“Absolutely,” I told him, nodding my head rapidly before I realized he couldn’t see me. “That won’t be a problem at all.”
“Great,” he replied. “We’ll be switching up rehearsal spaces for a few weeks until we can get into the theater on a regular basis. My assistant is going to send you an email with the details.”
“That sounds good,” I said, gripping the phone tighter. It still felt like it was about to slip out of my fingers.
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow, Annie.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” I replied. “Thank you so much.”
We said goodbye and I ended the call. I stared down at my phone in shock, still hardly daring to believe the call had actually happened.
I don’t know how long I stood like that, staring at my phone, before I finally heard the sound of Nate’s voice.
“Annie?” he asked, standing in the doorway to his bedroom. “What’s up?”
I realized then that I was shaking. Literally shaking. I couldn’t believe that this was happening to me. It was the moment I had dreamt of my entire life.
“Annie?” he asked again, more sharply. “What’s wrong?”
I looked up at Nate and felt the urge to tell him, to scream it at him, to throw my arms around him and ask him to celebrate with me.
Then it hit me. What the hell was I doing? My life was about to change and I was in some strange guy’s bedroom? I should be sharing this with Jen and Ginny, no one else. Not Nate, not any man. I stood up, managing to control the trembling in my limbs.
“I got that part,” I said casually. “Rehearsals start tomorrow.”
“Oh my God!” he said, his face lighting up. “That’s amazing!”
“Yeah,” I said. “I better get going though. Lots to do. And I need to get home to tell the girls.”
I saw his face fall, but I couldn’t let myself worry about it. I knew what I was doing.
“Well,” he said, smiling again. “I want to take you out to celebrate. This is really amazing.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know, Nate. I mean, I’m gonna be really busy. This is a huge deal for me, you know?”
“Annie,” he said uncertainly. “What’s going on? Why are…why are you blowing me off?”
I plastered a look of surprise on my face. “I’m not blowing you off,” I said. “I mean, it’s not like we’re in some serious relationship, right? Wasn’t this all supposed to be just a bit of fun?”
“Fun,” he said, his voice suddenly tight. “Yeah. Fun.”
I chanced a glance at his face and regretted it almost immediately. He looked so sad, so disappointed. I forced it from my mind. I had gone too far with him already, way too far. If I didn’t end this now, he would just do it soon himself. I knew that. It was the way it always worked.
“Look, I’ll give you a call, okay?” I asked, struggling to keep my voice light.
“Okay,” he said. “Sure. Whatever.”
I slipped around him and headed down the hall to the front room. I found my purse and put my shoes on, then paused for a moment, waiting for him to come back out. He never did. “See you around, Nate,” I finally said, softly, before I left his house.
Chapter Fifteen
I spent the next eighteen hours feeling incredibly annoyed. While I should have been bouncing off the walls in excitement over the show, I instead found that I couldn’t keep my mind off of Nate. I had clearly hurt his feelings and that didn’t sit well with me. I tried to remind myself that it was no big deal, that I had been clear about what I wanted in Vegas and he had no reason to be upset that I had stuck to it. But for whatever reason, I still felt bad.
“Maybe you miss him,” Jen suggested, when I confided this to her over the phone the next day. “Maybe you’re feeling bad because you wish you would have stayed there last night and let him celebrate with you.”
“I doubt it,” I said. “I left because I wanted to.”
“Are you sure?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I snapped, feeling my irritation peak.
“It means that I think you left because you thought you should, not because you wanted to. I think you left because you got scared.”
“What in the hell would I have to be scared of?” I asked, feeling stung.
“That you might actually be falling for someone,” she said.
“That’s ridiculous,” I told her. “We barely know each other.”
Jen didn’t reply. I could tell she didn’t believe me and wasn’t about to validate my lie with an argument. It was classic Jen—taking the high road and making me feel like a baby in the process.
“Anyhow,” I said, determined to change the subject. “How’s your day? What’re you guys working on?”
“I was actually doing some prep for the benefit,” she said. “Getting together a final guest list.”
The benefit. Wow. I had totally forgot all about it. Between Nate and the audition, it had slipped my mind entirely.
“That’s great,” I said. “Thanks again for doing this, Jen.”
“No problem,” she said. “It’s for a good cause. Besides, things are a little slow right now.”
I winced. The fall was kind of a scary season for an event planner. Most of the weddings had tapered off and it would be a few weeks still before the holiday planning would start. I was so proud of Jen, leaving her firm to start her own company. It had taken major guts and I wanted nothing more than for her to be successful.
“Do you want me to see if we can raise the budget a little?” I asked.
“No, sweetie, we’re fine. Seriously. Don’t worry about it. We did great with the wedding season; it will get us through until the holidays pick up. Besides, Kiki’s dad always throws some big event our way when he’s worried we’re too slow.”
“Ah, the joys of nepotism,” I said.
I was only joking, but Jen sighed. “It does feel a little shady, to tell you the truth.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I told her firmly. “Mr. Barker knows how good you are at your job. He loved what you did for the wedding, remember? I bet he would use you even if you weren’t working with Kiki.”
