After lunch, we caravanned over to the theater. On the drive, Laurie giggled and did her cutsie baby babble, putting me in an unusually chirpy mood.
We pulled up into the back-parking lot of the theater and I parked next to Paula and my mom who’d ridden there together.
I scurried out of the driver’s seat to get Laurie out of her car seat. As soon as I pulled her out, she went straight for my earring.
“Ack!” I yelped, taking hold of her tiny wrist. “Sweetie, no – no!” I said, and my mom hurried over to step in to my aid.
“Yeah, I never wear earrings anymore,” Paula said as she locked up her car.
“Laurie, let go of your mommy’s earring!” my mom said, laughing a little too hard at my uncomfortable misfortune.
“I suppose I should know better by now,” I groaned as my mom wiggled my earring and the lower half of my ear free of my daughter’s tight grasp. I passed Laurie off to my mom so I could rub my tender earlobe, then remove my earrings altogether. I tossed them into my front seat cup holders, as Laurie squealed and giggled about what she’d just done.
“You little stinker,” I said to Laura.
Paula pointed to her teal necklace. “Check this out,” she said. “Definitely going to snag you one of these for your next baby shower.”
“What? A plastic necklace?” I asked.
“It’s a teether,” Paula said, taking Laurie from my mom. Laurie went straight for it, biting and drooling all over Paula. “They’re super cute; I even wear them when I don’t have my little ones with me. They’re stylish necklaces made out of safe teething materials. So, you can still get a little dressed up without having to worry about little ones snapping the chain on your nice jewelry.”
“Don’t think that would work in an earring form,” I said, still rubbing my sore earlobe. “I swear, she just tried to rip my whole ear off!”
“That’s not even close to the worse thing she’ll ever do to you,” my mom said, laughing. “Glad mine’s grown up now so that I can just be grandma.” She patted my head and strutted toward the theater.
I got out Laurie’s stroller, and Paula pass her back to me so I could strap her in securely. From the back of the stroller I nabbed a box of baby wipes and handed one to Paula to rid her necklace of my child’s slobber.
Paula laughed, and removed the necklace. She handing it down to Laurie who eagerly reach for it her eyes wide. “Tell you what, you just take that one,” Paula said. “I have plenty at home. Laurie seems to like it anyways.”
Paula pulled her children out of her mini-van and securely fastened them in to her double stroller. Both were sound asleep.
“How do you do that?” I asked.
She laughed. “I’m a baby whispered don’t you know?”
“I guess,” I said pushing Laurie toward the theater’s back exit.
Paula giggled. “I also put the heater on super high in the car and play this new agey meditation tape on the stereo, the fall asleep in record time, but I have to be careful or it puts me to sleep too.”
We chuckled together as we strolled our little ones through the back door of the theater. “So, let’s see this super awesome set I’ve heard so much about,” I said.
Paula grinned as we entered the back of the building near the actor’s green rooms, and I hear a number of voices – they seemed to be running lines. I peered into the green room, and sure enough there was a handful of actors running through lines while waiting on their director. Upon seeing my mom, a few of them hop up excitedly, requesting she run lines with them. “Easy there, everyone,” my mom said. “Give me five minutes. I’m about to give my daughter the grand tour.”
“Oh, so this is your daughter?” a handsome older man asked, standing. “Peter Catch. I’m playing your mother’s other half in the play.” The slightly gray-haired gentleman approached me, h and extended for a shake. He did not quite make it to me before getting distracted by Laurie. “Oh, wow, she’s adorable!”
I grinned. The best way to any mother’s heart is to shower her children with compliments. It just occurred to me that the little teether Paula had given her matches her cute springy outfit. “Thanks,” I said. “So you’re playing Vicente’s lead man?”
“In other words, I’m playing a weird version of Vicente,” Peter said, winking slightly. “I’m still a little nervous about the direction the director chose to take. I don’t like disappointing the playwright.”
“I’ve been told the director has turned this thing into a comedy?” I question, and Peter nods – a few other actors snicker.
“It’s not your fault, Peter,” a woman with bright orange hair said, getting up to come greet us. “Director Ricky made the call.”
“I write myself,” Peter explained. “So, messing with someone’s vision this much, well, it feels kind of unfair. I would hate to see something I wrote turn out so differently than what I envisioned.”
The woman shrugged and then looked at Paula and me. “I’m Natalie Nat, but everyone calls me Nate. I bring the character Jezebel to life.”
“Jezebel?” I questioned.
“Yeah, not the best name choice, but the character does run a dive bar,” Nate said, laughing. “I am basically a bar maid in the play.”
“So, the play takes place at a dive bar?” I asked.
“Most of it does,” Paula said. “You ready to check out my set?”
