Page 36 of Curtain Call
“Let’s just hope it doesn’t short-circuit before he gets here,” Colin’s face goes very bleak. “Wait, we were talking about you and your love life, not mine.”
“Damn, I was hoping to avoid it.”
“Not a chance. Spill it.”
“Jax is not like anyone I’ve ever met.”
“Clearly. Look at you,” Colin pointed out her glazed-over eyes and cheesy grin as she speaks. “You’re one smitten kitten.”
“Calm down, I haven’t rented a moving van. Yet,” Mac teases.
“Oh, my goddess, you thought about it. You’re a textbook lesbian.”
“That’s what Riley said about my tool belt.”
They both share a laugh.
Mac squeezes his hands before letting go. She turns and heads into the theater to do a final check on her stage design.
Jax enters through the back of the theater while watching Mac, on stage, as she puts the finishing touches on the oversized animated tree that is the focal point of Whoville.
“You did all this?” they ask.
“The one and only.”
Mac beams with pride because it really is a spectacular set.
“Are you kidding me?” Colin annoyingly shouts at the screen on his phone, before shoving it into the front pocket of his jeans. His voice echoed from the lobby into the theater.
Mac and Jax both turn in his direction with wide eyes and furrowed brows. Colin looks up at both standing frozen on stage as he enters the space.
“Fuck my life,” Colin yells across the theater toward them. “The drama teacher can’t make it to today’s rehearsal and the kids will be here soon.”
Mac takes a deep breath for the three of them.
“It’s fine,” Mac tries to say in a calm comforting voice. “Um, we can show them around the set and they can all get a feel for the stage. They’ve been rehearsing at the school so we can chaperone them while letting them do their thing. We’ve all been around theater forever so we can help guide them for a couple of hours. Jax, can you help them with stage directions?”
“I was going to ask you to fill in too, but I know how you are around kids,” Colin tries to tease Jax, but the sentiment falls a bit sharp.
“Of course. These are teens, it’s not the same as chasing squirrels around the concert hall,” he jokes about the kids they and Riley have been directing.
Jax pulls out their phone, and as fast as their freshly done holiday-painted stiletto nails can click, they are clicking away on the keyboard.
Jax: SOS. Drama teacher MIA. Need help at Colin’s theater ASAP. Please come.
“Thank you both,” Colin tells them. “I would be lost without you two.”
“We got this. Relax,” Mac says. “Now, go get upstairs to the lighting booth to make sure the lights are ready for showtime.”
And with that command, Colin exits the theater.
Riley
“I’m impressed,” Jax comments on the tree that is mesmerizing from just paint, and glitter, “and I have been in several Broadway productions, and this is right up there with the best of them.”
“Flattery will get you everywhere.”
“I’ve already been everywhere,” Jax adds with a wink and a bite to their bottom lip.
