Scarlet and Golden

3

Renée's POV
I walked into Elizabeth's house and looked around. This was a big place for just her and her daughter, but I remember what she said about her ex-husband. I felt sorry that the two of them had to deal with the empty space left by him. I shared that feeling though, after Alexis died, the feeling of complete emptiness in the house my children and I had shared with their father.

When I release myself from the thoughts running through my head, I saw a teen girl standing in front of me, mouth agape in awe. I had realized her from the times I've seen her on social media and from the fact that I follow her on TikTok. I couldn't believe that the girl, who had been the biggest supporter of me for four years now, was Lizzie's daughter.

"Hi Nellie! It's so nice to meet you." The girl was in tears of joy and hugged me as I wiped her tears from her face. "H-hi Renée. I-I can't believe you're here, H-how?" I smiled at her as Lizzie spoke.

"Nells, we work together. I asked her to come surprise you." Nellie left our embrace and ran over to hug her mom. "Thank you! Thank you so much mom this is incredible."  "Of course, now go talk to Renée, I know how long you've waited for this."

Nellie ran back to me and I sat down on the couch, patting the area besides me to let her know she could sit down next to me.

"Hi Nellie. Thank you for always supporting me." "Of course Renée. Thank you for saving my life when I was younger. I was just not going through a good time and your music was there, thank you." "Aww of course sweetie, I'm glad." "C-can I get a picture with you?" "Yeah of course."

We took a picture and then we went to eat the dinner that Lizzie had made for us.

I sat down at the table next to Nellie and across from Lizzie. The table had a carefully draped white tablecloth with lit candles and other decor atop it.

"This is beautiful Lizzie." I said as Lizzie was coming over with food. "Thank you Renée."

"My mom goes all out." Nellie told me, putting her napkin in her lap.  "That's great."

Lizzie sat down a plate of salad in front of each of us before going and sitting down.

"This looks great Lizzie, thank you so much." "Of course, everything including the dressing is made from my garden." "You garden?" I ask, looking into her emerald green eyes, the ones that closely resembled Nellie's. "Yes! I love gardening, I started to years ago to learn how-"

"Don't get her started Renée, please don't get her started. I was excited to hear about her garden because I missed her gardening videos, but now it never stops." I laugh at Nellie's response. "I'm sure it's not that bad." "It's that bad Renée."

I smile at Lizzie and Nellie and begin eating.

"So, Nellie talks about you a lot but tell me a little bit about you." Lizzie tells me as she puts a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Well, I'm fifty now. I was born January 2, 1971 in San Jose before my parents moved to Houston. My parents divorced when I was young so my brother and I lived with our mother and then went to live with our father in Detroit in High School. In High School, I fell in love with Theatre and so for college I went to Carnegie Mellon to study theatre. I went to New York for a little bit and tried to do some acting but I decided to go back and get my masters from USC. I lived in LA for a little bit and got a role on some shows before going back to NYC to do some work on Broadway and on Soap Operas. My late husband Alexis and I met then, and after I finished in the closing cast of RENT, we had our son Benjamin. I had eight miscarriages before we had our first son and it was really hard on me, so it's a blessing now."

"How old is he?" Lizzie asked me. "He's 12." Nellie and I say in unison. "Aww that's great. You don't have to deal with a teenager, like I do." "Hey! I'm not that bad!" Nellie exclaimed. I laughed.

"Then in 2013, we adopted our daughter Brielle from Africa and I was like 'Okay, I'm going to stop acting now to take care of my family' and that's when Hamilton happened and everything has been a whirlwind and a blessing since. However, that all changed last month when my husband Alexis died in his sleep, so, I've been trying to regain my strength and everything ever since."

"I'm sorry to hear about that Renée. I feel you though, I felt that way when things ended with Robbie." "Yeah it sucks Lizzie, but I guess that's a part of life."

"If you don't mind me asking Lizzie, could you tell me about you?"

"Yeah of course, well, I was born February 16, 1989-" "The year I graduated High School." "That's funny. Anyways, I always grew up under my twin sisters's shadows and I wanted to act but I wanted to wait till I was older so I could still do the things I wanted to do as a kid. Then, I went to NYU like my sisters and ended up training in the Atlantic Theatre Company which gave me the opportunity to go to Russia and train there. Through my training, I got the opportunity to understudy a role on Broadway which landed me my agent I have today. Um, I ended up doing a bunch of indie films in college, so, it took me six years to graduate. Then I was in Godzilla and then marvel. Robbie and I met back in 2017 and we got married last year before we ended up adopting our daughter this year. I had gone to Texas to film an HBO show but then Friday, I got back, only to find out that Robbie, not only cheated on me, but also got the girl pregnant and I'm just trying to get over it but I cannot." "Damn. I'm so sorry Lizzie." "It's okay. I'll be alright."

We ate the second course and Lizzie and I talked about our theatre experiences. It was great to meet someone who loved the art as much as I did.

"Wait, Lizzie? Have you ever listened to Hamilton?" I asked her. "No. Although I probably have because Nellie plays it a lot. I haven't really taken time to listen to the new musicals." "You should watch it! WandaVision is great but I think you'd love Hamilton."

"Okay Renée, I'll watch Hamilton."

We enjoyed the rest of the dinner and I said goodbye to Elizabeth and Nellie.

"Thank you for the great night. It was lovely." "Of course, thank you for coming over to meet Nellie." "No problem. Anytime you need anything, just contact me." "Yep. Same here. Bye Renée." "Bye Lizzie."

I left Lizzie's and went back to my hotel. Then, I FaceTimed my kids before I went to sleep.

I woke up the next morning to a text. It was from Lizzie.

"You know, Hamilton was actually good."