Grim Reaper 01 - Embrace the Grim Reaper

the theater, where a man sat slumped in a seat. He looked up as they arrived, his eyes half-lidded under the salt-and-pepper hair lying over his forehead.
    “This is Casey…” Holly looked at her.
    “Smith,” Casey said.
    Todd raised his chin a fraction in greeting.
    “Todd!” Holly huffed, and rolled her eyes. “This is Todd Nolan. Never mind him. He’s glad to have you here, too. Believe me.”
    Todd regarded Holly with disgust, but tempered it once he realized Casey was watching him. Something resembling a smile appeared momentarily on his face, but was gone just as quickly.
    “And this is Leila.” Eric gestured toward a young woman, who tore her adoring gaze from him long enough to acknowledge Casey briefly.
    Casey looked questioningly at Eric, and he responded with barely disguised, almost desperate, tolerance and frustration.
    Holly’s grip on Casey’s arm tightened, and Casey looked up to see Thomas and the woman headed in their direction. Becca trailed behind.
    “Thanks for coming by,” Holly said to the woman. “It was good to see you again.”
    The woman pursed her lips and looked Casey up and down. “Hmphf.” With that, she turned and stomped from the theater.
    Holly’s hand dropped from Casey’s arm and she took a step away. “Well, thank God she’s gone.”
    Thomas transferred his gaze from the departing woman to Casey. He obviously wasn’t convinced he’d gotten the better deal.
    “Okay, people,” he said. “We have a play to rehearse. Does she have a script?” He jerked a thumb at Casey, not looking at her anymore.
    Becca handed Casey a book, her mouth twitching. Casey wasn’t sure if it was suppressed laughter or discomfort, but whichever it was, Becca didn’t meet her eyes.
    “We’re going to go through from beginning to end,” Thomas said. “To get a feel for…Casey…and so she can see what we’ve done. The scenes we’ve worked, we’ll act out. The ones we haven’t, we’ll just read. Go.”
    Becca jumped onto the stage to set the furniture for Scene One, and Aaron swung his feet up, helping Becca move the folding lawn chair into position. Todd eased himself from his front row seat and strode to the side of the stage to ascend the stairs. Casey watched him, open-mouthed.
    From Todd’s slouched position in the theater she’d had no sense of his true form. But now, as she watched him position himself in the chair—as Orsino, the Duke of Illyria and her character’s love interest—she couldn’t help but be impressed. Over six feet tall and fit, he moved with a sense of ease. Almost lethargy. Charismatic, maybe not. But good-looking? Absolutely.
    A muffled laugh interrupted her thoughts, and she turned to find Eric at her side, Leila close beside him. “He looks good, doesn’t he?”
    Casey shrugged, embarrassed at being caught staring.
    “The problem,” Eric said into her ear, “is when he opens his mouth.”
    And just then, he did.
    “If music be… the food… of love, play… on; Give me excess of it…, that surfeiting…, The appetite may sicken…, and so die.”
    Casey covered her mouth with her hand in the hopes of smothering the laugh wanting to come out.
    Eric nodded. “Kind of makes you want to go to sleep, doesn’t it?”
    Casey spoke through her fingers. “And after only one line.”
    “It’s been a problem at the bank,” Eric said. “Where he works. People nod off in the middle of securing a loan. They wake up wondering what papers they’ve signed while they’ve been asleep.”
    A giggle escaped Casey’s lips, and Thomas glared over at them. Casey bit her cheeks as Todd continued droning along. Aaron, as Curio, tried to put some life into the scene, and Jack bounced on as Valentine, but Todd’s underwhelming aura overtook the stage.
    The scene, only two pages, was enough to give Casey the urge to launch into calisthenics, but it was time for her to read. She stood, looking for whoever was to be the Captain.
    No one stood with her.
    “Where’s Lonnie?” Thomas’ voice hummed with tension.
    Becca jumped up. “I’m sorry. With that actress showing up I forgot to—”
    “Call him!”
    “Okay. Sorry. Sorry.” She pulled out her cell phone and punched in a number from her contact sheet.
    Eric stood. “I’ll read with Casey.”
    Thomas glared at him. “We’ll see what Lonnie says first. She should be reading with the actor who’s actually doing the part.”
    “Okay. Just trying to be helpful.”
    From the other side