The Summer that Changed Everything (Complete)

Chapter 25 - The Break-Up

***** Two Days Later *****

"Ok. Can we have all our actors to the stage please?" the director asked and the five actors from Act 1 Scene 1 climbed the steps and stood on the stage. 

"Ok. This is going to be the scene where the detective meets the beautiful girl for the first time. He's struck by her beauty. She's distraught. She's just witnessed a murder and she's scared for her life. He has to come around the desk and comfort her. He wraps his arms around her and she cries on his chest. Get into your character and put yourself in their shoes. Feel what they feel.  I want emotion. Then we'll break into the first song. Got it?" 

They all nodded their head. 

"Ok take your places then." 

Brady went and sat behind the desk and propped his feet up on it, leaning back and rubbing his hands over his face, looking stressed as part of the character.

Lynn knocked on the other side of the prop door. 

"Yeah. Come on in," he called out, dropping his feet off the desk when he saw the beautiful girl enter.

Lynn came over and sat down in the chair in front of his desk and he walked over and sat next to her. 

"I'm Matt Hutchins. The detective assigned to this case. I'm sorry Ma'am. I know you've been through a lot but I just need to ask you a few questions so we can find the murderer. You're our only witness." 

Lynn shook her head, "He'll kill me if he finds out I talked to the cops! They'll never let me live!" she sobbed. "You don't know these men. They run the mafia for all of New York City. No one rats on them and lives to tell about it!" 

She grabbed onto his shirt and buried her face into his chest and started to cry, her entire body shaking. He looked a little stunned at first but then wrapped his arms around her and said, "I'm so sorry Ma'am for everything you've been through. I promise I'll keep you safe if it's the last thing I do. We need your testimony to put this guy away. Don't you want to stop him from murdering some other innocent person? Next time it could be your best friend ..... brother ...... father. We need to get this guy off the streets." 

She sat up and sniffled. "You're right. I can't let him get away with this. You promise you can keep me safe?" 

He looked into her eyes and put a hand up against her cheek, "I promise I'll keep you safe Penelope. I won't let anyone hurt you." 

Then the other actors came onto the stage and started singing a song and Brady and Lynn stood up and sang with them, moving to the front middle. He held onto her hand as they sang and when it was over the director started clapping. 

"Wow! You guys have put in a lot of work and I can tell you practiced a lot. That was amazing! My two leads ...... Matt and Penelope. You guys had amazing chemistry and it was so believable. I felt like I was watching a Broadway show." 

Lynn smiled over at Brady and he was smiling back at her. 

"See all that practice paid off," he whispered. 

They ran through the entire first Act that day and the rest of it was just as good as the first scene. 

"You wanna come over and practice Act II when we get back?" Brady asked as they were walking out to his car. 

"Oh I would but I've got a date with Tucker tonight. We're going to some dress-up dinner event at his private school. I'm not sure how late I'll get home but if it's not too late I can come over after." 

"Ok, that works," Brady said, seeming slightly disappointed. 

When she got home she put on a nice conservative black knee-length dress and borrowed her mother's white pearls. Tucker had told her it was a very formal event and to dress really nice. She heard a knock at the door and Tucker was standing there in a black suit with a grey tie and his hair was slicked back.