Page 122 of Everything's Coming Up Rosie

“Well, that’s just it. We’re in power-through-it mode, making it happen because the show must go on and all that, but ticket sales haven’t been great, and they’re in danger of losing the theatre program.”

“You want me to do a piece on you?” she asks without an ounce of hesitation.

A lump wells up in my throat. Of course she is reacting this way—why did I ever expect anything else?

“No, not on me,” I say. “But I was hoping you know someone up here who might be interested in doing a piece on the theatre. Like the actual program here at Sunset Hills.”

She pauses, and I can hear her clicking around on her computer.

“What are you doing?”

“Googling...” She’s distracted. “Sunset Players you said?”

“That’s us,” I say, realizing there’s no trace of embarrassment left.

“I thought you were at a regional theatre this summer,” she says absently.

“I thought so too,” I tell her. “I was a little surprised when I arrived.”

“It does look like a thriving community,” Marnie says, obviouslystill scrolling the website. “What made you stay when you discovered it wasn’t what you thought?”

Surprisingly, the list that pops up in my head is long, and I choose to tell the truth.

“Well,” I say, “a couple of things. I didn’t have any other prospects. And everyone here said it was a great place to work.”

“Is it?”

My eyes scan the space, full of diligent volunteers. “Marnie. It’s great. I never would’ve thought so... but it really is.”

“And they’re counting on the show to help save the program,” she says.

“Yes.” I explain that they’ve struggled to get audiences in. And now, the accident and the flood are major setbacks. “Whether I knew it or not, they brought me here to save this program. I can’t let them down.”

“Okay, give me an hour. I’m going to pitch the idea to my producer.”

“Wait, seriously?” I ask. “I thought you were in too big of a market now—”

“We sometimes cover things that happen up there,” she says. “Between the flood, the senior-citizen-slash-feel-good angle, and you coming from New York to do this show, there are some great stories here.”

“Really?”

“Really,” she says.

“That is amazing,” I tell her. “You are amazing.”

“I know.” I can hear the smile in her voice. “But you know you’re amazing too.”

I swallow the lump in my throat.

“You sound genuinely excited about something again, Ro,” she says. “It’s good to hear.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know,” she says. “The last few years, we’ve been worried about you. You haven’t really seemed like yourself.”

I shake my head and walk out into the lobby and stare out the window. “Things haven’t been going very well for me in New York.”

“Yeah, we kind of guessed as much.”

---