Suddenly Starlet

Suddenly Starlet--Chapter Six

Chapter Six

            “Come on, Dad, you said that we’d talk about this today,” Laney whined as she followed her dad from room to room.

            It had been nearly a week since Mr. Hyperman had visited the Herman household and they still hadn’t given him an answer to his proposal. Laney understood that her parents had to “discuss” her possible acting career, but she was beginning to worry that pretty soon it would be too late and there would be no acting career to discuss.

            “You heard what Mr. Hyperman said—things move fast in Hollywood,” Laney said jumping in front of him and blocking his way into the living room.

            “Exactly,” her dad said, picking her up and placing her out of his way. “Your mother and I don’t know if we want you in a business that moves so fast.”

            “You mean you don’t want me in this business,” Laney muttered.

            “No, I mean your mother and I, and we’ve never told you that you couldn’t try acting. It’s just that we have a few concerns,” Mr. Herman said.

            “Like what?” Laney asked and plopped down on the couch beside him.

            Her father sighed and closed his eyes for a few seconds. When he opened them, Laney was sitting Indian style in front of him and giving him her best puppy dog face. He couldn’t help but laugh.

            “Tell you what,” he said, taking a hold of one of her hands and covering it with his own. “I promise that tonight we’ll sit down after dinner and really talk this thing out.”

            Score!

            “Thank you, Daddy,” Laney squealed and hugged him tight around his neck.

            Then she jumped up and began to skip toward the exit.

            “Laney, that doesn’t mean we’ve decided anything yet! I can’t make any promises,” Mr. Herman yelled as his daughter disappeared from the room.

            As Laney turned the corner to the stairs, she nearly stepped on top of her mom, who was sitting silently on the steps and resting one manicured hand under her chin. She began to clap quietly and Laney watched as her mother’s lips grew into a smile.

            “Bravo, Laney. Well done,” her mom whispered and then walked back the way Laney had just came.

            Laney waited for her mom to turn the corner and then broke into a grin herself.

            They so don’t know who they’re dealing with, she thought. Then she turned on her heel and made her way to her bedroom.

* * * * *

            “Is it time yet?” Laney asked as she cleared her dishes from the kitchen table.

            “Time for what?” Sam asked nosily as he took a bite of his ice cream.

            Laney paused while washing off her dish and glared over at her brother. As she turned around to face her father, she let her face slide into a sweet smile.

            “Time to talk about me becoming an actress,” Laney said in the most sugary sweet voice she could muster.

She walked over to where her dad was clearing the rest of the dishes away from the table and took the caked-on plates from his hands. “Here Dad, let me take these for you.”