Ready To Go (23 page)
“All right,” his mother said into the phone. “We have one condition. If you can’t find a job within a month, you are going to law school. You’ll be happiest if you have a good career, not just show business.”
“I never said show business,” Daniel protested. “And I’m not interested in law.”
“Then what do you want?” his mother asked, worry evident in her voice.
“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “I want time to figure that out. I’ll get a job in a month, sure, but it could be just working at a restaurant or salesperson, something to fill the time till I know what I want. I did get a bachelor’s degree, it shouldn’t be too hard to find
something
. And I won’t be living off your money forever, but I really need it right now.”
“There are good law schools out there,” his mother said, as if she hadn’t heard him. “You’ll apply to UCLA.”
“No, I won’t,” Daniel replied forcefully.
“You
will
,” his mother said in the same tone, “Or you don’t get the money back.”
Daniel could hear his father’s voice then, but couldn’t understand him. There were some shuffling sounds, and then his father said clearly, “One month isn’t enough time for this. I understand that, your mother will understand that. If you were going to apply to law school, this wouldn’t be the right time of the year. That’s three months away, and I think you should have that long.”
“I don’t want to be a lawyer,” Daniel said again.
“You have three months to figure out what you
do
want,” his father replied. “We won’t force you into law school, but if you don’t have a career at least in mind and you still want to live off our money then, that’s what you’ll need to do.”
He sighed. He set the phone down for a moment and hung his head in his hands. What had he really expected? That his parents would just be okay with this and give him back the money? He knew on some level that he’d have to get a job to survive, but he hadn’t expected to do so right away. He figured his parents would help, or that he’d get a cushy job like the museum that was more for the resume than the money. Then again, for this being the first time he wasn’t doing what his parents wanted, they were taking it pretty well. He picked up the phone. “Okay. That’s fair. Three months.”
“And,” his father added. “You can go to a law school there. That girl better be special.”
Daniel smiled, though his parents couldn’t see. “She is. Thank you.”
“You’ll get access to the account tomorrow,” his father promised. “Did you already move your things from your apartment?”
Shit. “No. I forgot about them. I’ll have to come back for that.”
“We’ll pack it up and bring it to you,” his mother added. “I want to meet this girl.”
“Please don’t accuse her of ruining my life,” Daniel asked. “She’ll feel really guilty about that, and she probably won’t get over it.”
“I wouldn’t!” his mother replied, some outrage in her voice. They both knew she probably would have.
“Thanks,” he said simply. “Thanks, both of you. I love you, and I’ll see you soon.”
That was it. He was going to stay. He made breakfast for himself after the call, and as he was eating his cereal, Ethan came out from his bedroom. “Called your parents?” he asked.
Daniel nodded. “I’m staying. They want me in law school if I can’t find a job on my own, but I’m getting the money back, at least.”
“Great,” Ethan said. “So, rent and utilities, your share is seven fifty a month.”
“Funny how you told Nicole she didn’t have to worry,” he pointed out.
“Yeah, you let a guy steal her money,” Ethan shot back. “So when are you letting her know?”
“I think she’ll figure it out when she gets back and I’m still here,” Daniel said.
“Better idea,” Ethan suggested. “Go to lunch at her restaurant.”
“Yeah, sounds like a great idea, but she’ll probably be too busy to talk,” he said. “I’m just going to stay here. Maybe look online for a job.”
“That’s it?” Ethan asked. “Look, I know you’ll get all jealous if I say this, but you’ve got a great girl there. I heard her crying this morning over you. You’ve gotta do something for her if you’re staying.”
“What do you suggest, a party?” Daniel asked sarcastically. “I’ll figure it out. Do you know a good job listing site?”
Not too long later, Daniel found himself searching Craigslist on his laptop. Since he was in LA, most places called for someone ‘creative’, something he was definitely not. And everything else looked incredibly boring. He was quickly realizing how hard it was to figure out his life.
Finally, something caught his eye that looked good. A playhouse was looking for someone to help coordinate and perform in educational children’s shows. So he couldn’t act, and he wasn’t into show business, but he could probably do this. It wasn’t that far off from his job at the museum, and he did like kids. And it’s not like he would get famous doing this. He’d just be teaching.
