Decisions and Opportunities
At the end of the first preview of Waiting for Godot, the audience was enthusiastic in their applause, and it seemed to those friends of Sebastian's that were gathered in the box that he had another big hit on his hands; the latest in a line of triumphs in a career that seemed to get better as he aged. They all headed to his dressing room afterwards to congratulate him, but one of that little party sensed that their was something a little off with him at that moment, when normally he would have been cheerful. When the rest of the group headed off at Sebastian's suggestion to speak to Russell in his own dressing room nearby - he had warned him in advance that they could all be expected to show up - they remained where they sat, earning themselves a look…
"My darling boy, tonight you excelled yourself. I have never been the greatest fan of such serious abstract plays; I mean, who is Godot? Does he ever come? However, that is by the by, as you and that young Englishman gave an exquisite performance. I mean, what I would have done with the two of you if I was younger, and you were both heterosexual…" Sebastian laughed at that, but Bette noticed that even that laugh seemed a little strained. "I am going to guess that your mind at this moment is elsewhere, concentrating on things of a more personal nature. How is Dave? How is his recovery and rehabilitation progressing?"
"He is in good spirits, and yes, he is doing very well with his physio, although he will probably always walk with a bit of a limp now."
"But I am guessing that he is still the reason why you have lost a little of your spark when you are off stage…"
"Actually, that is just tonight," said Sebastian. He looked around the room, which sparked Bette's curiosity, as he was checking that they were alone. She leant closer to him, and he said in a quiet voice, "This was actually a milestone moment. This is going to be the last time that I open for previews. I am not going to appear on Broadway again after this play…"
"Now that is just nonsense!" exclaimed Bette. "What on earth makes you think that?"
"Dave has been offered a new job, more or less, as a coach with a football team based in Columbus. He is unlikely to be offered an opportunity like that here for many years, if at all. It is a really great opportunity for him, and will give him a future in the sport he loves. However, it is in Ohio, and if he takes it, it does mean…"
"That you have to leave the Great White Way, as there is no way that you can commute that distance, and much as you love the lights of Broadway, you love him and your family life so much more," said Bette quietly. "Am I the only person that knows about your decision so far?"
"Russell knows, because I had to confide in someone unconnected to all of this. But apart from him, yes, only you know. I haven't even told Dave if I am honest. He told the team in Ohio that he was flattered to be asked, but he had many reasons that meant he had to decline. I called them back two minutes later, and told them he would be taking it after all. He might never forgive me for going behind his back like that, but he has put my dreams first so many times, and now it is time for him to get his turn in the limelight, so to speak…"
"Well, if you are leaving us, then you will be going out on another high," said Bette with a smile. "However, you don't have to be leaving forever. Once the kids are grown, there is less to stop you coming back and taking the older roles. There are several parts I think you would be perfect for, but you are currently too young to be believable in; come back and wow a new generation in those! Now, anytime you want to come back for a visit, call me, and I will make space for you all. Heck, I might even come and see you in Ohio…"
Sebastian smiled at that, then said, "I am afraid that you are much too glamorous for Ohio, Aunt Bette!"
