An invitation to Katy’s show

The message was from Katy. Jose smiled to himself, high on the fact that he was on a first name basis with the pop sensation! She had contacted him directly and told him to show up an hour before the show and wait for her in her dressing room. Jose was excited to get backstage access to the concert.

The young man arrived at the stadium an hour early, just like he was told to. There was already a crowd in front of the venue. Fans gathered around in groups, some had signs, some were dressed up in bright, colorful costumes and colored wigs. There were scalpers milling through the crowd, hawking extra tickets.

Jose bypassed all this and went to the ticket gate.

“Sorry, sold out,” the guy in the booth told him.

“Actually, I’m on a list…” Jose told him.

“Name?”

“Jose… Pena…” he answered.

The ticket booth guy looked his name up. He nodded and pulled out a band and scanned it into the system then dropped it into a tray to slide out to Jose. “That’s your ID pass. Put it on your wrist and it will give you access to anywhere in the building. Just show it to the guards and they’ll let you in. Enjoy the show!”

“Thanks!” Jose replied, picking up the band. It was a sort of zip tie that he could wrap around his wrist and tighten. He did so and went to the front entrance. The guard scanned his band and let him inside. From there, he wandered around asking people where the backstage was.

He didn’t want to be presumptuous and demand to see Katy right away, but she did text that she wanted him in her dressing room before the show. He figured she was looking for a quickie before the performance, so he didn’t want to be late and let her down.

Finally, he ran into someone who looked like they were working the show and not running security.

“Excuse me? Where can I find Katy Perry’s dressing room?” He asked, holding up his pass band. “I was told to meet her there before the show…”

She looked at him for a moment then said, “You’re too old to be a make-a-wish, are you a contest winner?”

Jose didn’t want to be blabbing about Katy bringing in an escort to her show, so went along with that assumption. “Something like that…”

The girl shrugged and led him to the back. They went through a long hallway and then up to a room with a star on the door and the name ‘Katy Perry’ in the star. The assistant knocked and opened the door. “Ms. Perry?” She looked around, then turned to Jose. “She’s not in, but I’ll find her and let her know you’re here.”

“Thanks,” Jose nodded, heading inside. The assistant left hastily to her own business, leaving Jose alone in the room.

The dressing room was glamorous. There was a large mirror on the wall that was well lit for makeup work. There were several racks on wheels that were loaded up with all sorts of outfits. There was also a couch in front of a coffee table filled with snacks and beverages and a large screen display across from it. Jose paced about, not sure what to do while he was waiting for Katy to show up. He was tempted to strip down and lay on the couch to wait for her, but was too afraid that someone else would walk in.

Instead, he sat in one of the chairs by the mirror and checked his phone. He texted Katy to tell her he was in her dressing room, just in case the assistant forgot about him.

15 minutes later, no one had come to see him. He was getting antsy now. He checked his phone. No reply from Katy. Jose was beginning to wonder if this was all a set up. By the time 30 minutes had passed, Jose was beginning to fret. He knew he was supposed to meet up with the songstress in her dressing room, but he had to check to see if she was alright. The show was scheduled to begin in half an hour and Katy hasn’t shown up in her room. She had to be preparing for the show by now or else everyone in the back would be in a panic looking for her too. He just had to check and see for himself.

He found his way to the backstage area and everyone there was bustling about getting last minute preparations in place. There were all sorts of props and decorations being staged for the different numbers the pop star was planning to perform. There was a giant inflatable cloud and a giant soda can, some weird metal structures with pyrotechnics attached to it. This was like a circus. Jose wandered deeper into the psychedelic wonderland, looking for the performers.

He found a group of them all dressed up in skin tight spandex with aquatic animal themed masks and appendages. He saw Katy talking to one of them and marched on over. He was about to call her name when he was grabbed.

“You!” said the stern looking stage director “The show’s about to start, get in costume!”

“What? I’m not…” Jose started to protest, but the lady wasn’t going to hear it.

She shoved him over to a couple of stage hands and told them, “Get him into the shark costume, then get everyone onto the stage in five!”

“Come with us!” the first stage hand told him, guiding him by the back and arm.

“But I’m not one of the dancers…” Jose tried to explain.

“I don’t care, if Cindy says to do it, we do it!” she replied, not stopping.

The pair quickly undressed the male stripper, impressing him with their efficiency and speed. Then they had him climb into a giant shark mascot outfit. He could barely see through the mesh visor located in the shark’s open maw. He was then led through a low ceiling corridor, stopping at an unseen mark.

“Wait here until it’s time,” the girl told him.

“Time for what?!” Jose asked, freaking out now.

“Dude… chill, you’re left shark, you can do whatever,” said a male voice nearby.

Jose turned and squinted his eyes, barely able to make out a second shark standing in front of him.

“Left shark?” he asked.

“Yeah, like in the Super Bowl. Katy’s having a laugh and getting you to do a bad routine,” he explained. Jose remembered that time Katy Perry performed at the Super Bowl and during her number she was flanked by dancing sharks, with one of them totally out of sequence with the other. He sighed to himself. So, Katy brought him all the way over to have fun at his expense.