“He did give me an amazing recommendation before I left my old job,” Jen said, her voice brighter.
“You could feel guilty if you took advantage of him,” I said. “If you took his work and did a half-assed job just because he’s connected to your partner. But I doubt you would ever do that.”
“Of course I wouldn’t!” she said, sounding like the very idea offended her. I grinned. I had never met anyone with a work ethic like Jen’s.
“Then I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” I told her. “You earn the money for those jobs.”
“Damn right I do,” she said. “Okay, enough about that. How are you feeling about the rehearsal?”
When I had arrived home from Nate’s last night and told Jen about my part, she had been ecstatic for me. She had immediately called Ginny and demanded she come over so the three of us could celebrate. We drank a bottle of champagne that Jen had been saving for a client and toasted to the beginning of my long and successful career as a paid actress.
“I’m excited,” I told her, feeling a thrill in my stomach at the thought. “But a little nervous, too.”
“You’ll be fine,” she assured me. “Seriously, you won that part over a ton of actresses. You need to walk in there with some swagger.”
“Go all diva on them?” I asked, smiling.
Jen laughed. “No. But be confident and sure of yourself. You’re going to kick ass.”
“Thanks, hon,” I said.
“Shoot,” she said. “The other line is beeping. Want me to call you back?”
“No, I have some work I should be doing,” I said, looking down at the piles of paper on my desk. “I’ll see you after rehearsal.”
“Okay, hon. Break a leg!”
After we hung up I spent several minutes staring at my papers, trying to come up with
the motivation needed to get started. It wasn’t going to happen. With a surreptitious look over my shoulder to ensure that I was still alone in the office, I pulled my audition materials out of my bag and started reading over the pages I had been given for the callback. Within minutes, I was happily lost in the world of my play.
Chapter Sixteen
‘It’s very important, in the early days of your relationship, to keep your options open. I’m not recommending that you date more than one man at the same time, but I also wouldn’t recommend that you get so caught up in someone that you close your eyes to other opportunities. You simply never know when or where your soul-mate might arrive.’—The Single Girl’s Guide to Finding True Love
Pulling up outside of the bar that would be our rehearsal space for the next week, I tried to remember what Jen had told me about confidence. It was not something I normally had an issue with; overbearing was usually a more apt description for me. But this was different. Inside the private room upstairs that Collins had reserved for us were serious professional actors. People who had worked in Chicago and New York. Freaking Jenner Collins, a movie star.
They wanted you for this part, I told myself. Over any other more established actress. They picked you.
The pep talk calmed me down a little and I got out of the car, determined to show a little of the swagger that Jen had recommended.
I made my way to the private room above the bar, hearing a babble of noises already. I straightened my faded old Ramones t-shirt (a good luck charm I’d had ever since high school), took a deep breath, and walked in.
There were about six or seven people already gathered inside, making small talk. I recognized a few of them from my callback. The room was on the small side, paneled in dark wood with low-hanging beams. It had an old world pub feel to it that I immediately liked. I made a mental note to bring the girls back here sometime to hang out, before I turned my attention to the group of people standing in the middle of the room.
It appeared as if some of the other actors knew each other, but there were a few people looking about as awkward as I felt. I approached the group with a smile on my face.
“Hey,” I said, as everyone turned to look at me. “I’m Annie.”
“Hey, Annie,” said a good-looking older guy with distinguished graying hair. I immediately recognized him from my callback, as we had read together several times. “I think you’re my daughter.”
Everyone laughed at this, and I smiled. “Awesome,” I said.
A very pretty brunette about my age was glaring at me from the edge of the group. I ignored her, used to this kind of obvious loathing. Even in college it had been rampant in the theater department. Actresses were, by nature, jealous beings.
“Hey, Annie,” a voice said from just next to my ear. “I’m Tyler.”
I looked over and saw a very cute guy standing right next to me—a little too close, to be honest. He was tall and somewhat thin, with shaggy dark hair and what Jen would refer to as ‘designer stubble’. He was attractive, in that creative-type way. I remembered him from my audition as well. This was the guy I had felt such a spark of chemistry with.
“Hi,” I said, feeling my heart rate quicken a little. He was giving me a very obvious once over, and the little smile never left his face.
“I think we fall in love,” he said softly, his smile turning more smirk-like. I stared at him, not knowing how to respond. “In the show,” he clarified, grinning bigger. I had the feeling that he was enjoying making me feel a little uncomfortable.
I grinned back. “Lucky you,” I said in my most above-it-all voice. Two could play at that game.
Before he could respond, there were voices on the stairs behind us and everyone turned to look as Jenner Collins entered the room, followed by the tall skinny man I knew to be Jackson Coles, and a woman dressed head-to-toe in black, including a flowing cape sweater thing. From the cape to her severe bun and black rimmed glasses, she had ‘artist’ written all over her.
