Three Girls and a Leading Man

by Rachel Schurig

  Tech week was my least favorite part of doing a show. During the week before the opening we would have dress rehearsal every day, a chance to run the entire show with all the technical aspects. By the end of the week everything should be pretty smooth, but the first few rehearsals would be rife with bugs. It was just about guaranteed. And that meant long nights trying to work everything out…

  “When does tech start?” Jen asked.

  “Tomorrow. We’re going to run twice. I’ll probably be at the theater all day.” Not the most exciting way to spend a Saturday.

  “So tonight’s the last night to see the boy before all the craziness starts?” she asked with a smile. I rolled my eyes. “And then Friday is the opening?”

  “We have a press preview on Thursday,” I said, my stomach twisting at the thought. “Then official opening is Friday, yeah.”

  “And you reserved our tickets?” she asked.

  “Yup, you guys are all set. Good thing, too, because we’re totally sold out.”

  Jen gasped. “Oh my God, hon, that’s amazing!”

  “And scary.”

  “Don’t be silly,” she said. “You’re going to be great.”

  “I hope so,” I told her. “We all need to be great if we want to get this play to Chicago.”

  Jen’s face clouded a little. “I’ll be so sad when you’re gone,” she said.

  “It’s a long shot.”

  Jen only shook her head. “Nope. This thing is going all the way. I can feel it.”

  I smiled at her. I didn’t say it, but I had a feeling she was right.

  ***

  Four hours later and I was finally leaving rehearsal. Our final run before tech had gone really well. My frustration over Grayson and work had evaporated under the exhilaration that came from a good rehearsal. When I got to Nate’s house, I was practically bouncing off the walls.

  “Good rehearsal?” he asked with a smile.

  “Awesome rehearsal,” I corrected. “God, theater is amazing. Seriously. The next time I complain about something, remind me how good I feel right now.”

  He came over to put his arms around me and I met him with an enthusiastic kiss.

  “We should go out and do something fun,” he said, smiling down at me. “Let’s not waste this good mood.”

  He took me to club in Ferndale so we could dance. Most of the guys I knew would drop dead before they would be seen out on a dance floor—not Nate. He seemed to have no inhibitions about looking ridiculous, as long as he was having fun.

  The DJ mostly featured hits from the seventies and eighties, so the club lacked that competitive feel you got in many places. In fact, most of our fellow revelers were quite a bit older than us.

  “This place is hilarious,” Nate said at the bar. We had finally taken a break to get drinks and we were now happily watching the crowd dance. “Do you see that old dude in bellbottoms?”

  “He’s reliving his youth,” I told him. “I think it’s awesome.”

  “You mean groovy,” he corrected, putting his arm around me. I was sweaty and disheveled from all of the dancing, but I didn’t care. From the way he pulled me closer, I could tell that Nate didn’t care either.

  “Ready to get back out there?” I asked.

  “I’d rather get you home,” he said in my ear.

  “We’ve only been here for an hour!” I laughed.

  “I don’t care. You’re gorgeous,” he said, his voice low. Even after all these weeks it still sent a thrill through me when he talked like that. I looked up into his eyes, which were dark and intense.

  “Okay,” I said, happiness filling me up right down to my toes. “Let’s go home.”

  ***

  An hour later, I was curled up comfortably in Nate’s bed, trying to keep him from falling asleep.

  “Talk to me,” I told him, slapping his chest. “Come on, I need entertainment.”

  “You’re a spoiled child,” he moaned, throwing his arm over his face. “I’m tired.”

  “You’re no fun,” I shot back. “How old are you?”

  “I don’t understand how you’re not sleepy yet,” he said, rolling over so he was facing me. “You had to go into work this morning, you had rehearsal, we went dancing, I just totally ravished you…”

  I laughed. “Maybe your ravishing skills aren’t as effective as you thought.”

  He raised an eyebrow at me. “Don’t make me show you again.”

  “I thought you were so tired,” I teased, rolling away from him and swinging my legs over the bed. “I’m going to get a drink. Want anything?”

