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Author's Note: This is a set of scene's based around the relationship of actor's during the stages of a play. The challenge was a set of scenes showing a relationship and I found this concept rather neat. In the beginning, there is the uncertainty of whether or not they're going to even audition, then after gaining the part, the relationship goes into a hectic/frantic stage of constant rehearsal. In the end, it's the finale when things finally come together and can be put to memory. Such is life, I suppose. Either way, it was fun to write. Happy reading and Happy Writing, Sanctum dwellers... 
"Are you going to the open call this afternoon?" Nadia remarked as she closed the apartment door and immediately removed her shoes, as was her tradition. "What was the play called again? Tut's Tomb or something?"
Emma looked up from the small playbook she held in her hand, still in the curled up position on the soft, overstuffed sofa the pair loved so much. The two ladies had been best friends since primary school and managed to get into the same grad school and lucked out with the killer apartment they scored, jumping into the roles of roommates with a sibling-like relationship. "I don't know if I'm ready for it," Emma admitted, tossing the book onto the coffee table before she got up and followed Nadia to the kitchen for the after class glass of tea. "I've been reading through monologues all morning and...," she paused to sigh before letting herself plop down on one of the bar stools that sat at the counter. "Nothing... Not a single spark of creative Muse to drive any of them believable when read!"
"My goodness," Nadia gushed, slightly on the mocking side with an exaggerated southern accent added. "You don't sound the least bit dramatic at all! Why I daresay they'll be polishing that Oscar for the best dramatic performance of the decade for that rubbish!"
"You're a real bitch, you know this," Emma teased with a returned mocking glare. "Move, I'll make the tea, you know you make it too weak."
Moving out of the way, as commanded, Nadia threw up her hands and traded places with the drama queen. Out of curiosity, she walked over to the table and picked up the discarded book and began to leaf through the pages. Landing on 'The Dining Room', by A.R. Gurney, she began the reading, thinking on the words.
"'Lately I've been having this recurrent dream. We've giving this perfect party. We have our dining room back, and Grandmother's silver, before it was stolen, and Charley's mother royal blue dinner plates, before the moves dropped them, and even the finger bowls, if I knew where they were. And I've invited all our favourite people. Oh, I don't mean just our old friends. I mean everyone we've ever known and liked. We'd have the man who fixes our Toyota, and that intelligent young couple who bought the Payton house, and the receptionist at the doctor's office, and--' Why don't you read this..." Nadia walked back to the kitchen holding the book out to Emma who had just filled the kettle and set it on the fire.
"I think I would like to hear you finish the reading," she said with her eyes wide and a smile starting to creep to the once forlorn face. "I think you missed your calling!"
"I'm definitely not an actress, Em," Nadia laughed, placing the offered book onto the counter. "I like to write the plays, not act them out. Speaking of," she supplied, moving back into the living room and reaching for her bag. "I've so much research to get finished for my dissertation, I will probably not see the outside world for months!"
"And you call me the drama queen," Emma scoffed as she moved to remove the now screaming kettle.
Emma rushed through the apartment madly scrambling to find the things she knew she should have already had together. Nadia apparently dropped off of the face of the planet with her research for her upcoming paper. "Have you seen my handkerchief with the red polka dots on it?! I need it for today's rehearsal!"
Nadia came out of her room then, messy mahogany tresses tied up sloppily in a bun and her glasses with slight smudges on them resting as a make-shift headband on her head. "You mean the one you asked me to wash because Eddie used it to clear the pizza sauce from his moustache?"
Emma stopped her search and looked at Nadia intently. "Are you feeling alright, dearheart? Like," Emma came over and placed a hand on her friend's forehead to take a pseudo-temp. "Have you been outside or, I dunno... Taken a shower in the last couple of days?"
Nadia produced the handkerchief in question and shoved the hands of the pestering fake nurse away with a laugh. "I swear," Nadia chuckled, handing over the piece of fabric. "I'll shower after I am finished with this chapter! I've finally gotten onto something that might help my paper."
"You and that paper should take a break," Emma suggested as she took the handkerchief and tied it around her neck. "You should come to rehearsal tonight and see what a trainwreck the show will be!"
"Things going that well, I take it," Nadia laughed, pulling her glasses from her hair and placing them on her face. "Tell you what, I'll come after I finish this chapter and then, you can let me take a break from reading lines with you all night so I can get some actual work done. Deal?"
"I don't know..." Emma jokingly contemplated. "You're damn good at reading Jared's part, I'll tell ya..."
"Seriously?! I'm going to tell him that you said that," Nadia laughed back, heading to the kitchen and snagging a Redbull from the refrigerator. "The next audition, he better watch out!"
