Page 138 of Christmas off Script
Ella gotthrough the first two scenes, then stood in the wings, watching Leo and Scott as Prince Charming and Dandini.
How would her life look without Leo in it? After seeing him and Lila together, she knew it would be too painful to remain friends with him anymore if he got back with her. The depth of her love for Leo was too deep, too all-encompassing. Having to see him with Lila would pour salt on an open wound that could never truly heal if she was around him.
Just get through Christmas, then think about where else you could live.
Maybe she could look for a job somewhere other than Foxbrooke? Perhaps abroad? Somewhere far, far away from Leo, her dad, her stepmother, Oliver, Zach, and anyone else who knew her and her history. She could have a fresh start. Make new friends. Forge a new life where she wasn’t defined by her past.
But underneath the desperate optimism, she was miserable. No matter where she ran, her heart would still be in Foxbrooke with Leo.
The lighting changed and Connor played incidental music.
Taking a deep breath, Ella strolled onto the stage. ‘I hope I can gather enough firewood to please my sisters,’ she said. ‘Sometimes I think that no matter what I do, it’ll never be good enough.’
She turned her back on the audience as the words bit like sharp teeth.Get it together! You can do this!
‘But soft!’ Leo said behind her. ‘What light through yonder forest breaks? It is the east, and this maiden is the sun.’
Ella dug her fingernails into her palms to stop her tears and turned to Leo. ‘H-have we met before?’
Leo’s gaze was focused on her in a way that made her breath stutter. ‘In my dreams I have met you,’ he said softly. ‘Are you real? Or will you vanish when I open my eyes?’
Ella swallowed to dislodge the lump of emotion in her throat. ‘But your eyes are open now.’
‘So my wishes have come true. Tell me, who are you?’
‘Oh, I’m just a servant girl. What’s your name?’
‘Prin—Dandini. Have you ever dreamt of falling in love?’
‘Y-yes,’ Ella stammered.
‘And did your one true love look like me?’
Always.She swallowed. ‘Mostly.’
‘Mostly? How am I different?’
‘I never expected a beard.’
Leo pulled the false beard off and threw it away. ‘And now?’
‘Oh! Yes! You are…’
‘Your dream man?’
Ella couldn’t reply without crying, so she nodded instead.
Connor played the opening bars of ‘Endless Love’, and Leo extended his hand to her.
She took it, feeling warmth, electricity, and the heart-deep knowledge that he was everything she would ever want and need. The love she had for him choked her. She opened her mouth to begin the song, but couldn’t make a sound.
Leo sang her lines for her. Singing that she was his first love, his only love, the one person he wanted to share his whole life with.
Everything else disappeared. There was no audience. No cast and crew watching from the wings. Only her and Leo, held in the magic of a song that promised her everything she wanted and knew she couldn’t have.
The stage lights glistened around him like a halo, setting off the gold in his hair and the aquamarine depths of his eyes. Through her tears, he was shining.
As the song came to an end, Leo leaned down towards her, and Ella reached up for his kiss like a flower chasing the sun.
