And I Would Walk Five-Hundred Miles

Marissa and I went back, way back. We couldn’t stand each other, even though I had resolved I would not pay attention to her bull as long as I had to deal with her. I had even forgotten about her ever since I had left high school, but having her in front of my face, in my theatre, as the understudy for Jill, made me livid.

“Aw fuck no, I’m not working with this bitch,” she spat.

“Oh please; don’t even start,” I said rolling my eyes.

“Girls, please,” Mr. Holloway said, “this is a theatre, not a secondary school.”

“I don’t care. This stupid bitch is not going to be above me! She’s not!” Marissa was livid. I could see her face turning purple. Hopefully her blood pressure would rise and she’d have a heart attack and die! But that’s wishful thinking.

“Please Marissa, shove it and listen to Mr. Holloway. He’s doing you a favor by letting you be in this production, and you’re bad attitude is detrimental to the cast and crew of this musical. Now either suck it up, and deal with the fact that I’m here or leave.”

She glared at me over Dan’s lap and threw herself against the back of the chair.

It was silent for a few seconds until Mr. Holloway began again, “That, Miss Marissa, is exactly what I’m looking for in that scene. I know that you complain that you don’t know Dan, so you can’t make the emotional connection, but neither did Lydia and she performed this scene better than I could ever anticipate-”

“That’s because she’s obsessed with this guy,” she spat and smirked. I felt myself turn red.

“I could care less who she’s obsessed with or not because she performed the scene how it should be performed, and on top of that, that ‘obsession’ might have helped Lydia even better. That raw passion-” He was talking with his hands. And when Mr. Holloway talks with his hands, that mean’s he’s at a loss for words, which is usually a very good thing. He continued, “That raw passion was magnificent! That was sexual. You got the point across perfectly. You and Dan have such good chemistry on stage. It’s like you two had known each other and had fallen in love prior to doing this.” He beamed with pride. “That was the best kiss I’ve ever witnessed: stage and real combined. And Dan, I like that you started to slip in tongue. That was mind-blowing." I felt Micah tense up next to me. Mr. Holloway turned to Marissa, “So you will do this kiss, and you will do it perfectly just like they did. You will not complain, or I will kick you out of this theatre and make sure you never work in London again.”

I smiled. If she got kicked out, I think I would dance in celebration.

“So, Marissa,” Mr. Holloway continued, “you will obey my orders.” He turned to me and Dan and said, “Beautiful, you two. That was amazing. I want you, Dan, to try it with Marissa this time.”

With that, Daniel and Marissa got up and got on the stage. They performed the scene, but when the kiss came up, Marissa was standoffish and was pulling away from him too much.

Daniel didn’t look too into it either, he would kiss her, but he had this look on his face that said he didn’t want to be doing this. The scene ended and Mr. Holloway looked disappointed. He said, “Okay then. Let’s try another situation: Marissa, you and Daniel are dating, you’re at the back of a crowded cinema and you’re both very hot for each other, and you want to kiss, Go!”

“Go what?” she asked stupidly.

“Kiss him!” Holloway said exasperatedly.

She made and face and he didn’t look too into it either. Their kiss reeked of awkwardness and had no emotion at all. It looked incredibly fake. Mr. Holloway sighed and was silent until out of nowhere, his eyes changed. He suddenly said, “Dan and Lydia, same situation. Kiss!”

I sat in shock for a second until I got up and walked back onto the stage. I stood in front of him until I felt Dan grab my chin and turn it up towards him. I could almost feel Micah tense up more, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see he was balling his hands into fists. I felt horrible. Micah drunkenly confessed his love for me, and now I was going to have a snog-fest with a boy while standing right in front of him. Then Dan wrapped his arms around me and started to kiss me softly and then more passionately. I couldn’t help but feel awkward. Micah was stiff as a board in front of us. I could sense it. I shook it out of my head (not literally though) and kissed him deeper, praying that would take my mind off Micah. I wrapped my arms back around him and kissed his neck. Then Dan started to kiss my jaw line when Holloway called scene.

“Perfect! I just don’t get it. You two have perfect chemistry.” He sounded astounded.

I saw Micah get up and say, “I’m sorry, but I’m not feeling too well. I’m going to go to the restroom.”

“Do you know where to go?” I asked.

“Yeah, I know,” he said as he fled.

“Anyways, Marissa, I want you to come with me to one of the side rooms to practice your singing. Dan, I’ll leave you with Lydia.” And off they went.

Dan and I stared at each other until he cracked a smile and blushed.

“You kiss very well,” he said.

I felt myself blush and said, “You aren’t half bad yourself.”

“So is that guy your boyfriend?”

“Micah, my boyfriend? No, we’re not going out. We never have.”

“Oh. He seems to be interested in you.”

“That’s unlikely,” I said, but part of me didn’t believe myself. ‘I love you so much, it kills me,’ echoed in my head. He had a skeptical look on his face, but soon shook it.

“I’ve heard a lot about you from Mr. Holloway,” he said.

I was a bit shocked and said, “Really? Um…. I hope it was positive.”

He laughed and said, “It was positive. He is very impressed by you.”

“Really?”

“Yes, he says you’re one of the glues for this theatre. He says you’re like a mother to everyone,” he said laughing.

“Oh! Yeah,” I felt myself blush and chuckled, “I guess I kind of am.”

He smiled and said, “No, but that’s nice.” He paused and then started again, “So you’re here in England for theatre?”

“Yeah, I’m working with Mr. Holloway, and I’ll be attending Oxford for writing and drama.”
“That’s nice. You’re pretty good.”

“Oh thanks,” I said smiling. “You’re an amazing actor, though I’m sure you already know that.”

He smiled and reddened, “Thank you. It’s always good to get compliments.”

I laughed and there was a long pause until I remembered Micah.

“I’m going to go check on Micah. Either he got lost on his way to the bathroom, or he’s super sick. It was a pleasure meeting you, Dan,” I said with a worried smile. I then gave him I quick kiss on the cheek and ran out while calling, “Tell Mr. Holloway to call me if he needs anything!”

“Okay! Goodbye! Pleasure meeting you too!”

I ran out of the house of the theatre and ran to the bathroom only to be greeted by the sound of vomiting just outside the door.

“Micah, love, are you okay? Wait, stupid question, I’m going in there so anyone else in there, take warning!” With that I rushed in to see him hunched over the sink, his hair being held back by one hand. I quickly tied back his hair and rubbed his back and he hurled a bit more.

“Oh my goodness, what in the world made you feel this way? I thought you got over your hangover!”

He spit some phlegm and croaked, “I think the pecans in the French toast made me sick. I’m allergic to pecans.”

I stared at him blankly and then shouted, “Why didn’t you tell me that? I would have taken them out!”

“I thought they were walnuts, but now with this reaction, I guess I was wrong.”

Part of me felt like he was lying, call it a woman’s intuition, but I just felt it. I sighed and said, “Let’s get you home, sweetie. Can you make it there without feeling sick?”

“Hopefully, but I feel bad about making you leave. You just met Harry Potter and all. I don’t want to spoil that.”

Guilt trip much?

“No, Micah. We are going home now.”

He nodded and gargled with some water. Within a few minutes, we were on our way back in a taxi.