Theater Story (now with title & index)
Cheeseburger 11. o rly? and Blueberry Yogurt #17. Uncomfortable Silence Pocky Chain
Story : There Are No Small Parts
Rating : PG
Word Count : 491
I so want to jump ahead to when Rory shows up, but I think it would be better to establish everyone else first. No particular conversations prior to this piece are coming to me at the moment, so I'm going to let Fran's attempts to find out about him be his intro.
“So what’s the deal with Rory?” Fran asked Merry first.
Perched on the stool in front of her vanity and paying more attention to the mirror than the conversation, Merry touched up her lipstick. “He’s on tour with the Bartolotti Brothers.”
“And?”
Merry shrugged. “Good for his career, free publicity for us. I’m not sure what you’re looking for.”
“Why does no one seem to want to talk about him?”
“Nonsense.” Merry puckered her lips at the mirror and rolled her eyes as she caught Fran’s reflection raising a brow. “Perhaps you should ask Gilda.”
Gilda was the last person Fran wanted to ask, so she tried Lloyd next instead.
He gave her a sideways look over the top of the chunk of scaffolding he was cobbling together. “Why do you want to know about Rory?”
Fran shrugged and passed him another nail. “He’s part of the cast, isn’t he?”
“Yeah,” he said slowly.
“It just seems like everyone has some sort of, I don’t know, unfinished business with him.”
Lloyd shrugged and held out his hand for the next nail. “I try to stay out of the drama.”
“That seems wise.”
“Rory?” said Flo, nervously. “Well, he should be back in about, oh,” he wrinkled his nose as he thought about it, “nine months? So, if you’re still around- You are going to stick around, aren’t you?”
“Yes, yes of course!” said Fran.
“Good, good.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “Because the crowds love you. And I, well, we all love you, too.”
“And Rory?” Fran wondered what any of this had to do with her original question.
“Well, I suppose you’ll meet him in nine months. Then just try to remember how much you like the rest of us.”
Sylvia was never a good choice when it came to asking questions, but the way she lit up when Fran brought up Rory’s name had her hoping.
“You know,” she said, wistfully, “it is just not the same without him around here. I mean, Flo says I can buy my entertainment and all, and I suppose there’s less drama that way, but... The things that man can do with his-”
Fran threw up her hands in protest. “You know what, never mind!” she squealed. “I’ll go ask Gilda.”
“Ask her if he showed her-”
But Fran was already gone.
“I hear you’ve been asking about Rory,” Gilda said before Fran could open her mouth.
Nodding, she settled on the bench beside her.
“What have you heard?”
“Nothing that really amounts to anything. Except that maybe I won’t like him, or maybe I will, because apparently he’s good at things I’m not sure I even want to know about, and there’s all sorts of drama and maybe it’s better he’s gone, and mostly I should just…” She eyed the swell of Gilda’s belly under the sewing table, and it made sense. “…ask you.”
“Don’t judge him before you’ve met him.”
Story : There Are No Small Parts
Rating : PG
Word Count : 491
I so want to jump ahead to when Rory shows up, but I think it would be better to establish everyone else first. No particular conversations prior to this piece are coming to me at the moment, so I'm going to let Fran's attempts to find out about him be his intro.
“So what’s the deal with Rory?” Fran asked Merry first.
Perched on the stool in front of her vanity and paying more attention to the mirror than the conversation, Merry touched up her lipstick. “He’s on tour with the Bartolotti Brothers.”
“And?”
Merry shrugged. “Good for his career, free publicity for us. I’m not sure what you’re looking for.”
“Why does no one seem to want to talk about him?”
“Nonsense.” Merry puckered her lips at the mirror and rolled her eyes as she caught Fran’s reflection raising a brow. “Perhaps you should ask Gilda.”
Gilda was the last person Fran wanted to ask, so she tried Lloyd next instead.
He gave her a sideways look over the top of the chunk of scaffolding he was cobbling together. “Why do you want to know about Rory?”
Fran shrugged and passed him another nail. “He’s part of the cast, isn’t he?”
“Yeah,” he said slowly.
“It just seems like everyone has some sort of, I don’t know, unfinished business with him.”
Lloyd shrugged and held out his hand for the next nail. “I try to stay out of the drama.”
“That seems wise.”
“Rory?” said Flo, nervously. “Well, he should be back in about, oh,” he wrinkled his nose as he thought about it, “nine months? So, if you’re still around- You are going to stick around, aren’t you?”
“Yes, yes of course!” said Fran.
“Good, good.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “Because the crowds love you. And I, well, we all love you, too.”
“And Rory?” Fran wondered what any of this had to do with her original question.
“Well, I suppose you’ll meet him in nine months. Then just try to remember how much you like the rest of us.”
Sylvia was never a good choice when it came to asking questions, but the way she lit up when Fran brought up Rory’s name had her hoping.
“You know,” she said, wistfully, “it is just not the same without him around here. I mean, Flo says I can buy my entertainment and all, and I suppose there’s less drama that way, but... The things that man can do with his-”
Fran threw up her hands in protest. “You know what, never mind!” she squealed. “I’ll go ask Gilda.”
“Ask her if he showed her-”
But Fran was already gone.
“I hear you’ve been asking about Rory,” Gilda said before Fran could open her mouth.
Nodding, she settled on the bench beside her.
“What have you heard?”
“Nothing that really amounts to anything. Except that maybe I won’t like him, or maybe I will, because apparently he’s good at things I’m not sure I even want to know about, and there’s all sorts of drama and maybe it’s better he’s gone, and mostly I should just…” She eyed the swell of Gilda’s belly under the sewing table, and it made sense. “…ask you.”
“Don’t judge him before you’ve met him.”