♪ Lauren (withonevoice) wrote in mcdermott_game, @ 2010-11-07 20:23:00 |
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Current mood: | cheerful |
Entry tags: | lauren, lauren/shae, shae |
Who: Lauren and Shae
What: Lauren stops by for a visit
Where: Shae's office
When: Monday, October 25 (backdated)
Rating: G
Status: Complete
Lauren had to admit that there was nothing like autumn in New England. She'd been living here for a long time now, but it always surprised her when she woke up one day and the trees were different shades of dazzling colors that stood out against the sometimes dreary weather - blazing red, shimmering gold. She still, though, would not ever be warm enough up here, she thought ruefully, as she ducked into the nearest building on her way to her office. It was on days like these that she tried to stay inside when she walked through the campus, so that she wouldn't have to walk through the cold.
Because she'd walked through its halls so many times, Lauren didn't realize she was in the PAC until she saw the students from the production roaming the halls. It was probably break time, she though. Thinking of the production also made her think of Shae, and Lauren wondered if her office was nearby. Grace's had been a little farther, but Shae was an acting teacher and this was the heart of the theatre, so Lauren thought she'd chance it.
Soon enough, Lauren turned a corner (one she'd never been down before) and found herself facing a wall of office doors. She walked down the hall and soon found Shae's office. Hoping the other woman was there, Lauren knocked softly but firmly on the door. It would be nice to catch up with her; they hadn't seen much of each other in a while.
Shae was grading papers and counting the minutes until she could go pick up Miranda. She missed her daughter when she was working and looked forward to seeing her in the afternoons. It would be a while yet though since she wanted to get this work done before she left and she was waiting for Mitch to finish rehearsals so they could go pick her up together. At the moment she was reading a paper that someone had written for History of Musical Theatre and trying to figure out a polite way to tell the student that it was complete and utter crap. Sighing she put the paper down and ran her hands through her hair.
She was about to get up and stretch when she heard a knock on her door and looked up to see Lauren there. Happy to see her friend, she gave her a bright smile. "Hey there! Come on in, it's good to see you. Have a seat!" She was a welcome distraction at that moment and it was clear in Shae's voice how happy she was to see the other woman.
Lauren smiled in relief, glad that Shae seemed happy to see her. She came in through the door and sat down across from her friend. "I was in the buildin' to avoid the cold and thought I'd stop by to see if you were here," she explained. "How is everythin'? It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"It has been a while," she said, leaning her chin on her hand and smiling. "Things are good! The honeymoon was amazing and a total surprise, Miranda is growing more beautiful every day of course and classes are well...classes. How about you? How is the house hunting going?" She knew that Lauren and her husband had been looking for one but it had been a while since she'd had an update.
Her smile widening, Lauren nodded. "That's great to hear," she told Shae. "I'm so, so glad you got to go on your honeymoon and that Mitch surprised you with it. It must have been amazin'. And I'm so glad to hear about Miranda, too. She must be getting big." Settling into her chair, she added, "House huntin' is going well. We have it down to a few houses but it's been hard negotatin' prices. I swear my husband was some sort of vendor in a past life." She shook her head in fond exasperation. "I was kind of hopin' we'd have our house by the holidays, but since those are comin' up we might just have to wait until our anniversary or somethin'." She shrugged slightly; Lauren was a bit disappointed, but Andrew had explained to her sometimes those things took time. "On the plus side, I might get to go home for Thanksgivin' if that's the case, so it works out either way, I suppose."
Pausing, she added, "We have our eye on a house close to here," she admitted. "A few other professors from here live on that street. It's very nice, but it's a lil' far than what he's used to for work. But we're willin' to compromise, if it works out." Lauren smiled. "It'd be nice to live so close to school," she admitted.
Shae nodded, she enjoyed the fact that she and Mitch lived fairly close to campus. "It's very convenient," she agreed. "Who lives there? It's not our neighborhood, is it?" There were a few houses for sale on the street and she would love having Lauren and her husband as neighbors. "And I hadn't thought about it but Thanksgiving is close, isn't it? I don't know what we're doing this year. Travelling with a bay won't be fun so maybe I'll have the family here? We haven't talked about it yet."
"I don't think you live on that street," Lauren said, thoughtfully. "We ran into Tim Fletcher - I think he teaches in the film department?" she told Shae. "He and another McDermott professor, Tyler Sykes, live there. I got in touch with Tyler and he told me a family used to live in the house that's for sale. I was worried it might be haunted or somethin'," she admitted, with a bit of a sheepish smile.
After a pause, she added, "It would be hard to travel with the baby. But I think preparin' Thanksgivin' dinner might be hard with the baby, too." Lauren sighed. "Maybe I should get all my travelin' out of the way now, before I have one." She smiled. "Andrew and I have been talkin' about it, you know." She hadn't mentioned this to many people but Lauren knew Shae would understand.
"I know Tim," Shae said with a smile. "He just got engaged to a friend of mine. Well actually she's a student too but I knew her before I came here. She said that it was a nice neighborhood too. I don't think he's lived there very long." Chloe had told her that she liked Tim's house and his neighbors so most likely Lauren and her husband would be happy there. "Oh and by having Thanksgiving here, I totally meant my mother would still be cooking...just in my house. I'm afraid I'm not quite up to that kind of thing, I'm not much of a cook." Shae could manage but something on such a grand scale? Best to leave that to the experts.