  “Nah, I’ll just admire the view,” he said.

  I rolled my eyes and headed to his dresser. I had no desire to put my sweaty dance clothes back on. I rummaged through a drawer until I found a worn gray t-shirt. Pulling it over my head, I smiled a little; it smelled like Nate.

  “You just help yourself there, Ann,” he called over from the bed.

  “Thanks, I will,” I told him sweetly.

  I headed out to the kitchen, grabbing a glass from the cabinet, then pulling a pitcher of water from the fridge. The clock on the stove blinked one a.m. I thought of Nate, surely falling asleep in bed, but felt too keyed up to join him just yet. Instead, I found my purse and pulled my iPod out, plugging it into his docking stereo. I hit shuffle and smiled as the strains of Billie Holiday filled the living room.

  I wandered over to his bookshelf, thinking I might read until I calmed down a bit. On the bottom shelf he had a stack of board games and a few decks of cards.

  “Whatcha doing?”

  I looked up and saw Nate standing in the doorway in his boxer shorts. He still looked sleepy, but he was smiling at me.

  “I thought I might play some cards,” I said.

  Nate snorted. “You can’t play cards. I was in Vegas with you, remember?”

  “I can play solitaire,” I said in my best ‘so-there’ voice.

  “How about we play something else?” he suggested, coming over to join me. “I have some games.”

  “Yeah, I was looking at your games,” I said with a smirk. “Star Wars Risk, eh? Not at all dorky there, Hughes.”

  “Oh, shut up,” he said, tweaking my ear. “What do you feel like?”

  “Monopoly,” I said immediately. I loved Monopoly.

  “Oh, God,” he muttered, pulling it from the shelf. “It’s the longest game in the world. We’re gonna be up all night.”

  We settled down at the kitchen table. Nate insisted that I sit on his lap. “If you’re going to make me stay up, I better at least get something out of it.”

  I complied. To be honest, I loved the feel of leaning back against his chest, though I would never admit it to anyone. A month ago if you would have told me that I’d be willing to sit on a guy’s lap, I would have laughed in your face.

  We played for a few minutes. I insisted that Nate be the car, to go with his job, and I took the dog.

  “We used to have a Scottie dog just like this, when I was little,” I told him. “Taffy. She was the best dog.”

  “What happened to her?” he asked, rolling the dice.

  “She died. When I was eight.” I frowned a little at the memory. Taffy had gotten cancer, and we had to put her down.

  I had a sudden clear memory of lying in my bed late at night, terrified and wishing Taffy was there. She usually slept on the foot of my bed, and somehow it always made me feel less scared when my dad wasn’t around. He had been gone when she died.

  “Annie,” Nate said in my ear. “You there?”

  I looked over at him, trying to clear my head. “What?” I asked.

  “You went away for a minute there. You okay?”

  “Yeah,” I told him. “Sorry. Maybe I’m sleepier than I thought.”

  “We could always go to bed,” he asked hopefully.

  “Not a chance, mister. I plan to beat you at this game.”

  We settled into the game for a while. I had already amassed Kentucky and Indiana
, as well as all of the pink properties. Nate had three of the four railroads as well as Park Place. He teased me constantly throughout the game, questioning my choices and encouraging me to give up my own properties and move in with him in the luxury penthouse he planned to build on Park Place.

  “What the hell are we listening to?” he asked suddenly.

  I paused for a minute so I could hear. Crap. I had forgotten this was on here.

  “Uh, this would be the original Broadway cast of Pippin,” I admitted.

  “You have this on your iPod?” he asked. I could hear the amusement in his voice.

  “Yes,” I said with dignity.

  “Get up,” he said, smacking me lightly on the ass.

  “Hey!” I cried, but he was already slipping out from under me and heading to the stereo. “What are you doing?”

  “I just want to see what else is on here,” he said.

  “Nate, don’t.”

  “Why? You’re always criticizing everyone else’s music tastes.” He had a bit of a point there—I did tend to be a snob about music. “Don’t you have to balls to back up your mouth?”

