My Shadow in the Sun, Part Eight

by J. Rosemary Moss

Genre: Slash Fiction
Rating: Mature Content

LINK TO PART ONE: http://jrosemary.blogspot.com/2007/12/my-shadow-in-sun.html

~

I had to take a deep breath of my own before I trusted myself to answer. This guy had taken the trouble to audition--he had stayed for hours while I tried him in different parts and with different co-stars. And suddenly he meant to back out?

On the other hand, if he was going to quit on us it was best that he do so now. Perhaps I should be happy about this. Sean would take over the lead and life would return to normal. I wouldn't have to worry about some unknown with disabilities that might or might not cause a problem.

But Jeremy was good. Unpolished, perhaps--but Sean and I would take care of that. I wanted to see this man on stage. After his audition, I had a hard time picturing anyone else as Richard.

"Why don't you sit down," I invited. "Then you can tell me what the problem is."

For a moment I thought he would refuse the chair. Social graces, it seemed, were not his forte. But after a long, awkward pause he nodded and sat down on the edge of a recliner, still leaning on his cane as he held it in front of him.

I took a seat on the couch opposite him. "Why don't you want the part?" I asked.

"It's not that I don't want it," he said. "I don't like the way it was handed to me."

I cocked my head at him. "Handed to you?"

He nodded. "Look, I--I found out that my mother made a donation to your theater. A donation with strings attached."

He was shaking a bit, I noticed. And he was drooling again. Well, he was no longer auditioning. I couldn't just stare at him this time, so I glanced away as he wiped his face.

I sighed as I turned back to him. At least I could understand where he was coming from now. "You think that one of the conditions of your mother's donation was to cast you as Richard?"

He nodded again and stared down at the floor.

I chose my words carefully. I wanted to be truthful--but not so truthful that I would scare him off. Technically speaking, his mother had only bribed us to mount a production of Richard III. She hadn't bribed us to cast Jeremy as the lead. Sheila may have hoped that more money would follow if Jeremy landed the part, but that was mere conjecture.

Besides, my conscience was clear. I had been determined not to cast Jeremy--until I saw how well he fit the role.

"Your mother did give us a generous donation," I owned. "And God knows we needed it--we are a small community theater, after all. But we already have that money in the bank. All we had to do for it was mount a production of Richard III."

Jeremy looked back up at that and narrowed his eyes at me. "She didn't ask you to cast me as Richard?"

I shook my head. "No. That may have been her fondest hope, but it wasn't part of the deal." I paused, wondering how much more I should say. At length I decided to tell Jeremy everything--excepting Sheila's hope for future donations. I didn't want Jeremy thinking he had gotten the part because of that.

"Once we agreed to mount Richard III, I did hear that Mrs. David wanted her son to play the lead," I continued. "But that only made me determined to give the part to someone else. I didn't decide to cast you until I saw your audition."

He reddened at that and fell silent. When he finally spoke up again, it was as if he were measuring each word. "I don't have much experience acting. I don't know how I'll be--especially in front of a real audience. I shake more when I'm nervous."

He paused to wipe more drool off his face. "I--I drool more too."

I didn't look away from him this time, despite the quaking and the drool. "You'll have plenty of time to get used to an audience," I said gently.

But he wasn't satisfied. "What if I can't do it?" he asked.


I shrugged. "Then Sean--he's the one who will be playing Clarence--will take over your part," I said. "And Jake--he has a few bit parts--will play Clarence. It will all work out."

The ghost of a smile crossed Jeremy's face. "You're prepared for me to fail, aren't you?"

I gave him an apologetic grin. "I don't know you yet, Jeremy. I don't know if you're reliable. I don't know that you won't quit on us."

"I came here to do just that," he reminded me. "Can I--can I take that back?"

"Yeah," I said. And then I extended my hand to him. "Welcome aboard."

He took my hand reluctantly and only after wiping his own hand against his jeans. That's when I remembered that he had used his hand to wipe the drool off his face. I bit back a smile. He really should carry a handkerchief with him, but I couldn't think of a tactful way to suggest that.

Jeremy opened his mouth to say something--some sort of apology, perhaps--but Sean chose that moment to come strolling down the stairs. Whatever Jeremy had planned to say, the words died on his lips.

Sean had thrown on a pair of my sweats, but he hadn't troubled with any other clothes. He was barefoot and bare-chested and he had that mussy-just-got-out-of-bed look to him. He nodded at Jeremy and then bent down to kiss me passionately on the lips before collapsing next to me on the couch.

"Jeremy, right?" he said to our guest. "I'm Sean. I'll be training you up."

Jeremy didn't know how to respond to Sean or quite what to make of him. "Uh, thanks," he managed. "I'm sorry--I hadn't meant to barge in on--on you two. I should get going."

"No, stay," Sean ordered. "We've got to go talk with Dana--she's our costume lady. You might as well tag along and give your input. Then we can start working on your projection."

Jeremy gave me an uncertain look.

"Yeah," I told him. "It'd be good to have you with us."

He shrugged. It was an odd movement in him, since his shoulders weren't evenly matched. "Ok," he said.

"That's settled," Sean said. Then he turned to me. "Why don't you go put on some coffee, Rob? I'll go over some basics with Jeremy."

I couldn't find a reason to refuse, so I nodded and got up. I didn't like leaving Jeremy in Sean's hands, though. I frowned to myself as I walked into the kitchen--I felt as if I had just placed a lamb in a cougar's care.

LINK TO PART NINE: http://jrosemary.blogspot.com/2007/12/my-shadow-in-sun-part-nine.html