For Once We're At Peace

Chapter 2

"So," Lin started. "What are we going to do? We can't have Sasha doing Esperanza Hamilton every night. We need her in the ensemble." Jeffery, one of the producers of Hamilton: An American Musical, shrugged, deep in thought.

"Didn't you mention that the real Esperanza was back?" Jeffrey asked, leaning back in his chair as Lin nodded, jotting down something in his notebook. "Then why don't we get her on board here?"

Lin looked up, seeming cautious. "She's only sixteen, Jeff," Lin reminded. Jeffery chuckled, shaking his head as he held up his hand and leant forward to rest his elbow on his knees.

"You see, Lin, that's where you're wrong." Upon seeing Lin's confused face, he leant back to explain further. "Yes, Esperanza may look sixteen, but is she really sixteen anymore? I mean," he sat up straighter, hands moving erotically as he tried to argue his point to his friend in front of him, "think about it! She may look like she's sixteen, but mentally? She's wise beyond her years, Lin. Just, think of it like this; if we can get Esperanza on board, don't you think the public will want to see it more?"

"The public don't know," muttered the ravenette. Jeffery's eyes widened as he did a double take.

"I'm sorry, what?" Jeffery was shocked, blinking rapidly to try and comprehend what he was hearing. "What do you mean the public don't know?"

"Esperanza doesn't want to tell anyone yet," Lin replied, looking at Jeffery properly. "I respect Esperanza's decision. Don't forget what just happened in the past couple weeks. First of all, Esperanza just woke up from a nine-month long coma. Not only that, but it probably felt a lot longer to her because she was sent back to the 1700s."

"Right," Jeffery nodded before looking at Lin's phone. "Can we just try? She'll probably be able to bring more emotion to the scenes and help with some little accuracies we need."

"True," Lin nodded, picking up his phone and called up Esperanza, putting her on loudspeaker.

"Hello, Esperanza speaking. Who is this?" Esperanza's statical voice came through the speaker of Lin's mobile.

"Hey, Ranza, it's Lin and Jeff," Jeff said, leaning forward for the girl on the other side to hear him properly.

"Oh! Hi, you two!" she greeted energetically. "What's up? You two never call me out of the blue, especially during class time."

"Well, you see, Jeff had a, uh, proposition for you," Lin said, looking pointedly at Jeff as he looked at Lin in playful offence. "Go on, Jeffery."

'Fuck you' he mouthed before turning to the phone as Lin laughed. "Right, well, you see, the person who was supposed to play you pulled out last week and we need a replacement. Lin and I were talking when I mentioned how it would be perfect to get the real Esperanza Washington-Hamilton to play Esperanza Washington-Hamilton in the show! So, what do you say? You up to it?"

There was silence on the other end causing both Lin and Jeff to become worried and anxious, awaiting the reply from the wise sixteen-year-old. "I'll do it," she said at last, the two men breathing a sigh of relief.

"Wonderful!" Lin exclaimed, "We'll see you on Friday for a rehearsal then at the Richard Rodgers."

"Alrighty, see you then, Lin, Jeff. Bye!" Esperanza hung up as Lin and Jeffery both sighed in relief. Finally, they had gotten someone on board to play Esperanza Hamilton in their show who they knew was reliable and wouldn't quit when they were three months away from premiering on Broadway.