Christmas All Around Us ; The Perfect Time for Love ; Playing for Keeps

by Carla Kincaid

  He handed them each a menu. "In case you want something other than your usual," he said to Trish.

  "You know me too well," Marvin. "One of these days I'm going to surprise you and order something different," Trish said with a laugh. "But today I promised this young lady the best Italian meal she's ever had."

  "Coming right up," Marvin said with a bow.

  Stacey had to admit Trish was right. The pasta primavera was great and she admired Trish's discipline as she only ate half of what was on her plate.

  "I wouldn't make it through the first scene if I ate all of this!" she giggled. "But at midnight when I get home!" Trish waved the to go box under her nose with a smile. "All bets are off!"

  A woman after my own heart, Stacey thought as she remembered all of the midnight snacks she'd inhaled after working a catering event. It seemed that she and Trish had a lot in common and Stacey was really enjoying getting to know her on both a professional and personal basis.

  Chapter 16

  "Make sure and call me if any mail comes while I'm gone," Megan said as she kissed Stacey goodbye Wednesday morning.

  "Are you ready for this little adventure?" Stacey asked cautiously.

  "As ready as I can be," Megan said with a laugh." She knew playing hostess to Kim's friends for the weekend was going to be a challenge but she was still looking forward to the distraction. "I've got the next two days to tie up any lose ends before the guests start arriving."

  On Friday six of Kim's closest friends from high school were flying in for the weekend. Their part of the festivities would include a catered dinner and a night of binge watching movies in Kim's in-home theatre. Megan had already ordered all of the most popular teen films that were out in the mid-2000s and had the DVDs delivered to Kim's house. The selection included, Confessions of A Teenage Drama Queen, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, 13 Going On 30, Mean Girls and Juno the quirky film about the high school girl who gets pregnant.

  On Saturday, they'd all have brunch and then later that afternoon, Kim's New York friends would join the group for the traditional games and gifts part of the celebration.

  "I'll be okay," Megan assured Stacey. "And Kim has enough rooms in her house for me to sneak away and hide in case the crowd becomes too much for me," she said with a laugh.

  "Okay," Stacey said. "See you on Monday." She kissed Megan softly. "I'll miss you while you're gone."

  "Ditto," Megan said as she returned the kiss.

  As soon as Stacey left, Megan finished packing a small travel bag and then puttered around the house restlessly. The car her sister was sending to pick her up wasn't due there until 4pm, so Megan had a few hours to kill.

  Megan loved her sister but the only reason she'd agreed to help with all of the baby shower planning was to keep her mind occupied while she waited for the letter from the Philharmonic. She'd already cleaned the apartment from top to bottom, organized and reorganized the contents of the two suitcases she brought with her to New York and even managed to cook a few extravagant meals inspired by the gourmet food Stacey always brought home from her catering gigs. She didn't have anything else to do. Megan paced the apartment for a while feeling like a caged cat until a noise outside drew her attention.

  "Hi, Chris," Megan greeted the mailman as he walked through the patio gate.

  Over the past few weeks she gotten to know her mail carrier on a first name basis.

  "Hey, Megan," Chris said cheerfully as he unlocked the mailboxes. "I'm a little early today."

  Megan nodded trying to pretend this was just another coincidental encounter instead of being the third time this week that she'd rushed outside as soon as Chris arrived. In spite of her attempt at being nonchalant, it was probably more than a little obvious that Megan was expecting something in the mail.

  She tried not to hover as Chris dug into his mail bag to retrieve the mail for the building. He dropped some sales fliers into Stacey's box first and then turned to Megan.

  "Here ya go," he said kindly, handing Megan the only envelop in his hand.

  "Thanks! Have a nice day!" Megan said as Chris shouldered his delivery bag and walked away.

  Megan rushed back inside and held the envelope in the air. The return address said New York Philharmonic. Her hand was shaking so bad she almost dropped the letter. She silently wished Stacey was still at home to open it for her. Megan didn't know if she could read it for herself. That thought was like déjà vu and brought a latent memory rushing back to her.

  "Please open it for me, Nana!" Megan said excitedly as she handed the envelop to her grandmother.

  "You must be nervous," Nana said with a laugh as she picked up her letter knife and sliced through the paper envelop.

  Megan's stomach was in knots but it wasn't for the reason that her grandmother thought. As much as she wanted to go to Berklee, not getting in would make the decision she'd already made a lot easier to explain. Megan held her breath and watched as Nana adjusted her reading glasses and scanned the page.

  "You got in!" she announced excitedly waiving the acceptance letter in the air.

  "Really?!" Megan asked faking both disbelief and a similar level of enthusiasm.

