Part Two
John’s parties were the best and most interesting I’d ever attended. The vibes were as good as they get, where the meeting of perfect strangers was concerned. People from all walks of life filled the tenth floor with a festive cacophony of base-touching conversation and newfound acquaintance. It was an honor to co-host, and a joy to witness, from the arrival of the first guest, to the last departure, which often lingered to first light.
“Sean Dover, meet Dawn Jennings,” introduced John, when the time came to press the flesh with his best friend.
“My pleasure,” socialized the new man in my life. Our initial eye contact gave me reason to believe we were also going to be close.
“Likewise,” said I, with a self-deprecating, frivolous curtsy, “I’m sure.”
“John tells me you’re an aspiring actress?”
We released our handshake and got down to some serious networking.
“Aspiring, being the operative word here,” I confessed.
John added his two cents to get the ball rolling. “In my humble opinion, Sean’s the best acting teacher in town.”
Within the space of a few days, I found myself on another fateful elevator ride, heading for the 23rd floor of another old building in midtown. After greeting me at her tastefully appointed desk, Sean’s assistant led me into a modestly furnished living room. A ten-minute briefing and question-and-answer session ensued. What I didn’t know at the time was that she was one of the four, lying girlfriends who backed up Judy in her quest for unwarranted revenge, two weeks earlier.
“Wait here,” said Shelly before leaving the room and me alone for the next few minutes...
John had thoroughly briefed me on what to expect. “He’ll get right into it with you. If you meld with, and respond positively to his methodology, he’ll accept you as a student, and expect your best effort at every session. Be prepared for some highly unorthodox technique.”
His greeting did much to quell my nervousness. “Dawn- good to see you again.” He could not have been more graciously supportive.
After dispensing with the formalities of getting reacquainted, Sean got down to it. “Everyone auditions. Yours will be given with Shelly, the assistant who conducted your initial interview.” He pointed to the door through which she’d left the room. “She’s in there. You will have ten minutes to prepare. Your task will be to give her a piece of your mind; tell her how you feel about her treatment of you, or anything else the situation suggests. The more intense the better... Any questions?”
“No.”
He smiled a “Good luck,” then turned and headed for the door in question.
“Thanks.” A sudden rush of playful excitement came and went when the door closed behind him. The clock on the wall read 11:50 AM. At high noon I would be expected to give the new opportunity my best shot. I’d once read in a book about acting that there could be no theater without conflict. My recent altercation with Judy and friends came to mind. I dove right into the recall and crossed my fingers...
When entering the room, I found myself stage right, on a large, raised platform. It faced an audience whose faces I could not see, given the blaring lights that flooded my first formal experience as an actor. A frantic voice, stage left, broke my concentration, but not my focus.
“Dawn! Thank heaven it’s you.”
I turned to face Shelly’s writhing form. With arms behind and legs together, she’d been strictly tied to a 50s style, silver-bar-framed, plastic upholstered chair. At first, I didn’t know what to think, do, or act. Several turns of rope held her gorgeous figure to the cheesy-looking piece of vintage memorabilia.
“Don’t just stand there,” she snapped, “untie me.”
That’s when something extraordinary possessed me, and I heard myself say, “Shut up, stupid. Who do you think you’re talking to?”
She flushed with suspended astonishment. “But...”
“Put a sock in it,” I spat as I stepped into the scene to give the new character in my life a piece of my mind. “Do you think we’re here like this by accident. I’ve been setting you up for weeks. Thought you could put me out to dry, did you?”
“Dawn?” An uneasy truth took hold of Shelly’s improvised madness. “What are you saying?” She was also unaware of who I was. A livid countenance overtook what was left of my nervousness, affecting a tone of voice I’d never heard before.
“Judy told me everything. Now it’s your turn to catch it.”
Shelly stared up at my stern but steady demeanor, squirmed a bit in her unyielding predicament, and gave me her best shot. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But something deep down inside of her did.
I walked slowly and menacingly behind her. “That’s it? That’s all you have to say?” It was. “OK, have it your way.” With that, I walked upstage to the assortment of props and furniture Sean had collected for scene study classes. A sponge and a towel caught my eye. I brought them back to the chair and Shelly’s perplexed expression. “Sure you don’t want to change your mind?”
The next few scene beats bristled with diametric body language. A handy glass of water softened the sponge, which was soon stuffed into the liar’s mouth, and held in place by the tightly tied dishtowel. There were also a few lengths of clothesline on the floor, which I used to make Shelly’s situation a good deal more taxing. I was amazed at how much I’d picked up from John in the way of binding technique. ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this.’
I then reached into my bag for the cell phone, and pretended to punch in a number... “Hi, it’s me. She won’t talk... Sounds like a plan. See you there in ten.”
After bagging the phone, I grabbed a fistful of chest ropes and brought my nose up to within an inch of Shelly’s. “Maybe a few hours of stringent incapacitation will soften your resolve,” I whispered before giving her a cold stare, turning, and leaving the room, stage right. The slamming door snapped me out of ‘character.’ After taking a deep breath, I opened it and stepped back onto the platform. “Is that enough?” I asked into the blinding lights. They dimmed slowly. An audience, made up of dummies, with wide smiles painted onto their canvas faces, stared back at me. A quick scan revealed that Shelly and I were the only real people in the room.
“Sean?”
My cellular signaled. “...Yes?”
“Hi, beautiful. It’s John. How’s it going?”
A few, very strange seconds passed. “Uh, I don’t know...”
“Sean told me to call at 12:10. Are you still doing the scene?”
“No.”
“Did Sean thank you for auditioning?”
I scoped the room again. “No.” It was still empty.
“Then congratulations are in order.”
I didn’t know what the hell he was talking about. “I don’t get it.”
“I’ll explain later. How about we do lunch?”
“Great. Where are you?”
The stage left door opened, and in walked John on his cellular. “Right here.”
I smiled, punched out mine, and walked quickly to our next passionate hug. “Oh- you.”
“C’mon, I know a great Italian place right around the corner,” said the man I loved as he steered me through the door.
“But what about...”
“We’ll undo her later. She’s got an acting lesson to ponder.”
“But...”
“Trust me.”
After ordering lunch at Mario’s, John spilled the proverbial beans. “That’s why I picked you up on stage. We wanted Shelly to put all the pieces together. I was the last puzzle part. Your fortuitous use of Judy’s name in the audition was another.”
We took our time, got high on wine, had two cups of coffee with dessert, and walked leisurely back to Sean’s. Upon our arrival, he ushered us into the school’s video control room. Another scene was in progress in the dummy room. Shelly was still gagged and bound to the chair. Another actress was into the 15th minute of her audition.
None of us said a word as we witnessed the event on a 60-inch monitor. I couldn’t help but wonder what might have come down, in real life, between Shelly and the new actress in her scene. I also wondered how my scene would have gone had I known what part Shelly had played in Judy’s deception. ‘For sure, I would have tied the ropes and knots a lot tighter.’
Though nothing was said, an aura of camaraderie surrounded our control room fellowship, giving me reason to believe both Sean and John were thinking the same thing: ‘Two down, three to go.’
I sure as hell was.
14.01.04
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story continues in Fast Lane Bondage 3
o0o