"Well, that is true, but I can always look out that old Aunt Eller costume, and in that, I could probably blend in…"
Sebastian's laughter at that idea was more like normal, and so loud that it brought Cooper back from the other room. "I don't know what is going on, but there is far too much hilarity in here! Ms Midler, Russell is dying to meet you; he described you as an icon that he would consider going straight for…"
"Well, when you put it like that, how could a lady refuse his invitation?" Bette replied, winking at Sebastian and making him laugh again. As she headed out behind Cooper, she mouthed at him that she would say nothing, and he knew that he could trust her to keep to her word…
The next morning, Sebastian would find an all too familiar envelope in the mail, one that had come from the Tony Award committee. He had nomination for best lead actor in a musical for his titular role in Young Frankenstein, and the show had been nominated for best musical too. He had seen the nomination as inevitable, given his stature these days in Broadway circles. What did surprise him was the second letter, in which they asked him to present the newest award of the evening, for Best Newcomer, although of course, it had been awarded before back in 1948, then dropped. He would be doing so alongside Russell, if he was agreeable…
That second letter made him realise something, as he recalled something that he had been told back in his early days at NYADA; that Tony Awards were presented, in the main, by legends of the Great White Way, and to be asked to present one meant that he now had to be considered to be one of those people. He felt a little amount of pride to have been asked, to be up there with the great and the good. He would discuss the request with his co-star that night, as Russell had been involved with a Tony Award winning show before in the shape of The History Boys, nearly 20 years ago now. Of course, both he and Russell would be too old to play one of the boys in that show now, although they could possibly qualify for the youngest teacher. He realised then that Bette was right; there were still parts he would like to play, and just because he was leaving Broadway now, it was au revoir, and not farewell…
The focus that weekend would of course be on a much younger member of the Smythe family, as Peter prepared for his big solo in Nationals. He had initially been very nervous, but then it had dawned on him that the challenge he was facing was no worse than the one that his uncle faced six nights a week. He had watched the show on the Friday night in rapt attention, the play being one that they had studied for their exams that year at Dalton. He had been given time for a brief chat with his uncle after the show, but neither of them mentioned the events ahead, which was actually what Peter had hoped for; he had been given any number of pep talks from Thad already…
When the time came, he made his way to his spot, blanked out the entire audience and even ignored the fact that his father and stepmother were sat front and centre. He instead concentrated on listening to the others, and making sure that the simple steps of the choreography they were using were executed flawlessly. As a result, it looked complicated and magnificent. Then, in no time, his spell in the spotlight that Saturday afternoon was over; it was time for him to join the others in backing up their final soloist, and for them to execute the tap number that Thad had taught them. If the reaction of the audience to the sight of a group of smartly dressed, uniformed prep school boys tapping in syncopated harmony was anything to go by, then it was the crowd pleaser that Thad had predicted it to be, and that would not go unnoticed by the judges…
They easily made it into the top five that had to return to perform again the following day; Thad had a plan already for just that scenario, and if anything, their performance the following day was even better. It was therefore no surprise that at the end of the Sunday afternoon, Thad found himself watching proudly as his current group of Warblers held the Nationals Trophy aloft, the applause of the watching audience loud and long as the confetti streamed down on them. He could see that Julian and Isabelle had made their way down to the front, cheering and clapping loudly, and to his shock he saw that Mr Smythe Senior was also there. Thad would later be told that he had appeared unannounced, and had come on a whim, having seen the video of his grandson's performance the day before, and suddenly realised that he had never been there to support his youngest son when he was the same age…
Of course, Thad had given Peter another solo in that second day of competition, but this time it had involved him doing a complicated looking tap dance at the same time; it was clear to them all that he had inherited his uncle's skills on the dance floor. As his boys continued to celebrate in the green room, joined by the parents and family that were in town, Thad headed to see the judges and find out their actual score, out of curiosity. He was left stunned when he found out by just how big a margin they had achieved victory, scoring nearly twice the points of their nearest rivals. Only as he left them did he turn his cellphone back on, and found it was full of messages, friends and former Warblers alike impressed by the performance. He laughed when he saw that Sebastian had not only sent his own congratulations, but Russell's too, the latter wanting to know who the choreographer was that could turn a bunch of prep school boys into very proficient tap dancers. Thad was far too modest to admit that it had been him…
In the end, it was the early hours of the following morning before Thad received the views of the only critic that really mattered to him, once they were back at Dalton. Wes appeared and sat next to him, then remarked, "I should have put you in charge of everything back in my day. You do realise that you are now the 'Head Warbler' that has won the most championship titles ever? And don't say that it isn't you, it's the boys, because let me assure you that if it wasn't for your leadership and drive, then they would not be where they are now."
