Sara was excited about her new job but the conversation with Nick bothered her. He had told her that Gil hadn't done well since she had left and now he had been suspended. She knew that she had become very important to him, but his job was a part of who he was and so she agonized over whether or not to call him. She had sent him an e-mail about her job and the reference issue but she sent it to his work e-mail address. If he wasn't there, he might not have even read it. But he knew something about it because he had called on her behalf.

After tossing and turning all night over it, she decided to call him. After all, they did still talk from time to time. Relieved when he picked up, she said, "Gil?"

"Hi," he said quietly.

"Hey, it's me…"

She heard him snicker into the phone. "Yeah…you."

"I…um…well, I called to thank you."

"To thank me for what?"

"Jenna told me you called her to give a recommendation. I..it means a lot to me that you did that."

"Did you get the job?" She could here eagerness in his voice, excitement almost.

"Yeah, I did. Seems Catherine and Brass and even Ecklie called too."

"Really?"

Something in his short answer clued her in. "You got them to call, didn't you?"

"I just told Cath and Jim about it and they wanted to help. Ecklie…"

"What did you have to do to get him to do it?"

"Well, let's just say I owe him a favor and leave it at that."

"Gil…I don't want you owing him anything," she said in a firm but happy voice.

"Sara, you sound better than you have sounded in months. It is worth whatever Ecklie asks me to do just to hear you sound happy again."

"But…"

"It's done, Sara; leave it."

"Well, thank you."

"You are welcome." He was smiling at the sound of her voice. It wasn't just what it did for him to hear her, but that she sounded so much better. "So you think you'll like this job? You have never been comfortable around children."

"I think I will. And children are okay; I just never knew how to talk to them. But this will give me something to talk to them about and I get to do experiments…hey, maybe sometime you can tell me a bug thing to do with them."

"Okay, I'll think about a good 'bug thing' as you called it and get back to you."

She sighed into the phone. "How's Hank?"

"He misses you."

"I miss him. And Nick said you got suspended?" She hoped he wouldn't shut down and end the call with her question.

There was a long pause before he answered. "Yeah, I yelled at Ecklie and one thing led to another…"

"You yelled?"

"I can do it…I just don't very often. It really doesn't help matters when I yell…just wastes energy."

"So did it feel good to yell at Ecklie?"

"Not really. I, um…got your letter."

"Oh."

"I miss you too. And I'm trying not to go back to my old ways…and you don't need to thank me for helping you, I wish I could do more to help you now. And Sara…"

"Yeah?"

"There is nothing to forgive." He spoke very quietly, almost in a whisper.

"You and I both know that's not true." Sadness had returned to her voice.

Gil took a deep breath. He didn't want to travel down that road, didn't want to get into how much she had hurt him, how much she was hurting. He wanted her to be happy again. "You have a new friend?"

Brightening again, Sara told him about Paula. He listened quietly, wishing he was the one there for her but also grateful that at least someone was there. Finally the talk wound down and they said good bye. He sat staring at the phone for a few minutes before realizing that they hadn't talked so much about themselves since she left, but he still had no idea if she was coming back, ever.

Saturday came and Gil went to meet the theater group. They rehearsed at a community theater and would move outside for the dress rehearsal. He met several members of the staff, some of the actors, and the director. A stagehand showed him small tasks he could do to help as the actors came and went for their scenes. He really enjoyed watching the backstage activity and also took pleasure in watching the words come to life.

The little troupe was doing "Taming of the Shrew," and Gil laughed at some of the lines as if hearing them for the first time. At one point the actor playing Baptista stumbled over his lines and Gil, without thinking, prompted him. The director noticed it. He also noticed a few minutes later when the actress playing Katherine forgot her line and Gil fed it to her. As the little troupe went through the lines, Gil prompted them several times until everyone had eventually noticed. During a break the actor playing Petruchio, Bill Garner, walked over to talk with Gil. "You ever done theater before," he asked casually.

"No, never." Gil had questions of his own but Petruchio keep digging for information from Gil.

"You look familiar. I know you from somewhere. But really, I came over because …well, you seem to know all the lines for all the characters. How do you do that?"

"I have to remember a lot of small details for my job. I've always had a good memory but I used to learn lines as a way of enhancing the gift. I like Shakespeare, so I learned his plays." Gil shrugged as if it were no big thing.

"Wait, are you telling me that you know all the lines from all of his plays?"

"Well, no…not all of them."

"So how many?"

"I've never counted." Gil was uncomfortable with the turn of the conversation. He really wanted to ask more questions about the theater group. But Bill pressed for more.

"So which plays?"

"Which plays, what?" Gil asked.

"Which ones do you know?"

"Oh…well, Hamlet, of course. Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, Henry VIII, most of Richard II…I never finished learning it and never started Richard III. Then let's see…As You Like It, Tempest, Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, and Merchant of Venice. I started learning Two Gentlemen of Verona but decided to learn sonnets instead."

"Wow. I struggle to learn just my lines for one play a season and you have all of those in your head?"

"Memory is a gift. I'm sure there are things that you do that I would find difficult."

"Yeah…but …you should be in one of the plays."

"Me? No….not me. I don't…"

"You should. You'd be great. Instead of struggling so hard to get the lines straight, you'd be able to concentrate on making them come to life." That said, Bill turned and headed for the director.

Gil saw the two talking and he wished he could disappear. He didn't want to be in the play. Soon the break was over and Gil kept his mouth shut through the next act. A couple of times the actors stumbled over their lines but Gil kept his head low and didn't offer a prompt. Finally he heard Bill calling to him. "Gil…Gil," he said softly. "My line…what is my line?"

"Gentlemen and friends, I thank you for your pains:" Gil started.

"Ah…" said Bill.

"Gentlemen and friends, I thank you for your pains
I know you think to dine with me to-day,
And have prepared great store of wedding cheer;
But so it is, my haste doth call me hence,
And therefore here I mean to take my leave."

Gil continued to watch and resigned himself to the role of prompter. But he was determined that prompting was the closest he would get to acting. By the end of the rehearsal, he was excited about being a part of the little troupe. He enjoyed the breaks where they would stand around talking and a couple of times two of the actors began quoting from various plays. What amused Gil was the way they would steal lines from different scripts to advance the conversation. Finally one of them turned to Gil, throwing him a line from Twelfth Night, "Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em."

To which Gil replied with lines from Henry VIII, "So farewell—to the little good you bear me. Farewell? a long farewell to all my greatness!
This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth
The tender leaves of hopes, to-morrow blossoms,
And bears his blushing honors thick upon him;
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,
And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely
His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root,
And then he falls as I do."

The cast members that were standing there all laughed, one of them teasing the one that had thrown Gil the line, "hey Don, you've met your match…"

By the end of the rehearsal, Gil was feeling very much a part of the group. He explained that his job might prevent him from being at all the rehearsals but that he would do his best.

"But you'll be backstage for the plays, right?" asked Bill.

"Yeah, Sundays are rarely a problem…"

"Great, because I have a feeling I'll need you," Bill laughed.

Gil left the theater feeling lighter and happier than he had felt in a long time. Catherine and Heather had given him good advice. He was enjoying his new hobby.

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I do appreciate all the wonderful reviews and constructive comments. Please keep them coming!