“I’ll be fine,” Evelyn said in a curt voice. Even sick, she apparently wasn’t the warm and friendly type. “Just can’t quite keep anything down, so I better…Oh no. I have to go.” Lauren winced as Evelyn clicked off the call out of clear necessity. She made a note to check in on her later in the day, and moved to plan B. “Evelyn’s out today. Food poisoning,” she told Ethan.

“Fan-fucking-tastic. I get Carly here on time, and Evelyn can’t make it.”

“I know,” Lauren said sympathetically. “But we have Nia ready to step in.” Nia Blankenship had been cast as the standby for both lead roles. She was a sturdy understudy, which was why The McAllister recommended her readily in the casting sessions. You could always count on Nia, and with a wild card like Carly Daniel in the mix, having a solid backup was key. No, she wasn’t the most charismatic actress, but she was serviceable.

Ethan sighed. “All right. Put her in.”

After briefing an eager Nia, rehearsal was finally off and rolling. Their agenda was a run of act 1, and with only a few hiccups, they stumbled their way to the end, blandly. Carly looked defeated by then and walked away to a quiet corner alone. Ethan appeared weary, almost as if he hadn’t slept in a week. Nia looked nervous as hell. Apparently, working with a celebrity rattled her more than Lauren would have guessed. Today was feeling like a wash.

“And that’s lunch, everyone,” Trip announced to the company. “See you back here in an hour.”

Lauren could feel the low energy in the room as the cast quietly filed out. The run-through had run flat without Evelyn, but honestly, it hadn’t been much stronger with her. The production, while still afloat, wasn’t exactly thriving, and she could feel Ethan losing his patience as the days went on. They opened in just over two weeks, and while the set, costumes, and publicity were all on track, the narrative needed a jumpstart. Even Lauren could see that much.

“Hey, guys?” Kirby said, returning to the rehearsal hall. “Nia’s in the women’s restroom in really poor shape.”

“What do you mean, poor shape?” Lauren asked.

“I think it’s her stomach.” Lauren deflated and exchanged a look with Trip. It was starting to look like they had a stomach bug on their hands, not the food poisoning Evelyn suspected. This was not good news at all.

“Aren’t you two friends?” Lauren asked Kirby, who nodded. “Would you be able to help her into an Uber? I don’t think it’s a great idea for her to be around the other actors.” The idea that she’d already been in such close proximity to Carly was a bad thing, and Lauren was now in save-the-cast mode.

“Yeah, I can do that. No problem at all.”