Page 12 of Play Room Actor

“Hey!” he said, focusing on his screen as he finished his sentence before turning his head in my direction.

I crossed my arms and grinned. “Let me guess. You haven’t moved an inch since I left this morning.”

“Shit, is the day already over?” he asked, confused.

“You still look like you just rolled out of bed.”

Embarrassed, Nico patted his head, realizing his blond strands were sticking out in all directions. He grabbed a hair tie and tied his hair into a bun. “Shit … I feel like I just sat down.” He stood up from his chair and stretched. “What’s the plan?”

“Walk.”

“Okay!”

It hadn’t been Nico’s idea to accompany me on my scheduled free time activities. Two weeks ago, Hector had forced me to drag Nico along everywhere—whether he liked it or not. I didn’t mind. When Nico was working on a book, he forgot everything else—like eating, drinking, or sleeping.

While Nico finally got moving and jumped into the shower for a quick rinse, I unloaded the dishwasher and tidied up the kitchen. Given that my roommate had been floating on cloud nine, most of the cleaning was on me. Fortunately, Nico was so absorbed in his novel that he didn’t mind a little mess.

Before long, we were walking in the most beautiful spring weather through the nearby forest. I loved being in nature. It was the only way I could really center myself. It wasn’t just because of the soft forest floor beneath my feet that grounded me, but also the birdsong and the resinous scent of the trees.

“Tell me how everything is going at the theater,” Nico prompted.

“I’ve only officially been there since Tuesday.”

“So what? Today is Thursday. There’s probably something worth sharing by now.”

The first thing that came to mind was, of course, Kilian, but I was the one who had told Nico never to mention anything related to sex.

I could have just told him about the lighting designer who had left an impression on me, but every thought of Kilian led me to some moment where he smiled at me seductively or winked. Kilian was, therefore, at the top of my forbidden sex list.

“We’re rehearsing,” I said. “And yesterday, I signed the contract. I’m officially hired at the theater now.”

“That’s so cool!” Nico gushed, taking a deep breath of the fresh air he had probably missed out on all day. “And the people there? What are they like?”

“Great! It kind of feels like everyone is one big family. Half of the actors who are in Hamlet also perform in other plays. Vanja, Eliah, and I are the newcomers.”

“Who are they playing?”

“Vanja’s playing Ophelia, and Eliah’s playing Horatio.”

“I’ve got to come to a rehearsal sometime. Is that possible?”

Surprised, I turned to face Nico, who was looking at me with wide eyes and an eager expression.

“I think so,” I said as I studied my roommate more closely. “Oh, oh! You’ve written a play and want to sneak it to the director, right?”

“Of course! Damn, man! You know me too well!”

I burst out laughing. “When did you have the time to do that?”

“Last week. I suddenly felt inspired, so I just wrote it down.”

“Just wrote it down? How long is it?”

“Not long. I guess if it were performed, it would be about two hours.”

“You’re crazy!”

“Ain’t we all?”