Ms. Franklin

You look at your watch, seeing it's almost time for the fourth and final orientation meeting. "Oh, shit..." you groan, then call that you're coming to whoever's at the door. Opening the door you find Rachel Franklin smiling at you.

"Hi there! Are you alright? The meeting starts soon. Surely you haven't forgotten?" she grinned playfully.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I just fell asleep. It's been one of those days..."

"Well, come along, my good man," she grinned, taking your arm and pulling you down the path and leading you to the main building and up the stairs to the library. You sit with Rachel, listening with half an ear to the same thing you've heard three times before. Once it's over, you lead the way to the underground parking and your car. You open the door and help her into the passenger seat, then get in and start the car.

"Did you have a place in mind? There's a diner Brian and I found the other day."

"Sounds good to me, Mason," she agreed. She looks thoughtful as you pull out of the garage, then turns to you with a grin. "Must we wait to critique each other's lives? Why don't you start. Ask the first question."

"OK. So..." you thought of what question to ask her for almost a minute, driving slowly down the road. "What were you like as a child?"

Her face takes on a somber expression. "My mother was an abuser. More to herself than to me. Mother was a free spirit. Nothing was ever enough for her: going out most nights to dance, sing, whatever she wished; taking a store's worth of **** to escape reality; and when she had enough to drink, she would get upset over the littlest things. There were days she blamed me for 'chaining' her down, as she eloquently phrased it..." There's an edge in her voice and you notice her gripping her legs tightly.

"She couldn't be bothered to take responsibility. My father, on the other hand, he may have run with a rough crowd before settling down, but at least he cared enough about me to settle down, and do his best for me." She shook her head, looked to you, looking at you with sudden apology. "Wow, that was more than I meant to say. Sorry."

"No apology needed," you said with a sympathetic smile. "How did you get interested in acting and theatre?"

"My father used to give me money for the movies when he was working. I loved sitting in the dark and pretending that I was part of the action. I wanted be a part of that world, wanted to be on the screen instead of in the dark watching. I auditioned so many times, different roles for all kinds of plays and commercials. And I got shot down by most of them. But I kept trying."

She pauses as you park, continuing as you help her out of the car and escort her into the diner. "Eventually I landed my first big part in a movie you never heard of. I was sixteen. My mother pretended to be happy for me, but when I got the money, she took it and spent it on herself." She takes a deep breath before continuing. "So I left a note for my father and ran away to be the best actress I could be. It was a struggle, but I managed. Slept on couches and floors, auditioned all the time, got enough work to survive. But I realized, eventually, that I really didn't have the stuff to be a star. I managed to get into school, did what I had to do to get the money, determined that if I couldn't be an actress, I could teach others to be. And so, here I am," she finishes with a smile.

"That's quite a story, Ms. Franklin," you say, answering her smile with one of your own.

"What about your life story?" she inquires. You give her the short version, of three marriages, two divorces and one ****. Of how your drinking had got away from you after the **** of your second wife, and how you spiralled into despair and failure, losing your third marriage and your career.

"I wound up working as a construction laborer, for eating and rent money. Went to a lot of meetings, dried out, and then this chance came to get back into teaching. I figured that door was closed forever, but when it opened, I had to walk through. To give it one last shot. But this place is different from any place I've taught before. I'm not used to an all girls school, or a school full of rich kids. I'm not sure I'm cut out for it."

"Well, we're both here. For better or worse." she replied, "In a way, a sort of owe my mother. If she hadn't been such a disaster, I probably wouldn't have tried to be an actress, failed at it and put my efforts into teaching. We're both here more or less by accident, so we should make the most of it, right?"

"I guess. It's always good to find a silver lining. Right?" you say and see her nod.