A Rising Star

Chapter 20 - News

A/N

Okay, okay, have some resolution to your suspense :)

Enjoy ;)

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Time passed.

Hours turned to days.

I waited.

Without any warning, tears started to spill out of my eyes. I was psyching myself out.

To think I thought I had a chance of getting a well-paying job on Broadway. To think I thought I could survive without food as long as I had a good attitude. There was just zero chance. They don't even have a way to contact me. And Lizzie said she'd figure something out if she thought she'd need it, but she never asked.

A few people who were walking by looked at me pitifully. Normally, that's the worst part about not having a roof over your head, and I loathe it.

But, that day, I understood their pity. My life really felt awful.

I glanced over at the theatre, which was only about thirty yards from where I sat. A flock of photographers and cameramen were staked outside. I wondered what was going on there that was so important at the moment. No one was there yesterday.

Maybe they wanted the inside scoop on how a homeless girl thought she had a chance. They proabably interviewed Natalee already, I couldn't keep myself from pondering.

Just then, the interviewers started jostling, like someone was pushing their way through the crowd. I espied carefully.

A figure emerged from the mass. I zeroed in to see an unmistakable handlebar mustache. Robert!

He looked like her was looking for something.

Or... someone?

I stood up, hastily brushing the tear traks off of my face. I tried to strike a casual pose, resulting in me nearly toppling over and whacking my face against the tree. I shook it off as Robert came closer and closer.

He was now only a few yards away. He spotted me and changed directions to go towards me. I pretended I didn't notice him.

Was he here to tell me never to audition with him again, or to audition with him next time for sure? His expression was unfathomable.

"Hailey!"

I looked at him in feigned surprise. "Oh, hi Mr. Redford! What are you doing here?"

He knelt down to my level. His expression was still unreadable. "Look. I've made all the phone calls already, and I want you to play Young Eponine for us."

My heart jumped around as my hopes and dreams, which had been shattered, were now being melded back together, piece by piece. I couldn't believe my ears. He was offering me a part!! Not the part I had hoped for, sure, but Broadway was the biggest theatre in the entire world, and this director had singled me out as one of the best ones. It was unbelievable.

"Really??" was all I could squeak out. I was grinning bigger than I thought to be possible.

"I'm not finished yet," he said seriously, but I could tell he couldn't hold back his joy at my reaction. "I'd also like you to be the understudy for young Cosette. You can act very well."

I was shocked. "W-wow..! W-What's an understudy?!" I inquired enthusiastically.

He smiled at me and explained that it was someone who learned all of a character's lines so they could fill in if the original actor got sick or couldn't perform for some reason.

"B-But I can't sing that well..." I admitted, loving the idea but afraid that I would ruin the show with my terrible performance if I ever got to fill in. Robert reassurred me that they were arranging a private vocal instructor for me. ME. A private vocal instructor. How cool was that?!

I had one more question that I didn't dare to ask in fear of the answer. Before I could stop myself, the question tumbled out. "Out of curiosity, who got the full-time part of Young Cosette?"

"Natalee Boardman. We think she'll be very good at it."

Of course.

"But you - you get into your character more than anyone else who was on that stage with you at callbacks.You are truly talented. Though you may not be a strong singer, your expressions are over-the-top, better than anyone else who has been on Broadway before that I have worked with. To think you've never been in a production before! Young Eponine has scenes where you'll need a great facial expression. Lizzie and I both think you're perfect for it. You also seemed like a kind person; we saw when you would tell people they did well and smile at strangers you've never known. You made friends with whoever happened to be next to you. It was amazing. So, we look forward to working with you tomorrow."

I smiled. Smiled like never before. If you've never known a smile this big, though I hope you have, you don't know that it's the best kind of smile there is. The kind where you can't force your cheek muscles to fall back down, no matter how hard you try. The kind where you know you probably look crazy because you're smiling so big, but feel so exuberant that it doesn't even matter. The biggest smile of your life that can hardly come close to expressing the feeling that triggers it to form.