Waiting in the Wings Read Online Free PDF

shocked. It was a generous offer and not in her job description at all. “That’s incredibly nice of you, but you don’t have to—”
    “I know I don’t have to. I want to. It’d be fun. What are you doing tomorrow afternoon?”
    “I have rehearsal,” I said.
    “Right. I knew that.” She popped herself in the head. An extremely cute pop in the head, I might add. She laughed. “Well, what about tonight? I know you have to get up early, but I’m a night owl. Show hours, you know?”
    I couldn’t help noticing how her whole face lit up when she laughed. “Definitely know what you mean. Umm, I don’t have to get up too early,” I lied. I didn’t care how tired I was or that every muscle and joint I had was screaming, I wasn’t passing this up. “If you really mean it, I’d love the chance to run lines with you.”
    “Of course I mean it. Why don’t we meet in the hotel restaurant in say…thirty minutes?” She checked her watch. “I just want to get out of all this stage makeup and shower. Plus, I could use a meal.”
    I grabbed my bag and headed to the greenroom where I found Lanie chatting animatedly with Susanne, the swing who was currently performing her ensemble track. I pulled her away and explained my plans for the evening and watched as her eyes got wide. “Dinner with Adrienne? Oh, you have to get the details on her and Ben. Please!”
    “I’ll see what I can do, but no promises. See you in the morning.” I kissed her cheek and left through the stage door to the bus that would take the first group ready back to the hotel. I dropped
    my bag off in the room and freshened up a little bit before catching the elevator to the lobby. Why was I so nervous? Adrienne was just another actress I would be working with. I’d met lots of famous people at CCM serving as guest artists. Hell, I’d even worked with them. This was no different. Yet, I knew it was different. Adrienne had captivated me with not only her performance in this show, but with her sincerity and professionalism off stage. Maybe I was starstruck, but it was more likely I was still crushing and needed to stop. It was clearly going to hurt my ability to do a good job and that was the most important thing in the world to me.
    I arrived at the restaurant first. It was half past eleven and the place was mostly empty. I sat at a table in the far corner of the room, a spot that allowed me to keep my eyes open for Adrienne. I ordered a red wine to relax and wait. It wasn’t long until I saw Adrienne in her plaid newsboy cap enter the hotel. She took off the cap and ran her fingers through her long, dark hair to straighten it out before turning right into the restaurant. The lighting was slightly dimmer inside so I waited for her eyes to adjust before waving in her direction. She smiled and walked over.
    “Well, I see you’ve made yourself comfortable.” She indicated my glass of wine.
    I shrugged sheepishly. “What can I say? It’s been quite a day. I somehow don’t think this is going to help what they have scheduled for me tomorrow, however,” I said, nodding at the glass.
    “No, I’d agree, which is why I’m only going to have one sip of yours.” She reached for my glass and with lighting quick movement did just that. My drink had been hijacked.
    “I can’t believe you did that. Aren’t you a big-time star? You can probably afford your own.”
    “I don’t know about big-time, but I thought you looked like the type who’d share. Now, let’s order some burgers and get to work.”
    I looked at the fancy tablecloth and multiple little forks at my place setting. “I’m thinking this isn’t the type of place that has cheeseburgers on the menu. Just a hunch.”
    “Let’s find out.” She arched a playful eyebrow just as the
    waiter returned to take our order. “Excuse me. My friend and I were
    wondering if it would be too much trouble to have two cheeseburgers made up in the kitchen?” She batted an eyelash for extra