He glanced at when the auditions were. Today. Shit. He still hadn’t brushed his teeth.
Luckily, he managed to arrive on time, teeth clean. He was nervous, not only because he wasn’t sure how he’d do, but because he wasn’t sure if he really wanted it. He knew he was not really acting himself when he met the director, holding out his hand robotically and wearing a forced smile.
He sat in the house of the theater and wondered if he should leave now, when a group of kids wandered onto the stage. “My daughter and her friends,” the director explained to Daniel and the others auditioning. “We do a lot of shows that bring the kids onstage, so let’s see how you interact with them.”
One hopeful actor read the lines he was given in a monotone. Another yelled at a kid who interrupted him to ask a question. But then there were others who were actually really good. Daniel was pretty sure this wasn’t going to work out for him.
His turn finally came. He was handed a script, something about dinosaurs, and headed onstage to, as the director put it, “guide the children on a trek to the past.” One of the other actors came out in a cheesy dinosaur suit, and as Daniel began to read about how they were seeing a triceratops, which was actually a baby torosaurus, something suddenly clicked for him.
He may have accidentally started saying his speech from the museum at some point, but the kids were watching him in awe. They laughed at his jokes, they cheered when he encouraged them, and even the director and the others in the audience clapped when he was done.
After everyone had auditioned, the director dismissed them all without any hint of who’d gotten the job. But before Daniel left, he was called to the stage for a short conversation.
“Your resume says you’ve never been on stage before,” the director said.
He wasn’t sure how to reply to that, so he just nodded. “I needed a change with my life, so I figured I’d try something new. I’ve been trying new things a lot lately.”
“You’re good,” the man said shortly. “I can’t say you’re getting the part, but you were clearly comfortable on stage and working with the kids. That can get you pretty far here.” He glanced down at the stack of resumes in his hands, Daniel’s on top, and said, “I’ll be calling you for future auditions if you don’t get this one.”
Daniel smiled widely. “Thanks.”
So, he headed back to the apartment without knowing if he’d gotten the job, but he had a good feeling. He knew he liked working with kids, and that was a step farther than he’d been at this morning.
He was going to be okay. He finally realized that. He wasn’t going to be what his parents wanted him to be, but he was going to be okay.
When Nicole finally came home hours later, she was miserable. She’d cried again on the way to the apartment. Daniel was sitting by the door on the couch, but she didn’t even notice. She headed to the bedroom to cry.
Daniel followed her. She was lying face down, her head pressed against a pillow. She looked like a sullen teenager—not that she was actually far from being one.
Daniel sat beside her. “Hey. Why are you so sad?”
She glanced up at him, then lowered her head again. “I’m hallucinating, aren’t I?”
He absently stroked her hair. “No. I’m not leaving. Called my parents this morning.”
She sat up. “Seriously? Were you planning that? Why did you let me think you were leaving?”
“I didn’t know if they’d give me the money to stay,” he said. “I didn’t want to tell you that I was staying and then leave anyway. I was planning on coming back anyways, but on my own, it might have been years…” He smiled at her. “But it doesn’t matter. I’m here, I’m staying here. With you.”
She suddenly hugged him, her arms too tight around him. He pulled away to ease her grip a little. “This is so great. I can’t believe it.”
“And there’s one more thing,” he said.
“Yeah?” she asked. She kept hugging him, so she wasn’t facing him.
“I don’t think this whole friends with benefits thing is going to work.”
She met his eyes and gave a lazy smile. “I was calling you my boyfriend in my head a while ago. Making it official is good.”
He kissed her. “My girl.”
“My guy,” she replied with a wide grin.
That night, as the two were climbing into bed, Daniel had another question for Nicole.
“So, remember what you promised if I was here tonight?”
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Georgia McBride and everyone at Swoon Romance for guiding me through the publication process.
Thank you to my friends and family for inspiring me, for pushing me, and for supporting me.
And finally, thank you to Mr. Mahoney and Professor Hennessy for teaching me to love writing.
Stephanie Mann
Stephanie Mann lives in Massachusetts. Besides writing, she spends her free time working with fan conventions. She loves to travel, and has visited many tourist traps along the way.
READY TO GO is Stephanie Mann’s first novel.
Website:
http://www.steffm.com
Twitter: @ghostlyburger
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