Co-Star

Oliver and Julia fell in love on the stage. They masked the feeling by showing affection through the characters they played but when the stage went dark, they found themselves next to each other again. 

“Wow. You again? Can I ever get away from you?” Oliver grinned down at Julia with her many bouquets. She giggled and tried to hold all the flowers in her arms. “Let me help you with that.”

Oliver took some of her flowers and helped her to her car. On the walk there, they felt the beautiful night and Julia opened up with no issue, “You did such a good job out there, Oliver. I can’t believe we get to come back here and do this again. I hope we get picked up for another year. That’s the dream.”

“I want to do it forever.”

Julia threw her head back, “No way. You would get sick of me.”

Oliver shakes his head lightly with a smile, “I don’t think I would.”

It felt like their hearts beat in unison for a second. The two of them knew they were holding their tongues. Crickets were all they heard. 

“Well, I should get going. Thanks for walking me to my car and helping me with the flowers.” Julia began to walk around her car and open the door. 

“Can—”

“I’m sorry?” Julia turned back to see Oliver walking towards her. 

He giggled a little out of nervousness. “Can I kiss you?”

“Oh... I mean we kiss all the time,” Julia remarks.

“Yeah but that doesn’t count,” Oliver looks at her shyly. 

“I didn’t know you felt that way.”

“I mean... do you feel that way?” Oliver felt like he was being the most awkward person in the world. 

She nodded. Julia liked him the moment she met him but she didn’t know if it would go anywhere. She never really felt this way about anyone who felt the same way. 

Julia moved in closer, feeling her breath shake a little. This wasn’t her first kiss with him but it was the most important one. It started everything that they became. 

Their love affair was a great one. A power couple to the theatre community but also quite the cliche. The night they broke up, Julia became utterly abandoned and confused. He told her that it wasn’t working out after a year. She still felt very much in love and the heartbreak was unbearable. She spent most of her time in the bathroom, during rehearsals, crying.

To their surprise, the show was picked up for another year. Julia knew she had to find a new job, this was too much for her. On nights that she performed, she would do it with Oliver’s understudy, and on nights that Oliver performed, he would have to work with hers. The show starts to fall off little by little. Audiences are smaller and smaller. Critics didn’t feel that same spark that Oliver and Julia gave them. 

One night, Julia and Oliver both came to the theatre. It was the first time in months. The stage manager pulled them aside into the costume room. 

“You both are performing tonight, right?” He looked at them desperately.

“I’m not sure. My girlfriend is going to be here.” Oliver said not looking at Julia. 

That stung Julia a little bit but she plans on holding her ground, “Oh, I’m still performing tonight.”

The stage manager puts his hands together at his chest and begs, “I need you two to get it together. Our show is suffering and I’ve talked to Mr. Gomez. Let's just say if this show tonight doesn’t do well, you both might be fired.” 

“Wait, what? We’re the original cast. He can’t just fire us? Can he?” Oliver spoke out.

“You think you’re the only two actors who can pull this show off?” The stage manager walks out laughing to himself.

Both Julia and Oliver immediately knew the urgency of the situation. Neither of them had found a new job and this show was their only income.

Oliver paces the costume room, while Julia sits on the floor. 

“Will you just sit? That’s not going to help you think,” Julia says defeated.

He knew she was right. He had to taste defeat too but he was more anxious than anything. He sat next to her in hopes he could calm down. 

“This is all my fault,” Oliver says. 

Julia stares at the wall for a while. “You’ll be fine.”

“It’s been 3 months exactly since I left you that night. I feel bad and guilty but I think I’m still just learning how to love.” Oliver looks at the floor in sadness.

“You moved on pretty quickly. I had my doubts about you, I just didn’t want to believe it. My life seemed pretty perfect for that year of us dating.” 

“We’re just kids. We don’t know what we’re doing.”

Julia nodded. He said exactly what she believes. She may still be in love with him but all she wanted was this closure.

Julia perks up a little bit. She feels comfortable talking to him like a friend again. “I’m starting to make music. I’m going to studios on my off days. I hope it takes off... because I love it, and all else fails tonight, I am out of a job.”

“Me too. I don’t have a backup plan and my agent dropped me. I mean, he’s not returning my phone calls.”

There was a weight off both their shoulders, she wasn’t the only one with her job on the line, “What a jerk. You should try my agency. I’ll put it a good word.”

They finally looked at each other. It felt like the first time in so long. 

“Do you want to run lines?” He says. They laugh because they used to say this to each other all the time. While doing normal couple things, they would say this as a way to remind each other that they were also co-workers.

That night in the costume room, they read lines. It was like the first time on stage again. They got the same spark. When the show ended, the seats were filled and the crowd was on their feet by the end of it. 

When the stage went dark and all the people went home, Julia and Oliver went their separate ways. They were able to work for a couple more months together before their career paths went their separate ways, as well.