Kari Watson was never much of a home-body. She always had somewhere to go, something to do or someone to see. To find her lounging on her lawn in the late spring sunshine on a Friday was out of the ordinary, to say the least. Upon closer look, however, it was easy to see that she wasn’t really lounging, she was reading…and reading a hefty tome at that.

Kari flipped through the pages of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare until she reached the play she was looking for. Timon of Athens. One of his later works, and a troublesome one at that. It started strong but rather faded away in the latter part of the play. For some reason, Kari felt compelled to find a way to make this timely and compelling instead of “meh.”

As she paged through the book, her eye fell on one of her favorite speeches – King Henry V’s rousing “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more, or close up the wall with our English dead.” She’d been lucky enough to see the magnificent Nick Mitchell play the roll at the Globe theatre in London two summers ago, and will never forget the moment when he ran out to give this speech, tripped once, got up, tripped again, got up but never missed a beat. She’d been a groundling for that performance, standing in the yard for near to three hours, not even noticing the ache creeping up her legs. As Nick jumped up, his eye caught hers and he winked. She nearly fainted. With all the charisma and glory that  a King of England should have, Nick brought Henry V to life with a spark she’d never witnessed before. Her own production some 6 years before was a valiant attempt, but having seen the masters do it, she knew she had a lot to learn.

She meant to keep moving on to find and sort out Timon, but something about Henry compelled her to stay put. “What if…” she pondered aloud. “What if I did this show again? Could I crack it?” She could still work on Timon as that was going to take some time anyway, and in the meantime, she could take what she learned in London that summer and what she gleaned from Nick Mitchell and put it to work. But it was ambitious. History plays are hard to sell, and she’d probably have to put it up independent of the Shakespeare Festival in town. No zombies, either.

Kari sat up in her lounge chair, lifting her hair off her neck to cool her down a little. The spring sunshine was warmer than she expected and she suspected she might even have  a little bit of a tan line starting. Not bad considering her pasty English skin was usually the color of milk…a slight tan might look nice. She had better get inside before it began to bake. Picking up her complete works and her lemonade, she walked across the small patch of grass to her back porch. As she approached it, she was reminded of the first moment she saw this little haven in the middle of the big city.

She’d just graduated from Sacramento State with a master’s in business, ready to get started on that all important career. She’d followed her father’s advice and kept theatre on the back burner and opted for a real degree. She still performed and participated whenever she could, but internship after internship repeatedly took her away from her true passion – the theatre. She found a job in an environmental consulting firm, aligning at least part of her career with her belief in living a sustainable life. It paid the bills and provided a much needed savings account. It also allowed for more free time to pursue her theatrical interests.

She was cast in play at the local community college and that began a long career of working with that company. After a few years, she was offered a class to teach based on her work towards a masters in theatre. She took it and started teaching part time. It gave her a needed outlet from the corporate world. The next big step was when she was offered a show to direct in their season. She continued on like this for five years. In that time, she directed and acted in nearly 16 plays. She also started to work in earnest with the Shakespeare Festival, rounding out an early love for the Bard that her undergraduate teachers sparked.

All this was moving her life forward and she decided it was time to settle down here. She was looking for houses one day and came upon this little gem in Curtis Park, just south of the school she worked for and only a mile from her job. Something spoke to her as she stood in front of it. It had gray siding and white trim. The porch had a swing built in with a banister perfect for sitting on. The windows were double hung, and looked like they’d been recently replaced. She could not contain her excitement as she called her agent, Charlie. Charlie agreed to get them a showing and was on her way to meet her in fifteen minutes.

While waiting for Charlie, Kari took a look around. It looked like the house was empty, so she didn’t feel too weird stalking around the place. Picking her way up the driveway and through the long grass, she spied a gate to the backyard. Taking a sneak look around, she darted down the driveway and through the gate. What she saw stopped her dead in her tracks…a little postage stamp of manicured lawn surrounded by trees and roses…Roses! There had to be at least a dozen bushes, all of different breeds, scattered all around the lawn. On closer inspection, she noticed there was an orange, lemon and apricot tree as well. In the back corner was a bench under a trellis covered with climbing wisteria. Kari stopped in the middle of the lawn and just listened. As the noise in her head died down, all she could hear was the faint rustle of the leaves. Somewhere in the distance, the train rumbled through town, but it was faint enough to not be noticed. She took a deep breath. Wisteria and rose filled the air and her lungs. As she opened her eyes, she was startled to find Charlie there watching her.

