She dropped his eyes, feeling an ever-present weariness surround her like a shroud. “Gene, I’ve given it a lot of thought, and I really think—”
“Darling, you’re just starting to break through. Now is not the time to slow down! I’m your agent. I have your very best interests at heart, and I have an amazing part for you.” He leaned forward, patting her thigh consolingly. “And it’s not another depressing shoot, darling, I promise. In fact, it’s farce! It’s fun! Scouts honor.”
Like Gene Miller had ever been a boy scout.
She eyes him warily. She had money and security now, and the reviews of The Awakening had been fantastic, but Elise had never been more unhappy. She missed the stage…she missed a live audience…she missed New York…and she desperately missed— “Elise? Darling, you’re so spacey today!”
“Gene,” she said. “The reality is, I miss the east. I want to go—”
“Well, then…you’re going to love this part! Hear me out?”
Her shoulders slumped in defeat as she twisted open the cap on her water bottle. “Go ahead.”
“Drumroll please!” he said, his eyes sparkling as he did jazz hands in the air between them, “The Philadelphia Story!”
At the very mention of Philadelphia, she gasped, sucking a gulp of water into her lungs and launching into a full-blown coughing fit.
“Oh, honey!” said Gene, reaching over to thump on the back and yank away the offending bottle of water.
Philadelphia.
She took a deep breath and wiped away the tears in her eyes.
Philadelphia.
“Are you okay, love?” asked Gene, fussing over her.
“I’m fine,” Elise sputtered, clearing her throat.
“Fine? You’re coughing up a lung, poor princess.”
“The Philadelphia Story?” she asked weakly, after taking two more deep breaths.
“Actually, they’re calling it The Philly Story! It’s a re-make!” He nodded, his eyes sparkling and animated. “And you’d be playing Tracy! The star, darling! The star!”
Elise knew the original movie starring Katherine Hepburn, and the musical re-make, High Society, starring Grace Kelley. She’d loved both when she watched them in a “Re-boots and Re-makes” class at Tiscsh, and the idea of acting in lighter fare did appeal to her.
“And the best part since you’re missing the east? It’s being filmed on location in Philadelphia! Isn’t that divine?”
In Philadelphia.
Preston’s face flashed before her eyes and she held back a whimper of longing.
“Divine,” she murmured.
The door to Gene’s office opened and his assistant, Melinda, peeked her bespectacled face through the crack. “Mr. Miller, you asked to be alerted when Miss Rousseau arrived?”
“Ah, yes!” Gene winked at Elise. “The plot thickens,” he said dramatically, rubbing his hands together with glee. “I’m going to say hello to Miss Rousseau for a moment, and then—as long as it’s okay with you, darling—I’d like to introduce you to each other. She’s local legal for this project in Philly, and I understand she was just given an Assistant Producer credit for a Very. Important. Reason.”
“Yes, of course,” said Elise, grateful for a few minutes alone.
As the door closed, she took a deep breath, settling back into the couch and giving her misery full reign.
Originally, Elise had thought that Hollywood would be a legitimate escape from the panicked, trapped feeling she’d had the moment she said “I do” to Preston, but it wasn’t. Being apart from Preston had only magnified their love affair: forced her to review his persistent, patient courtship, his whole-hearted devotion, his thoughtfulness, his tenderness, his love. Missing him so terribly kept the best memories of him on constant repeat, and by the time she’d been in L.A. for two weeks, she was starting to recognize the terrible mistake she’d made: it hadn’t been in marrying him; it had been in leaving him before she’d given them both a chance to adjust to their whirlwind nuptials.
Except by then she’d signed the contract for The Awakening. She was on-set filming for twelve hours a day and trying to figure out her way around L.A. the rest of the time. For better or worse, she’d made her decision and it was too late to change it: too late to go back to New York, too late to be Preston’s wife, too late to choose her heart over her career. She’d told him as much when he’d visited her.
You’re not happy here. I can tell. Come home, Elise. Come home with me.
You’re making me unhappy, she’d responded frantically, by putting this pressure on me! I can’t be your wife. Don’t you see that? I don’t choose you. I choose acting. This is my home. This is my life, and you’re not a part of it.
So what was I? he’d asked tightly. What were we?
Lovely, she’d answered, watching his face flinch with pain, then harden in anger.