  I glared at him, but didn’t argue anymore.

  “Wow,” Nate said. “Original Broadway cast of Rent. And I see we have Oklahoma…Evita. Cats, Annie? Really?”

  “Shut up,” I said in a small voice. “That show ran on Broadway for eighteen years.”

  “Yeah, but to have it on your iPod?” he said, laughing. “Remember earlier when you called me a dork for having a Star Wars game?”

  “Betty Buckley was in that show,” I muttered, mostly to myself.

  “Yeah, don’t know who that is,” he said, continuing to scroll through my music. “Ah, here we go.” He pressed a button and I heard the opening strains of Edelweiss, from The Sound of Music. “My mom loved this song,” he said. “She used to sing it while she cleaned the bathroom.”

  “It is a pretty good song,” I agreed.

  “Come here,” he said, holding out his arms. I went to him and he pulled me close, beginning to dance.

  “Slow dancing in the living room?” I said, looking up at him as he slowly swayed me around the room. “Who’s dorky now?”

  “Shut up, Annie,” he said, kissing me softly. “Just shut up and dance with me.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “Ginny,” I said into my phone. “Are you guys here yet?”

  “What’s wrong?” she asked immediately.

  “I think I’m having a panic attack,” I told her. “Where are you guys?”

  “I just walked into the lobby,” she said. “Doesn’t look like Jen’s here yet.”

  “Will you come back?” I asked her. “Please, Gin. I really need to see you.”

  “Just tell me where to go.”

  I gave her instructions then sat at my dressing table, nervously twisting my hands and trying not to burst into tears. After four weeks of rushed rehearsals, opening night was finally upon me. I had been fine all day, excited even, but as soon as my dressing room partner Mary had finished getting ready and left the room, I felt like I might die.

  There was a knock on my door and I looked up to see Ginny standing there. “Oh, Ann,” she said. “You look gorgeous.”

  My costume was simple. As I was playing a college aged girl in modern times, I was dressed in wide- legged black pants and a white, baggy sweater. My hair had been straightened then re-curled in soft waves around my face.

  “Seriously,” Ginny said, approaching my table. “You look lovely.”

  “I think I’m going to throw up,” I told her seriously.

  “You’re not,” Ginny soothed, patting my shoulder. “Just relax.”

  “Is it full out there?” I asked her. “I mean, does it look like a lot of people?”

  “It’s pretty full,” she told me. I whimpered a little.

  “Come on,” she said firmly. “This is silly. You’re Annie Duncan, for God’s sake. You don’t get worked up over a couple people in a theater. Remember that show you did at Wayne, the Shakespeare? That crowd was much bigger than this one. And I didn’t hear you freaking out before that.”

  “Yeah, but this is real,” I said. “That was a student production. This is Jenner Collins’ show. There are investors out there.”

  “I understand that,” Ginny said patiently. “But that shouldn’t matter to your performance.”

  I took a deep breath. “You’re right,” I said. “You’re right. This is going to be fine.”

  “So, where’s Nate sitting?” she asked, changing the subject. “Did you put him by us?”

  “Uh, no, actually,” I said, feeling my stomach clench for an entirely different reason. “Nate isn’t coming tonight.”

  Ginny raised her eyebrow at me. “Why?”

  “I told him not to. I want a couple shows under our belt before he sees it.”

  She didn’t say anything and I knew she didn’t really believe me. The truth was, Nate and I had had a bit of a fight over the subject of my opening night. He had wanted to be here and wasn’t too happy when I told him I’d rather he wait.

  “It will be a better show if you give it a week,” I told him.

  “I don’t care about that,” he said impatiently. “Opening night is a big deal. And I want to be there for you.”

  Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m worried about. When I didn’t say anything, he sighed. “Are we back here again, Annie? More games?”

  “No,” I said, feeling exasperated. “Jesus, Nate. I just would rather you see it after we’re a bit more comfortable. Besides, the girls are all coming on opening night. I’ll have support then. If you come to a different show it’ll be like spreading the support out, you know?”

