The One That I Want Read Online Free PDF Page A

members of the press. For a dress rehearsal, we had nearly a full house.
    Sharlene, who was sitting to my left with Elsie beside her, squeezed both of our hands in excitement. “Dane Tyler!” she half whispered, half squealed.
    Kristopher was directly to my right with Bill next to him on the aisle. They seemed interested but far less enthusiastic. A college student handed Bill a stack of play programs, which he dutifully passed down the row. Written on the front in scripted gold lettering were the words: The Knightsbridge Theater Presents “The Bachelor Pad” —a comedy in two acts by P.K. Lewis . Inside, along with a list of scenes, a brief synopsis of the play, and information on a variety of cast and crew members was a lengthy profile on their Star in Residence.

    From his start on the Chicago stage as a teen playing Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman” to his Oscar nomination for his supporting role as Edward Bryant in The Journey: Crossing the Peaks (ReelMax Pictures), Dane Tyler is a star who continues to rise…

    Well, I wasn’t sure I’d say that.
    Yes, Dane had been THE actor for a time, but that time was no longer. While he still got roles in some A-List projects, they were rarely as leads anymore. More often, he played well-drawn secondary characters or made a cameo appearance on one of the bigger flicks. And more time elapsed between completed projects. I’d Googled him last night and realized that his most recent film (a B-Lister, by the way, called Midnight Alliance ), came out two years ago and had been a commercial bomb. There were no current projects slated as being in “post-production” either.
    “So,” Kristopher said, interrupting my thoughts, “are you nervous? Excited?”
    “Curious,” I replied.
    Rosemary stepped onstage and waved at the lighting guy in the back of the theater. Suddenly, the house lights dimmed and the exuberant chattering in the audience dissolved to a reverent hum.
    “I can’t tell you how thrilled we are to host ‘The Bachelor Pad’ here at the Knightsbridge, to have such a spectacular director, cast, and crew, and to welcome back to Chicago our very own Dane Tyler!”
    She said a few more words, probably more than a few, but I tuned her out. My mind was fixating on the only important part of that sentence for me, especially when the curtain opened to reveal the cast in their starting positions onstage…and there he was at last. Dane Tyler.
    I’d lied to Kristopher, maybe even to myself. I’d been waiting over twenty years for this experience. I was more than “curious.”
    Let me just put the magnitude of this moment into context, shall I? I took my every teen breath with Dane Tyler. I watched him with moony eyes as he kissed CoverGirl Amy Coleridge in Center Ice Draw , MTV darling Kendra Leigh in Dorm Daze , and that gorgeous Asian-American actress, Rumi Sakurai, who was the runner-up for Miss World one year, in Chasing the Dragon.
    I tacked his poster to the wall above my bed, tilting it at a daring angle so he’d look even edgier than usual.
    I kept his “Star Profile” from Teen Explosion magazine folded up and safely zipped in the secret compartment of my strappy teal purse for years.
    I also memorized it.
    I could recite it on command even now.

    Name : Dane Tyler
    Birthday : August 1st
    Hair : Wavy dark blond
    Eyes : Light blue
    Height : 6’1”
    Hometown : Chicago, Illinois
    Acting Start : Spotted by an agent onstage at age 14 in a community theater production, etc., etc.

    And, of course, I also joined the Official Dane Tyler Fan Club.
    I wasn’t merely curious about him. He wasn’t part of some “adolescent phase” I had once gone through. No. He’d been my lifelong obsession.
    Even Kristopher, who was surrealistically sitting next to me right now and who had been my prom date almost two decades ago, had to pledge back then to skip the midnight breakfast at Perkins so we could go to a late showing of Dane’s just-released film, Time