Love Is a Bunch of Stupid Decisions

Chapter 3

The entire cast of Mean Girls sat on the stage of the August Wilson theater, chatting excitedly as they waited for their pre-show meaning to start. I stood backstage with some crew members. Ben had invited me to sit with the cast, since he said I was practically an honorary cast member, but it still felt weird.

"Alright everyone," Casey said, clapping his hands to get everyone's attention. "Listen up." The cast quickly settled down, realizing what was about to happen. Casey took a deep breath, hardly being able to hold back the smile that formed on his face. "So lately, some of you might have heard rumors about Mean Girls going on tour." Several cast members started whispering, and I could practically see Ben's ears perk up at the mention of a tour. "Well, I am thrilled to officially tell you that they're true! We're taking this show on the road!" The cast and crew erupted into cheers and screams, thrilled to hear that the show was doing well enough to be taken on tour.

It takes a while for everybody to calm back down, but once they do, Casey starts talking about all of the logistics- how cast members are able to take up the option to join the touring cast if they so choose, and how auditions to fill the rest of the spots will be held a week from today. Afterward, they bring in a cake to celebrate the achievement.

"Well, it looks like we were right!" I say, finding Ben in the group of people after I got my cake.

"And you and I get to travel the country together," He says, beaming.

"You seem pretty confident that I'll be able to tag along," I laugh.

"Trust me, there's gotta be some way we can get you on tour. You've just gotta stop asking 'why', and start asking 'why not'."

"Wow Ben, that was inspirational. You should stitch that on a pillow." I say, Ben shoving my shoulder and laughing in response. He had grown plenty used to my sarcasm by now.

I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket, and I pull it down to see 'Amanda BBB'- my old boss from my internship (A/N: I didn't realize until the end of 'Well, what ever happened to Romance?' that I literally never gave her boss a name...... she will henceforth be known as Amanda. This has been a PSA). Ben and I look at each other, equally confused. "Isn't that your old boss?"

I nod my head quickly. "I can't answer it. I just can't." I say.

"Char, you have to. It's probably something good!"

I take a deep breath, trying to channel the confidence that he somehow had in me. I press the answer button, stepping backstage so I can hear better. "Hello?"

"Charlotte? Hi! It's Amanda." Hearing her voice just reminded me of the crash-and-burn situation at my internship. But she sounded happy now, which had to be a good sign. Right?

"Uh, hi Amanda! What can I do for you?"

"Well, I'm sure that you heard by now, with Ben and all of that, but Mean Girls is going to be going on tour soon!"

I chuckled at the timing of her call. "Yeah, actually I'm at the theater right now, Casey just announced it to the cast! That's pretty exciting." My stomach started to turn nervously since I still didn't know why she was calling.

"It sure is. We were talking it all over here at BBB, and we realized that a huge reason the show was so successful was because of the work that you poured into it while you were here. You gave your all to this show- it was so much more than just a client to you, and we admire that. From a publicity standpoint, the show was a success story for the books."

I stood backstage with my jaw dropped. "Wow... Amanda, I don't even know what to say. Thank you."

"And all of that to say, we want to offer you a position here at BBB. Since the show is expanding to a national level, we're going to need someone to handle publicity for the tour. And we couldn't think of anyone more perfect for the position than you."

I feel my knees go weak in the best possible way as I lean on the wall for support. "You're kidding! Amanda, I would absolutely LOVE to do that. Thank you a million times over," I say, feeling happy tears form in my eyes. Ben walks backstage, looking for me. He's confused when he watches me wipe a tear off of my face, but I give him a thumbs up and a smile to reassure him that everything was good.

"Well, I'm happy to hear that! Why don't you stop by my office tomorrow morning, around 10, and we can talk things through?"
"Tomorrow at 10 sounds perfect. Thank you, Amanda, I cannot tell you how great this is to hear!" I say, Ben standing anxiously by for me to get off the phone.

"Great! See you then. Oh! Also, you should know that this job can be done either from here in New York, or on the road with the cast. I figured I should let you know that asap, in case you need to make any arrangements," She says.

I grab Ben's arm to stop me from falling down. "Ok, thank you for the heads up!" I respond, attempting to play it somewhat cool. Amanda and I say goodbye to each other, and I hang up, instantly breaking into happy tears again.

"What? What did she say?" Ben asks, holding onto me to keep me upright.

"Ben... do you ever feel like the universe is just to good to you?"

"Char," He says, his voice begging for an answer.

"Ben, Amanda wants ME to be the Press Representative for the Mean Girls tour!"

"Oh my god! That's incredible! What did I tell you? I knew it would be something good." He says, picking me up in a hug and spinning me around.

"Aaaaaand that also means that I get to join you on tour!" I continue, still crying. He hugged me again, tighter this time as he matched my level of excitement. This still didn't even feel real- and it would probably be a while before it did. I was getting a dream job, getting to travel the country with my boyfriend and a bunch of my closest friends- talk about a dream come true.

"Everybody! I've got a quick announcement that I want to make," Ben shouts, standing at the front of the stage. Everyone quiets down quickly, confused. He grabs my hand, and before I even know what's happening, I'm standing with his arm around my shoulder, with the entire cast looking at the two of us. "I just want to congratulate Char on just being offered an AMAZING job, as well as let you all know that she will be joining us ON TOUR as the Mean Girls tour Press Rep!" The cast starts clapping and cheering for me, which feels even more like a dream. I'd never know how I got lucky enough to have these people as my people.

The entire evening passes as one quick, hectic blur, with everybody congratulating each other whenever they got the chance to. It's not until I'm laying in bed later with Ben that I'm even able to process what's going on.

"Ben. I have a big-girl job again. And I get to go on tour with you!" I say, as if this was the first time I was telling him.

He laughs, kissing me before laying down. "Char, I am so incredibly proud of you. And you are going to have the time of your life on tour. God, I can't believe we're actually going to do this."

"Me either... and I don't think I will for a while." 

A/N: Yo we bout to take this show on the ROAD!!!

*EDIT* I need halp. If Ben and Char dressed up for Halloween together, what cute couple's costumes could you see them doing?