“Thank you.” She looked up and grinned mischievously at him. “I’m still not telling you anything about my business.”
He laughed, throwing his head back. “That’s fair. Okay then, tell me more about your acting career. Are you working on a show right now?”
“I am. It’s just a small role, so I don’t have to be at every rehearsal. Plus, after my last show, I was ready for a break.”
Hakim gave her an inquisitive look. “Lead role?”
Lauren snorted. “One of those shows where everything that could go wrong did. I’m convinced someone invoked the curse of the Scottish Play. By the end of our run, the whole cast was doing curse-breaking rituals every night before curtain.”
He raised one eyebrow and Lauren sighed.
“Toward the end of the first act, I had to kneel down to unpack this crate. The play is set in Victorian London and I’m a maid for the lead character,” she gave him a pointed look.
Hakim cleared his throat. “Oh, good. At least I know you’re comfortable in the role.”
Lauren tossed an orange pip at him, which he deflected, grinning.
“I like your uniform better,” she conceded. “I had to wear this heavy long skirt with petticoats on stage, and let me tell you, that thing was not fun to move in.” She took a sip from her coffee mug before continuing. “So, I have to unpack this crate. I kneel down, open the crate, do all the stuff I’m supposed to. According to the play, I’m supposed to jump up when another character surprises me by walking in. He walks in, I start to jump up, and realize my skirt is caught on the crate.”
“Oh, no,” Hakim said, leaning forward.
“Oh, yes. I deliver my lines from where I am on the floor, which is not where I’m supposed to be. I pull and pull at my skirt, finally getting it loose at exactly the same moment that the other actor finished delivering his line. All you can hear throughout the theater as I stand up quickly is the sound of fabric tearing. It was so loud and when I turned around, my fellow actor was staring at me with this horrified look on his face.”
Hakim’s eyes widened. “You only thought you got your skirt loose.”
Lauren pointed a finger at him like he’d just won a prize. “I only thought I got my skirt loose. So, there I am with this giant tear in my black skirt, right where everybody can see the petticoats underneath. We still have a whole page of dialogue to get through, and I can actually hear the rest of the cast backstage trying to figure out what to do.”
“What did you do?”
Lauren grinned. “The show must go on, right? I gathered up my skirt in one hand, walked upstage where I was supposed to be, and delivered my lines with as much gusto as I could. All the while staring at a spot just over the other actor’s shoulder so that I wouldn’t burst out laughing. Poor guy; he looked so befuddled.”
Hakim laughed. “I can only imagine.”
“It was just one thing after another with that show. I was going to sit this one out, but the director is a good friend of mine and she convinced me to take a small part.”
“Do you have rehearsals this week?”
Lauren shook her head. “No. I knew this was going to be a busy week, one way or another, so I worked out my rehearsal schedule with her in advance.”
She took another drink of coffee and then pointed a fork at him. “What about you?”
“What about me?” he replied, confused.
“What’s your non-work, fun thing?”
“Ah. Well, lately there hasn’t been much non-work fun.”
“Really? You don’t read, or listen to music?”
Hakim sat back in his chair. “I read. Of course.”
Lauren tilted her head at him. “Mysteries? Thrillers?”
“You mean you didn’t look at my bookshelves yesterday?” Hakim asked, gently teasing her.
She blushed, and he was charmed by the pink tinge to her cheeks. “I might have peeked a bit as I dusted. You’ve got an outstanding book collection.”
“I wish I had more time to read,” Hakim said, making a note to check his bookshelves to see which books she’d moved around.
“If I were you, I’d never leave your library. That’s definitely my favorite room in your house, by the way.”
“Mine, too. It’s the reason I bought the place, actually.”
“What’s your favorite, out of your whole collection?” Lauren asked.
Hakim thought about it. “Shakespeare, I think. I prefer the comedies, but I’ll read anything of his.”
“I love Shakespeare. The man certainly knew how to put on a good show,” Lauren grinned.