DISCLAIMER: SO I OBVIOUSLY DON'T OWN SMASH. NOR ANYTHING OF IT.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: SO I'VE BEEN WRITING THIS OUAT FANFICTION BUT I HAD A BIT OF WRITERS BLOCK SO LIKE ALWAYS I WENT TO WATCH TV AND I BEGAN REWATCHING SMASH AND I REMEMBERED HOW MAD I WAS THAT KAREN AND DEREK DIDN'T END UP TOGETHER SO TO HELP UNBLOCK MY MIND I'M WRITING THIS FOUR CHAPTER FAN FIC
SUMMARY: IT'S BEEN A YEAR SINCE KAREN AND DEREK SAW EACHOTHER. WHAT'S CHANGED? DO THEY STILL HAVE THAT UNDENIABLE ATTRACTION? WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ONCE AGAIN THEY'RE WORKING ON A MUSICAL TOGETHER? I'LL TELL YOU LOTS OF FLUFF AND THEN HEAT.
Chapter 1: Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes.
It was a Saturday and Derek was sitting with his almost one year old son Ivan watching a cartoon Ivan loved and he dreaded. Ivy and Derek had tried to make it work and for some time it did. Derek was there for her during the pregnancy and during the birth but after Ivan was born they seemed distant more than ever. Ivy was the one that suggested a temporal separation which she used to go back to work and meet Chris a playwright from the play she is currently staring on Broadway. Her feelings for Chris grew while her feelings for Derek melted away making the separation permanent. Derek felt a bit hurt at first he really thought that Ivan was a happy accident that could help him and Ivy finally work things out but he wasn't. So now Derek saw Ivan 2 weeks a month which he looked forward to. Derek had been away from Broadway for a whole year and it was slowly killing him.
Derek saw his son clap at what the idiotic cartoons were doing and he glanced at all the sealed envelopes he'd been receiving since his sixth Tony Award for the direction of Hit List. Derek hadn't opened any of them he was too focus on Ivy and now Ivan but he thought glancing at some wouldn't hurt.
Derek stood and picked up five of the envelopes with the most recent dates. He opened them all and hated every one. Aren't there any good ideas left in the world? He thought. He was about to give up but Ivan cuddled near to him.
"Should daddy try one more Ivan?" he asked his son who just smiled at him.
Derek took one more envelope from the pile and read it. He stared at the letter for a while till a grin glowed on his features. "You were right Ivan. This could be daddy's comeback." Derek said and lifted his son to his lap making funny faces at him.
Later on the evening when Derek had put Ivan down for a nap he phoned the creative team of the musical he had liked.
"Mrs. Osmond office how may I help you?" A man's voice answered
"Hello. This is Derek Wills I received a letter from Barbara questioning my interest in directing the musical Runaway." Derek politely stated his reason for calling. He was nervous but he wasn't sure why.
"Oh! Yes!" the secretary answered excitedly "I'll patch you through immediately Mr. Wills" he added.
The line went silent for a bit till finally Mrs. Osmond spoke. "Derek Wills." She said proudly
"Barbara how are you darling?"
"I'm good and I hope to be great if you called to tell me you're interested in directing." Mrs. Osmond teased.
"Well I need to read the book but I like the plot so far. Who do you have for the leads?" Derek asked.
"We're still contacting various actresses and actors but we should know by tomorrow." Mrs. Osmond explained.
"I have to read the book but I'm very much interested." Derek informed.
"Excellent Derek! I'll have the writers e-mail you the book in a couple hours." She announced.
"Will I have your answer by tomorrow?" Mrs. Osmond wondered.
"Yes Barbara. Take care." Derek said and with that he hung up. Derek slumped on his couch either Barbara was very forgiving or the gossip from last year was gone from the Broadway community. He doubted it was the second one Barbara was always a peach so she might have overlooked his indiscretions and wanted his talent.
Karen was at the gym finishing her cardio training. She went to her gym bag and saw she had five missed calls. Karen didn't recognize the number so she decided to call back after she was done with her workout. Karen had been keeping herself entertained for a month now. Hit List ran successfully for a year and was now on a break. Karen was scheduled to renew her contract but without Jimmy, Kyle and Derek Hit List wasn't the same. Karen was constantly being approached by producers and writers begging for her to star in their show but she hadn't found something that spoke to her as much as Bombshell and Hit List. Anna kept telling her that what spoke to her was Derek but she kept ignoring her.
Karen took a shower and packed up. As she was stepping out of the gym her phone rang. She rummaged through her bag till she found it.
"Hello?" Karen picked up.
"May I speak to Miss Karen Cartwright?" An older sounding woman asked
"This is she." Karen answered politely.