“Hey!” Jenner said, in his easy, comfortable way. “I’m so glad you guys are all here!”
Everyone said hello while a few of the braver (or more conceited) amongst us went over to shake his hand. I overheard quite a bit of ass-kissing going on over there, and I struggled not to roll my eyes.
“It’s kind of gross, isn’t it?” Tyler said, still standing next to me. “Look at how they all throw themselves at him.”
I shrugged. “I guess it’s part of the game, isn’t it?”
“True. Don’t think I’m above it. But I’d rather wait for a more intimate time to make my mark.” His words dripped with double meaning as his gaze dropped down to my lips, and this time I did roll my eyes.
“So, let’s get all the actor measuring-stick bullshit out of the way now,” he said.
“What are you talking about?”
“You know. Every time people like us get together we follow the same song and dance. One of us casually mentions a show we worked on and everyone else spends the next ten minutes looking for a way to nonchalantly one-up each other.”
I had to laugh at that. It was very true. I couldn’t count the number of times I had sat waiting for an audition overhearing that exact conversation. The name-dropping and backhanded bragging that went on when actors got together was a given.
“Not a lot of bragging to do here,” I said. “Unfortunately I haven’t had many big roles since college.”
“Interesting,” he said. “A modest one. We don’t see too many of your kind in these places, Annie. Hmm, maybe you’re waiting to brag about your college experience. Okay, I’ll play along. Where did you go to school?”
I laughed again, already liking him a little better than I had a few minutes ago. “I went to Wayne State.”
He raised his eyebrows. “So you performed at the Bonstelle Theater, huh? Certainly nothing to be ashamed of. So what shows did you do down there?”
I arranged my features in the faux-modest expression I had seen on countless girls in this situation. “My two most challenging roles were Celia in As You Like It and Alma Rose in Arthur Miller’s Playing for Time.”
“I am duly impressed. Now I’ll tell you that I went to Northwestern and got my MFA and was slogging away in the pitiless Chicago scene until I was accepted as an intern at the Purple Rose.”
“Wow,” I said. “That’s pretty amazing.” I was being totally honest with him: not only was Northwestern a really great school, but interning at the Purple Rose Theater was a seriously big deal. It was a small company located in Chelsea, which was pretty far out from the city. But it had been started by another local actor turned Hollywood star. They were constantly putting up amazing new shows and their reputation was top-notch. I would kill to work at a theater like that.
“Thank you,” Tyler replied. “Now we’ve got all that bragging out of our system, we can just relax and have fun. Sound good?”
I laughed. “Sounds perfect.”
Before we could say more, Jenner Collins was calling for our attention. Jackson was walking around, handing out full scripts, and I felt a thrill of excitement. There were few things in the world I loved more than reading a new play.
“So tonight we’re just going to do a pretty basic read-through,” Jenner was saying. “We’ll also be talking about your characterizations as we go through. I’d like everyone to be off-book as soon as humanly possible; we’re on a short schedule and we don’t have much time to mess around.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, if you could grab a seat,” the cape-lady called out, gesturing to the table in the center of the room.
Tyler followed me over and took the seat to my left. The brunette I had noticed earlier was hovering around near Jenner, clearly waiting to see where he would sit before choosing her own place.
Once we were all settled, Jenner smiled at us. “I’m so excited to get started on this show,” he said. “It means a lot to me. A good friend of mine wrote the script, and I can’t wait to bring it to life with your h
elp.”
It was pretty standard director stuff, but he seemed genuine enough. The brunette was absolutely simpering over him.
“Now, there’s some pretty exciting news I need to share with you all. We have an opportunity with this show, and while it might not pan out, I still think it’s important to mention it.”
You could have heard a pin drop around that table. Every single one of us was leaning towards Jenner slightly, eager to hear what he was going to say.
“There’s been some initial interest in taking this show to an off-Broadway run.”
If it wouldn’t be considered so uncool, I bet every single person at that table would have been screaming and jumping up and down. An off-Broadway run was a huge, huge deal. I knew that a few of Jenner’s other shows had made similar jumps, but it was still a very rare thing for any production.
“There are some investors interested in working with us,” Jenner said. “The plan, for now, is to run the show in Detroit through Christmas then take it to Chicago early in the New Year.”
This made sense. For a regional show to make it to New York it needed support and a lot of good buzz. Chicago was a bigger market then Detroit. If we could get some good reviews there…
“Obviously, no casting decisions beyond the Detroit run have been made,” the cape-lady said, reminding us all that there were no guarantees in this business. As if any of us didn’t realize that.
“Regardless,” Jenner said, “the best thing any of us can do is to work really hard and ensure that this Detroit run is as successful as possible. Now, let me introduce my associates. You may have met them during your various auditions. This—” he gestured to cape lady—“is Tabitha Washington, my associate director. Tabitha will be stepping in on those occasions when I can’t be at rehearsal. She might also do some one-on-one character work with you. She’s highly regarded in our field and you should consider it a great opportunity to work with her.”
Three Girls and a Leading Man Page 9