  "Oh, Sweetheart. I'm so happy for you!" Nana said embracing her granddaughter. "And I'm so proud of you. This is the best news I've gotten all year!"

  Megan kept a smile plastered to her face but inside she felt heart sick. She knew how disappointed her grandmother was going to be when she told her she wasn't going to Berklee in the Fall but wasn't life about more than just a career? Wasn't finding someone you love to share life with just as important? Certainly her grandmother would understand that. Wouldn't she?

  Megan's shoulders slumped at the memory. Her grandmother had pretended not to be too disappointed when Megan finally announced that she was going to OSU but Megan knew deep down she had been. But in spite of her disappointment, Nana didn't even say I told you so when Megan came running home after Renee cheated on her.

  Now almost ten years later, Megan would have to read the news written in this letter for herself. She tore open a corner of the envelop flap and stuck her finger inside. As she ripped it open she kept repeating "Please say yes. Please say yes."

  She felt the affirmation so deeply she just knew the letter would agree.

  Megan scanned the words on the sheet of paper in her hand. Dear Ms. Green. Thank you. Excellent audition. Many applicants. Very competitive.

  "We regret to inform you," Megan whispered as her heart fell to her stomach. "We regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you a place at the Sero Institute at this time. Please know you are welcome to apply again in the future. We wish you the best on your musical journey."

  Megan read the words over again hoping she'd been mistaken and then slumped against the wall to keep from falling to the floor.

  She didn't get in. All that work. All those months of practice. All the planning it took to get to New York and she didn't get in. As tears fell from her cheeks onto the letter in her hand, Megan let the sadness wash over her. When she looked up at her piano all she could see was the disappointment on her grandmother's face all over again. Maybe her mother was right, she thought. Maybe it was time to just give up on her childish dream.

  As soon as that thought surfaced, Stacey's words rang out in Megan's mind loudly. "Megan, you have a gift. Don't ever let anyone -- including yourself -- tell you anything different!"

  The words snapped Megan back to reality and lifted her to her feet. She wiped her tears determined not to let today's rejection destroy her. Her career possibilities weren't over. There were plenty of other ways she could achieve her dreams -- especially in a place like New York. She had Stacey to thank for that realization and even though she didn't have anything career related to celebrate today she did have someone to celebrate life with!

  "Kim, I've got an errand to run before I come to your house. Can you have the car service pick me up in Manhattan instead of at my apartment?"

  As soon as h
er sister said yes, Megan grabbed her things and headed out the door.

  "I'll take two hoagies and an order of chili fries," Megan told the kid behind the counter of the deli that had become Stacey's favorite since joining the cast of The Open Window.

  Megan could tell the matinee had already let out by the time she arrived at the front doors to the theatre. She knew Stacey was probably still inside since she like to stay at the theatre between shows. Plus, she'd been doing all that rehearsing with Trish.

  "Hey Chris!" Megan said greeting the house manager as she walked into the lobby.

  "Hey Megan!" he said with a smile. "Are you coming to see the show again tonight?"

  "No. I just came to bring Stacey something to eat," she said lifting the paper bag in the air.

  "Aww, that's nice," Chris said. "And it smells great! I saw Stacey in the theatre with Trish a few minutes ago when I went in to turn the house lights out. She might still be in there."

  "Thanks, Charlie," Megan replied as she ducked inside quietly.

  She inched her way down the aisle, partially because it was hard to see in the dark and partially because she hoped to get a glimpse of Stacey and Trish rehearsing. Stacey had been telling Megan all about the television show Trish had an audition for. In fact, she'd even let her read a copy of the script she'd brought home.

  The bright show lights on stage were off too but Megan could make out two figures clearly because of the single bare light bulb in the middle of the stage. Thanks to Stacey, Megan now knew that light was called a ghost light. In addition to preventing any accidents from happening on a dark stage, according to theatre folklore, the naked bulb also kept ghosts from haunting the space when no one was around.

  There weren't any ghost hovering above the stage as Megan approached but what she saw was even more horrific! Megan stopped in her tracks and clasped her hand over her mouth to muffle the scream threatening to burst out of her throat. Unable to stomach what she was seeing, Megan spun around and ran back up the aisle. She flew through the doors into the lobby.

  "Hey. What's wrong?" Chris asked. "Didn't you see, Stacey?" he asked innocently.

  Megan could hardly speak. "Uh. Yes. I saw her," she stuttered. "But... Uh. She was already having lunch," Megan said using a bitter euphemism. "You can have this."

  Megan pushed the now grease stained deli bag into Chris's hands and ran out of the building.

