Tabitha merely nodded imperiously at us all, and I warded off a little shiver. No matter what Jenner said, this lady looked scary as hell. No way was I looking forward to working with her, one-on-one or otherwise.
“This gentlemen here,” Jenner continued, pointing to the skinny guy who had run the callback, “is Jackson, my personal assistant. He’ll be helping us with any number of issues during the run of the show. So be nice to him.” We all chuckled politely, while Jackson glared around at us, probably thinking of all the additional work we were going to be creating in his life.
“She has a previous engagement tonight, but at our next rehearsal, you’ll be meeting our stage manager, Christina Goodwin. She’s the best in the area.”
There were a lot of murmurs at that. Even I knew who Christina Goodwin was. She had worked everywhere. That nervous feeling was starting to return with a vengeance. It was hard not to think that I was out of my league here.
To make matters worse, Jenner decided that we should go around the room and introduce ourselves. Of course, the other actors took this as an opportunity to share the greatest hits of their resume. As one middle-aged woman droned on and on about her experiences doing summer stock with the Berkshire Theater Festival, Tyler kicked me under the table. I suppressed my grin.
Once everyone had had their chance to brag, we got down to the read-through. I had read bits and pieces of the script from the callback materials I had gotten, but not quite enough to get a feel for the quality of the work. Within a few scenes I knew that the play was amazing, totally up my alley. It was emotional and poignant but also funny and satirical. Very, very clever. I felt my unease melting away as I enveloped myself in the story. How had I gotten so lucky to be chosen for this?
After the read-through, Jenner and Tabitha wanted us to talk about our characters—how we saw them, what we thought might be motivating their actions. It was a little scary, having only read the script once, but Jenner’s enthusiasm and easy attitude was contagious. Soon I was happily brainstorming with the rest of the cast, my inhibitions forgotten.
All in all, it was a cool first rehearsal. I felt like I was already well on my way to getting to know my character and the script. I no longer felt so intimidated by the other actors; my worry was replaced by excitement. And the idea of possibly taking this show out of Detroit, maybe even to New York…it was the kind of thing that I couldn’t even let myself imagine.
After we had said our goodbyes, everyone headed off to their respective cars—except for the brunette girl (whose name, incidentally, was Jasmine), who instead hovered around Jenner as he and his associates gathered their materials and made plans for the following night.
“She’s something else, isn’t she?” Tyler asked me as we headed down the stairs into the main bar. “I’ve worked with her before and she’s always this way—trying to align herself with the most powerful guy in the room. I can’t believe her head didn’t explode when she found out she’d be working with Collins.”
“Do you know him at all?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder to make sure none of the others were behind us. “Jenner? Is he the type to hook up with a groupie like that?”
“I haven’t worked with him, but he doesn’t have that kind of reputation, from what I hear.”
“Good,” I said, holding the door open for Tyler. “I hope he rejects her and she’s humiliated.”
Tyler laughed. “Wow, you’re a lot more competitive than I thought.”
“Damn straight,” I replied as we walked out into the cool evening air. “Mmm,” I said, pausing for a moment on the sidewalk. “I love the smell of fall in the air.”
“Me too,” Tyler agreed. “It’s the perfect time for hanging out and having a beer.” He looked at me with raised eyebrows, as if offering an invitation.
“Maybe we could do that sometime,” I told him with a smile, effectively shooting him down while still leaving the possibility of changing my mind. It was a favorite tactic of mine in dealing with cute boys that had the potential of being dangerous.
As we reached our cars, Tyler gave me a little smirk. “I’ll hold you to that,” he said, then turned and was gone.
Chapter Seventeen
“Is there anything else I should be doing?” I asked Jen, looking around at her piles of plastic bags, notebooks, and card stock.
“Nope, I think we should be pretty much set,” she said, looking down at her notebook. “Oh, wait, on second thought, would you mind giving me a hand with the guest list? I want to make sure I have everyone important.”
Jen and I were sitting in the living room, going through the final preparations for the benefit. She and Kiki had been working on the event for the last several days, and I had a feeling they had already put in more hours than their paltry budget allowed for.
“Okay, read me the names,” I said.
As Jen went through the list of guests she had invited, I checked each name against the list Marilyn had given me.
Towards the end of her reading, she got to my personal guests.
“Okay, then we have myself, Matt, Kiki and Eric, Ginny and Josh. Is that all? You didn’t invite your mom?”
“No,” I said, suppressing a shudder at the thought. I paused for a moment. “So all the significant others are coming too?”
She looked at me in surprise. “Well, yeah. I mean, I thought that was…is that okay?”
“Of course,” I said hurriedly. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Of course Ginny and Jen and Kiki were going to want to bring their guys along. I just hadn’t realized I would be the only single one of my friends.
I checked back through the list and realized that I would probably be the only single one period, even including the other theater employees and the donors.
I sighed a little, and regretted it when Jen heard me. “Seriously, Annie, if you want this to be just a girls thing that’s totally fine. I’m sure no one will mind.”
