Part Of My World | H.S.

You're so golden

"Stunt casting, do you know what that means?", I asked Harry exactly one week later, when we were having breakfast, sitting next to each other on the bar stools at the kitchen counter. Even after just a few weeks in London, we had already established a daily routine, similar to when we were living together in LA, of getting up at the same time, spending the morning together before parting ways for me to go to rehearsal and for him to go to the studio. This routine was gonna slightly change again though, with this very day that was ahead of us, or rather me. It was Saturday and in approximately ten hours, I would be standing in front of hundreds of people, performing as Jenna in Waitress for the time. Harry shook his head in response to my question.

"It's a term in entertainment, but especially in musical theatre, that often refers to someone with a recognizable name being casted in a production solely because of their status", I explained to him, as he took a bite of his croissant. I had one in my left hand as well, but with my right I was typing away on my laptop. I had been watching old videos of Sara Bareilles performing and illegal footage fo previous Jennas singing the songs the entire first half our breakfast. I felt like I hadn't done enough to prepare, but being on the internet didn't really help, especially since I somehow landed on stuff about myself. "For example when a celebrity with little experience gets casted due to publicity reasons, instead of an actually talented nobody."

"So essentially me being casted in The Little Mermaid?", Harry suggested, stuffing his mouth with pastries as if he was comfort eating and I felt bad that he thought I was hinting at his role as Prince Eric. In general, I felt bad for him that morning, because he had to endure the nervous wreck I was, obsessing over articles about myself again, like he specially advised me no to do. On top of that he had stayed up with me until 2 am so I could run my lines over and over again and got up with me at 7 because I couldn't sleep any longer thanks to my nerves. Both times, I had told him that he could go to sleep/stay in bed, but he refused to. I guess this was his way of helping the helpless. He did leave the duets to my costars this time though. 

"Stop, you were perfect for that role!", I exclaimed almost aggressively, eagerly pointing my croissant at him, which caused crumbs to spill onto his lap. Oops, wrong hand. "I was talking about me, or rather what the media is saying about me", I said, placing my food on the plate, to brush off the crumbs off the track pants he always wore first thing in the morning prior to getting dressed. "They aren't wrong, Henry himself said that I was casted to bring some Hollywood glamour to Westend, but for me the phrase also implies that I'm not seen as a serious musical theatre actress, which is hurtful, considering that this is exactly where I came from. I wouldn't even call myself a star or some sh*t like that. I doubt I'm gonna make that big of a difference. "

"Jess, tonight's show and all the following shows are sold out for the first time since Sara herself played Jenna, why do you think that is?", Harry said, reaching for my hand so I would stop assaulting his thigh and look at his ever so piercing, yet calming green eyes. "People believe in you as much as I do. You're the brightest star in my universe", he told me and suddenly all those shitty things I had more or less accidentally read about myself meant nothing, "-and in everyone else's too, especially after tonight. When you were in Beautiful people came to see the show, but tonight people are gonna come to see you. Just show them how god damn worthy you are of the role, of any role. It's your time to shine and there's no need to feel bad for that!"

"That's a little unfair to all my talented costars, but I appreciate you saying that. I'm gonna prove them that even without my new, Disney-given status, I would have been the perfect Jenna", I chuckled, hoping some of Harry's confidence in me would transfer into my own mind. "Thank you, Harry. I don't know what I'd do without you", I said, smiling at him, while tightly squeezing his hand. He had always been so supportive of me even before we had gotten together, hell even before we even knew each other. I leaned closer, thinking a kiss from him would perhaps help me ease my mind, but that's when realization hit me, "Oh god, I don't know what I'm gonna do without you there tonight!"

"You know I would love nothing more than to be there, but we agreed that it would be best for me to stay home. I don't want to draw even one single percentage of the attention away from you. I'll be there to watch another show later on during your run", he reassured me, reminding me of the plan we had come up a few days ago, when it was time to tell the Waitress team how many seats I needed reserved for my family and friends. It was an incredibly hard decision for the both of us to make, but it was necessary to respect the prestige of theatre as well. I was still bummed though, remembering how he had helped me through the premiere of The Little Mermaid. "Wouldn't want them to say that my presence was a stunt as well"

"Oh, You're right, I forgot", I said in response to his sarcastic remark, putting my arms around his neck, which he gladly accepted by placing his hands on either side of hip. "The two of us are a stunt ourselves. I'm surprised they didn't cast both of us as a two for one package", I joked, causing Harry to laugh in both amusement and fear of that actually being reality. Probably to keep me from fantasizing about that scenario, he leaned closer and smiled, before pressing a gentle kiss on my mouth that, as almost every morning, tasted like a mixture of coffee, toothpaste, today with a hint of strawberry jam as well. Kissing back, I wished that this part of our morning routine would never change. "I wouldn't have minded to be honest."