Curious about part 14? You can now read an excerpt from the script! Early listening should be available on Monday.
Milly sent off the message. She hoped she wasn’t too late. She walked over to the chair in the corner of her dressing room and picked up her jeans. She wanted to get to the lobby of the theater as soon as possible. “I could have asked her to come backstage,” Milly thought while she was pulling her t-shirt over her head. No, that would have been too awkward.
Milly was tugging at her sock when she heard her phone buzz. She got up, one foot still bare, and hurried to get to her phone. She opened the message and smiled. “OK. I’ll wait in the lobby.” Milly’s heart skipped a beat. Hannah was waiting for her. She knew she shouldn’t be so happy about it, but she was. And she wasn’t going to ruin this great day by worrying about what she should or shouldn’t do.
After their dinner last night, Milly had felt uneasy and excited at the same time. Her throat had been tight, her stomach filled with butterflies. She had had to admit to herself Hannah meant more to her than a patron should. She had longed for Hannah’s touch all night. It had been awful and embarrassing.
Until she realized that’s exactly how Cherubino must feel all the time. Her character was a young man who fell head over heels with just about every woman. His longing for them was constant. “What if I use this?” Milly had thought on her way back to her apartment.
“I can use this energy on stage. Off stage, I’ll just have to manage it. I don’t see Hannah that often.” It had seemed like a reasonable enough idea. And it had worked. She had asked the theater staff if Hannah had shown up, and once she knew Hannah was in the audience, Milly had had no problems feeling nervous, jittery and flirty.
She would never admit it to anyone, of course. She already felt a bit crazy just thinking about it. There was a risk in indulging in these feelings. But it was one she would have to take. On stage it had worked out for her. Off stage, the whole managing thing had turned out to be quite a bit harder.
She had felt elated after her performance and wanted to share this with someone. So Milly had sent Hannah a text asking her if she was still around and that she could meet her in the lobby. Milly was slipping her foot into her second shoe when someone knocked on the door. “Come in”, she said, while tying her shoelaces.
“Hey”, a familiar voice said.
Milly looked up.
“Hi.”
“You were incredible today.”
Milly slowly straightened up.
“Thank you.”
Suzanne closed the door. She had changed into jeans and a polo shirt.
“You really blew everyone away.”
Milly smiled. “Thank you. I was happy with my performance too.”
Suzanne gestured at a chair by the make up table.
“Mind if I sit down?”
“No, of course not, but I was just about to head out.”
Suzanne nodded thoughtfully.
“My patron is waiting for me in the lobby.” Milly wanted to make clear she wasn’t running away or something.
Suzanne tilted her head. “Oh, I had no idea she was here.”
Milly got up from the chair. “Yeah, I invited her.”
“Who was she again?”
Milly picked her bag from the floor.
“Hannah Emsworth”
Suzanne leaned on the make up table with her elbow.
“Emsworth…. I know that name…”
Milly was ready to leave. She didn’t want to seem rude, though.
“Yes, probably from the Emsworth-Leroy foundation?”
“Ah yes! I’ve heard great things about Lucile Leroy.”
“Hannah is her daughter. She took over.”
Suzanne held Milly’s gaze.
“Mind if I join you for a moment? I’d love to meet her.”
Milly froze. Oh shit. This was bad. She had told Hannah about Suzanne. Thank god she hadn’t mentioned her by name. But there weren’t that many women on stage with Milly. God, this was embarrassing. Again, she didn’t want to be rude. She just hoped Hannah wouldn’t say anything weird.
“Sure”, she said, trying to keep her voice calm.
Suzanne was giving Milly a weird look. Milly didn’t have time to consider what it meant.
“Great. Let’s go!” Suzanne said.
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