"Take Lunch"
Two years of Community College Musical Theatre and an introduction through her uncle's neighbor had landed Suzy where she was. And she guessed that there were worse places to be.
With that thought, she smiled from ear to ear and 'brightened' her eyes as she began kicking her white sneakers joyfully to the rhythm of the same piece of music that she had heard millions of times. She raised her hands in an inquisitive gesture next to Geoff, the controversial lead male in the Kid's Daily Channel Cast.
Geoff was controversial not by any fault of his own but because unlike the other cast members in the high-school-age music and dance show, he was twenty-two and not technically a teenager, like Suzy and the other 18-year-old, barely-legal-to-sign-a-contract cast members.
"G-O!" Suzy sang enthusiastically along with her own voice on the floor monitors.
"G-O-R!" Geoff sang back, with his own arms raised.
"G-O-R-I-'Double' L-A. Yeah, Gorilla!" sang Suzy.
"Gorilla?" sang Geoff.
"Gorilla!" sang Suzy.
"G-O-R-I-'Double L'-A. Gorilla!"
"G-O! G-O-R! G-O-R-I-'Double L'-A! Gorilla!" sang Suzy. "He – likes – Bananas! Yeah, bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S! Bananas!"
"Bananas!" Answered Geoff. "Mister – Gorilla – he likes – bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-N-A-S!"
Somewhere in the back of Suzy's head she had heard Geoff misspell 'bananas', but she was thinking too hard about her choreography to notice it.
"That's right!" sang Suzy.
"No, it - freaking - isn't!" came a raspy voice over Megaphone as the music died.
Regina, the director, was getting so obnoxiously mean since the third take of this part of the song.
"Cut! Geoff, are we going to do this all day?"
Geoff raised his hand again in frustrated apology. "Sorry, Regina!"
The other two cast members patted him on the back but Suzy placed her hand on his arm softly to reassure him.
"It's okay, Geoff. Don't let her shake ya."
Geoff half-smiled to her.
---
Geoff half-smiled to her. As her soft fingers left his arm to itself, again, a piece of him seemed to pull away.
He had to admit that when he had first met Suzy, he knew that she had lied about her age on her résumé. But she was the cutest jail-bait he had ever seen. It shouldn't really matter now that her real – and secret – 18th birthday had passed. But for some reason, it did matter. Something had changed in her. He had never thought that turning 18 changed somebody overnight. But with her it did.
Maybe it was his perspective that was making the difference. But a difference there definitely was. Her hair was long and curly and bounced with vivacious energy that was no longer child-ish but – well, sensual.
Her smile exuberated sweet, pearl-white innocence and the hopeful eyes that looked at him seemed to hide something behind them. Something – grown-up.
The music cranked up as they slipped back into their "one" positions.
"Let's do it, this time, Geoff!"
He smiled and nodded to the bitch director again in an insincere apology. How he had become stuck in this stage of his career was beyond him. How had he screwed up that Star Trek audition? He kicked himself silently one more time.
"G-O!" sang Suzy.
"G-O-R!" answered Geoff with pseudo-enthusiasm and an arguably 'gay' hand-clap.
"G-O-R-I-'Double L'-A, Gorilla!" Suzy sang flawlessly.
"Gorilla?"
"Gorilla!"
"G-O-R-I-d-double L – shit!" Geoff blurted.
A gasp arose on the set as the music died and a buzzer sounded that signified that the cameraman had turned off the "roll".
Kid's Daily had developed a "Rep Sheet" or "Reputation Rules" and one of the biggies was a definite no-no on profanity on the set or in the public eye.
Don't lose this job, too, idiot! Geoff scolded himself.
"Sorry!" Geoff apologized, again. "Regina, I need-"
"Why don't you go cool off for forty-five minutes?" Regina barked condescendingly. "Everyone, that's lunch!"
The Production Assistants began buzzing around finishing preparations for an early lunch call.
Geoff knew that Suzy was following him as he skulked away. He didn't really feel like talking, so he sped up his brisk walk toward the dressing rooms.
"Geoff!" Suzy called after him.
Shit, he thought. He kept walking.
"Wait up!" Suzy cried out.
--
"Wait up!" Suzy cried out. She tried not to make it too loud as Karen and Alec would hear and she didn't want them to think that she gave Geoff unfair favoritism. After all, she had never really consoled anyone when they'd had a bad day.
But she felt for Geoff. He was having such a crummy bummer of a day, she couldn't help but try and cheer him up!
He must not have heard her, because his pace actually seemed to get faster.
"Whoa! You're really fast!" She said with a playful giggle. People like it when I giggle, she thought. It puts other people at ease to know that I'm having fun!
"I'm okay." Geoff answered in his gruff voice, and without slowing down.
"I know!" said Suzy. "Are you going to the dressing rooms? Cuz I am!"
Geoff didn't answer.
She paused again but he still didn't answer. "Geoff, are you mad at me?"
He seemed to sigh as he rounded the corner and into the make-up area.
"I'm not mad at anyone but myself," Geoff said as he turned around, seeing that there was no one else in the room.
Suzy feined a frown. "Ah, poor guy. We all have bad days, silly." She hooked her arm through his and squeezed his bicep.
--
She hooked her arm through his and squeezed his bicep. Her small frame seemed to wrap around his one arm. Geoff couldn't be certain, but she might have been flirting with him.
"I guess that yesterday's Paramount trip didn't go so super, huh?"
He snapped a look down at her - "How did you know?"
She shrugged. "Everyone's trying to work on the next thing, sweetie. No one bought it when you called in sick, yesterday after the casting agents announced that emergency Star Trek show audition." She cuddled his arm tenderly and swayed gently and comforting.
"There's hope. Maybe they haven't done callbacks, yet."
He rolled his eyes. "My roommate got called back. They did them, this morning. Casting closed."
She smiled, "Their loss, Geoff."
Yeah. Great.
"Listen, Suzy. I think I need to just be alone for a bit."
Suzy frowned as she pushed away from him. "I'm sorry." She said, genuinely.
Now he'd hurt her tender feelings. Geoff genuinely felt bad. "No, I'm sorry. I just need to sort some things out, that's all. You do get it, don't you?"
Her face lit up "Of course, silly! Don't worry about little ol' me! I'm the one worried about you!"
