Behind the Scenes (closed)

[Teechurgye]

The last thing Craig Reed wanted to do was be relegated to the tedius behind the scenes work that never got noticed. As he looked through the casting list, he saw his name. Crap. Stage director again? Yes, it was an important job, but acting was in his blood.

While he was completely comfortable in front of thousands, auditions rendered him catatonic.

His mind began wondering. Tennessee Williams is a bit cliché anyways. Secretly, he loved playing Stanley Kowalski in high school and longed to do it on a college stage. He hesitated looking back at the list for fear that...aww double crap! Daniel Stevens was the male lead. What an arrogant, pretentious ass.

As Craig's eyes scanned the list farther down, he saw that he wasn't even an understudy. Triple crap!

"Nobody I can even poison" he muttered to himself jokingly (he thought).

"Ahem, and wo exactly are you going to murder?" The voice was melodious, yet commanding. No wonder she's always the female lead.

"Busted," I stammer as I try to respond to the only reason I hadn't transferred to another school.

 

[Sweetandsexy3]

"So why are you standing here plotting?" Lillian Tyler asked leaning with her back against the wall. "You would think they would pick something different. A Streetcar Named Desire is so over done. There's probably at least two other schools doing it around here... Most likely one is a high school too."

She smiled at him "I'm assuming I'll be working with Daniel agian. Next time you should let me help you out with your audition, it would be nice to have a change. Someone who will actually challenge me for once..."

Lilly twirled a few strands of her long dark brown hair around her finger. "So what are you doing this time? Building sets, managing props, bossing people around?"

 

[Teechurgye]

"Stage director again." Craig replied matter-of-factly. Why did Lillian have such an effect on him? Of course he heard the rumors of her being a total diva (or "bitch" if you asked some of the jealous women who were relegated to bit parts and understudy roles. Not to Craig. To him she was the epitome of congeniality.

As with every time they talked, Lillian had a way to make him drop his guard and warm up to her effervescent personality and stunning good looks.

"Guess you'll be seeing me back stage again." Craig forces a smile. At least he gets to spend time with the most perfect woman he's known.

"Congratulations on the lead...again." Craig rolls his eyes playfully as he accentuates the "again."

 

[Sweetandsexy3]

"Thanks... I guess I'll be spending all my free time here agian." She said looking down. This was what she had always wanted, to be a success, she was the best. After school she would probably go onto having a successful career acting. But it was lonely. The girls hated her and the boys where either interested in each other or too involved in their work.

Craig was the only person who seemed to care about her. "I guess I'll be seeing you around Craig." She said not really wanting to go.

 

[Teechurgye]

"How about a celebratory lunch?" He smiled at Lillian, fully comfortable with the beautiful woman leaning against the wall. She was leaning away from him, but despite that, there was an electricity that Craig felt.

"We can brainstorm how to tweak 'Streetcar Named Desire' to make it substantially better than the high school's version." I wink at you.

"Subs?"

 

[Sweetandsexy3]

"Sounds great." She said grabbing his hand as she started walking out "So what did you think of the rest of the cast list?" She asked realizing that she had barely even glanced at it "do you think we will have a good show?" Once they got out of the building she let go of him but she stayed walking by his side.

 

[Teechurgye]

"I refuse to comment on the basis that I have to pretend to like them for the next two months." Craig smiles warmly at one of the only people He doesn't have to pretend around. "Will you need me to run lines again with you?"

Knowing that an amazing actress would have Blanche down perfectly in her sleep, Craig asked for the sole purpose of if she said yes, she wanted to spend time with him.

He opened the door and escorted lillian into the on-campus sandwich shop.

 

[Sweetandsexy3]

"Of course." She said quickly "you know I couldn't do it without you. I need you..." She said as she got in line" she smiled "maybe I could return the favor? Anything you need help with? I don't know much about stage managing though to be honest..."

 

[Teechurgye]

"You will certainly be too busy for assisting with stage direction. Still, if you are interested, you can help me with staging markers, lighting direction, painting, and much more." Craig smiles, fully expecting her to back out completely.

He watches her order the sandwich. How can anyone think this amazing woman is a bitch? Even the way she treats the sandwich makers is remarkable.

Soon, they sit at a small table, knees bumping together. Legs touching. At first it was awkward, but avoiding it was incredibly uncomfortable. The legs remain intact - to which Craig was fully aware.

"Oh my God, I almost forgot. How did the Shampoo commercial audition go?"

 

[Sweetandsexy3]

"Sure. Just tell me when and where and I'll be there... Unless I have rehearsal." She said trying not to blush as her leg brushed his "well... It went well, but they wanted a blonde..." She sighed "Blonde and big boobs seems to be what everyone wants these days. People could care less about quality acting." Lilly looked down as she took a bite of her sandwich.

 

[Teechurgye]

"Well, their loss." He always loved the challenge of making her smile and laugh. Craig was good at it too. "Pity, though. It would have been a lot of fun rehearsing with you in the shower." He winked. Letting her know it was a joke, but certainly left enough there for her to consider him serious.