“Oh, so this is the set designer!” a third actor jumped up. “I’m Tony Yipps. I’m the one who send you the color swatches.”
“That was you!” Paula said, smiling. “Thanks for the recommendations. I think they went perfect with the background.”
“Have you seen it yet?” Tony asked.
“Not yet, we’re headed there now,” Paula said.
“Let’s all go,” Peter suggested. “We can run through blocking before Ricky gets here.”
We all scooted down the hall towards the stage wings, and when we stepped out onto stage it was, well, incredible. Stage left was the bar. It looked positively gorgeous. The play, from what I skimmed during lunch, takes place in northern California – Gold Country. The backdrop for the stage is a mountain range and some elegantly painted, bright yellow trees. Stage right, a sort of make-shift garage look. “Wow!” Paula shrieked excitedly. “They finished putting it together! Hold on, I have a few boxes in the car for some of the final detailed pieces.”
Paula scurried off, and I stood center stage staring at the beautiful design. I could hardly believe how beautiful it looked. “I like the way she’s got the garage set up,” my mom said, pointing towards the rusty front half of a car that poked out onto the stage. “All the set crew has to do to move half the set on and off stage is put the car in neutral and roll it back – the rest of the garage part of the set is on wheels and drilled to the back of the car. It’s so easy to move on and off stage despite how complicated the look is.”
“Clever,” I said and then looked at the bar. The bar side of the stage was set up on a wooden platform about a foot high. It could also be easily moved on and off stage with a simple pull or push despite its large structure. The color contrast between the bright backdrop and the darker bar and garage scene was simply stunning. Paula arrived seconds later with a large box, and she added a few details. A stained-glass window for the back of the bar and some old beer and whiskey bottles filled with water and food coloring. She had brought a can of paint, and she carefully dabbed areas in the garage to make it appear more rustic and covered in oil.
When she stepped back, finished with her masterpiece, the entire crew started clapping for her excitedly. “Paula, simply amazing,” Tony said. “I’m glad they hired you.”
“Very talented,” Nate said. “I especially love my little bar.” She stood up and hurried behind the bar. “This right here is my characters personally spot.”
I smiled. Tony was standing beside me, smiling excitedly. “I forgot to ask you what character you play?” I question.
“The scumbag cheating husband,” Tony said. “Not normally my type of role, but I’m too early in my career to be picky.”
“I have arrived!” a mans voice called from the audience.
“Ricky!” my mother called. “Oh, Kate, this is Director Ricky. He is doing a fabulous job, if I do say so myself. Ricky, this is my daughter Kate, and my granddaughter Laurie.”
Ricky was a fairly young guy. He was younger than some of his cast members, but he had a certain commanding tone about him that let Kate know he knew he was in charge and could handle it. “A pleasure, Ms. Kate,” he said and smiled down at Laurie. “Hey, cutie,” he said and then looked up at Paula. “Paula, I have to say, I’m in love with this set.”
“Thanks for the opportunity,” Paula said.
“Of course,” he said and reached into his coat pocket. “Here, these are for you. Tickets for the after party on opening night.” He then looked at me. “Would you like to come?”
“Me?” I questioned.
“Your mom is one of the stars of the show,” he said and reached into his pocket, pulling out two tickets.
“You are already coming to opening night,” Paula said. “Plus, a little birdy told me that Cassandra’s Cookies is catering the party.”
My eyes widened. “Cassandra’s Cookies? As in—”
“As in the café that you’ve had Jim run out to, I don’t know, eight times since you’ve become pregnant,” my mom said, giving me a playful nudge.
A vision of the dark chocolate brownies with the purple icing began to dance in front of my eyes. I had some at home in the fridge, but I was down to just two now.
“Speaking of which,” Director Ricky said. “I need one of you to run by the café to drop off our catering contract. It’s in my office now, but we need to get right to work on our tech rehearsal.”
“I could do that for you,” I said. “I go right by there on my way home.”
“Are you sure?” Ricky questioned, taking a glance at Laurie – probably not wanting it to be too much of a burden.
“It’s no problem,” I said. “Besides, I can restock my brownie supply while I’m there since its’ all baby number two is letting me eat.” I patted my barely noticeable baby bump.
He smiled. “Well, I really appreciate that.” He handed me the contract, and I stuffed it down into the stroller.
Okay pregnancy brain, don’t let me forget to do that, I told myself.
The front doors to the theater flung open, and we all glanced up to see Vicente stepping in from the lobby. He was striking in a black leather jacket and tight jeans. Under one arm, he carried his motorcycle helmet and with his free hand he ruffled his thick dark wavy hair. He graced us with a smile that would make a school girl blush, and even as I thought saw Paula’s cheeks get a bit rosy.