“Hi.” Charlie said.

“Hello. Thank you for coming so fast.” Kari replied.

“No worries. You sounded like you were going to explode. I’ve been in this business to know that sound when I hear it. It means we need to jump on this. I’ve got the key…are you ready?” Charlie held out the key to Kari.

“Oh my, yes. Please, let’s look.” Kari darted to Charlie, snatched the key and sprinted up the back steps.

Slipping the key into the lock yielded nothing, however. “It must be only to the front door.” Charlie offered.

Kari was off and running. “Okay, come on.” Charlie scurried to keep up. By the time Charlie rounded the front of the house, the door was open and Kari was standing stock still inside the house.

“Oh my heavens.” Kari said, out of breath.

“What is it?” Charlie sounded alarmed.

“It’s…it is..well, perfect.” Kari sighed.

“You can tell already?” Charlie asked.

“Yes, I can. I don’t think I can explain it, it just feels like ‘home.’” Kari took a few steps into the room. She was standing in the living room, the white brick full-wall fireplace on her right, a built in bookcase to her left, a wall of windows straight ahead.

“No need to explain, I do understand. Let’s look around.” Charlie led the way.

Kari was enraptured from the moment she set foot inside. Each room with its wainscoting or built in hutch, ceiling medallions or crystal door knobs just convinced her she needed to live here.

Charlie was on the phone with the offering agent within 30 minutes and Kari’s offer was in. She offered just below the asking price because there were a few repairs to the plumbing that needed tending. She waiting impatiently for 24 hours while they considered. When Charlie called with the good news that her offer had been accepted, she dropped her phone in her tea and nearly tripped over the cat. She moved in six weeks later. Every day she made it her home, her sacred space.

As she walked up the steps, she smiled to herself at what she’d created. It was always nice to come home and stay home. She dropped the book on the table with an audible thump and put her glass in the sink. She really needed to finish the dishes from breakfast, but it could wait.

She wanted to send an email to her producer about her idea. She wanted to produce Henry V in original practices style, but fully produced. She’d presented a number of workshops and readings on the style and wanted to pursue it further. It was a risky proposition, but after seeing the Globe’s production, she was sure she could bring some new life to it here. Thinking more about it, she figured it might take a trip across the pond before it could get off the ground. There were some loose ends in her training she wanted to tie up.

Kari fired up her computer and put the water on to boil. Since her return from England 10 years ago, she’d become an avid tea drinker…almost exclusively, except on those really tough days when she’d pull out her French press and her Kona coffee beans. “What to drink today?” she said to the cat. Curled up in a ball on the rug in front of the sink, Ceylon didn’t even bother to lift her head in response. She merely opened one eye and twitched her ear. “Ah, Earl Gray it is,” Kari purred to her tiger striped kitty.

Pulling her tea tin down from the cabinet and selecting her tea cup, she warmed the pot with hot water before scooping in her loose tea. This particular blend was a gift from Sandy, her cohort at the college, from her trip to London over the holidays. It reminded her of her favorite tea shop in Covent Garden. Adding a lump of raw sugar and a dash of milk, her cup was ready. In the alcove, her computer was up and running and waiting for her to login.

She dashed over to her computer, typed in her user name and password and hit enter. The whir of the hard drive indicated she’d not mistyped. Kari scampered back just as the water hit the boiling point. Filling her pot, she replaced the lid and covered it with her cozy and set the timer for three minutes – perfect for black tea. The cozy was a birthday present from Laura, her crafty friend, now newly married! Putting the teapot, cup, sugar, milk, timer and spoon on a tray, she carried it to her desk and set it the ledge she’d added just for this purpose.

