Lulu the Broadway Mouse: The Show Must Go On by Jenna Gavigan

Author:Jenna Gavigan [Gavigan, Jenna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Running Press
Published: 2020-03-30T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

SIXTEEN

IF I WERE RUNNING THINGS, I WOULDN’T CALL A company meeting just to fire you, Lulu.” Benji is sitting serenely on a kitchen sponge that Bet gifted us for Christmas—“to ensure an extra cozy winter”—and I’m pacing around our living room so repetitively that I’m worried I might wear a hole in our concrete floor. “This company meeting isn’t about you. I’m sure of it.”

“What if they’re calling the whole company together so they can all, as a group, convince me to quit?” If I didn’t need my nails for things like climbing, I’d be biting them down to the skin right now. (Gross. So sorry.)

“Lulu. Listen to yourself.” This from Walt over in the corner, spread out on some worn-out washcloths.

Next to him, Matty is halfway into a peanut M&M’s bag, sucking up every last crumb. From inside the bag, he mumbles, “You’re being ridiculous, sis.”

“Am I? Am I?” I’m one “Am I?” away from spinning out of control.

“Should I recite it again?” Timmy asks. Although he knew better than to remove the posting from the call board, that didn’t stop my reads-a-page-a-minute brother from memorizing what it said.

“Yes,” I say. “Maybe we missed a clue.”

Timmy grabs a paper clip from his office supply collection, stands up, and puts the paper clip up to his mouth like it’s a microphone. I appreciate that he’s trying to make this fun, but we’re literally dealing with my future here, so…

“Attention, Company. Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. there will be a company meeting in the house. All cast and crew are required to attend. Following the meeting, Actors’ Equity members will then be released until our 6:30 Half-Hour call. Thank you, Management (on behalf of the Producers).”

“Very straightforward,” Benji says. “It’s a company meeting. It could be anything. They could be bringing in a movie star to replace Stella.”

“Oh, please,” I say.

“What?” Benji says. “Happens all the time. A nice eight-week break for Stella, premium ticket pricing and sold-out houses for us. It’s a win-win.”

“Do you think it’s about Jayne?” Walt asks. “Maybe they’re replacing her with Olivia. She was really good.” Walt is gnawing on a pistachio like humans gnaw on an ear of corn. He’s such an animal.

“First of all,” Benji says, “Olivia gave three great shows, but she’s no Jayne. Second of all, Jayne is under contract. She’s not going anywhere.”

“Then it has to be about me,” I say. “Ticket sales have dropped so much since I started.”

“Not true,” Timmy says. “Ticket sales rose when you first made your debut. I read about it on Playbill.com.”

“You also heard about it from your brother, but whatever,” Benji says.

“And then they fell again,” I say. “After T. Mason wrote that first column. About my debut. The sales fell and they fell hard. It’s me. They’re going to ask me to go. I’m a novelty that’s no longer novel. A jewel that’s lost its sparkle. This experiment of a mouse on Broadway is over. I know it.”

My dad walks in, returning home from whatever he does for work.

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