  He didn’t say anything for a minute. I had a feeling he was trying to keep himself from flipping out on me. “Fine,” he said at last. “Whatever you want, Annie.”

  Now that opening night was upon me, I was really regretting that decision. Why hadn’t I just asked him to come? I hated to admit it, but it would make me feel a lot better to know that he was in the audience.

  “I should probably get out there,” Ginny said, looking down at her watch. “Jen should be here by now.”

  I felt another rush of nerves, but pushed it down so I could give her a hug. “Thanks for coming back and talking me down,” I told her.

  “No problem, Ann,” she said, squeezing me tight. “Break a leg.”

  She looked me square in the face and I was surprised to see her eyes had grown wet. “I’m so proud of you,” she whispered.

  “You haven’t even seen it yet,” I laughed. “You might hate it.”

  “Won’t matter,” she said. “I’ll still be proud of you.”

  After she left I stared at myself in the mirror for a few minutes. Curtain opened in fifteen minutes. I wasn’t in the first scene, so I still had a little time. I touched up my lipstick and fiddled with my hair a little. Not much to do now but wait.

  “Annie?” said a voice from the doorway. I turned and saw the assistant house manager holding a huge bouquet of red roses. “These just came for you,” she said. “And Jenner wants everyone gathered in the greenroom in five.”

  “Thanks, Jane,” I told her, taking the flowers from her hands.

  I was expecting the girls, so I got a little shock when I saw Nate’s distinctive handwriting on the card.

  ‘I know you wanted me to wait, but I came anyways. Hope you’re not too mad. Just wanted to be here. Break a leg.’

  I felt my throat well up a little. Nate. He was here. For some reason the thought made me exceedingly happy. I went over and set the flowers on my dressing table, then headed out to meet the cast in the greenroom. My nerves had faded to a low background hum. I felt better than I’d felt all night.

  ***

  The show went about as well as I could have hoped for. There were a few slipups, mostly with cues, but the girls assured me that they hadn’t even noticed.

  “You were fantastic,” Jen said, wipin
g her eyes. “Seriously, Ann. I loved it.”

  “She cried the whole time,” Matt muttered, and Jen elbowed him in the ribs.

  “I was a bit weepy myself,” Ginny admitted, pulling me in for a hug. “Didn’t I tell you it would be amazing?”

  I smiled at her, but I couldn’t help peering surreptitiously over her shoulder. I hadn’t seen Nate yet.

  “He’s behind you,” Josh said drily.

  I spun around, and sure enough, Nate was striding across the lobby toward me. I couldn’t have held the grin off my face if I tried. Instead, I threw my arms around his neck and he pulled me close. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Ginny and Jen give each other a knowing smile, but I was too happy to care.

  “You were amazing,” he said in my ear. “I’m so proud of you.”

  “I’m glad you came,” I said. “Thank you for the flowers.”

  I pulled back and smiled goofily at him. Josh’s smirking face finally snapped me out of it, and I pulled myself together. “So, what does everyone feel like doing?”

  “Don’t you want to go out with the cast?” Ginny asked.

  “Nope. I’ve been with them all week and I haven’t seen you guys in ages. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of cast parties before this thing is over. Tonight I want to see you.”

  It was true. Though we’d talked on the phone a few times, I hadn’t seen Nate since the night we had danced in his living room. Tech week had simply taken up all of my time. And it was a rare occasion for Ginny and Josh to have a sitter for Danny that wasn’t me or Jen. I figured we’d better take advantage of it.

  We decided on a brewery down the street from the theater. It was close enough to walk, and I was secretly happy to stroll down the street with Nate’s arm wrapped around me.

  “It’s really getting cold,” he muttered. “How did fall go by so fast?”

  “I feel like I missed it,” I told him.

  “Well you were holed up in a theater for most of the past month,” he agreed. “We’ll have to make the most of winter. Do you like to ski?”

  “I’ve never tried it,” I told him. “But I’m not really into sporty things like that.”