Dramatic Amateurs -- Act II - Writer's Block
James gets his inspiration...
Ella and I have been married for six years, she's just lovely. She's independent, sexy and until recently the only woman for me. I know how lucky I am, the looks she gets from every man she meets reminds me of that. On top of that she's a fine actor, for the past four years we have been involved with a local amateur dramatics group.
I don't have her level of confidence so I'm not an actor, but I do like to write, I also direct the plays I pen, I am told I'm rather good at it, so take the whole thing very seriously. Our group puts on four shows per year and its great fun; there are about thirty of us and Ella is very keen, so she attends every weekly rehearsal whether she appears in the current play or not. There is always something to do she says, something back-stage or just someone who needs help with their lines, etc.
My life was running along smoothly, Ella was happy, she worked full time and the theatre group hobby kept her entertained as she polished her acting skills, oh, and before I forget, she has Julia, a friend and confidant since school. From what she tells me the two 'girls' meet for lunch and a coffee every so often to keep in touch.
As I said everything in my life was settled and stable until I met Faith!
I was due to direct my latest play, a romantic drama, I had the basic storyline written but I was not convinced it was good enough. Then a week before I was due to launch it Victoria, our society's Chairwoman, approached me. "Hi James, can I introduce you to a new member of our little group, Faith here does not want to act but is keen to get involved in direction and stage management."
"Hello Faith," I offered my hand to the young woman, I say young woman because she looked about eighteen, she seemed a little shy and reluctant to meet my gaze as I continued, "pleased to meet you, and welcome to the group."
She wore faded and torn jeans that were the current fashion and a baggy thick knitted round-necked jumper that completely hid her body, she looked slim and stood at about five foot five.
"Hello James," she said softly as she took my hand. As she did I felt something like a bolt of static electricity pass between us, she must have felt it too as she immediately lifted her eyes in what looked like a surprised expression.
Her eyes held mine for a long moment, "I'm very pleased to meet you," then after a pause, "at last." She wore a shy smile but steadily held my gaze.
To fill the pause Victoria hurriedly explained, "It seems that Faith never misses our little shows and very much enjoys yours in particular. I thought you could take her under your wing, show her the ropes, you know as 'Assistant Director', how does that sound?"
"Yes, great, I could do with some help, I'm not sure this one is quite knitting together, fresh eyes might help." Having torn my eyes from Faith's I tried to sound enthusiastic, although what a young inexperienced girl was going to be able to offer the play I couldn't think.
"Great, I'll leave you two to it then." Victoria went on her way.
Left alone I suggested we sat down to talk, I asked what experience she had. Her voice was soft, very feminine, "I never miss a performance that the group puts on and, as Victoria said, the ones you direct are my favourites. I don't know why so I thought I'd come along and see for myself, and Victoria persuaded me to join, hope you don't mind?"
I told her that rather than mind I was quite flattered and looked forward to involving her in my work, she then told me a bit about herself, she'd loved drama at school but found acting difficult, she was uncomfortable being in the limelight, she'd written a few short sketches and enjoyed that part of theatre.
"You have arrived at the right time as we are about to do an initial read through of my next play, although I don't think it's quite right, I've hit a bit of a 'writer's block', I'm out of ideas," I explained, "however the editorial committee have decided it's good enough, it needs a bit of a polish, but shall we get started?"
Ella wanted a part in the play and being keen to get into it was the first to the table, "Ella, meet Faith, she will be working with me on this production, this of course is Ella, my wife." The two women said 'hello' warmly and air-kissed each other's cheek before the remainder of the prospective cast took their seats for the traditional first script read-through.
Faith sat next to me as I completed the introductions. I handed her a copy of the script, and she took a pencil from her pocket, as the cast ran through their lines I noticed my new assistant taking copious notes in the margin, she said nothing but seemed fully focussed on what was going on.
After the first reading we took a comfort break, those that were reading needed a drink, so I asked Faith what she thought, "I saw you taking notes, do you want to make any comments or observations?"
"Not really, I don't know enough yet," she thought for a moment, "I'll just listen to the next couple of read throughs then perhaps we can have a chat, I can see if we agree on a cast and you can tell me what else you are thinking, and we'll compare notes. Is that all right?"
As I watched her speak I realised just how attractive she was, her skin was flawless, her eyes were clear and alive as she spoke, I got the occasional glimpse of straight white teeth and as for her lips, well, they looked plump, soft, and very inviting, she kept them moist with a quick flick of her tongue. I had an almost irresistible urge to kiss her, but I managed to hold it in, I was married after all, and she looked so young.
Before we did the second read-through, I explained how I saw each character, I swapped the readers around a bit to give everyone a chance and asked them to add their own ideas and we would then start to develop the interaction between the players. Our second and third attempts went well, everyone was getting into it now, I had my line-up in mind, and I could tell everyone was enjoying getting to grips with the new project.
I thanked everyone for their efforts and, to involve Faith, I ended with, "Faith and I now need to go away, compare notes and we'll see you all next week for final casting, 7:30 prompt please."
No one is ever in a rush to leave and formed little groups around the hall to exchange ideas, catch-up with their friends or just spread a bit of gossip. I noticed Ella and another woman had backed Tony up against the wall and appeared to be flirting outrageously with him, he didn't seem to be complaining too much!
Faith hadn't moved from her chair and was still making notes, she must have felt me looking and turned her head to me, "nearly finished, I won't be a moment." She smiled then finished what she was writing, slipped the pencil away and swung her legs around so now faced me, her knees had brushed the side of my thigh and were now resting against me.
