Friday morning brought several groggy cast members to the stage. Eight am was early for this crew, and Red could tell this wasn't going to be easy. Kate had set up the stage for the rehearsals, using only a few period appropriate chairs, a pianoforte, a chaise longue, and a writing desk. Red favored simplistic stage design, as it allowed the audience to focus on the cast, and not just the set. The rehearsals went more smoothly than he had expected, as most of the cast had their lines memorized. Ressler seemed to be the only one that continually needed help. Red was in awe, though, of how well Lizzie had done that day. He'd half hoped that she was going to need help, as he was ready and willing to assist in any way he could.
After rehearsals were completed, Red and Cooper went over notes, and tried to decide on an opening date. Eventually, they settled on Saturday, February the seventh. That gave them a little over eight weeks, just enough time to perfect the show and also provide a little birthday present for Reddington.
Four weeks had gone by and Red was blown away at how well the show was coming along. It was sad to think that with a crew this good, the theater was still failing. But he had no intentions of letting The Clandestine Production Company get the best of him, let alone the last of him.
Meera had finally come back from her 'hiatus'. After some work on Dembe's part, Red had found out that Meera had been working for two companies. He was in the process of gathering more intel on the other company; however, she had managed to advertise the hell out of the show, causing it to sell out, so he decided to allow her to remain on staff for now. It seemed his name had not lost any of its power to attract audiences. After one of their longer rehearsals, Lizzie approached Red, looking stressed.
"Red, I'm needing some help with the end of Act 1. There's a lot of tension between Elizabeth and Darcy at this point, and I really want to make sure that we're portraying that to the audience. She's furious with him and, to be honest, I'm having a hard time being mad at you." She appeared to be embarrassed at confessing this to him, which Red had to try extremely hard not to find adorable, even though he thought it was.
Chuckling, "Oh my dear Lizzie, we can run lines. All you had to do was ask. I have all the time in the world for you. How about you meet me at my place tonight, at say, six pm. I'll make dinner. I'm actually in the building right next door to the theater, my apartment is number 429." Before she had a chance to reject his offer, he had quickly walked away into the wings of the stage.
"What the hell was that all about?" Lizzie wondered to herself. "What is it about this man? He's just willing to drop everything for me … I wonder if he's the one that told me about the opening here in the first place? … Who is he anyway? What's so special about me?" Lizzie was lost in her own thoughts as she rode home from the theater.
"It's certainly educational playing opposite Reddington, who might, technically, be a little old for the part of Fitzwilliam Darcy but he's having no trouble portraying the proud, rather haughty character. This just showed what a fine actor he is, as well as a wonderful director … he is neither proud not haughty. And he has every reason to be both considering his successes in the theatre. Yet he is happy to share advice and take the time to explain things to me and to anyone else in the cast who seeks his advice. He is also a wonderful raconteur, and he holds everyone spellbound on many occasions with sometimes wild and often outlandish stories of his experiences and exploits in the theatre. And he is certainly handsome enough to play Darcy", she thought, inconsequentially, as she neared her apartment block.
She entered her little one-bedroom apartment, shrugged off her wool jacket and kicked off her shoes before heading to the kitchen, looking for a snack. She looked at the clock; she had about two hours before she needed to meet with Red.
She decided to forgo the snack and opt for a warm bath instead to calm her nerves. She had only been working with Red for about four weeks now, but it felt like she had known him for years. She felt so close and relaxed around him. As she undressed and slid into the bathtub, she let her mind wander. She imagined being with Red. How he might be with other women, how he would be with her. She had not been with any other men since she broke up with her ex, almost a year ago. In fact she hadn't even contemplated being with any other man until Reddington. Lying there she closed her eyes and pictured him: his long, delicate, almost feminine eyelashes; his green eyes; his mouth that had an oddly endearing way of twitching or seeming to chew the inside of his cheek as he took long moments to think about what he was going to say next; and frankly, the way he tilted his head to one side was the most insanely sexy thing she'd seen that wasn't connected in some way with the one porn movie she'd seen in her life. And Red had this way of talking to her. His lascivious smiles and his seductive tones when he talked only to her, it was enough to make a woman's ovaries explode. She'd hoped that the other cast members hadn't noticed her fawning over him like a giddy high school teenager with raging hormones.
She shook her head, trying hard to get her thoughts to move from an erotic nature to that of the play. Working out the different scenes, trying to think of ways that she could portray the tension and the angst to the audience. She couldn't grasp how to get really mad at him like Elizabeth did with Darcy when he proposed marriage to her in a rather condescending fashion. She figured that Red had his ways to make it work. She finished her bath and prepared for the evening. Not knowing what to expect, she finally decided on comfort, yet cute. She paired her black skinny jeans with her black leotard, a flowing white button up shirt, and her black ballet flats. She gathered up her script and notes, and headed out.
