?”

She held out her arm for Jadwiga to take, putting on a charming grin as she nodded towards the exit.

Jadwiga shyly took her arm, giving her a small smile. They headed outside.

----

Rain fell from the dark sky, pattering on the windows of the small café. L’Hermine was one of the many small cafés scattered throughout Pigalle. The coffee’s quality reflected its price and the seats were not what you’d call comfortable. But the owner, mademoiselle Berthou, had managed to turn it into something homely with some strategically placed flowers and some nice tablecloths. The taxidermied stoat that proudly surveyed the room from the bar somehow didn’t clash with that atmosphere.

The café was rather popular with some of Pigalle’s lesbian community. Mademoiselle Berthou didn’t much care who her customers were as long as they weren’t rude and didn’t cause any trouble. On top of that the café was not very far from some of the nightclubs and dancehalls they frequented, so it had become a popular spot for women who wanted to rest their legs a bit.

Even now Valentina and Jadwiga weren’t alone there. Several of the tables were occupied by other women, some of them clearly couples. At one table there was a priest who must have wandered inside by mistake, going by his very red face.

The night had been going well so far. Valentina had first taken Jadwiga to Chez Marie for dinner and then they’d gone to some of the dance halls. It must have been a bit overwhelming for the girl at first, but she’d quickly lost her initial shyness and Valentina could tell she’d been enjoying the evening. She’d started out the night clearly uneasy with all the open displays of affection and the many prostitutes around, but after Valentina had introduced her to some of her friends, and after they’d danced a bit, that seemed to have dissipated. Before they left for the café Jadwiga had even surprised Valentina with a kiss! A peck on the cheek, but a welcome surprise nonetheless.

Valentina smiled at miss Berthou when she brought over the two coffees they had ordered. Then she turned to Jadwiga.

“So you’re sure you don’t need to head home yet? I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble.”

The woman shook her head.

“No, tomorrow is my day off. I’ll need to go to the Sunday service, but I think I can skip the morning one and go to the evening mass for a change.”

Valentina nodded, feeling a little bit of old catholic guilt nagging at her. She hadn’t gone to the Sunday service in… well, she couldn’t really remember the last time.

“But aside from that, no nagging mother or landlady who wants you home by eleven? God knows mine used to complain about it, even if she’s given up now.”

Jadwiga sighed, leaning on her hand and looking out of the window.

“No mother. My family is still over in Poland. And the landlady doesn’t really bother us as long as we pay. It’s just me and my cat at home.”

Valentina felt her heart twinge a little. She could remember arriving in Paris alone all those years ago, in a strange and big city with no one she knew. She reached out to squeeze Jadwiga’s hand.

“Well, you’ve got me too now. If you need help with something, feel free to ask, alright? My door is always open.” She added with a wink, “Especially for cute women like you.”

Jadwiga blushed at the compliment. Still, her smile was less bright than it had been when Valentina had complimented her before. She reached out to fondle the little silver cross around her neck.

“Thank you but…”

There was a moment of silence.

“Are you sure it’s alright? To say such things?”

Valentina grimaced internally, though she still made sure to keep her face neutral.

“How do you mean ‘alright’? With God?”

Jadwiga nodded.

“The priest back home was always very clear about such things whenever I confessed. He always said it was a sin. I'm... Honestly not sure I should be here."

Valentina sighed but smiled. It certainly wasn’t the first time she’d heard a friend air such worries.

“Let me tell you a story, okay?”

Jadwiga nodded, her eyes curious.

“I’ve always found women attractive. Back in Italy I even had a few girlfriends at school! Not that that was easy, the teachers were always on the lookout for such things. But we made it work.”

“One time my father had caught me, let’s say fondling, one of the other girls. You should have seen his face! I got a good beating, and no sweets for weeks, of course!”

Jadwiga giggled a bit, the little joke thankfully getting her to relax a bit.

“But soon after he went on a business trip to Rome. When he came back he had a big book with him. I wouldn’t be able to give you the title, it was a translation of some American work and it was years ago. But he told me to read it, which I did. And it taught me something very important."

She spread her hands, smiling as if the conclusion was obvious.

“If you are attracted to another woman, that’s because your genes tell you to. They tell you 'oh you like this or this.':If it’s your genes doing it, it’s natural. And if something’s natural, how can it be a sin?”

Jadwiga frowned, clearly still dubious.

“Well, that’s what American scientists say. It’s not what the bible says.”

Valentina shrugged.

“Well I’m an actress, not a theologian. But I have a friend at the university. He told me that there’s a lot of priests who believe in that evolution thing and one who’s recently started saying that the universe started from a big explosion. So if priests can believe that while the bible says it was all made in a week, there’s probably less contradiction around this as well.“

“Besides,” She reached out to take Jadwiga’s hands in hers, “you’ve seen all those other women having fun and being together tonight. They weren’t having some sort of massive orgy, or whatever the clergy thinks we get up to. They were just being themselves and being happy. And so were you. Why on earth would God be against that?”

Jadwiga broke away from Valentina’s gaze to focus on her coffee. Valentina did the same, leaving the girl with some space to think about what she had said. She’d have to introduce Jadwiga to some friends of hers later, who were much more religious than Valentina herself was and who could probably help the woman more. Valentina just hoped what she’d said would be enough for the girl, at least for now.

After a little while Jadwiga looked up again, a slightly embarrassed smile on her lips.

“You’re right, it wouldn’t make much sense. Sorry for bringing the conversation down like that, I just… I felt very anxious all of a sudden.”

Valentina laughed and shook her head.

“Don’t worry about it. We all need a bit of reassurance now and then. If you’re up for it, how about we go dance those worries of yours away? I know a nice place not far from here and the night is still young after all.”

She winked and gallantly held out her hand to help her companion out of her seat. Jadwiga took it and giggled as she made a small curtsy to mirror Valentina’s princely behaviour.

Soon the two of them disappeared into the night.