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(Exasperated)
They can’t all be Mr. Darcy, dear.
Elinor
(Hopeless)
No,but do they have to look like Lord Nelson just after he was shot at Waterloo? Or the Archbishop of Canterbury at the pulpit just before he delivers a somber eulogy?
Hannah & Elinor
Song:Is there no man for me?
Maylis cringedinside as the crowd chuckled. Admittedly, it was the appropriate place to laugh, and even if the songs were fun, the play sucked. Really sucked.
The cast was large, twenty-five people—to make the ballroom scenes look crowded. This was Opening Night and Maylis did not have a good feeling about the show’s future. She waited in the wings for the final curtain call. Her friend and roommate, Jen, was entering from the other side. She and Jen were the leads.
“You’re up,Hannah.” The stagehand tapped her on the shoulder and Maylis dashed out, meeting Jen center-stage. They grabbed hands and rushed to the front. They waved to a lackluster audience and backed away for the curtain to drop.
“The director has called for a meeting of the cast and crew. Before we even change clothes,” Jen said under her breath.
“Oh, boy.” The writing was on the wall as far as Maylis was concerned.
They made their way past the wings together. She and Jen had become fast friends. Jen was from Oklahoma and had graduated from the theater program at Oklahoma City University, a school famed for producing the likes of Kristin Chenowith.
“Will you go home to Bloomington if they close the show?” Jen asked her.
“Definitely not. Being represented by Powell has been a godsend. I didn’t have a chance to tell you yet, but I got a text. There’s new off Broadway show they want me to read for. In New York.” Maylis’s heart pounded hard. “What about you?”
She snorted. “With Cassandra Rodriguez as one of my best friends? Hell, no. I’m going to LA. I’ll room with her and use some of her connections.”
A short giggle escaped Maylis. Cassandra Rodriguez was a fixture on a Disney sitcom. She also had a couple of Top 40 hits.
“If I could I get your attention…”
The meeting had begun.
* * *
Aiden hung backas the audience made its way out of the small theater that only seated about a hundred and fifty people. The show was cute, but he didn’t see it making it to the touring circuit, let alone all the way to Broadway. He hadn’t told Maylis he was coming. He’d wanted it to be a surprise. After seeing the show, he was now doubting the wisdom of his decision.
They spoke to one another on the phone every couple of days over the past two months, and his body ached for her after every single call. He’d helped her move and settle into her tiny two-bedroom apartment. Had even stayed on until she’d been assigned a roommate, fucking her brains out until she could barely walk.
“What are you going to do now?” she’d asked him that last night before he’d left.
“I was thinking of selling the house—”
“Oh, no. You can’t sell the house!”
He’d been pleased with that reaction. It had sealed the deal. He loved her with every fiber of his being, but he held back on telling her. She deserved this opportunity and so many more.
This Austen show wouldn’t make or break her, Maylis was too talented. If the show closed, it was only a delay.
He meandered to the front of the theater and leaned on the wooden rail and watched as the orchestra below packed up their music and instruments, thinking of the script he’d been working on the past year. He had connections and he was utilizing them. Getting helpful feedback from his friend Lin. The last round showed Aiden still had a lot of work to do. In the meantime, he’d been assisting the director fromVictoryon another Lyric production that was getting some good buzz.
A wave of moans filtered out from behind the stage that didn’t bode well. Aiden straightened and strode to the exit at the back of the theater, only to see a guy pasting a “cancelled” strip to the marquis. “Oh, shit,” he muttered. He huddled in his jacket and made his way around to the back of the building to wait.
* * *
