Page 6 of To the Moon and Back

“Noted.” Trip, who’d make a great PSM someday, grinned. His mop ofbrown curls seemed to contribute to his enjoyment. In fact, his hair had a wayof communicating emotion in the most rare sense. Lauren had never seen anythinglike it. When he was happy, his hair bounced. When he felt depressed, it fellsoftly against his forehead. When he partied, it stood straight up. She wasn’tsure how in the world he managed to personify emotion so perfectly.

He gestured back with his Twizzler. “Must have made you quite thedeal because you were dead set on getting out of here for a while. Still can’tbelieve anything was able to keep you from the beach. You’ve been talking aboutit for a year. Not that I’m cataloging you.”

“You have no idea how badly this hurts.” She shrugged. “But I’mhuman, and I saw the dollar signs and leaped. I could use that cash, and nowI’m an official whore in stage manager’s clothing, and you should feel free tocall me such.” She pointed with her Twizzler. “Daily.” Lauren shook her head asshe reflected on the large bonus Wilks had tacked on to her normal paycheck. Hemust have had a rainy day fund stashed away somewhere. She grinned at Trip anddid her best to shift gears. “But—and I say that with an exclamationpoint—happy to have you on board for this one. Didn’t mean to gloss over thatvery important fact because I adore you forever.”

“Thanks, Lala. I plan to do you proud.” Trip would be the perfectassistant stage manager for the show, and because the production was not amusical and had fewer moving parts, he’d be the only ASM, aided by a band of productionassistants. Trip could anticipate her moods like no one else, and that made himincredibly valuable. He’d come up from the stage management program atUniversity of Michigan and hit the ground running from a young age. He wasprofessional, fun loving, and kind, a hard to find combination, so she plannedto keep him. If she could just get him to be a little more organized, and turnthe lust meter to low, he’d be the full package.

Lauren stapled the last of theStarryNightscompany contact sheets and dropped them in the pile thatcontained the rest of her paperwork. With their first rehearsal underway injust a few minutes, she now had all her ducks in a perfectly assembled andwell-behaved row. Nothing gave her more satisfaction than order and structure.She lived by it. Now she was ready to get this show on the road.

Over the next ten minutes, members of the eight person cast filedin one at a time along with members of the design team, who would sit in andmake individual presentations to the cast. She watched as Ethan Moore took a momentto greet each person with either a warm handshake or a hug. He’d worked withsome of them before, she realized, listening in on their small talk. Herinitial meeting with him, after finally taking the gig, had left her with astrong impression of him as both an artist and a director. Each director wasdifferent, and understanding how they worked helped Lauren anticipate problemson the road ahead. Ethan seemed the type to know exactly what he wanted and,beyond that, came with a strong vision for the show. She didn’t pick up on anyhothead vibes either, which was a blessing. God, Lauren loathed working withshort-tempered directors motivated by ego. No, this guy gave off a kind,thoughtful, warm vibe that made Lauren feel like he was going to be a good guyto work alongside. Plus, his creative reputation preceded him. He was avisionary.

“What’s your favorite part of the process?” Ethan had asked hertoward the end of their coffee meeting a few days prior. They’d already goneover all the logistics of how he wanted the rehearsals run and how she wouldnotify him of union-required breaks, and laid out the rehearsal calendar, amongother agenda items.

She took only a moment to think on her answer. “For me, it’salways been about off-book day, where the scripts are tossed away, and theactors face each other fully. That magical connection from one character toanother is established for the first time and…I don’t know. You can feel it inthe room.” She shook her head and lifted her shoulders. “I just don’t thinkI’ll ever get tired of that.”

“That’s a pro answer. That earns you big points.” Ethan ran hishand through his sandy blond hair. He had it short on the sides but longer ontop, which allowed the curl to take hold. She had him pegged in his lateforties. Maybe the type who’d been married a couple of times, but who reallyknew? “You’re somebody who gets it, then, Lauren.”

“You say that now,” she said, playfully.

“Ever done any acting?” he asked, casually. “You have that lookabout you. Youlooklike an actress.”

She had no idea what that meant but answered honestly. “Back inthe day, sure. I auditioned full-time for a year, ate ramen, and pounded thepavement.”

“And what happened?”

She shrugged, feeling the pang all over again. “The time limit Igave myself before moving on finally arrived. My acting career hadn’t goneanywhere, and I’m a realist.”

“Ouch. You just gave up? How is that possible?” he asked, with achallenging smile.

“I don’t think of it as giving up. I evaluated the situation andmade the best call. I’m type A. What can I say?” She shrugged.

“Do you miss it?”

God, did she ever. “Once in a while,” she said, downplaying thereality. “But I found my calling in a stage manager’s booth one night and neverlooked back. It’s a better fit for me anyway. My refrigerator is inalphabetical order.”

“Fuck me.”

“Yeah. I’m a bit much when it comes to processes and procedures.They get my fur up.”

“I guess that’s good for me, right?”

“You just hit the lottery. I keep it all together, so you don’thave to,” Lauren said, with a proud grin.

“A former actress turned stage manager on crack. What the hellwill they think of next?”

“You ready to do this thing?” She gathered her belongings as hedid the same.

“More than you know. See you soon.”

“I’ll be there. Early.”

“I had a feeling.” Ethan smiled, picked up a second coffee to go,and headed out. She had a feeling this professional relationship was going tobe a valuable one. If this was the guy Wilks wanted to keep happy, she didn’tthink it was going to be too terribly difficult.

Well, until one of their two lead actresses was late for the firstdamn day of rehearsal. Really? The drama had started already? Lauren surveyedthe long table she’d assembled for the first read-through and the polite,smiling faces gathered around it, all with scripts in front of them, ready togo. So where in the world was Carly Daniel? She checked her watch. It was fivepast. Nothing to panic about yet, but it wasn’t ideal. She exchanged a look withEthan to see what he wanted to do. He mouthed back,Let’s give her another five. Lauren noddedand listened to the polite getting-to-know-you conversations happening allaround her. She said hello to an actor she’d worked with before. At twelveminutes past, she did what any good stage manager would do—she excused herselfand placed a call to Carly’s cell phone, which rolled to voicemail.

“Hi, Carly. This is Lauren Prescott, stage manager forStarry Nights. Checkingin on your estimated time of arrival, as we’re now at thirteen past our gotime. Please check in with me when you receive this voicemail, so I know whento expect you. See you soon.”

She clicked off the call and headed back to her seat where shelooked to Ethan, who was seated to her left. “Why don’t we get started and Ms.Daniel can join us when she arrives,” Lauren said quietly to Ethan.

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