Guillaume, Her French Husband

Maybe because she was not going to get it.

Or if she did, it would most probably be the usual roles that she didn’t like. But another voice inside her was telling her that it was better to try than just give up. There was no way of knowing what was on the horizon for her as far as her acting career was concerned. She looked at her sister and sighed loudly.

“Enough about me,” she said in an attempt to change the subject. “How is the school recital coming along?”

A smile played on Lara’s lips as she noticed Myka’s eyes suddenly light up.

“I got the lead. I’m playing Fraulein Maria,” she said proudly.

“I still can’t believe you guys are doing The Sound Of Music. I would have died to be in that back in high school.”

“What musical did you guys do?” Myka asked and Lara sighed.

“Peter Pan. And it was way before the likes of Glee and High School Musical made it look cool. Doing a history special like The Sound Of Music would have been a real treat.”

“I was hoping we got to do Les Miserables this year but the senior class already grabbed that. So the sophomores have to be content with the Second World War.”

“Content?” Lara asked dramatically. “Are you kidding me? It is an amazing opportunity being in that. That will be an amazing story once you get your application to Berkley…if that is still where you want to go that is.”

Myka smiled as she took another bite of her pancakes.

“Of course I do.”

“So, when is this musical going to be taking place?” Lara asked.

“Next week. Thursday is opening night,” she said.

Lara smiled.

“You have been holding out on me little lady,” she said and Myka shrugged.

“Well, you have been having a tough time lately. Holding down two jobs while still trying to figure out your audition schedule. I didn’t want to burden you,” she said and Lara shook her head.

“Sweetie, you could never burden me. Even if you tried.”

Myka smiled at her.

“Now eat your food before it gets cold,” Lara said as she watched her sister taking another bite of her pancakes.

Lara was looking right into her eyes as she took another bite of her frittata. And at the back of her mind, she was thinking, she most definitely had to call Felipe back. There was no back and forth about anything. If he was this bent on getting her being in this audition, then it had to be good, right? There were no two ways about it. She had to do this.

*****

After breakfast, Lara put on some make up and pulled her curly hair in a tight bun before she put on a red sleeveless floral skater dress and a pair of peep toe ankle boot heels. She was not very sure of herself as she made her way down to the ground floor. A part of her was still screaming at her to give up the entire thing. She had been dissed in one too many auditions and maybe that was what was messing with her confidence. She was still on the fence when she got into her white 1998 Honda Civic. She put the key in the ignition and turned it on but that old engine seemed to want a coaxing before it could cough to life.

“Come on,” she thought as she stepped on the gas pedal. “I’ve come this far. You can’t just not work…”

It seemed like forever before the engine finally revved to life. She looked at herself in the rearview mirror and smiled.

“Maybe that was a sign or something,” she said to no one in particular before she began backing out of the driveway. Her heart was beating a little harder than usual as she began driving down the street. She was not sure what Felipe had in mind. What was it about this audition, she thought, that was so special he had to insist on her going there.

Was it that maybe he thought that he had finally found her the perfect part? Or was it that he had finally found her the right director?

She was not sure about anything anymore. All she was doing was keeping her promise to Myka. She had called Felipe and she was even going the extra mile and actually meeting with him. Even in all this, she found herself thinking about Ashley. She was wondering how her friend and boss was doing spending the first weekend without her son in the house. It must have been a devastatingly quiet weekend in the huge three bedroom house. She thought that she should have probably made a plan on dropping by her place Just to make sure she didn’t spend the night in her son’s room rocking on the floor while tightly holding his lovey.

By the time she got to Felipe’s office building, her stomach was in knots. Maybe because she had no idea what to expect. Or the fact that this was her umpteenth audition in less than eight weeks yet she was yet to have anything to show for it.

She was breathing slow and deep as she made her way to the elevator. She was drumming her fingers on her hip as the elevator made its way to the fourteenth floor. Nervous and anxious at the same time. When the elevator doors opened, she walked out and made her way to her agent’s office.

“Hi Ruth. Is Felipe in?” she asked as she approached Felipe’s assistant.

“Yes. He’s expecting you,” Ruth said. “Go right in.”

Lara smiled at her and knocked softly on Felipe’s door before she poked her head through the doorway.

“Hey you?”

“Hey, there stranger,” Felipe said as he looked up at her. “Come on in.”

Lara slowly made her way to one of the seats in front of his desk.

“So, now you are harassing my sister now?” she asked. “When did you even get her number?”

“Oh hi Felipe. How are you…nice to see you too,” he said in a sarcastic tone.

“I’m sorry but it is kind of hard for me to have the small talk right now.” She crossed one leg over the other. “I’m sure you know by now that none of my auditions have been panning out.”

“Yeah I know. That is why I have been trying to reach you by any means necessary so that I can give you this.” He handed her a piece of paper and leaned back in his chair. “This could be really big for you. Huge even.”