Time for a Second Act
Despite the very warm sunny day, the aging actor with great swaths of scarves wrapped around his aching throat, coughed and coughed. He should be reading lines! He rasped out a few words and threw his script across the floor. He had so looked forward to being across from his leading lady, the great actress Bernadette La Fleur. Her silken long legs, still deliciously slim and lovely at 70 years old, had him fantasizing and daydreaming. Carrying herself with regal grace and poise, she made him feel like an awkward teen-ager. Greggoire Mont-Blanc had Madame LaFleur on a lofty pedestal in his mind, unable to touch even her delicate toes ~ until this marvellous play was presented to him. Romeo and Juliet for Seniors had been handed him by his questionably retired agent who still insisted on finding him new parts to play.
Greggoire coughed again. A hot toddy with good Irish whiskey was all that would relieve his sore throat and aching heart. He stared dully out the panoramic window of his magnificently appointed sitting room. The great expanse of manicured lawn was empty and flat to his eye, despite the grand flower beds and fountains.
‘Oh damn. Do people think I just hand out autographs any time they want!’ Greggoire definitely disdained anyone who dared to just ‘drop in’. How dreadfully provincial and gauche.
A long black limousine rolled slowly and silently up the gravelled drive, whispering carefully to a stop at the front door. The liveried driver stepped briskly and efficiently to the passenger door of the rear seat. As the door opened, a slow smile, just a bit nervous, played on Greggoire’s face. A black gloved hand flashing with diamonds, took the chauffeur’s proffered hand. Then those lovely long slim legs……….time had not passed them by. Should he send her away because of this dreadful cold? Or fling off his sick role for the part he had longed to play? He suddenly felt much better and decided he was quite well and ready for the next act.
“Acting is a nice childish profession - pretending you’re
someone else and, at the same time, selling yourself.”
~ Katharine Hepburn
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