"Whilst that is true, if it wasn't for the boys, then I would not be where I am either. Let us not forget either that I learnt from the best around. You might not have achieved any silverware in your one year in charge, but you bound us all together, and had the motivational skills that we all required. I can safely say that my husband taught me everything that I know…"
As May began, so did the workload on the desk of Trent Nixon. The re-election campaign had now begun in earnest, with a whole slew of rallies and meetings filling the pages of the Presidential diary; the President had to make trips to those states were the amount of support that he already had was wavering, and also make an appearance in those states that the Republicans had held on to in 2020. As the head of his speech writing team, all of this meant that Trent would have to spend quite a bit of time away from home; Rory had expected that to be the case, and he had already set up a robust childcare plan. After all, when Burt was called upon to join in the campaign trail, he would be expected to join him from time to time too…
It was only when the diary for the month was handed to them all as the last hours of April ticked away that Trent spotted an issue in all of it for himself. He would be joining the President on a whistlestop tour of the western side of the country, taking in Alaska, Washington state, Oregon and Utah at the end of the month, and it was only know that he realised it was the same weekend as graduation day at Dalton. He would not be able to join the ceremony as he had done every year since he himself had graduated that year, and worse, would not be able to join the others in the gathering afterwards when it was widely agreed they would in reality be saying their final farewells to Seth….
Trent's immediate reaction was to place a call to Thad to explain the situation, and tell him that he would either try and swap with someone else on the trip, or book a flight from Columbus to Alaska on the Friday evening, but the Head Warbler refused to condone either step. "Trent, there will be so many of us here on that afternoon that one fewer will not make much difference to the scale of the plans. Having so many people around might actually not be a great thing for Seth if I am being honest, so maybe it is a blessing in disguise. What I suggest is that if you can get a free weekend before then, that you come up and see him yourself, as David did. He would be only too pleased to see you, as it gives him a break from the routine."
Trent thought for a moment, then said, "I know that Burt has business in Ohio this weekend, and if Rory and I join him and Carole, then I have a very valid excuse to be in the area, so he won't think I made a special excursion…"
Thad agreed that was a good plan, and so it was that Trent, Rory and their children were down to accompany Burt and Carole on their trip back to Lima. The latter agreed happily to babysit the children so that their parents could make their excursion to Westerville. It was not just a trip to see Seth of course, at least to Trent. He was looking forward to a catch up with Skylar and Julia too; he was also worried about just how well the former Head Warbler would hold up when the end came. Trent had the knack of being able to look at things from the perspective of another person, seeing it from inside their head, so to speak. It was what made his speeches for the President so accessible to the audience after all. The last time he had seen Skylar had been before Seth's last attack, only seeing the latter in hospital in New York on his flying visit, and so he would be able to see the young man differently from those that were seeing him on a daily basis. The fact that he had been so reluctant to leave his friend alone with his wife, a trained nurse, was a concern to Trent. He was not sure, but he feared that when Seth passed away, Skylar would in the midst of all their grief and sorrow, collapse in some kind of breakdown…
As Trent began to prepare for a trip to Ohio that he knew would leave him feeling sad, events were moving in an unexpected direction for a former New Directions member in New York. Roderick had been absent from the wards of the hospital for a few days after the birth of Mason's son, sitting exams at the college itself; written tests of all the theoretical stuff that they would need to know as part of a nursing career, strings of facts about illnesses, conditions, testing processes and ethics. His final task for the year was to write an essay of at least 5000 words on a topical medical issue. Most of his fellow students to his knowledge had decided to take the easy route, and had decided to write about the differences that the new regime of healthcare that was coming into place in the country would make to the health of the nation. He had to admit that he had initially considered doing that too, but then he had realised that he needed to stand out, and that there was another potential topic out there, one which reflected recent events in his own life.
As a result, he had resolved to write an essay on the subject of midwives, and their merits; whether they should be introduced as part of the new healthcare regime. It was a topic no-one else would cover, and that would make him stand out. He decided too that one of the best ways to support his arguments was to talk to someone that had been involved in both sides of the situation on opposite shores of the Atlantic, and so it was that he set out in search of Nurse Crane. Finding her was not as easy as he might have hoped, and when he did, it was even more difficult to find a time when she could talk to him at length…
Eventually though he caught her at the end of a shift, and they sat in the hospital canteen and talked. He was struck at once by her forthright attitude, so reminiscent of the character in the show she shared a name with. She asked first after young Bert, then answered all of Roderick's questions without hesitation. At the end of their chat, she asked him one of her own. "I was quite surprised to find that it was a young man that wished to ask me about such things; it is not exactly a subject that is popular with your sex…"
"Well, it is a combination of being a Call the Midwife addict, and ending up having to deliver my landlady's twins when she unexpectedly went into labour, was unable to call an ambulance in time, and well, there was only me around to do the job…" explained Roderick.