"You better not! I swear he already thinks I'm a weirdo!"
"I'm only kidding," Nadia laughed even more as she popped the top on the carbonated energy she felt she needed. "Still crushin' kind of hard, I take it?"
"I can't think when he's around! I swear, it's like I turn mental or something," Emma complained, taking the cold can from Nadia and stealing a drink before handing it back to her. "I don't know how to be me when he's around."
"And that's why you want me to come to rehearsal tonight, hmm?" Nadia always knew too much for her own good. Not that Emma had an issue with the insight Nadia had when involving Emma, in fact, she loved that about her. It saved her time in explaining herself when she found herself at a loss for words.
"Please?"
"I'll be there at 6, with a case of Redbulls and a backup handkerchief," Nadia said with a nod, holding up her pinky for the always reliable pinky-promise.
"You're the best!" Emma replied, throwing her arms around her friend. "Thank you!"
"I think I'm going to be sick," Emma said as she came out of the bathroom, looking paler than her normal self.
"Well, you're heading in the wrong direction if that's the case, sweets," Nadia chimed in sounding as chipper as ever as she came out of her room, trying to fasten an earring onto her lobe. "You're going to be fiiiiine, dear. It's just the jitters and you know it. Plus, we went through the entire play last night and you didn't need to look at the script once through the three times we rehearsed it. AFTER your last rehearsal last night!"
"Is there such a thing as too much rehearsing?" Emma looked as though she was about to panic herself right into a stroke. "I mean, we did stay up way too late last night, and that bottle of wine! Oh, goodness, that was a bad idea..."
"Emma," Nadia said calmly walking over to her friend and placing her hands on either side of her shoulders, holding her in place. "You need to breathe. Do it with me. Breathe in...." Taking a deep breath in and maintaining eye contact with the terrified actress. "Breathe out..." Exhaling and still keeping her grey eyes focused. "Alright, now that we know the lungs are functioning, you need to get the brain on track. You've been through a bi-gillion openings so tonight isn't anything new to you!"
"I know, I know," Emma said with a sigh pulling Nadia in for a warm embrace. "And my lucky charm will be in the audience cheering me on, so I shouldn't have anything to worry about."
"Oh, so I'm you're lucky charm now," Nadia laughingly said as she hugged her friend back. "I'm not sure how Jared will feel about that."
"He knows," Emma winked as she pulled away and grabbed her jacket. "But I am glad we had this chapter together."
"So am I, Emma," Nadia replied, grabbing her shawl and handbag for the evening. "So am I."
Scene I: The Audition
"Are you going to the open call this afternoon?" Nadia remarked as she closed the apartment door and immediately removed her shoes, as was her tradition. "What was the play called again? Tut's Tomb or something?"
Emma looked up from the small playbook she held in her hand, still in the curled up position on the soft, overstuffed sofa the pair loved so much. The two ladies had been best friends since primary school and managed to get into the same grad school and lucked out with the killer apartment they scored, jumping into the roles of roommates with a sibling-like relationship. "I don't know if I'm ready for it," Emma admitted, tossing the book onto the coffee table before she got up and followed Nadia to the kitchen for the after class glass of tea. "I've been reading through monologues all morning and...," she paused to sigh before letting herself plop down on one of the bar stools that sat at the counter. "Nothing... Not a single spark of creative Muse to drive any of them believable when read!"
"My goodness," Nadia gushed, slightly on the mocking side with an exaggerated southern accent added. "You don't sound the least bit dramatic at all! Why I daresay they'll be polishing that Oscar for the best dramatic performance of the decade for that rubbish!"
"You're a real bitch, you know this," Emma teased with a returned mocking glare. "Move, I'll make the tea, you know you make it too weak."
Moving out of the way, as commanded, Nadia threw up her hands and traded places with the drama queen. Out of curiosity, she walked over to the table and picked up the discarded book and began to leaf through the pages. Landing on 'The Dining Room', by A.R. Gurney, she began the reading, thinking on the words.
"'Lately I've been having this recurrent dream. We've giving this perfect party. We have our dining room back, and Grandmother's silver, before it was stolen, and Charley's mother royal blue dinner plates, before the moves dropped them, and even the finger bowls, if I knew where they were. And I've invited all our favourite people. Oh, I don't mean just our old friends. I mean everyone we've ever known and liked. We'd have the man who fixes our Toyota, and that intelligent young couple who bought the Payton house, and the receptionist at the doctor's office, and--' Why don't you read this..." Nadia walked back to the kitchen holding the book out to Emma who had just filled the kettle and set it on the fire.
"I think I would like to hear you finish the reading," she said with her eyes wide and a smile starting to creep to the once forlorn face. "I think you missed your calling!"
