Life After You

The corners of his mouth quirk upwards into a grin as he pulls out the thick bundle of paper from a soggy envelope. He is delighted that he's been sent the script for a new movie role, but first he has to audition for the part. His agent had mentioned it some weeks before going to rehab and the producer couldn't decide between him and another actor.

Jeremy lies down on the sofa and studies the few parts he will be asked to recite, instructions in bold lettering describes the scene and how he should play the part. He hopes he gets the part. Getting his teeth into another movie is exactly what he needs in his dramatically improved life.

"What's in the envelope?" Kelly asks as she serves up two bowls of stew.

He turns from his duty of slicing bread.

"I've got an audition for a new movie" he beams.

"That's fantastic" she crosses over to him and kisses his cheek, but notices deep creases on his forehead."What's the matter? I thought you would be excited about it"

"I think it's a great opportunity"he agrees.

"Then what's the problem, Jer?"

He folds his arms across his broad chest and leans against the counter. His task of slicing bread suddenly forgotten.

"It's tomorrow afternoon. We were supposed to be going over to Marilyn and Wayne's"

Kelly had forgotten all about it, a double lunch date they had been coerced into by emotional blackmail from Marilyn.

"They'll be alright. Why don't you just meet me there once you're done?"

"What would I do without you?" He says his voice husky and low.

"Probably stop functioning" she replies with a wink and returns to the simmering pot of stew.

****
Jeremy rolls his shoulders and cracks his neck, a thing his mother had often scolded him for as a young man. Surprisingly he doesn't feel as nervous as he usually is when it came to auditions, but maybe that is because he had found his passion again. In therapy he had reconciled with his doubts, his life-changing doubts that spun in his head every day. Jeremy had decided that he was going to give up acting, the glamorous lifestyle becoming too much of a burden. He had lost many girlfriend's over the years to his career and the thought of losing Kelly shook him to the very core.

After rehab he was going to tell Kelly and his agent. But something in therapy had sparked that fire again, that burning passion he hadn't felt in a long time. Maybe it was the cocktail of prescription pills and large quantities of alcohol that had started to warp his mind, but on the very last day he knew he couldn't walk away from acting.