I smacked her arm and she giggled, mouthing to me. “I can’t help it, he’s so hot.”
The director rushed over to Vicente. “Ah, Mr. Domingo!” Ricky exclaimed. “Welcome to tech rehearsal.”
Vicente glanced around and nodded to the cast and crew, making his way down the aisle toward the stage. When his eyes landed on me, he gave me his special cat-that-ate-the-canary smile. The one that told me he thought I’d made a dreadful mistake not to have taken him up on his offer as the lead.
A man like Vicente Domingo could never image giving up the limelight.
“Hello Kate,” he said.
I wiggled my fingers at him. “Congratulations, I understand the show’s already sold out.”
He gave me a condensing nod, as if I should have expected nothing less.
He glanced up at the stage, smiling and looking quite satisfied. “Just thought I would come take a peek at the set, and I have to say, it’s looking good.”
“Glad you like it,” Paula said.
“Very sophisticated – just what I was going for,” he mused, and I could sense several of the actor’s cringe. They weren’t kidding. Domingo still had no idea that Ricky had turned this drama into a comedy. Ricky did not seem at all phased.
“You coming opening night, I hope?” Ricky asked, smiling like he was not secretly plotting to put on a joke performance of what seemed to be Domingo’s pride and joy.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Domingo said. “I will be here front and center.”
While the cast and crew got ready for their tech rehearsal, my stomach began to rumble.
How can I even be hungry again?
But it wasn’t hunger exactly, it was the purple icing brownies calling my name.
So I bid my mom and Paula farewell, told them to break a leg, and headed out with Laurie in tow.
Confession? The café wasn’t exactly on my way home. It was about five minutes out of the way, but honestly, I had to make sure I had plenty of those amazing brownie’s in stock.
Laurie giggled and played with her stylish teether on the way there, and I plopped her into her stroller again before we headed inside. The outside of café was painted bright orange. It was very colorful and fun; I hadn’t ever actually been here myself. Jim had been doing the supportive daddy thing – running out constantly to help me satisfy my intense cravings.
Once inside, though I was a bit taken aback wild color palate. The walls were a mix of fire-engine red, with yellow and orange swirls, so much so that it made my head spin.
I made my way over to the counter, eagerly scanning the display case for my preferred treat. Disappointment tugged at me when I didn’t see any of those brownie’s on display.
The woman behind the counter had red hair, pulled up tight in a bun. She smiled. “May I help you?”
“I’m looking for a certain brownie... It’s dark chocolate with purple icing?” I questioned.
“Kate?” she asked, taking me by surprise.
“Um… yes?”
“I knew it,” she said. “You’re Jim’s wife, right? He comes in here three times a week to get you those brownies. I’m Cassandra, the owner.”
I smiled. “Oh! I’m so embarrassed,” I said, laughing.
“Hold on, I have a batch for you in the back that just got taken out of the oven. I need to wait a few more minutes before I ice them,” she said. “That okay?”
“That’s fine, oh, and here. This is the contract for the local theater. I guess you are catering their cast party?” I reached down and grabbed the contract out of the bottom of the stroller, handing it over to her.
She smiled and thanked me, not really questioning why I would have it. I watched her step back into the kitchen, probably to file the contract, and I went and sat down by the window. A few minutes later, she reappeared with a small plate and a to-go box.
“Tell you what, it’s on the house,” Cassandra said, smiling as she put the small plate with a brownie in front of me. “The to-go one’s too.”
She’s so nice!
“Wow, thank you!” I said, happily grabbing the fork she had placed by my plate.
“Oh, that must be Laurie!” she said, bending down to take a look inside the stroller. “So cute. She looks like her daddy.”
I smile. “She really does. I’m guessing Jim has told you about Laurie?”
“Well, he’s been here enough for us to have chatted a few times,” Cassandra said, smirking slightly. “I don’t get a lot of male customers coming in and ordering chocolate in bulk like that. I finally asked him what was up, and he told me about his pregnant wife’s cravings. He showed me a picture of Laurie. Super cute girl you got there.”
“Thanks,” I said, grinning.
“So,” she said, standing upright. “Are you in the play?”
“No, but my mom is. I’m going to be going to opening night, and the director was kind enough to invite me to the after party, so I figured I could bring the contracts by for him – and get me another one of these amazing brownies too.”
Cassandra laughed. “Well, tell you what, they weren’t in the order, but I’ll throw in some of those brownies at the party so you can look forward to having them after the show.”
“Thanks,” I said, smiling. “You are too sweet.”
“I try to keep my customers happy,” she said. “Especially ones who come in and order a dozen brownies every few days.”