Following today, Into the Woods would fade into history and Lauren had some time off. She would take a weekend trip to Cancun, lie on a beautiful beach, take in the crystal blue waters, and who knew? Maybe she’d meet a nice woman at a bar for some after-hours fun. The other resident production stage manager, Matthew the Great, would take over the driver’s seat as PSM on a new play going into rehearsal at The McAllister, Starry Nights, scheduled to run for four weeks in the fall. She’d return to PSM the Christmas show, which would go into rehearsal in just over a month, once Starry Nights moved to the stage. Between now and then, she’d find out what it felt like to be a person again, a real live one with a life.

“Got a sec, Lauren?”

“Hey, Wilks.” Nolan Wilks was the artistic director of The McAllister and responsible for keeping the whole engine moving. In other words, her boss, and a very capable one. “What’s up? I’m approaching half hour so I don’t have a ton of time to talk, unfortunately.”

He straightened his polo shirt as if it were a tie. She smothered an affectionate grin. “You’re going to hate me, but you might just have to hate me. Are you ready to hate me?”

She stared at him, checked her watch, and held up one finger to place him on hold. She pressed a button on the microphone in the booth and leaned toward it. “Ladies and gentleman, half hour until curtain. This is your half hour.” Refocusing on Wilks, she prepared herself. “Please don’t make me hate you. I much prefer celebrating you as headmaster over all of Hogwarts.” She smiled at him but wondered what in the world was going on if he was storming the booth at half hour.

“I need you for Starry Nights.”

She swallowed. “No, you don’t. You and I both know I’ll be on that much needed vacation. That means me, a beach, and the tiniest of umbrellas in my glass. Picture it, and please don’t say any more. This is my time away, and I’m in love with it. We’re getting married.”

“Time you very much deserve.” He paused. She stared. They repeated the process. “But I need you, and you know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t that important.”

She took a moment. “I don’t understand. Matty’s on it. Matty is fully capable.” Matthew the Great was a decent enough production stage manager. Reliable, focused. True, he didn’t always know the best way to defuse a hot-button situation, but his organizational skills had earned him his nickname. His series of personally developed charts and spreadsheets had changed Lauren’s PSM life for the better. Plus, Matty could track a prop’s journey onstage like no one she’d ever met.