Red And Black

Chapter 2

Eli slowly slipped into the dressing room where he hoped he could find the richer colleagues of his. Otherwise known as the ones who usually played huge roles.

For example; roles such as:
Alexander Hamilton, Veronica Sawyer, Evan Hansen, or Jeremy Heere.

Sure enough, he saw the ringleader of the previous week's group for the banquet. The banquet Eli nearly had a panic attack in.

"Excuse me?" Eli asked, gently tapping the other's shoulder.

"Hm?" He turned, pausing in the buttoning of his shirt.

"I wanted to ask if you knew who who the pianist from last week was." Eli smiled, holding his sweaty hands behind his back. He was always nervous before a production, nothing new.

"Lemme think." Eli's colleague replied, tapping his chin as he stared off into space a moment. "I think so. Why?"

"He seemed like a good person to know." Eli smiled, though silently thinking, 'just say his name, damnit'.

"I see. I heard his name was Keith or something. I forgot his last name, sorry."

Eli nodded and walked off, leaning against the wall in the room where he got prepared for the productions. He didn't need to be dressed yet, since his character wasn't major until later.

Eli hummed, scrolling through Instagram on his phone. He had searched 'keith' and went from there, looking for the account he needed.

Eli sighed, rubbing his temple in slight frustration when he found nothing after a moment or two.

'I guess I'll just look at people's guitar covers. Hopefully there's something good.' He sighed again, sitting cross legged on the floor.

Eli looked up as someone called his name. He had to replace one of the main characters, as the actor was sick, and Eli was the understudy.

Eli messed up his hair for the character as he got prepared, a lady helping apply his stage makeup, another helping him get dressed.

"Out, now!" The one lady hissed, practically pushing him on stage.

Eli looked around, making his entrance seem normal, as if it was supposed to be as sudden as it was.

He said his opening lines, smiling softly, groaning, or protesting at whatever he needed to.

Slowly but surely, it was as if the character themselves took over, with Eli feeling as if he was the character, in the flesh.

All that practicing, all those times being the understudy, were thrown behind. He was here, in the spotlight, seizing the day.

Eli was completely lost in the singing, throwing his arms out. He felt what the character felt, he knew what they knew.

After it was over, Eli took his bow, looking out at the sea of people before him. Some were crying, some were clapping, some were standing and clapping, or they were doing all three.

Eli smiled softly. His colleagues pat his back once he was backstage, congratulating him.

"You're a hit man! You should be out there more often."

"Thank you." Eli smiled, changing back into his hoodie and jeans.

He sat in his car, propping his legs up on the steering wheel as he laid back.

Eli woke up to a soft tapping on his passenger window. He rolled down the window, half expecting an invite to another dinner.

Instead, he was greeted with Keith.

Eli rolled his window down slowly, looking up at him as he clicked his tongue. "What do you need?"

"I was wondering if you county give me an autograph?" Keith handed Eli a pen and playbill. "My niece is a huge fan and all."

"Oh. That's alright with me." Eli chuckled, signing the playbill. "I haven't even been on much and she's already a big fan?"

"Yep." Keith nodded, the hair partially covering one of his eyes swished a bit. "One of the other actors came up to  me and told me where you would be. My boyfriend is watching my niece."

"Aw, that's sweet of him. If you don't mind me asking, what's his name." Eli handed Keith the signed playbill.

"Jaak. And yeah he's," Keith paused a moment. "Sweet."

Eli frowned a bit at his pause in the sentence, but hid it. "My number's written on the back if you need anything, okay?"

"That was unneeded, but thank you." Keith smiled a bit, turning to leave. "I guess I'll see you soon?"

"Yep, see you soon." Eli replied, watching as he walked off.

"He's strange." He muttered, driving home.

'He didn't seem okay. Should I investigate? No... He's probably fine. I worry too much.'

Eli sighed, trying to shove his thoughts into the back of his mind as he unlocked the door to his apartment, greeting with tiny tweets from his small bird.

"Hey Oreo." Eli smiled softly as he took his bird out, chuckling as it nuzzled his hand.

"Missed me, huh?" Eli pat his head a bit, then filled Oreo's food bowl. "Daddy's tired. I'm going to bed."

Oreo  let out a tweet, and Eli shut his cage, going to bed.

Eli couldn't sleep much.

There was too much on his mind.