Curtain Call (j.jk)

Chapter One

As she bid her brother goodbye and watched as he drove away, Polly turned and smiled at her campus.

Belfast metropolitan college had three campuses and Polly wasn't bias when she said her campus was the best. Brand new and only opened six months prior, it housed students from the arts sector which included, theatre, dance, music, lighting and technical design, English and Journalism. Sitting in the titanic quarter of Belfast, BMC stood shiny and beautiful, only a mile from the famous Titanic building in the west of the city. Surrounded by the simmering waters of the river Lagan, as the sun continued to shine around her, she grinned, threw a hand those her brown locks with conviction and made her way inside.

First thing to do was always, always get Christine her morning coffee. Unlike Polly who just had zero energy without the hot beverage, her tutor was like the daughter of Satan without it. On her first day, she didn't get her one and hell hath no fury like a woman without coffee. She was eaten alive. Never had she seen her tutor so angry and exasperated. After that day, she always walked into the theatre doors with a steaming latte...and an espresso for herself. She needed it; Christine was like a slave driver.

Walking up to the small Starbucks situated to the south end of the large foyer, she waved and grinned at Thomas, a cute 20-something barista who always knew to have her order ready. She ducked her head and she scurried past the irate students and gave a grateful smile to the blonde haired boy who was holding two steaming cups of the dark beverage in his hands.

As she went to hand him money, he shook his head.

"On the house. You're going to need it." He grinned and she gave an internal groan as she took the coffee.

"That bad?"

He shrugged. "She came in about half an hour screaming around the place. I don't know what happened, but she is freakin'.

Polly sighed. "Great. Just great. I'm in for an earful even if it wasn't anything to do with me."

Thomas smiled. "I wouldn't worry, Christine loves you. You're her fav-"

Suddenly a loud banging of doors vibrated through the foyer.

"POLLY! WHERE IS MY LATTE?!"

Polly's eyes widened as Thomas laughed. "Fuck. Gotta go. See you later, mate!"

Thomas waved the assistant goodbye. "Later, Pol!"

oOo

Polly burst through the theatre doors as she saw her director walking back and forth in front of the audience seats. When she heard the door open, her head snapped up. Polly shook her head apologetically.

"Sorry, Christine, I-"

Christine ran to her and grabbed her coffee, taking a large gulp of it.

"That's really hot you know-"

"Thank Christ." She took another gulp and only then did Polly notice how flustered and nervous her tutor was.

"Erm, Christine? Is everything okay?"

Christine looked at her assistant like she only noticed that it was indeed Polly who brought her her drink.

"What?" She looked around dazed. "Sorry Polly. Morning." She patted her student on the arm. "I need you to call for an emergency meeting. Everyone must come. Half nine. Jump to it."

Polly groaned. There were a total of forty students in the spring concert, including all of the technical staff. How was she going to get everyone into the theatre in 45 minutes? They were all over campus doing various sorts for the production.