"You delivered twins, without experience, single handed?" asked Nurse Crane, a little astonished.
"Yes, the only knowledge that I had was what I had seen on the show. It allowed me to gather all I would need. The only help that I had eventually was the voice down the telephone of Carole Hudson-Hummel, the wife of House Leader Burt Hummel. My landlady is a close friend of the family, and Carole was a nurse…"
"Well, that is interesting. He is from what I have been told pro-midwife, so I have high hopes that we might get midwifery established again in this nation. I am nearer 60 than 50 these days, but I would still happily go back to midwifery full-time if they allowed it. There is something just so rewarding about being responsible for bringing a new life safely into the world, but then, you would know that for yourself…"
"I do, and it is one of the reasons I decided to change career from journalism to nursing. I can make much more of a difference immediately with what I do now…"
Roderick's meeting with Nurse Crane took just over 48 hours before his essay deadline, but writing had never been a problem for him, and he had done plenty of other research too. In the end, his word count was substantially over the limit, but there was nothing in his essay that he thought of as superfluous. He handed it into his tutor with a smile, and she looked at the number of sheets he had written with a little awe. When she asked for a note of the title of his essay, he stated happily, "The title is Does America need to Call the Midwife?"
His tutor looked at him, then grinned. "Now that does sound like something different, and as long as it isn't a TV review of the BBC show, all will be fine." Roderick nodded at her, then headed out to start his shift. For some reason, he turned back to look through the window in the door of her office, and saw that she had put what she had been doing to one side, and was already reading his essay. He wasn't sure if that pleased him, or worried him…
It was the message that he found in his e-mail inbox the following morning that worried him; a request from his tutor to come in that day and speak to her about his recently submitted essay. He headed in early, and went straight to her office. Looking through the window again, he could see that she was on the telephone; then she saw him, and beckoned to him to come in. He did so, and was directed to take a seat as she completed her call. She did so, then spoke. "Mr Meeks, having read your essay, I agree; we do need to call the midwife. I have to admit that until now I was always on the fence as the debate went on, but your essay has swung me firmly in favour of the concept. I also had a chat myself last night with Nurse Crane, seeing as you mentioned her in your footnotes, and she made me even more certain. Your essay is more than worthy of the A+ I will be giving it, but I also feel that it is a shame to restrict it to just our eyes… I know the editor in chief of one of the leading nursing journals; we trained together, and this is just the kind of thing she likes to publish, if you would allow me to submit it to her…"
Roderick stared at her for a moment, then replied, "Well, if you really feel that it is worthy of being show to a larger audience, I will not say no…"
"It definitely is, and I am certain my friend will concur. You know, it is not easy to find someone that can write about medical matters with your openness and style. Of course, we will have to cite Nurse Crane too, if she is agreeable. I am sure she will be though, and the fact that she is a trained UK midwife will make the article all the more valuable. Now, I understand that you did actually pursue a career in journalism before you joined us?"
"I would say that I had tried too, but the media has far fewer openings for young people these days."
"That may well be the case in the mainstream, but not in specialisms such as health. A student nurse writing in my friend's journal would be quite a coup for her, and if you felt that you would be able to contribute regularly, then I would have no issue in recommending that she offer you an occasional column…"
Roderick sat quietly for a moment, taking her words in, then replied, "As long as it doesn't interfere with my studies, then it could give me the best of both worlds I suppose. My passion for journalism goes back a long way; the buzz when something I have written is published is the same as the one I get now when I know that my actions have helped a patient to recover. So yes, I would certainly consider doing it."