"My name is Barbara Osmond and I'm the producer of Runaway the musical. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind coming down to my office in Manhattan for a quick job proposal it'll take 30 minutes tops." Mrs. Osmond explained
Karen thought for a second and decided to accept the meeting after all a month of meaningless distractions deserved to be mixed up with some worthwhile distractions. "Sure. I'll be there in 15 minutes." Karen answered and hailed a taxi cab.
"Excellent. See you soon." Mrs. Osmond answered and hung up.
Karen arrived at the huge building and went to the floor the text from Barbara said. She was immediately let inside to a rehearsal studio where an older woman stood with two relatively young men.
"Karen! It's a pleasure to meet you we spoke on the phone." Mrs. Osmond said while embracing Karen in a quick hug.
Karen returned the hug and smiled. "Yes Mrs. Osmond it's a pleasure as well."
"Darling call me Barbara." Mrs. Osmond smiled and led Karen towards the two men at the table. "These are our writers. Richard Martin and Paul Lead."
Karen shook hands with both gentlemen and gave them a polite smile.
Paul jumped into explaining the plot instantly after their introductions. Karen smiled sadly because his enthusiasm reminded her of Kyle. She composed her features and listened intently to what Paul was saying.
"So we have this young girl from Paris right? The city of love where anything can happen and she's been nothing but unlucky in the love departments. She tells her father she's done with love so she's moving to the place where finding love is nearly impossible aka New York City. Here she begins to juggle the big city in comparison to her charming country side town in Paris till she meets our lead male character who slowly charms her, helps her and they fall in love."
Paul and Richard both stood staring at Karen while she processes the story. Karen loved the idea of love being a fate you couldn't escape. Karen was silent for too long because Richard stepped up.
"Before you say no listen to one of the first act songs." Richard moved to the piano and looked through his sheet music till he found the one and began to play. A bouncy upbeat music starts echoing through the rehearsal space.
As Richard plays Paul explains what they envisioned for the scene. Diana is walking home after yet another break up this time her boyfriend went to jail, the one before that cheated on her and the other one turned out to be gay. As she's walking she's reminiscing about what her mother told her when she was little so she goes to her dad and tell him she's moving away from love. At that Richard began to sing.
I need love, love You can't hurry love You can't hurry love But how many heartaches You can't hurry love How long must I wait No I can't bear to live my life alone You can't hurry love No, love, love don't come easy You can't hurry love
To ease my mind
I need to find, find someone to call mine
But mama said
No, you just have to wait
She said love don't come easy
It's a game of give and take
No, you just have to wait
You got to trust, give it time
No matter how long it takes
Must I stand before I find a love
To let me live again
Right now the only thing
That keeps me hangin' on
When I feel my strength, yeah
It's almost gone
I remember mama said:
No, you just have to wait
She said love don't come easy
It's a game of give and take
How much more can I take
Before loneliness will cause my heart
Heart to break?
I grow impatient for a love to call my own
But when I feel that I, I can't go on
These precious words
I remember mama said:
No, you just have to wait
She said love don't come easy
It's a game of give and take
But I keep on waiting
Anticipating for that soft voice
To talk to me at night
For some tender arms
To hold me tight
I keep waiting
I keep on waiting
But it ain't easy
It ain't easy
But mama said:
No, you just have to wait
She said to trust, give it time
No matter how long it takes
Karen smiled brightly and clapped. She saw herself as Diana not just because ironically her luck with men seemed to be the same as hers but because the lyrics were fun and pure. She again felt her heart squeeze because she found something that called her and this time it was Runaway.
"My manager told me my contract with Hit List expired and even though they want me back it's my decision." Karen informed loving the anticipation. Everyone in the room waited fingers crossed "I'd love to be Diana." Karen announced and everyone cheered. Richard and Paul embraced each other while Mrs. Osmond went to hug Karen and welcome her to the cast.
"So who's going to be directing?" Karen asked.
"We have two potentials but don't worry as soon as one confirms will start rehearsals." Mrs. Osmond informed her reassuringly.
"Okay great well I look forward to seeing you again." Karen said and left. Her smile seemed to be permanently glued on her face, she was skipping to the subway and her mind kept replaying the song. She finally had something to be excited about after a whole year of misery.
Derek dropped off Ivan at Ivy's new apartment. His week had ended and it was her turn now and even though once again he had an awkward moment with Chris he brushed it off because no one could've spoiled his mood. He read the whole book twice and was already starting the choreography and blocking in his head. He just needed to meet the leading actors so his mind could go into full on imagination creation mode. He let out a low chuckled as he thought of the imagination mode that Karen once made his mind do. He was very imaginative and throughout his career he'd done some magnificent work but nothing as perfect as having Karen on stage. He put the thought aside and dialed Mrs. Osmond's number.
