Summary:
ACT I: BRUNO
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A curveball throws Bruno in between fiction and reality.
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"Okay, can you give us a read of Héctor's lines, please? From the top."
…
Bruno wouldn't leave everything behind if his mind was never opened in the first place.
It all started when his Papá first took him and his sisters one day to watch a play. Bruno's eyes widened in amazement when he saw the costumes, the dramatics, the music. It appealed to his imagination, how impossible feats can be achieved through magic, or how there's always an adventure to be had.
When they came home that day, Bruno started to build his world and made up performances. Pepa would always beg him if she could act in one. Sometimes he'd concede for his sister, but most of the time, he was the actor and his family, a willing audience.
That day at the local theater started young Bruno's fascination with acting.
His fascination eventually grew into a passion when they got their first TV. He would cuddle up close to his sisters watching cartoons on Saturday mornings, but his favorite would be sneaking up behind their parents while they watched dramas. He was curious, but his Mamá didn't want him and his sisters in the room because she deemed the shows inappropriate for a child. The stories were always extreme and sometimes unreal, but he liked that it almost always had a happy ending. He was too young to know any better and they all went over his head anyway.
His favorite was the one where a man fell in love with a woman who didn't believe in fate. The man had a tragic past, but it never stopped him from being a passionate lover with a golden heart. It was also his Mamá's favorite telenovela, but Bruno knew she would have fainted if she knew that behind her back, he snuck to watch it and even acted like the leading man.
Bruno was never interested in the love scenes anyway. He simply liked the feeling of pretending to be someone else.
Back when the world was a lot less complicated, he and his sisters could be whoever they wanted to be. His Papá beamed with pride when he told him that he wanted to be an actor. Bruno could still remember it, even now, how he ruffled his hair and told him he'd be the first one to watch him then.
But then tragedy happened, and their lives forever changed.
The thoughts of the past mingled with his present.
Bruno closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. This wasn't the first time he's been in an audition, but this particular one hit differently. The words that came out of his mouth were sure, his voice steadied and deep just like he practiced so many times before.
"Ay Imelda, ¿cómo podría olvidarte? Eres como el sol que brilla en mi cielo, la canción que canto en mi corazón…"
…
It has now been two decades since Pedro passed away.
The day Bruno lost his Papá was the day he and his sisters were forced to grow up too quickly. His Mamá was at a loss, from being a happy wife to a tragic widow in one night. She thought their life would've been different, but fate, just as it was kind, was also a cruel mistress. Alma couldn't even find the time to grieve properly. The business the family built struggled without the head of the home, and she had children to feed.
So she didn't dare mourn until she never did.
Bruno watched her tirelessly care for him and his sisters and revive everything on her own. When it came time for him and his sisters to decide their futures, she immediately shut his dream down. There was more that the family needed, that what he wanted for himself was unbecoming. A pipe dream. Helping the town through the empire she had built from the ground up after the death of her husband was the path she had expected Bruno to be on, and it was the end of that discussion. Bruno didn't like it, but he obeyed. She meant well, and his Mamá had given everything up for them. So for a long time, he found himself stuck doing something he was good at, but never passionate about.
That was until he stumbled upon people who were just like him.
…
"Nunca te olvidé, mi amor. Ahora te pido, ven conmigo. Juntos podemos construir nuestro propio paraíso..."
…
Alma was furious when he announced he was leaving the family home to pursue his dream in the city. There were a lot of angry words exchanged, but he had made up his mind. He was done following the path his Mamá laid for him, even if it guaranteed him success. Bruno knew deep down that he wasn't happy, and he wanted to be the kind of man his Papá made him believe he could be so long ago. He would do it on his own terms. Bruno trusted himself that could make it.
So Bruno reached out to a friend for help, and his new life began the moment he arrived.
Just like all the dreamers, he had been working his ass off ever since.
…
"Okay, now we'll do it a little differently. This time, interpret Héctor's reaction when meets Imelda for the first time. He doesn't know that she is with another, but he is convinced that she is his destiny. And…action!"
Bruno's palms started to feel clammy when the casting director looked at him expectantly. This isn't in the script Julián sent through.
Then SHE suddenly popped into his head. Her and her blood-red heels.
Everything blurred and Bruno was transported back to the bar. She was so close, yet so far. The alcohol had been long gone, but he felt the buzz on his fingertips. How is she here?
He looked around, half expecting a nasty prank, but there was no one else. No directors, no producers, no pressure.
It was just him and her.
Bruno fumbled forward, unsure. She just stood there, waiting. He blinked a few times, wondering why she was there. His eyes, filled with yearning for the phantom in front of him, made him think otherwise. "Señorita…" He asked in disbelief. "¿Crees en el destino?"
The panel observing him murmured to each other. A man with a stoic expression scribbled something down.
Bruno's destiny waited for him at the edge of his fantasy. The music of the night pounded in his ears.
He would not let her go again.
"He tomado demasiados tragos, solo para tener el valor de hablar contigo." Bruno confessed, his speech speeding up as he tried to grasp air. She smiled at him and the noises around them swelled to a crescendo. "Creo que he muerto y me he ido al cielo porque nunca he visto un ángel tan hermoso como tú." Bruno reached out to touch her. "A ver...adónde nos puede llevar la noche, ¿vale?"
A shrill ring broke Bruno's daydream, making him yelp. The world returned itself to normal and he turned to see everyone staring at him with an unreadable expression on their faces. Fuck. What did he just do? The alarm continued until one of the panelists tapped their phone off.
Someone coughed.
"Okay, that's all the time we have for you today. Gracias." A woman with thick-rimmed glasses raised an eyebrow at him as the rest of them started shuffling papers. She nodded at the assistant standing at the door. "Next one, please."
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Glossary of terms (in order of appearance in-text):
Cómo podría olvidarte - How could I forget you
Eres como el sol que brilla en mi cielo, la canción que canto en mi corazón - You are like the sun that shines in my sky, the song that I sing in my heart
Nunca te olvidé, mi amor - I never forgot you, my love
Ahora te pido, ven conmigo - Now I ask you, come with me
Juntos podemos construir nuestro propio paraíso - Together we can build our own paradise
Crees en el destino - Do you believe in fate
He tomado demasiados tragos, solo para tener el valor de hablar contigo - I've had too many drinks, just to have the courage to talk to you
Creo que he muerto y me he ido al cielo porque nunca he visto un ángel tan hermoso como tú - I think I have died and gone to heaven because I have never seen an angel as beautiful as you
A ver...adónde nos puede llevar la noche, ¿vale? - Let's see...where the night can take us, okay?
