“Yeah, you know, all the furniture moving, and laptop typing, and cross-referencing, and highlighting. We can do that while we run lines.”
“Where in the world did you get these doughnuts?” Lauren asked, amazed at the flaky goodness she was tasting. They were still warm. These doughnuts weren’t just any doughnuts—they were perfection, and from her own city? How? She’d ordered a million doughnuts for her companies over the years. None had been these.
“Oh. I read about them on Yelp. Danny D’s Donut Diner on Donato Street. Heard of them?”
“No,” Lauren said, around a heavenly mouthful of dough.
“Tiny place. No tables. Couple of guys behind the counter, working hard.” Carly pointed at the stand-in airport chairs. “Shall I place these for act one?”
“Yes. That would be fantastic.” Lauren’s brain hadn’t quite caught up. “Wait. So, you’re telling me that you woke up early, got dressed, drove to Danny D’s Donut Dynasty.”
“Diner. But you’re right. They missed a great naming opportunity.”
“Drove to Danny D’s Diner and made it here an hour before rehearsal is set to begin?”
Carly slid the chairs onto the blue spike tape on the floor that marked their intended home. “That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
“How?” Lauren asked in amazement. “Why?”
“Because I wanted to run lines. Why aren’t you listening to me?” Suddenly, it became crystal clear. Carly needed proper motivation, and when she had it? She responded in spades.
Lauren nodded her head sagely. “So with a little carrot waving, you’re up and at ’em.”
“I do lots of things for the right carrots.” Carly made the statement as if it was the most basic of understood facts. Well, it was now. “Lines?”
“Let’s do it.”
They went back and forth on the first scene between Ashley and Mandy at the airport when they first met.
“Wait. So we’re stuck here. As in overnight?” Carly balked.
“That’s what I’m telling you,” Lauren said gently.
“No, no, no. I have a presentation in Boston in the morning. I need to be on that plane.”
“We all have somewhere to be, but sometimes you have to accept defeat. Cinnamon pretzel bite?”
“What are you doing? Why are you getting comfortable with the pretzel things? We should argue. Or call someone. Someone important.”
Just like Lauren had noticed the night before when they’d read, Carly’s version of Ashley came alive. Not that it wasn’t good before. It was. But the readings they did together were other-level for Carly. It’s because she has something more to respond to. So Lauren continued to give, and Carly continued to come up with new and exciting line deliveries. By the time they’d worked their way to the end of the scene, Lauren noticed that she’d abandoned her stage management duties and had lost herself in the world of Starry Nights and Ashley and Mandy. The result was her standing face-to-face with Carly when the scene ended.
“You have no concept of how helpful that was,” Carly said quietly. Lauren’s focus fell to Carly’s bottom lip and the subtle pink lip gloss that gave it a small shine.
“Well, that’s what I’m here for. To help.”
“Then you need a raise,” Carly said sincerely. “I really feel like last night and this morning have amounted to a major breakthrough for me. I can see the path to this character now, and it’s because of you.”
“Good. That makes me happy.”
They stared at each other.
Lauren closed her script and remembered herself, heated cheeks or not. She had only a short amount of time to finish her rehearsal prep, yet she found herself completely out of sorts. She wasn’t complaining. The buzz she got from reading lines with Carly reminded her of the days she used to act herself, and with such a capable scene partner, her enjoyment level only doubled.
Reading Mandy’s and Ashley’s lines as they discovered each other in the play reminded Lauren so much of her personal journey with Carly, who she had yet to fully figure out. Just when she thought Carly was a spoiled, entitled starlet, Carly would do something to showcase her humanity and kindness. She was beginning to care about this production, and seeing her cry yesterday had been eye opening for Lauren. No, she hadn’t pinned Carly Daniel down just yet, but Lauren also understood that was part of her appeal. Carly was a lot of things, some of them unexpected.
“All right. I’m back with some scheduling details from Chuck.” Lauren blinked. Ah, yes, she’d sent Trip to speak to The McAllister’s resident technical director about their transition to the theater. Chuck was known for his grumpy side, and she’d come to learn that Trip’s cheerful disposition offset it nicely.
“What did he say?” she asked, trying to ease back into her PSM role, despite the fact that the back of her neck felt warm and she could still feel Carly’s gaze all over. She stole a final glance at Carly but felt that connection from minutes ago still very much intact.
“He said that if the scenic folks would speed the hell up, we’re on time to move in this week. Yet he’s grumbling about Tinsley demanding more money for paint.”
This wasn’t the first time those two had butted heads. “Tins is always very particular about her mixing, and sometimes that requires additional coats we didn’t budget for.”
“Sounds like she’s our holdup. Other than that, we’re good to go.”
Lauren set out the sign-in sheet and nodded. “I’ll talk to her.” It wasn’t technically her job to wrangle an assistant designer, but if Tinsley was going to be a monkey wrench in the works, she could always mention it to Wilks so he could get ahead of the problem.
“So, this is yet another thing you do,” Carly said, grinning. “You look ahead to any problems.”
“Part of my job. Yes.” The answer seemed to intrigue Carly, who stole a doughnut and wandered a few feet away to study her lines.
Trip pointed at Carly silently with a shocked looked on his face and his jaw fully dropped. Lauren nodded back at him wordlessly with wide oh-my-God eyes, as if to say, yes, an early Carly Daniel was something to behold. The morning had been a unique one. Yet Lauren couldn’t wipe the never-ending smile off her face. Their one-on-one work sessions invigorated her just as much as they did Carly.
In fact, she wondered when they’d find some alone time next. She told herself that the thought was a harmless one and allowed it. Underneath, concern crept in, because with Carly, Lauren felt out of control, and there was nothing Lauren craved more in life than structure and control.
“You okay in there, Lala?” Trip asked quietly, as the cast members began to trickle in.
Lauren grinned at him. “I think so.” She didn’t have time to dwell on her status, however, as her phone danced in vibration where she’d left it on the table. They were two minutes from the official start of rehearsal and the actors who had been called were already engaged in vocal warm-ups. “This is Lauren.”
“Lauren. Evelyn.”
She glanced down at the sign-in sheet and saw that she’d yet to sign-in. “Hey, there. Everything okay?”