Her computer sat on a built in desk her dad helped her make. It had cubbies on both sides for her papers, scripts and books. The monitor sat up on a pedestal. The walls of the alcove were bookshelves which Kari tried to keep from overflowing, but was always a little behind on. She sank into her fake suede chair and opened her email. The timer went off just as she was about to start the email, so she poured her tea. Breathing in the heavenly aroma of citrus and bergamot, she sipped her tea and let her mind wander. Her alcove office overlooked the backyard and the roses were just coming into bloom. Her windows were open and the light breeze wafted in, carrying the roses smell in with it. It was heaven.

Kari set her tea cup on the desk and grabbed the mouse. Opening a new message, she started to create the plea that would allow her to pursue this project.

##

Thirty minutes later, the email was on its way, her tea was cold at her side, and she stretched her back as she felt the headache creeping in. Her neck had gotten worse over the last year. Maybe it was time to go back to yoga. Ah, that sounded good, she thought…a nice warm yoga studio and stretched muscles. She pulled up the studios website and scheduled a class for Tuesday night. Two days, she could wait two days. She stood up, stretched her arms over her head and padded over to the sink. Ceylon had disappeared, probably taking a quick stroll around the house before her next nap.

Pulling a glass from the cupboard, she filled it with ice and water and a slice of lemon. Taking a long, delicious drink as she looked out her kitchen window, thinking of the uneventful summer she saw ahead, she heard the familiar “ding” of her email. Not thinking much about it, she finished her drink, pondered a quick trip up to Ashland next weekend, refilled her glass and grabbed the Oreos. Walking back to her computer, she noticed the email was from her program director. Wow, already, she thought as she sat down. She looked at her forlorn cup of tea and considered drinking it anyway. “I’ll pour it over ice.” She said to no one in particular…Grabbing an Oreo from the package, she took a bite. The chocolate crumbs fell in her lap just as Ceylon jumped up. Dusting the crumbs off of her fur, she settled the cat into a comfortable position and turned to her computer.

Kari opened her email message and had to catch her breath. He agreed! “I think it would be a fantastic project for you,” were his exact words. “However…” Hmm, however? That usually didn’t bode well. “However, you might need to take a trip back to London to get some further training.” What? He was suggesting a research trip? Did that mean the school might pay for it? She read on. “With all the work you’ve been doing on Original Practices, this is a great final project. I also think there is some money in the budget for research, so we should be able to help fund the trip. Just don’t get into any trouble over there…when would you want to leave? I think a late fall opening date is best so you can have enough time to research, train, edit and rehearse…well, as much as you will rehearse for OP, right? Let’s meet on Tuesday after your class to discuss this further. Thanks for the great idea!”

Did she read that right? She read it again. Yes, she did. Not only was it a great idea, they were willing to help fund a trip to London…right away? If she worked this out, she could still be back in time for the Shakespeare Festival opening night. She guessed she wouldn’t be auditioning this year anyway and this seals that idea. Another trip to London! She never dreamed she’d get to go back so soon. So much to plan!

Grabbing her tea cup and glass, Kari shifted Ceylon to the floor amidst a dirty look, stood and walked over to the sink. She poured her cold tea over her ice from her water glass. Taking a long drink, she realized she’d stood her moments ago thinking of her busy but unexciting summer, the same as most previous summers. Oh, okay, except two summers ago when she went to London. That aside, her summer has now taken a very different shape. She stopped daydreaming as an idea swam over her brain. She needed to see if she could connect with Nick Mitchell. He was one of the Globe’s resident experts on OP. If she was going to do this right, that was where she needed to start.

She scurried back to her computer to scan her email. She could swear she had an email for him from Evan Hadley, her friend at the Globe. After ten minutes of searching, no luck. She either dreamed the email conversation, or it was lost when her computer crashed in December. She’d have to start with Evan again. Maybe he’d be a little more responsive this time. He really sucked at email!