  Chapter 17

  The kiss took Stacey completely by surprise. They'd been going over one of the scenes in the script where Trish's character was supposed to grab the arm of the character Stacey was playing. After a moment, Trish was supposed to let go of Stacey's arm and turn away from her but instead, Trish did just the opposite. She held Stacey's arm tightly and pulled Stacey's body into hers. Then without warning, Trish leaned in and kiss her right on the lips.

  Stacey's mind momentarily went blank as she felt the woman's hands reach around her waist and pull her closer.

  "What? What are you doing?" she said as she pulled away.

  "Sorry," Trish said innocently. "I guess I forgot where we were," she giggled. "This isn't exactly the best place to have a passionate moment. Maybe we should try rehearsing at my place instead?"

  Stacey just stood there staring at Trish blankly. "Rehearse at your place?" Stacey asked confused.

  "Yeah. You know, that way we could have some undisturbed alone time," Trish said smiling. "Look, Stacey, you're an incredible actress." Trish stepped closer to Stacey again. "And I was thinking, maybe there's something I can do to help you get to the next step in your career. At the very least, I'm sure a chance to perform the show while you're here would get you some well deserved attention."

  Trish paused and took Stacey's hand.

  "My audition on Saturday is bound to run over its allotted time. That network TV stuff always does." Trish winked at Stacey. "If I don't get back in time you'd have to perform that night."

  Stacey could hardly believe what she was hearing. Is this really how stuff like this happened? So matter-of-factly?

  "I'll text you my address and we can talk about it more if you come by after the show on Friday. It's up to you," Trish said as she reached around Stacey and picked up a water bottle sitting on the platform behind her. "But remember, offers like this don't come along everyday." Trish winked and sauntered off the stage.

  While she watched the evening show from the catwalk, Stacey went over all her recent interactions with Trish in her mind. Had everything she thought were friendly gestures just been bait Trish was laying out in preparation for that moment? Had she been so excited about getting attention from the star of the show that she hadn't realized what was really going on? And worse, had she done something to make Trish think she'd be open to the kind of interaction she'd proposed? Certainly not! At least, Stacey didn't think she had.

  By the time she got home, Stacey's head was still spinning. She picked up the phone several times to call Megan but she never actually made the call. Stacey told herself it was because she knew Megan was busy working out the last minute details for her sister's baby shower but the truth was she felt a little guilty about what happened and she didn't want Megan to hear that in her voice. It wasn't the kind of thing she would understand. Stacey needed to talk to someone who could be more objective about the situation.

  ***

  "So, what's up?" Lori asked as she slid into the restaurant booth across from Stacey the next afternoon. "I'm missing a huge sale at Macy's because you said you had something important to talk about."

  "I had another rehearsal with Trish yesterday," she began.

  "That's cool!" her friend said as she reached out and grabbed a chili-covered french fry off of Stacey's plate. "Can I have one of these? I'm starving!"

  Lori lifted the commandeered fry to her mouth but dropped it on a nearby napkin as soon as she realized it was ice cold. She didn't know Stacey had been sitting there pushing food around on her plate for at least forty five minutes without taking a single bite.

  "She kissed me," Stacey said bluntly.

  Lori had her hand in the air trying to get a waitresses attention but her arm dropped like a rock when she realized what Stacey just said.

  "Wait. What? What do you mean she kissed you?" Lori sputtered.

  Stacey stopped poking at the food on her plate and looked her friend in the eye. "I mean, we were rehearsing a scene and all of a sudden she pulled me to her and kissed me!"

  Lori's eyes grew as big as saucers. "And then what happened?"

  "Well, after I pulled away she claimed she'd just gotten caught up in the moment." Stacey paused before she shared the most disturbing part of the story. "And then she said she wanted to help me with my career -- if I came to her house and helped her rehearse for her audition."

  Stacey held up her cell phone and showed Lori the text message from Trish with her home address in it.

  "Are you serious? Lori asked gawking at the text. "What are you going to do?"

  Stacey just shook her head. "I don't know," she confessed. "I've only got a few more days on this show and it would be great to perform on a Broadway stage." Stacey dropped her head into her hands. "I can't believe I'm even thinking about it!Does that make me a terrible person?" Stacey moaned.

  "Well," Lori said lifting her shoulders to her ears. "You definitely won't be in line for sainthood," she said with an uncomfortable chuckle.

  Stacey let out a long sigh. "It would be awful," she said. "Not only would I be doing the same thing I've maligned others for but... I'd also be betraying Megan."

  The thought made Stacey sick to her stomach. She pushed the plate in front of her to the side and shook her head.