"I am glad you said that, because my friend might actually have already read your essay. The deadline for the next issue is tomorrow you see. Now that I have your consent, I can give her the go ahead to publish it. It will be part of a special issue which is focussing on woman's health issues, with child birth being a focal point. I will see that you get a copy, and of course, we will use your title as the headline on the article…"
Roderick headed back to work in the knowledge that his essay, written quickly and inspired by events in his friends' lives, was going to be available for all to read in a serious journal, alongside articles written by academics, and senior health care workers, long time experts in their fields. He knew that his audience would be small, a fraction of that he might have had in a newspaper, but it was a return to his first love, and with the prospect of more to come, he was beyond happy…
The end of the week came, and with it Trent and Rory's visit to Westerville. They made the journey on Friday evening, joining Burt and Carole in a small plane, access to which was one of the few perks Burt availed himself of as Leader of the House. He used it sparingly nonetheless, echoing the demands of the President for reducing costs to the taxpayer, and being more green minded. In that vein, the three men on the plane that evening had seen the proposals for a new network of high speed railways that would span much of the east and Midwest of the country at first, reaching out to such diverse points as Chicago and Kansas, offering fast and frequent trips. When he had first seen it, Trent had jokingly said that they needed to ensure it stayed away from a certain town in that latter state, one named after a borough of New York, or their was a chance Flint would never forgive them. Of course, Columbus was high on the list for inclusion, as would be Lima…
The next morning saw the whole party attending Burt's Town Hall meeting in Lima in which he rallied his support, not that anyone really thought his Republican opponent had a chance of winning, including the candidate in question. The big policy announcement was of the new rail network, and it received a lot of support, particularly when Burt pointed out that Lima would be served, with direct service to Columbus and Chicago each hour, and to Washington and New York every two hours, with fares and journey times that would compete favourably with the airlines…
"For far too long, our nation has been behind, ignoring the rest of the world as they invested in high speed railways; our own ambitions focussed on nothing more than a handful of moderately faster trains on the Boston to Washington corridor on the East Coast. As we deal with the climate issues, we must reduce our reliance on the air, and focus on clean electric trains. We will use the best and most advanced technologies in the world for the rolling stock, and lay thousands of miles of new railroad. By the time that the dark and dingy Penn Station of the seventies is a memory, and the new, light airy terminal opens, there will be trains on much improved frequencies serving it and the rest of the nation, opening up new destinations. We will make the fares competitive and the environment inviting. The golden age of the railroad, my friends, is yet to come; as well as the fast network, their will be investment in local lines, and in a thruway bus network. The railroad united and built our nation; it is our intention to restore our nation to the rudest of health by reinstating that life blood in our communities…"
After an early lunch, Trent and Rory left their children in Carole's care, and drove in their electric hire car to Westerville, following the directions that Thad had given them to Skylar's new home. It was the first time that they would be seeing it, and he had to admit that it was in a nice part of the city, fairly close to Dalton and accessible to all the amenities they could need. The house itself was much as he had pictured the young architect's home would be; it looked as if it had been constructed decades earlier, in the highest art deco style, but no doubt inside it had every modern convenience that could be wished for.
As they walked up to the front door, it was opened by Julia. She smiled, and said, "You have come on a good day thankfully. Seth wasn't too well at all yesterday, not that Skylar knows that, and please, don't tell him. Seth and I have built up a system to ensure that he goes to work and if it involves a few white lies…"
Trent nodded, then said, "I am just going to come out and ask the question now, before we step inside; how long do you think he has left?"
Julia sighed, and said, "I am not certain, nor is Hayden for that matter, but it is unlikely he will be voting in the elections this year. That is all I can say, but again, do not repeat that to Skylar. He knows in his heart and mind that the end is approaching, but he just can't handle being confronted by the bald truth. Two days ago Hayden was here, and he started to talk about the research program that Seth wants to donate to after he passes away, and Skylar nearly punched him and threw him out of the house, screaming at him to shut up… Honestly, I am worried about how he is going to cope when the time actually comes…"