"Mrs. Osmond's office how may I help you?" the same perky male secretary answered. His tone irritated Derek only with the thought of having to hear it every time he'd need Barbara for something.
Derek let out a breath to calm his irritation. "It's Derek Wills." He simple stated knowing that declaration was enough.
"Of course Mr. Wills I'll patch you right through!"
"Derek?" Mrs. Osmond's voice was heard
"Yes, darling. I'm very much interested in doing your musical." Derek said sounding happy to get back to work. A fresh start, a comeback.
"Wonderful because we cast our leading lady today and even though I know how much you like those you need to be hands off Derek." Mrs. Osmond stated with a bit of edge in her voice that Derek had never heard before.
"Barbara I'm not an animal I can control myself." Derek refuted
"It's just a cautionary piece of advice Derek. I invested a lot and I don't want the musical made famous by trashy tabloids."
"Of course. Do we have a deal?" Derek asked refusing to argue further.
"Yes!"
"Who did you cast for the leading lady anyway?" Derek wondered.
"Karen Cartwright." Mrs. Osmond answered him excitedly. She knew that Karen and Derek had worked together but she was the only leading lady he seemed to not have slept with. So Barbara was at ease.
The line was silent for a long while.
"Hello?" Mrs. Osmond said
"Oh…Yes sorry…uh that's phenomenal she's an amazing actress." Derek stuttered.
"We knew you'd love it! See you Monday at 8 am." And with those final words Mrs. Osmond hung up leaving a stunned Derek on the other side of the line.
Derek sat the whole night in his apartment thinking. He hadn't seen Karen in a whole year. After Jimmy went to prison Derek trained Sam for two weeks then he had a very painful goodbye, on his end at least, with Karen and left. He tried to move on with Ivy and Ivan and he swore he had but the mention of her name brought back all those bloody feelings he hated. Karen had rejected him twice. He didn't count the time they stopped themselves from sleeping together as rejection because he didn't want to go through with it either. She meant too much to him to be a drunken mistake. One year away from his muse, one year away maybe he was now ready to be the friend she wanted him to be. Oh who the hell was he kidding? Unless Karen had suffered a horrible accident that disfigured her and her personality now resembled that of a robot he was going to fall right back into her web. He once thought Karen could've been the one but he was wrong. He missed her terribly. Now Derek had to find a way to work with her again. Monday was going to be excruciating. He thought.
Karen was walking out of the prison after visiting Jimmy like she did every Saturday. This time though just like many other times she was leaving in tears. Jimmy had his downfalls and when she came to visit he sometimes took it out on her and for some unknown reason she kept coming back to make sure he was alright. At least Runaway would keep her busy and her mind away from any love issues of her own. She would only have Diana's love issues to worry about.
Karen felt her phone vibrating in her purse she smiled and wiped away her tears when she saw the number was the same that had called for the meeting.
"Hello?" Karen asked trying her hardest to hide the sadness from before.
"Karen! Amazing news we have our director which means rehearsals start Monday 8 am sharp." Mrs. Osmond informed her excitedly. Karen smiled and her sadness was actually leaving her body slowly as she felt the excitement of a new project.
"Great! So who's the director?" Karen asked curious to know who she was going to be working with. She had only worked with Tom for a week and with Derek several of times. She adored working with Derek though unfortunately that was in the past. Rumors announced he quit Broadway.
"Derek Wills!" Mrs. Osmond chimed in excitedly.
The line went silent as Karen stood frozen by her rental car at the prison parking lot.
"Hello? What's wrong with this phone today?" Mrs. Osmond asked
"No…I'm here…that's fantastic news." Karen tried to sound as casual as her emotions could manage.
"Great now that you're both on board I'll see you Monday." And with that Mrs. Osmond hung up.
Karen sat in the driver seat for half an hour staring at the distance. Things hadn't ended perfectly between her and Derek. He got Ivy pregnant so she had a tight hold of him and either prevented him from seeing her or worse he choose to leave her behind. The last two weeks Derek worked on Hit List Karen had tried to speak to him but he refused. Making excuses about why he had to leave right after rehearsals. The last day she remembered perfectly, Derek went inside her dressing room and just hugged her tighter than ever. She hugged him back not knowing what to do next. Derek gave her a soft kiss on the forehead and looked at her in the eyes. Karen could've sworn she saw tears at the corners of his eyes.
"Goodbye Karen." Derek whispered and walked out. She hadn't seen him since. And now on Monday they would have to see each other again. The drama with Ivy would be back and worse because they had a child together, her feelings would resurface, her bruised ego would be beaten some more. Karen sighed and started the car as she drove to the car rental to give back the car she knew her plans to put aside her love issues was a bust. She missed Derek too much. Monday would be excruciating. She thought.