“No,” I said firmly. “Of course I don’t want that. Please. You guys don’t need to feel bad for me.” She looked at me with slightly raised eyebrows. “I chose this whole single thing, you know?” I told her. “I always have fun at a party, dateless or not.”
“I just don’t understand why you are dateless,” she said.
“What do you mean?’ I asked.
“I mean Nate, of course!” she said. “Why isn’t he coming with you?”
“Jen,” I groaned. She had brought up Nate no less than a dozen times in the week since I had last seen him.
“Annie,” she mimicked. “I don’t get it. I mean, you both clearly like each other. What’s the big deal?”
“There is no big deal,” I told her. “I’m just busy. You know that I have rehearsals every night.”
It was true. Since I had found out I’d been cast in the show, I had been working my butt off. When I wasn’t at official rehearsals I was studying my lines. I had even met up with some of the other actors at a coffee house to work on getting off-book.
“You don’t have rehearsal the night of the benefit,” she said. “So it sounds like the perfect time to see him.”
I sighed. She had a point. But after I had blown him off so spectacularly the last time…
“What is it?” she asked, watching my face closely. “I know that expression, Annie. What did you do?”
“I was a little rude to him last time I saw him,” I admitted. “I had just found out about the show and I was in a hurry to get home and tell you. I guess I blew him off. He didn’t seem too happy about it.”
“So call and apologize,” she said. Jen always made everything sound so simple.
Before I could respond, there was a sound on the front porch. “You expecting someone?” I asked.
There was really no need to ask. Her entire face had lit up in the way it only did when Matt was around. Sure enough, a second later he was opening the door. I guess he’d taken my advice about not needing to knock.
“Hi, girls,” he said pleasantly.
“Hey, Annie,” he said, coming over to sit on the couch after they had kissed a million times. “How’s it going?”
“Pretty good,” I replied. “Jen and I were just going over some of the final details for the benefit.”
He scrunched up his nose a little bit. “Do I have to wear a suit to this thing?”
“Of course not,” I laughed. “Wear whatever you want.”
Jen made a face behind his back that made me think I’d be seeing Matt in a suit no matter what. I hid a smile.
“So what are you guys up to tonight?” I asked, stretching my legs out against the floor. I’d had an early afternoon rehearsal so for once I had a free evening.
“I was gonna make some dinner,” Jen said. “Then we were planning to stay in and watch a movie.”
“You in?” Matt asked me politely.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw his hand resting lightly on Jen’s knee. Something about the casualness, the easiness, of that position made my heart ache a little. Suddenly I had no desire to be in the room with them for a second more.
“I don’t think so,” I said. “I really want to be off- book for rehearsal tomorrow. I think I’ll just shut myself up in my room.”
“Are you sure?” Jen asked. “You won’t even eat with us?”
“Nah,” I said, wondering if I had ever once in my life turned down Jen’s amazing cooking. “Save me something?”
“Sure,” she said.
I caught her expression and noted that she seemed concerned for me. I shrugged it off and headed to my room. Once there, I lay down on my bed, throwing my hand over my eyes.
What was wrong with me? Since when did I feel jealous of my friends? I was revisited by that same emotion I had when watching Ginny and Josh the day Kiki told us about Vegas. It was strange and I wasn’t sure that I liked it.
My mind wandered involuntarily to Nate. I had been missing him this week, in a way that scared me. It was so unlike me to spend so much time thinking about a guy. Then again, it was unlike me to spend so much time with any one guy.
Is that really a bad thing? I wondered. I mean, it wasn’t like I wanted to marry him. Would it really be so bad to have a boyfriend? It didn’t have to be any huge, serious deal. I thought back to his words our last night in Vegas. We have fun together. Why can’t that fun continue in Detroit?
Well, why couldn’t it? If he could be understanding about my need to rehearse, and to spend time with my friends and Danny, why couldn’t I see him sometimes?
That is, if he even wanted to see me. I had been pretty rude to him. Maybe he’d had enough of me. The thought made me feel strangely anxious. Nervous, almost. For some reason I couldn’t quite place, I really did not like the idea of Nate being upset with me.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I grabbed my phone and found him in the contacts. While it rang, I held my breath.
“Hello?” he finally said. I felt a rush of relief.
“Hi, Nate,” I stammered. “It’s uh…it’s Annie.”
Hearing his voice had done nothing to help with my nerves. What was wrong with me?
“Hey, Annie,” he said. His voice wasn’t cold, but it wasn’t exactly warm, either. It sure didn’t sound like he had been dying to hear from me. Damn. Maybe this had been a mistake.
“How have you been?” I asked.
“Pretty good,” he replied. “Work’s been busy. How about you? How’s the play?”
“Really good,” I told him. “I’ve been really bogged down with it.”
“But you’re enjoying yourself?” he asked, and there was a definite edge to his voice now.
“It’s a really good show,” I told him. “I feel really lucky to be a part of it. I hope that you’ll be able to come see it.”
“I’m sure I will,” he said, his voice softer now. “So, what’s up?”
