The next morning, he stretches. He feels fantastic. He sweeps back the flowing hair draped around him, grabbing a ribbon from the table and tying it back. Reciting a few lines from the show to clear his voice before showering and getting ready for the day. Squeezing into an emerald sequin dress with its plunging neckline, he glances to the mirror. It’s a bit much for a small town, but the star has to play his role. As he strides out into the theater, he deftly pivots to avoid the woman with a stack of papers. She chuckles that at least one of them is prepared this morning before dashing off.
An impressed whistle sounds from behind him. The understudy says she’s amazed the star can move that well in heels like that, she couldn’t do it even after she’s had her morning coffee! She then apologizes and offers her hand and introduces herself. Our lead goes through the ceremony of the introduction and invites his coworker to the diner to have one of those morning coffees. The understudy is thrilled and relishes the chance to talk their craft with a star like him.
They pass by the shops opening for the morning and enter the diner. A bevy of waitresses zip by as the pair find one of the few open booths and sit down. The understudy grins, she really likes this place, has a good feel to it and lots of charm. She surveys the women eating their morning meals and chatting before glancing over at a gorgeous woman with an almost impossible hourglass figure eating with her assistants. Gosh, the understudy proclaims, do you think she should have been an actress too? Our lead shakes his head from side to side and says that she’s much calmer running her salon and doing makeup. The understudy nods in agreement, right, no reason to stress her out by changing things. The star stops and tilts his head, pardon? The flustered understudy whips around and buries herself in the menu, n-nothing! Just thinking aloud.
After breakfast, the pair wander back towards the theater, glancing through the shop windows and their fancy displays. The understudy asks our lead what he’ll do after this play. He says that he always wanted to go to the coast and try to become a star. The understudy nods vigorously, that sounds amazing. Would he mind if she tagged along? He laughs and says it sounds like a nice adventure. A fog suddenly lifts and he feels a rush of déjà vu. Like he’d been asked that question many times before but this was the first time his answer had been... right. Suddenly, the town felt so odd, like he barely recognized it. Was he parked around here, or... wait, what happened to his car. A snap brought him back to attention and he looked over at the understudy waving her fingers in his face. Was something... wrong? A wave of panic hit him but no, everything was surely fine. He just... couldn’t remember where he parked last night. The understudy shrugged and said probably behind the theater, a few staff cars were there. They looped behind the theater to the dirt patch that served as the parking lot for the scant few cars. A theater staff of so many people and yet so few cars. Lots of them must be locals.
Spotting a rusted car, he headed towards it. He put his fingers on the handle and things suddenly just felt right again. He slid into the seat and felt fantastic, like he’d woken up. Except the seat was way too forward and his chest was practically mashed into the steering wheel. He slid it back and felt at ease. The passenger door popped open and the understudy landed in the seat with a dusty thud. Not the ride she expected a star like him to have. He laughed and said you had to hit it big first. The understudy agreed and said that was probably going to happen any day now.
Just then, the theater lit up and the spotlight shone, even in the morning sun. A round of applause and cheers went up from the front of the theater. The understudy smiled, that’s the first time they got those lights working properly. The lead nodded, definitely a good sign, right!