"My Teri Polo"

Chapter 1-"Getting The Job"

Teri Polo and Sherri Saum had known each other for practically their entire acting careers. They had crossed paths at parties, award shows, red carpet events, mutual friends dinner soirees, etc. They had never been close. Just speaking in casual conversation whenever one ran across the other. They felt a comfort unknown to either of them before, yet neither ever acted on anything more than a friendly hug and hand shake.

The day after Sherri auditioned for the role of Lena Adams she got a call saying she had received the part, they just wanted to make sure her and the actress playing Stef, her on-screen wife had the right chemistry. She was beyond excited. But when she heard who had the part of Stef Foster she was speechless beyond belief.

The person on the other end of the phone finally broke the silence, “Um, Sherri?”

“Yeah, sorry, I’m here.”

“I asked if you know Teri?”

“Yeah, well, we’ve met several times.”

Soon after, the phone call ended and Sherri sat her phone down. She smiled for a second before starting her car and pulling out of the parking lot.

—

The next day Sherri pulled into the parking lot for her very last audition to see if she would receive the part of Lena. She was nervous, excited and shaking like a leaf. Not because of the audition but because she knew who might be playing her on-screen wife.

She pushed the buttons of the elevator and rode it to the top floor. She exited the elevator and stepped into the office. Peter Paige, the creator of the show was waiting for her.

“Hi, Sherri. Thanks so much for coming back.”

“Thanks for asking me back.”

“Your soon to be other half is waiting for us.”

“Great.”

Meanwhile, Teri was sitting in the office scanning the script to see if there were any changes. She hadn’t been told who she was auditioning with.

The door opened and Peter walked into the room with Sherri following him. Peter opened his mouth to introduce the two of them but before he could do so Teri got a huge smile on her face, looked Sherri in the eyes and said, “Sherri” in a sultry tone she had never heard escape her lips before.

Sherri and Teri stepped closer to each other and embraced each other in that warm, friendly and familiar hug that they had shared many times before.

“Oh, you know each other”, Peter stated.

“Yes, we’ve known each other for…” Teri looked at Sherri to finish her sentence, “a long time” Sherri said. Her and Teri’s eyes never leaving each other’s, as if Peter wasn’t in the room at all.

Finally Peter spoke up from the seat he had placed himself in, “okay, I already have my mind made up but this is just something I have to do to please the big guys upstairs. Why don’t we just take it from the beginning of the scene in the kitchen”.

Sherri and Teri said their lines as pros, easily portraying two people who had been in a committed relationship for years and had a loving family and children together.

“Wow, okay. That was great. I’m sorry you had to make the trip down here just for that but I had to say I did it.” Peter said when they were finished.

“Just between the three of us, the two of you are in and there will be fanfiction written about the two of you all over the internet in a few months.”

They both laughed, thanked Peter, told him how genuinely excited they each were and made their way to the elevator.

They reached their cars and gave each other one last hug.

“I’m so happy it’s you”, Teri said.

“I”m happy it’s you,” Sherri said in response.

They said their goodbyes and drove away.

—

A week later the entire cast and others working on the show were meeting up at Peter Paige’s house to get to know each other and celebrate the show.

Teri arrived a little late to the party and was greeted at the door by Jennifer Lopez, one of the executive producers of the show. “Hey, Teri”.

“Jennifer!” They shared a quick hug and some quick conversation before Teri spotted Sherri standing at the back of the room. She was trying to think of any excuse to get away but Jennifer was pulled away right at that moment.

Teri walked over to Sherri.

“Hi”, Teri softly said.

“Hi, Teri. Wine”, Sherri asked as she held out a glass of wine.

“Please.”

“You look great.”

“Oh, thanks. So do you”, Teri replied.

Peter came over to introduce them to the 3 actors who would be playing their kids and some other cast members.

“I will say this, you do make one hot couple”, Maia Mitchell blurted out.

Everyone laughed.

As the night went on there was more alcohol flowing than food and everyone, who was of the legal age was partaking in as much drinking as they could physically handle.

The younger adults had started some what of a dance party in the living room. What started as an elegant night at a cocktail party with new coworkers had somehow turned into an outrageous dance party with people who you would have no idea just met a few hours ago.

Sherri saw Teri sitting in a corner of the room laughing at the drunk people dancing in the middle of the room.

She went up behind her chair and leaned down to whisper in her ear over the music. She put her hand on her shoulder and whispered, “you don’t dance?”

She walked around the chair and grabbed her hand and pulled her into the middle of the floor.

The entire room screamed loudly when the two of them joined in. Everyone was smiling and laughing and dancing the night away.

After a few minutes of dancing a slower song came on.

“Oh, thank God, I need a break”, Cierra said.

Jake and Maia started to dance and slowly others started pairing off.

Sherri turned to go get her glass of wine but a hand caught hers. She turned around to see Teri’s eyes gleaming in the light and smiling at her lightly. Sherri smiled back and let her arms wrap around Teri.

Peter who was dancing with Jennifer whistled from across the room.

Sherri buried her face in Teri’s shoulder and they both laughed.

“I think we make a pretty believable couple” Teri said low enough for no one else to hear.

Sherri paused for a moment before lifting her head up and looking into Teri’s eyes and then her eyes trailed down to her lips. It was as if they were the only people in the room, in the world. There was a brief moment when Sherri thought her body was going to take her over and kiss Teri right there in front of everyone.

The song ended at the right time, the two pulled away. Another fast song came on and everyone threw themselves back into the middle of the room dancing like they had before.

Sherri and Teri stood in the same spot they had danced in, in a haze of feelings they hadn’t felt before.

A few hours later the party ended and everyone went their separate ways.