“Well, I was wondering if you had plans on Friday,” I told him, crossing my fingers. “I know it’s short notice…”
“I was going to meet some friends for a drink after work,” he said, and my heart fell. “But nothing’s set in stone…”
“I have this benefit,” I said in a rush. “For the theater. A fundraising kind of thing where we honor our donors. It will probably be pretty boring but I wondered if you might want to come with me.”
“Wow, you really know how to sell an event, Annie,” he said, and I noticed that the slight teasing tone I had become so familiar with was back in his voice. For some reason, it made me feel happy.
“Maybe I should rephrase,” I said, laughing a little. “I’m going to this super glamorous, super exciting benefit on Friday and I just happen to have an extra ticket. There will be a ton of really interesting, very cool people there. Including the billionaire David Barker and his glamorous heiress daughter. If you play your cards right, I might just give that ticket to you.”
“Oh my God,” he breathed. “Would you really?”
I laughed again, and was pleased to hear his own warm chuckle on the other end of the line.
“Well, now you’ve sold me,” he said. “What time is this thrilling event?”
I told him the details. “Want me to meet you there or pick you up?” he asked.
Hmm, meeting there was definitely the safest option. But if we went together maybe the night wouldn’t have to end with the benefit. The thought of having Nate stay over sent a little thrill though me.
“Would you mind picking me up?” I asked casually. “If it’s not out of your way, that is.”
“Nope, you’re directly on the way,” he replied. “So I’ll pick you up at seven?”
“Perfect,” I said, smiling broadly.
“I’m glad you called, Annie,” he said, his voice softer.
“I’m glad I did, too,” I admitted. “And I’m glad you can come with me.”
“I’ll see you in a few days,” he said.
After I hung up my phone, I stretched out on the bed, feeling much better about things.
I pulled out my script, deciding that I may as well do what I had told Jen and get my lines nailed down. As I opened to the first scene, I caught a whiff of the unmistakable smell of Jen’s lasagna.
I cursed under my breath, really wishing that I hadn’t told her I wouldn’t eat with them.
Chapter Eighteen
At 6:45 on Friday night, I stood in the middle of my room in nothing but my bra and underwear. I had been staring at my closet for the past five minutes with no clue what to wear. The fifteen minutes before that had been spent trying on various options, all to no avail.
“Damn,” I said loudly.
I pulled out my phone and called Ginny. “What’s up?” she asked.
“I have no idea what to wear,” I told her. “And Jen is already at the theater setting up. Help me!”
“Okay, relax,” Ginny said. “Just take a deep breath.”
“Nate is going to be here any minute!” I cried. She clearly didn’t understand my plight. “And I have nothing to wear!”
“Nate, eh?” she asked, a smugness in her voice that made me want to slap her.
“Shut up, Ginny,” I growled. “Just help me, okay?”
This was not typical behavior for me. I usually had no problem picking my clothes because I generally only bought things that I liked. And it wasn’t like I was super worried about impressing the donors or the people at work—I mean, I saw most of them every day. So what was wrong with me now?
Nate, a voice in my head said. You’re nervous about seeing him again.
“Okay,” Ginny was saying, and I forced myself to concentrate on what she was saying. “What about that black sweater dress you have?”
“Hmm,” I replied, rifling through my clothes to find the garment. “Okay, it’s here.”
“I think if you paired that with grey
tights and those black leather boots Jen has…you know, the slouchy, flat-heeled ones?”
I had a mental image of the boots she was talking about. They were perfect, and would look great with this dress.
“You’re a lifesaver,” I sighed.
“Wear your red blazer over it for some color,” she instructed. “And your silver bangles. You’ll look great.”
“Ginny McKensie,” I told her, “you are amazing and my very best friend.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she said. “I bet you’ll say the same thing to Jen when she asks you why you’re in her boots.”
“True,” I said, grinning. Just then I heard a knock at the door. “Shit! He’s here, gotta go!”
“See you soon,” she said, and I hung up.
I pulled the sweater dress on as quickly as I could, careful not to mess up my hair. I had done it in the same soft, braided style that Ginny had recommended in Vegas. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about the frizz factor tonight.
I heard Nate knock again.
“Tina!” I bellowed. “Can you get the door?”
There was silence from her bedroom. Awesome. Barefooted, I ran to living room, pulling open the door. Sure enough, Nate was standing there, looking gorgeous in dress pants and a long black wool overcoat.
“Hang on!” I said, before he could even say hello, turning away from the door. “Come on in!” I called over my shoulder as I ran back to my room. I hurriedly pulled on my grey tights, praying I wouldn’t run them. Outside the room, I heard Nate coming into the house.
“Sorry,” I called out. “Running a little late.”
“Take your time,” he replied. “I’ll just have a little snoop around.”
I heard him laugh and I knew he was getting me back for my nosing in his apartment. I better get him out of here quick.
Finishing with my tights, I dashed into Jen’s room. Unlike mine, which now looked like a bomb had exploded, Jen’s room was neat as a pin. Typical. I pulled open her closet door and saw that all of her shoes were neatly arranged. There were her boots, right in the back.
Three Girls and a Leading Man Page 10