What are your plans for the rest of the day? Craig asked. "I'm going to the auditorium about 2. Would you like to meet me? I'll even take you up on the cat walk...if you aren't afraid of heights."

 

[Sweetandsexy3]

"I've got to go pick up my script but besides that I'm free." She said not quite sure how to react to his shower comment. "I'm not afraid of heights. I'm not afraid of anything..." She lied, she was terrified of heights but she was always curious about the catwalks and if she wants to be a serious actress she figured she should experience as much as she could. "Maybe you can tell me about which lucky girl your crushing on..."

 

[Teechurgye]

"Oh. Well there is this one amazing girl. But she is WAY out of my league. She's witty, charming, intelligent. Just fantastic." Craig looks for any sign that Lillian is picking up the fact that she is his crush.

His leg slides against hers and he is convinced that she pressed back against his. No, it couldn't be.

"I'll meet you at the auditorium in about an hour then. Wear something...umm...grungy." He smiled at the thought. Craig had never seen her in anything (off stage at least) less than immaculate. Lillian was always dressed to the 9s.

 

[Sweetandsexy3]

Lilly bit her lip trying to figure out who he was talking about, it couldn't be her... "Grungy, got it." She said getting up. she didn't own anything grungy but she had to have something to wear "I'll see you soon." She said before leaving. She quickly grabbed her script from the director before heading off to her room to change.

 

[Teechurgye]

The entire time apart, Craig kept kicking himself about not reciprocating the line of questioning about romantic interest. Maybe he didn't want to hear that she was crazy for the star point guard, or the president of the student council. Worse yet, not Trent Cassoday. His family owns half the buildings on campus.

Certainly Lillian could have anyone she wanted, despite the reputation that preceeded her. Still, Craig was going to follow social protocol and ask...when the time was right.

Craig puts on some jeans, a plane white tee-shirt and sneakers. Meeting Lillian at the door a few minutes late. "I'm sorry. I ask you for help and I'm late."

Craig unlocks the door and lets her enter the dimly lit auditorium.

 

[Sweetandsexy3]

"It's alright, I wasn't waiting that long." She said. She was wearing a pair of dark jeans, a green tank top, and sneakers. "I guess I didn't too bad finding something to wear..." She said following him inside. "So what are we doing?" She asked "you never told me what we where doing. I can't help if I don't know what I'm doing." She joked.

 

[Teechurgye]

The bombardment of questions makes Craig smile . "Are you sure you aren't afraid of heights?" He joked, recognizing what nervous conversation does to a person's speech patterns. Why? He sounded like that with every audition.

Craig turns on a bay of lights and leads Lillian over to the steel ladder that leads to the catwalk. "I will be behind you all the way up. I won't let you fall."

His voice is calm and reassuring.

 

[Sweetandsexy3]

"I told you I'm not afraid of heights." She said trying to sound brave. She took a deep breath as she started to climb up the ladder "your just going to be busy checking out my butt." She said laughing a little. "So tell me more about your mystery girl. Is she one of the other actresses? Is it Hannah?" She asked secretly hoping he would say no. Hannah was her understudy, they didn't exactly get along.

 

[Teechurgye]

"No. It's not Hannah. She is too pretentious for me. And not even half the actress you are. Depending on the role, you can make me love you or hate you with ease. That's real talent."

I do take a moment to check out your butt climbing in front of me. "My crush has a great butt... (Catching myself)...like yours."

"But enough about me. Who's tugging at Lillian's heart strings?"

 

[Sweetandsexy3]

"Just this guy who has amazing grey eyes. I could stare into them for hours. And he has this smile that just makes me melt..." She smiled glad that he was behind her and couldn't see her blush "he makes me laugh and smile. He is just amazing..."

 

[Teechurgye]

"He sounds like a lucky guy. What's preventing you from telling him?" We arrive at the catwalk and you climb out onto the narrow walkway. "Anyone in their right mind would be thrilled to be with you."

As Lillian described her crush, it sounded somewhat like Craig, but he blew it off as coincidence.

Craig climbs out onto the elevated scaffolding beside her. " beautiful view up here. Isn't it?"

 

[Sweetandsexy3]

"He doesn't see me that way." She sighed "besides he's got a crush on some other girl, some girl who sounds pretty perfect..." She said looking down "yeah, beautiful..." She said quickly clinging to him, her fear of heights kicking in.

 

[Teechurgye]

It felt right to have her in his arms. His hand slipped around her waist. Here goes nothing. Craig takes a deep breath. "You are right Lillian. She is a perfect woman in all respects except one." Craig lifts her chin to meet her gaze with his. "She lies about being afraid of heights."

Craigs eyes search hers for a response.

 

[Sweetandsexy3]

She just started at him. He didn't... He couldn't mean her. "I... Um..." She couldn't figure out what to say. She just stood there her arms wrapped around him clearly shocked by what he said.

 

[Teechurgye]

Craig had come this far. He went all in, putting all his cards on the table.

Panic swept over him. Is she afraid to reject him suspended high above the stage? He held her close more...about to descend the ladder.

Should he ask her to pretend this never happened? Yeah like that works.