Work Text:
Amelia buried her head in her arms as she waited for her coffee. Rehearsals had gone well, thankfully, but the director was a menace who refused to let them take a break between run-throughs until the entire cast had walked off stage in protest. It was exhausting work, and Amelia really needed this coffee before she went back home to study for her anthropology exam.
She lifted her head at the sound of someone sitting beside her. “What a nightmare, huh? The Old Man really needs to ease up on us.”
“And here I thought you would agree wholeheartedly with him,” Amelia said, staring in disbelief. “You were always the first one to say you were ready to go and tell everyone else to suck it up and stop whining like children!”
“That’s because I’ve worked with the Old Man before. Frequently.” Toni made a face. “I am an actress, you know. I am also very good at my job. I can fake not being exhausted and hide the whining under being in character. He will not hesitate to fire someone who he deems a liability, and once he fires you, he will never hire you for a play again. You’re as good as dead to him.”
“Maybe you should stop taking the roles? If we can get everyone to refuse to work with him…” Amelia trailed off, shaking her head. “No. No way that would ever work. And say what you want about working with him, the pay is incredible.”
“Exactly.” Toni grinned, teeth flashing. “I’m good enough to get lead roles in the Old Man’s plays, which means I have to tolerate harsh conditions during the run but then when the show wraps I do not have to work again until he’s ready to hire for his next show. I can spend the time with my son.”
“The things people do for their kids,” Amelia said. “Don’t worry, that’s not judgment. My kids may be furry, but the whole reason I’m not quitting the production is because I can protect those animals from the Old Man. They’re trained actors but even trained actor animals are still animals and still subject to animal welfare laws.”
“Plus, the Old Man likes animals. You have that going for you. I wouldn’t worry too much about them, but they do need a human to be their voice and remind him once in a while.” Toni smiled at her as she took her drink from the barista who brought it over. “My son has started talking about wanting to get into theater. I’m not sure I want that for him, though. As a child, he’d have an advocate whose job involved making sure he wasn’t subjected to too much, but as soon as he hits sixteen…”
Amelia shook her head. “I don’t even have kids. Even if I did, if they were theater kids, I’d assume it was the typical ‘do the school plays and maybe some local theater’ stuff instead of taking the chance of them becoming… you… seriously. Not that I’d tell them that, but… oh, you know what I mean.”
Toni nodded. “As my son, my name opens a lot of doors and my contacts get him an entire leg in the door. If he’s got any skill at all at the craft, he’ll have no trouble making a living in the industry, but I don’t know that I want that for him or that he wants that for himself. He’s still at the age where I know he loves playing make-believe with his little friends, but I’m not convinced he wants to go into theater for himself. If he does, I’ll support it, but if he’s just getting into it because he wants to be like his mother… although better me than his father.”
Amelia winced. “I’m guessing the father’s out of the picture?”
“God yes. The man was a butcher. Not the literal kind, which provides a useful community service in producing meat to feed the people, either. That, I could be proud of.” Toni made a face. “He’s a casting director. He holds the power to make or break careers, and takes far too much delight in the latter. He doesn’t know about his son and I fully intend to keep it that way.”
“Oof. Yes, I can see where you’d resent him and want your son away from the theater world.” Amelia was spared figuring out what else to say to that by the arrival of her own drink, and the two women sipped in silence.
“So!” Toni chirped as Amelia was starting to feel a bit more human again. “When you’re not wrangling animals for a play, what do you do?”
“I’m in college, planning to go to vet school next fall. Some proof that small children sometimes do know what they want to do, I decided I wanted to be a vet when I was five. My mom works at a wildlife rehab center, and I found a puppy that had been dumped on a backroad and hit by a car – not necessarily related, I didn’t witness it, I just saw the puppy in the road on the way home and begged Mom to stop and pick it up. She knew what to do but let me be the one to take care of the puppy when I could, and… it’s a calling, you know? Doesn’t mean your son’s the same way, but it is possible.”
“Did you keep the puppy?”
“Of course. Bones and I had a good run, but dogs that size just don’t have a lifespan of more than twelve years or so, you know? He died right around the time I graduated high school.” Amelia pulled out her phone and found her favorite picture of her old dog. “I’m not planning on getting another dog until I’m out of vet school and can buy a house, because dogs and apartments are not ideal, but first thing I do once I buy a house is adopting a dog to run it for me.”
“That sounds lovely.” Toni paused and chuckled somewhat ruefully. “So… I came over here with the intention of asking you out. Not quite sure how it turned into therapy time, but at least you know the good reasons to say no, right?”
“And you know the good reasons not to ask me, because my life’s about to become seriously unstable once this play’s over and I’ve graduated college. I’m going to have to move to the other side of the state for vet school. You’re probably going back home… somewhere in England?” Toni nodded. “So if all you’re looking for is a good time while we’re doing this play, I have no problem with that at all. If you’re looking for something long-term…”
“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea for either of us right now,” Toni agreed. “I was just looking for a fling.”
“In which case, your son’s no problem, since I don’t expect to meet him ever. Do we count this as the traditional first date at a coffee shop?”
“That does allow us to do something more interesting next time.” Toni held out her phone to Amelia. “Can I get your phone number so we can discuss plans?”