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?”
“Definitely not.”
“Okay. What’s going on?” Lauren walked a few feet away, out of earshot of the group, sensing this might need to be a private conversation.
“I’m not coming in today. Food poisoning. Really bad.”
“Oh no. Do you need anything? What can we do?”
“I’ll be fine,” Evelyn said in a curt voice. Even sick, she apparently wasn’t the warm and friendly type. “Just can’t quite keep anything down, so I better…Oh no. I have to go.” Lauren winced as Evelyn clicked off the call out of clear necessity. She made a note to check in on her later in the day, and moved to plan B. “Evelyn’s out today. Food poisoning,” she told Ethan.
“Fan-fucking-tastic. I get Carly here on time, and Evelyn can’t make it.”
“I know,” Lauren said sympathetically. “But we have Nia ready to step in.” Nia Blankenship had been cast as the standby for both lead roles. She was a sturdy understudy, which was why The McAllister recommended her readily in the casting sessions. You could always count on Nia, and with a wild card like Carly Daniel in the mix, having a solid backup was key. No, she wasn’t the most charismatic actress, but she was serviceable.
Ethan sighed. “All right. Put her in.”
After briefing an eager Nia, rehearsal was finally off and rolling. Their agenda was a run of act 1, and with only a few hiccups, they stumbled their way to the end, blandly. Carly looked defeated by then and walked away to a quiet corner alone. Ethan appeared weary, almost as if he hadn’t slept in a week. Nia looked nervous as hell. Apparently, working with a celebrity rattled her more