"I'm definitely not an actress, Em," Nadia laughed, placing the offered book onto the counter. "I like to write the plays, not act them out. Speaking of," she supplied, moving back into the living room and reaching for her bag. "I've so much research to get finished for my dissertation, I will probably not see the outside world for months!"
"And you call me the drama queen," Emma scoffed as she moved to remove the now screaming kettle.
Scene II: The Rehearsals
Emma rushed through the apartment madly scrambling to find the things she knew she should have already had together. Nadia apparently dropped off of the face of the planet with her research for her upcoming paper. "Have you seen my handkerchief with the red polka dots on it?! I need it for today's rehearsal!"
Nadia came out of her room then, messy mahogany tresses tied up sloppily in a bun and her glasses with slight smudges on them resting as a make-shift headband on her head. "You mean the one you asked me to wash because Eddie used it to clear the pizza sauce from his moustache?"
Emma stopped her search and looked at Nadia intently. "Are you feeling alright, dearheart? Like," Emma came over and placed a hand on her friend's forehead to take a pseudo-temp. "Have you been outside or, I dunno... Taken a shower in the last couple of days?"
Nadia produced the handkerchief in question and shoved the hands of the pestering fake nurse away with a laugh. "I swear," Nadia chuckled, handing over the piece of fabric. "I'll shower after I am finished with this chapter! I've finally gotten onto something that might help my paper."
"You and that paper should take a break," Emma suggested as she took the handkerchief and tied it around her neck. "You should come to rehearsal tonight and see what a trainwreck the show will be!"
"Things going that well, I take it," Nadia laughed, pulling her glasses from her hair and placing them on her face. "Tell you what, I'll come after I finish this chapter and then, you can let me take a break from reading lines with you all night so I can get some actual work done. Deal?"
"I don't know..." Emma jokingly contemplated. "You're damn good at reading Jared's part, I'll tell ya..."
"Seriously?! I'm going to tell him that you said that," Nadia laughed back, heading to the kitchen and snagging a Redbull from the refrigerator. "The next audition, he better watch out!"
"You better not! I swear he already thinks I'm a weirdo!"
"I'm only kidding," Nadia laughed even more as she popped the top on the carbonated energy she felt she needed. "Still crushin' kind of hard, I take it?"
"I can't think when he's around! I swear, it's like I turn mental or something," Emma complained, taking the cold can from Nadia and stealing a drink before handing it back to her. "I don't know how to be me when he's around."
"And that's why you want me to come to rehearsal tonight, hmm?" Nadia always knew too much for her own good. Not that Emma had an issue with the insight Nadia had when involving Emma, in fact, she loved that about her. It saved her time in explaining herself when she found herself at a loss for words.
"Please?"
"I'll be there at 6, with a case of Redbulls and a backup handkerchief," Nadia said with a nod, holding up her pinky for the always reliable pinky-promise.
"You're the best!" Emma replied, throwing her arms around her friend. "Thank you!"
Scene III: Opening Night
"I think I'm going to be sick," Emma said as she came out of the bathroom, looking paler than her normal self.
"Well, you're heading in the wrong direction if that's the case, sweets," Nadia chimed in sounding as chipper as ever as she came out of her room, trying to fasten an earring onto her lobe. "You're going to be fiiiiine, dear. It's just the jitters and you know it. Plus, we went through the entire play last night and you didn't need to look at the script once through the three times we rehearsed it. AFTER your last rehearsal last night!"
"Is there such a thing as too much rehearsing?" Emma looked as though she was about to panic herself right into a stroke. "I mean, we did stay up way too late last night, and that bottle of wine! Oh, goodness, that was a bad idea..."
"Emma," Nadia said calmly walking over to her friend and placing her hands on either side of her shoulders, holding her in place. "You need to breathe. Do it with me. Breathe in...." Taking a deep breath in and maintaining eye contact with the terrified actress. "Breathe out..." Exhaling and still keeping her grey eyes focused. "Alright, now that we know the lungs are functioning, you need to get the brain on track. You've been through a bi-gillion openings so tonight isn't anything new to you!"
"I know, I know," Emma said with a sigh pulling Nadia in for a warm embrace. "And my lucky charm will be in the audience cheering me on, so I shouldn't have anything to worry about."
"Oh, so I'm you're lucky charm now," Nadia laughingly said as she hugged her friend back. "I'm not sure how Jared will feel about that."
"He knows," Emma winked as she pulled away and grabbed her jacket. "But I am glad we had this chapter together."
"So am I, Emma," Nadia replied, grabbing her shawl and handbag for the evening. "So am I."
FIN
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