Katie prepares for a callback (drama)

"It's right in here, guys. We'll work in my bedroom. It'll help keep us from being distracted by my noisy housemates!" She shouted the last two words through the door before closing it. Katie knew it wasn't the quietest house ... and she knew she often contributed to a lot of the noise herself.

The two other men with her were Greg, one of her acting teachers and sometimes private acting coach; and Jared, an actor she had done a play with last year, and who was in one of her current acting classes. Jared and Greg didn't know each other. Katie had pulled them each in from separate parts of her own world.

Katie was wearing a loose sweatshirt and little pajama shorts. Jared had a t-shirt and jeans, and Greg was dressed a bit more conservatively and maturely, with a button-down shirt and corduroys.

"Thank you so much for coming over to do this coaching, Greg." Katie smiled. "The callback is tomorrow morning, and I really just want to be as ready as I can."

Greg nodded. "Happy to help, Katie. I've always enjoyed seeing your work in my acting class, and the last show I saw you do was really quite good."

Katie beamed, and gestured to Jared who stood a little bit away, distracting himself with photos on the wall. "Jared and I met on that show, right, Jared? It was during Benefits of Time over at the Old Playhouse?" Jared mumbled something in agreement. Although his work tended to come alive on stage, he was fairly subdued in day to day life.

"So what is the work for tomorrow?" asked Greg. Greg was in his 50s. He had gray hair that he wore back with a little oil, and a tight gray mustache and beard. He had rugged, tanned skin, and looked like he could be a soap opera star. In fact, he had done a lot of television work over the years, and supplemented his time on set with part-time work as an acting teacher.

Katie sighed. "It's sort of a love scene. I play 'Laura,' and I'm in denial about my feelings for 'Kyle.' I don't know if Laura and Kyle ever make it work, though. It's a new play, so I haven't been able to read it. Here." She handed the script pages to Greg.

Greg scanned through the pages quickly. "So it seems Kyle is trying to convince Laura to give him a chance, and Laura is ****."

"Basically."

"Jared," Greg began. Jared looked over at him. "Are you doing the audition tomorrow too?"

"Nah. They already cast Kyle."

Greg nodded again, and read through the scene once more. "Katie, are you off book?"

Katie smiled. "Of course! I always learn dialogue very fast. But I gave pages to Jared." Jared waved his pages in the air nonchalantly.

Greg took a seat in a chair in the corner. Against the far wall was Katie's bed. There was a vanity with a mirror to the left, bookshelves on the right, and the door into the bedroom was behind Greg. "So ... do you want to play the scene here in front of the bed? I know it's a little cramped, but it might be the best option."

Katie agreed. "Let's try it and see what we need."