Just before leaving The McAllister that night, Lauren paused to watch one of her most favorite rituals. A stagehand placed the ghost light center stage and wandered away. Gorgeous. She folded her arms across her chest and let the image affect her. There was no visual she loved more. Something about that solitary light keeping watch over the theater, until they could come back and tell more stories the next day, stole her heart. She leaned into her goose bumps, offering herself a small hug. She stayed another minute and stared at the light, internalizing it, appreciating it, before packing up her bag and heading out. When she arrived in the staff parking lot, she turned back and regarded the looming white building with four long regal columns in front. The amount of theatrical history inside those walls was not lost on Lauren. She carried a great deal of reverence for the theater, and never tired of its demands. They were friends, she and The McAllister. She leaned back against her car. She’d once dreamed about performing on that stage herself. She didn’t dust off those old dreams too often, because why harp on the past, you know? She wasn’t meant to be an actress and clearly understood that now. But there were times when she allowed the twinge of envy to creep in, when she saw others doing what she once longed to do herself and felt the loss. She batted back those wistful thoughts before they got too far along. Hell, she was Lauren Prescott, and holding everything together was her specialty. No time for those kinds of indulgences.

She stood and gave the theater a final nod good night. She’d be back in just eleven short hours for the final Sunday matinee. That meant older patrons and children would cram the house in a jumble of red wine and peanut M&M’s.

First up, her after-show celebratory wine gulping, when she could put her feet up, relax into her own life, and leave the stage management professional on the shelf for another day. Bring on her real world, namely: her dog, her house, and her leggings purposefully purchased one size too large for this very occasion.

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