What if We Rewrite the Stars?

Act 20: Phineas's Ambition:

*The Next Day*

"Biggest dream?" Tom asked as the group of acts was just sitting around, talking in between rehearsals. 

"I always wanted to find a love like my parents did..." Amelia said as she laid her head on the couch, looking at the ceiling. 

"Boring..." W.D. chuckled, making the room laugh at his outburst. 

"What about a shorter goal? Like one that you always wanted to do, but haven't?" Lettie asked her, when Amelia rose up, looking at Anne. 

"Well... I've always wanted to see one of those plays that my mother talked about seeing when she was a little girl. My sisters and I would act out plays at our old home." Amelia smiled to herself, looking at her feet.

"That's sweet, Mimi." Lettie smiled, making Amelia look back at her. 

"Okay... Someone else goes." Amelia chuckled, when they just continued to talk, unaware that Phillip had overheard the conversation.

About a week later, Phillip walked in to see Phineas spread out one of the new posters for Jenny's shows. "Why can't you just put more shows in New York? Why do you need to tour the country?" Phillip asked Phineas, who was getting ready to leave for tour with Jenny. 

"Why did Napoleon march on Russia?" Phineas asked when he snapped at O'Malley, who was sitting behind them.

"Napoleon was defeated." Phillip corrected him.

"Napoleon didn't have a 60-piece orchestra," Phineas said, getting stuff off his desk. 

"A 60-piece orchestra?" Phillip asked, looking through the papers, and looking at Phineas in pure confusion. 

"Just get the cheapest musicians you can and watch that." Phineas said, walking out of his office, to the door where Phillip had looked down at Amelia when they performed "This is Me".

"We'll still have to board them." Phillip objected, making Phineas turn around.

"We'll get married ones; they can share a bunk. O'Malley, that's Caroline's piggy bank." Phineas said, heading out the door when he stopped the thief, he had employed, to put down the baby pink, piggy bank. 

While Phillip followed Phineas down the stairs. "Custom sets? Fireworks? Inside theaters?" Phillip asked as they walked on the middle beam bridge that overlooked the circus. 

"That's genius," Phineas said, stopping to look at Phillip, who was following behind him.

"No. Hey, P.T. These are the most famous theaters in the country. They make you buy the seats in advance just to book them..." Phillip continued to follow him, trying to reason with him. 

"Yeah. I took out a loan." Phineas shrugged off. 

"And we have to pay Jenny in advance?" Phillip continued to ask him.

"It was a large loan. Okay?" 

"You're not gonna see a penny of profit until your 40th show--" Phillip went to say. 

"41st, actually." Phineas corrected him. 

"You're risking everything you've built here." Phillip continued to try and reason with him. 

"How do you think I built it? We'll have plenty of profits to go around after this..."

"P.T.?" Phillip stopped him, making Phineas turn around to face him. 

"What?" Phineas asked, not knowing why he was concerned. 

"Your attention has been divided long enough. Our gate is down, we have more protesters every day." Phillip said, expressing his concern.

""If you haven't been to the Barnum Museum lately, you haven't been at the Barnum Museum..."" Phineas said to Phillip, with a smile on his face.

"They come to see you." Phillip objected, still trying to talk some sense into him. "Your crazy ideas... your new acts, the unusual." He continued to say to his boss and friend.

"Well, then how about you show them a smile? That'd be unusual." Phineas smirked, making Phillip sigh to himself. "Keep rehearsing. Just make it very clear I expect them to afford you all the deference you deserve, and that they should be nice to you anyway." Phineas continued as they walked down the stairs. He finished, walking further down the stairs before Phillip could say anything to him.

"Ain't that a sight for sore eyes?"

Phillip sighed, turning to Lettie, who spoke up. "Couldn't even say "hello"." Tom scoffed when Phillip saw Lettie, Tom, W.D., and Anne sitting there, looking up at him. 

"Or "goodbye". He's going on tour. Sorry, guys." Phillip sighed when Lettie scoffed at his reply.

"Oh, pull yourself together, Carlyle." Lettie scoffed, not being upset with Phineas's behavior, after the opera. 

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Anne asked, making Phillip check his pocket watch. 

They smiled at each other, watching Phillip rush off. They were behind getting Phillip to take Amelia to the theater. They had been trying to meddle between the two, ever since Anne had told them about them in the garden.

~765 words~