Chapter 17
Charlee and I get home and I send her up to her room to play before bed as I cook dinner. I sit at the table and twist the audition slip in my hands, trying
to decide whether or not I should call and schedule one.
On the one hand, I love acting and I would give anything to do it again. On the other hand, I am raising Charlee all by myself now, and taking time off for
auditions, rehearsals, and performances would take a lot of time away from us.
But what could one audition hurt? Being on stage again and feeling the rush of eyes falling on you and being under the spotlight would make me happy.
I dial the number on the slip and call to get more information.
“Ronald Smith,” a man answers on the other end.
“Hi, my name is Rayne and I’m calling about the Barefoot in the Park auditions,” I reply, my nerves singing.
“Oh hi, yes. We have open auditions this Friday, but if you can’t make it that day, we can always schedule another time,” he happily responds. “Are you familiar with the play?”
“Only a bit, I am going to read it all before the audition though. Do you have a specific set of lines to read for or should I choose something?”
“The producer of the play is going to be our Paul Bratter, so if you’re reading for Carol, we’d ask you to prepare the elevator scene. But I can email you the
PDF with more information if you’d like.”
“That would be amazing, thank you.”
I give him my email address and we say our goodbyes. I let out a long exhale and searched for the script online. Reading over it, I can see why Leonard likes
it so much. It’s a comedy of errors, nothing goes right for the lovers in the play, but they continue fighting for their relationship, to be together in the end.
When I reach the elevator scene I read Connie’s lines aloud, figuring out the best way to annunciate each word to capture the mood. A woman so in love
she can’t bear to be away from her husband for eight hours. Whenever I have had more than two lines in projects in the past, I would try to remember moments
in my life where I felt the same emotions the characters feel and it helped with getting into character.
However, reading these lines I only feel saddened. Reece was the only man I ever really loved. When it started, things were great. But they quickly went
bad. I could not wait for him to leave so I could be alone and not live under his constant scrutiny, berating me for not landing roles or complaining about how he
could have been something had he not been forced to work on trashy soap operas and commercials after dating me and having Charlee. I was not allowed to
work either since he was always insecure in case I got a brighter job opportunity. ‘He just wants to sleep with you,” he would say about every casting director.
The more I read the lines between Connie and Paul, the more I want to star in the play. I want to feel what they feel, even if it is all fake. I read over the
lines more and more, getting a hang of how Connie feels, and trying to memorize the lines.
The next day at work Leonard stops at my desk and gives me a hopeful look.
“I have an audition on Friday,” I say, and he smiles. “And you’re going to run lines with me beforehand.”
He laughs and nods his head. “Just tell me when and I’ll be there,” he replies before walking through the doors to his office.
“Tonight,” I yell after him while he is still in earshot. He gives me a thumbs-up while he walks away.
It is a slow day at work, so I spend a lot of time reading over the script and trying to memorize it as best as I can. I am a very quick learner, so it doesn’t take
me too long to be off-book. Throughout the day, I mumble the words to myself just to get some extra practice in.
Leonard walks back through the office doors when it’s time to leave, and we head back to my house.
“My mom offered to watch Charlee tonight so I can focus on the lines,” I tell him while we ride down the elevator.
“I hope it isn’t a problem that I didn’t study any lines for this,” he jokes. “If I’d have had a little more notice, maybe I could have.”
“Luckily for you, I printed some copies of the script,” I say, brandishing two neatly stapled piles of paper in the air. “And you better bring your A-game to
this reading, too. You’re the one who wanted me to audition and now I actually want to get the part.”
We arrive at the brownstone shortly and start working right away.
“Oh, the elevator scene,” he says with a smile.
“Of course, you already know it,” I joke with him.
We spend a few minutes figuring out the blocking of the scene, where we’re going to move, how I want it to sound, and how he should try to sound.
“Please don’t judge my acting skills,” Leonard pleads before we begin.
“I can’t make any promises,” I laugh.
We start the scene with Leonard walking out of the living room, pretending to close a door.
“Paul, wait just a minute!” I say, chasing after him. I’m careful to tiptoe as I run to allow an extra spring in my step. Leonard turns to me and sighs.
“Where are you going?”
“Work, Connie. I have to go to work. I don’t do this for a living, don’t you know?” Leonard’s voice is flat as he reads his lines, and it’s hard not to laugh at
him, but I maintain my composure.
“Can’t you just call in sick? Last night you promised you’d never leave me,” I pleaded with Leonard’s character, rushing to him and resting an arm on his shoulder.
“It’s just until five o’clock. If it’s a good marriage, we can last until five o’clock,” Leonard says, reading right off the paper this time.
He leans down and puts his cheek against mine to simulate the cheek kiss in the play.
“Was that a kiss?” I say, my tone incredulous and hurt all at once.
Leonard fakes a sigh and nearly breaks his character with a smile, but manages to contain himself. “Would you get back inside? It’s a nice hotel.”
“Answer me, Paul, was that a kiss? Because if that’s what kisses are going to be like from now on, don’t even bother coming back at five,” I say, turning my
back to him and walking into the living room.
Leonard follows me with a sigh, just like I asked him to, and grabs my shoulder to turn me around. “Listen, I can’t kiss you anymore. My lips are numb. Now
will you go back inside,” he exclaims, not even looking at the script. I wonder if he remembers the scene from the movie.
“If you don’t give me a real kiss right now,” I say, my voice raised to scold him. I look around the room and down at my outfit where I pretend to unbutton a
top. “I’m going to take off your pajamas!”
“Just wait a minute,” he pleads, watching me pretend to unbutton more looking around to keep other invisible eyes from watching. “Connie, wait!”
We had planned the scene to end there since it is just an audition after all, and they will not need me to kiss the person I am auditioning with. But Leonard
swoops in and grabs me in his arms, leaning down to kiss me.
He catches me off guard and my body tenses for a moment, but when I fully realize what is happening, I relax and wrap my arms around his neck, fully
enjoying our kiss.