The Last Line by Scott Lyerly

Author:Scott Lyerly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CROOKED LANE BOOKS

Chapter Thirty

Steve was standing outside the theater with a coffee in one hand and a cigarette in the other, alternating moving each to his mouth, when Ellie pulled up. He waved to her, which was primarily lifting his coffee cup in her direction.

“Ready for a repeat performance?” she asked.

Steve frowned and shrugged. “Do I have a choice?”

“No.”

Steve took a drag and chased it with coffee. He dropped the cigarette and stepped on it, then picked up the butt to bring inside to throw out. Ellie had previously given Steve an earful over smoking, but at least he picked up after himself. He opened the door and said, “After you.”

The familiar feeling that washed over Ellie when she stepped inside the lobby threatened to overwhelm her. The feeling of a show day. There was nothing like it. The air in the theater was different the day of a performance, humming with the nervous energy of actors and actresses, stagehands, and production crews. Everyone getting ready, volunteers putting out the usual assortment of theater junk food, the lobby noise growing as it filled with patrons waiting for the house to open. She carried these sights and sounds and smells with her everywhere, her love of theater nearly as old as she was. With every show, it came rushing up.

She stood in the lobby, her body still, her eyes becoming watery.

“You okay?” Steve asked.

“No, but I will be,” she said as she crushed her nose with the flat of her palm. Twice. Three times. Then she was done. “Just a little overwhelmed by everything.”

“I’ll bet,” he said.

“Should we start some coffee?”

“God, no.” He held up his cup. “This is my third today. Any more and my heart might explode. I don’t want to drop dead.” They stared at each other a moment, and he grimaced and said, “Bad choice of words.”

Ellie snorted and tried to suppress a chuckle, but couldn’t. Before long, she was laughing so hard her sides hurt. Steve couldn’t hold back, and soon he was laughing just as hard. When they finally got control of themselves, he looked at Ellie with more than a little embarrassment.

“Sorry,” he said.

“I’m the one who should apologize. I started it,” she said.

“Let’s both agree we’re going to hell, and we’ll feel much better about ourselves.”

“Done.”

They started prepping for the afternoon performance, Steve doing double duty as the stage manager and as leading man, presetting the props and listening to a recording of his lines through his earbuds. Ellie started to feel better as she sprayed Windex on the glass doors and wiped them clean.

A little while later, Steve popped his head into the costume closest where Ellie had gone to look for a scarf Dana said she wanted to add to Kyra’s costume.

“Headed up the ladder to adjust a couple of lights,” he said.

“Now?”

“Don’t like the way they shine down. Didn’t realize it until I was under them last night. They can be adjusted.”

“Do you want to wait for Tony?” Ellie asked. She didn’t want her high school lighting guru to think they didn’t need him anymore.

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