Her face lit up when Lauren mentioned having a baby. "Oh, there is nothing like it!" she exclaimed. "It's not easy of course and it changes your whole life, in fact it changed my life in ways I couldn't even imagine but it's worth it, it's totally worth it!"
"Yeah, that is what he said as well," Lauren told Shae, nodding. The more she heard about this house, the more she liked it; she was worried for Andrew's commute but he had told her that it was ultimately up to her. She'd have to talk to him about that soon.
An idea was starting to form in Lauren's head. "Dependin' on when we move... maybe we can have a lil' Thanksgivin' get together. I might even see if my brother and my papa would consider comin' up here so we could celebrate together. It'd be fun," she mused. It would be nice to celebrate with friends, too, but there was something about a home-cooked Southern Thanksgiving meal that appealed to Lauren. She had a lot to think about.
At Shae's last statement, Lauren smiled slowly. "I'm thinkin' maybe it's the right time now, considerin' we're married and we're settled in our careers, y'know?" She shrugged. "Everyone tells me to wait a lil' bit, to enjoy married life, but Andrew and I have been livin' together for five or six years now... it ain't that much different, to tell you the truth. And I ain't gettin' any younger, either." True, Lauren would be thirty-two next February, which wasn't all that old, but she could feel that it was time to start working on a family. "But we'll see, I guess. Whatever's meant for us." She paused. "How is Miranda gettin' along anyway?" she asked.
Shae smiled. Being married didn't feel all that different from living together for her either but there was something special about the permanence of it that she liked. "I'm thirty two now," she said. "so I understand. We want more kids so it will probably be in the next few years when we do that. And in answer to your question, Miranda is great! She's sitting up now and rolling around everywhere. before you know it, she'll be crawling and then I'm betting she'll wear us out!"
"She probably will," Lauren agreed, grinning. "Maybe she'll have a playmate in the next few years," she mused, smiling slightly. It was something Lauren had always wanted to do, and the more she thought about it the more it seemed that now was the time for her. "But I'm definitely goin' to have to visit her again before that. Let me know if you need a babysitter anytime soon. She'll be growin' up before my eyes if I don't keep up with her." Lauren laughed.
"Never ask a new parent if they want a babysitter," she warned with a laugh. "We will always take you up on it! Seriously though you're more than welcome to visit any time you like. Naturally we love showing her off and she loves showing off so it all works out."
"Definitely sounds like your daughter," Lauren commented, still laughing. She was glad that Shae was alright with her stopping by more often; it helped her feel like she was settled here. "I'll be sure to try and get by more often, but it all depends on what goes on with the house and all. There's a lot goin' on, and that's just with movin' and everythin'. It's been crazy with the girls, too - they've been invited to sing at a lot of places, 'specially with Christmas comin' up and all." She shook her head and sighed. "I'm not the only one who's busy, though. How's the play comin' along? I saw a few of the students on my way here."
"Mitch says that it's coming along great! This is the first one he's directed on his own so he's a little nervous but he's doing a great job" Of course she might be a little biased but Shae had been around enough productions that she could tell when a director was connecting with his cast and it was clear that Mitch was doing just that. "I've seen parts of a couple of rehearsals and it looks wonderful. I can't wait to see the finished product."
"That's excellent!" Lauren exclaimed. She hadn't known that Mitch was the lead director of this production and she was truly excited for him; it was always exciting to hear of her colleagues' accomplishments. "I'm sure he'll do a great job, from his track record." She smiled at Shae. "I can't wait to see it." As a practitioner of the arts, Lauren made it a point to support the other performing arts, whether it was theatre or dance or instrumental performances.
"You'll enjoy it," she said. "I wasn't familiar with the play when it was chosen but I've read it since and it's quite funny. The cast is doing a fabulous job with it too. I think they're all a little relieved to be doing something not so heavy after this summer!"
"What play is it? I might have to read it before I see it, just to get familiar with it, too." Lauren smiled. "And I'm sure it must be fun for them after all the drama they did for the summer." She nodded, and was about to say more when something in her purse beeped. Lauren gave Shae an apologetic smile. "Excuse me for a sec," she told her, fishing through her purse to find her phone. "I got one of these new fancy phones recently - Andrew says they're good for keepin' appointments. I must have one soon." She glanced down at her phone and nodded. "I never seem to remember the little things. I guess this is a good thing then," she admitted, waving her phone slightly.
Shae laughed. "I don't know what I'd do without mine," she admitted. "It's been a godsend especially now that I have to keep up with things about the baby." Sometimes she still felt scattered when it came to keeping things in her life straight but that was all part of being a new mother she supposed. "And the play is called 'An Ideal Husband,' it's by Oscar Wilde. It's quite good. I think you'll enjoy it."
Lauren nodded, scribbling it down on a spare receipt in her wallet. "I'll definitely check it out." Phone in hand, she returned her wallet to her purse and gave Shae another apologetic smile. "I hate to be cuttin' our visit short but I don't want to keep my student waitin'. You know how it goes." She shrugged and got up to give the other woman a hug. "It was great seein' you. Let me know if you need any help at all with anythin', alright? I'm glad to help out."
Returning the hug, Shae nodded. "I do know how it goes. I'm glad you stopped by! Keep me posted on how things go with the house..and the other part too." She pulled away and smiled.
Returning her friend's smile, Lauren nodded. "I will," she promised. "You can come on by any time you're in my part of the school." She grinned and nodded to Shae. "Have a great one and I'll talk to you soon!" she told her friend, seeing herself out and smiling to herself. Visits with friends always made Lauren's spirits lift.