Sam stood in front of the entrance of the bustling Grande Theatre, waiting for Amaranta to show up. Dressed in a neon pink suit with a garish yellow tie, the boisterous young man was a bit early - it was only 7:45 PM, but he always liked to be early. He had a lot of ideas in his head and was eager to share them with Amaranta, who, he thought, could help turn some of his dreams into reality.

It was a busy night. At 8:30 PM, the great Yiddish theatre star, Boris Thomashefsky, was going to start performing “King Lear.” A giant crowd had already gathered in front of the theatre, many trying to get their last-minute tickets before the box office closed.

Amaranta took a look, just to confirm that she had the right spot amidst the crowd. She spotted Sam dressed in bright neon pink, guessing that only the flamboyant Sam would do it. None of the crowd dressed anything like it, and he always seemed to want to make an impression. 

She saw that she was right upon a closer look, seeing his features, his brown hair stand out, before making her way through the crowd giving a wave at his side. "Hi Sam!"

“Hi, Amaranta!” Sam grinned like a Cheshire cat. “How are you tonight?”

"Great, would you want to talk about it?" She smiled, though this theatre was a sign of his heritage. She could hear the words sometimes memorable and other times not striking a chord with her. "I wonder what they're speaking?"

“The show hasn’t started yet, but it will in around half an hour. Oh! Sorry for not telling you beforehand, but they’re speaking Yiddish.” Sam blinked apologetically. “They’re saying that people better rush to buy their tickets since they’re running out of tickets now. There’s only 20 more tickets to go!”

Sam took a step towards her. “So did you get your ticket? Or did you just prefer to talk at the back about the project I have?”

"No, I think we'll talk at the back. I don't think I can understand the play at all unless you're at my side translating it line by line and no one wants to hear that," she said, knowing how much she hated hearing even the slightest comment or noise when she was watching her operas. "If it was in English, I'd be open to it. Since I can understand it reasonably well." 

Sam nodded. “That makes sense. We’ll go to an English one next time. But yeah, so…about the project…” his words trailed as he stepped to the side, Amaranta following him.

“Well,” Sam said, rubbing his hands together in excitement. “I want you to make a Hamlet costume for me!” He produced a notebook from his breastpocket, flipped it open, and point to a brightly colored sketch someone (was it him? The lines and the colors looked too neat to be him. Granted, Amaranta had never seen Sam draw or write before, but she had an inkling that he wasn’t good at drawing or doing anything ‘neatly,’ for that matter) had done for him.

“This was a drawing that I commissioned Malka to make for me,” Sam said smugly. “I know, I could probably do a better job, since I’m a very gifted artist. I’m a man of many talents, as my classmates know! But here it is. Some of my friends said it was clownish, but I disagree! I think it looks very regal! Don’t you just love the neon colors?” he chirped.

Amaranta peered at the drawing. It was like a regular “prince” outfit you’d see at a theatre production, only the body of the outfit was a garish neon green. The leggings? Bright purple with pink polka dots. And the shoes? Silver. 

Amaranta couldn't agree more, but it made sense why Malka drew it. Although he would be regal, elegant could not be used to describe him. He would just be blatantly showing off his wealth. Then again, some of the princes in Italy dressed in vibrant colors. But most of the time, it was the colors of their family.  

It kind of had its own charm to it, once they looked past the bright colors. It was almost too much, but somehow managed to work together. She could do this, and it wasn't the worst combination she had. No, that had to go, she thought when she mentally imagined herself combining bright blue and bright red. That to her was one of the worst combinations. 

"The costume works quite well, though are you sure about the silver shoes?" She asked. Of everything, that was the most impractical since it would get dirty fast. 

Sam raised his eyebrows. “Hmm…how about gold? Would that work better? Or should we go with something like black? That way, you can’t tell if it gets dirty.”

"Black would work better." Amaranta answered. But she could do this. 

“Black it is, then!” Sam tapped his foot in delight. “So how much will you charge for this?”

Amaranta took a moment, just to think about it. "Ten dollars."

Sam nodded. “Sounds like a good idea.” He produced the money from his wallet. “Here ya go.”

Amaranta took it right into her hands, the first payment that she got for actual work. The feeling of the note, represented her own work to win this commission. She almost jumped for joy. “Thank you, I’ll call you when you can test out the costume.” 

Sam shook her hand enthusiastically. “Thank you so much, Amaranta! I can’t wait to see the results!”