Opening an email message, she quickly typed her message to Evan. “Guess what? I am going to do an Original Practices production of Henry V this fall, and I get to take a trip to London funded by my school this summer. Can you help me? I’d like to see about doing some work at the Globe and the Rose, and I’d really like to be able to have some time with Nick Mitchell, if he’s still around. What do you think? Hope you are well. Talk to you soon.”

Kari hit send and crossed her fingers. It was eight hours ahead there and he’d be gone for the day. As it was Friday, she probably wouldn’t hear anything until Monday at the earliest. May as well make the best of this and get some exercise.

Changing into her running clothes, she strapped her iPod to her arm, grabbed her ID, key and phone. Tucking them into her slim waist pack, she patted Ceylon on the head from where she’d taken up residence on the front windowsill and stepped out into the cool May afternoon. A run would do her good, clear her head and help her get ready to make her travel plans. Taking off at an easy pace, peace came quickly.

##

Forty minutes later, Kari ascended the steps to her house. Winded but exhilarated, the run did the job. She felt clear headed and confident. After a quick shower, she sat down to do the leg work of planning a trip to London. School would be out in two weeks. The festival would start in eight. She’d like to be in London for three weeks total. It didn’t take much time to narrow her travel window down and search for airfare. Kari called her cousin Janie who worked for an internet travel company and Janie helped her find a sweet deal. She could reserve it until Tuesday when she had her meeting. It would suck to book it just to have it fall through so quickly.

Feeling it was important to stay in Southwark, the borough where The Globe and Rose were located, she had a hard time finding something that was acceptable. The place she stayed the first time had doubled their prices and the other place was in Leicester Square, a little too far. Janie rang back with a new hotel just opening up in Southwark just minutes from the Tate Britain. The price was right and didn’t need to be paid until arrival. She gave Janie the go to book the hotel. Most of the rest could wait until Tuesday after her meeting. She was going to be leaving in two and a half weeks if all went well. At least she’d get her grades in early!

Pushing her chair back from her desk, she took a deep breath. What had just happened? This morning life was progressing as usual, a day off from consulting, wrapping up the school year and thinking about the summer. Now she had to work out a three week leave and plan a research trip. Right, three week leave. Kari glanced at the clock. It was 4:45. Maybe John was still in the office. She picked up her cell phone and rang him. He answered on the third ring.

“Hey Kari. I thought you had the day off. What’s up?” John sounded tired.

“Hi. I do, but something has come up that I need to talk to you about. Do you have a minute?” Kari asked.

“Sure.” John answered.

“So, I’ve been given the opportunity to take a research trip to London in two and a half weeks. It would be a three week trip.” Kari hesitated.

“A research trip? That’s fantastic. And I know how much you love London. Why so soon?” he asked

“I proposed a Shakespeare project and the director thinks it’s worthy. But he also thinks I could benefit from some more time at the Globe to really get the details of the process down. I, of course, agree. Do you think I could have the time off? I think I have enough to cover most of it, and I could just take a leave for the rest of it. The school will pay for some of the trip, so I should be alright, financially.”

“Two and a a half weeks from now? Let me think…” Kari heard him clicking his computer mouse. “Yes, I think that would be fine. We’ll miss you, but we’ll manage. I know how much Shakespeare means to you. Do you need anything from me right now?” he asked.

“I don’t think so. Thank you so much, John. I’ll make sure I get things in order before I go. Thanks again!” Kari said breathlessly.

“ No worries. Let me know if you do need anything at all. Bye.” John clicked off the call.

Kari clutched her phone. It was becoming real. Time off work, approval from her director, ticket on hold…it was almost real.

Ceylon padded into the room, mewing her soft meow that meant it was dinner time. Holy cow, thought Kari, food! I haven’t eaten since this morning. Ceylon continued mewing as Kari grabbed her can of food from the drawer… “chicken and cheddar, your favorite.” She said to her little tiger as she spooned it into her stainless steel bowl. Pausing for a moment, she swore she saw the cat smile…well, it looked like a smile. Blinking her eyes, whatever it was, it was now gone and the mewing remained. Placing the bowl on the floor near the back door, Ceylon settled in to her meal while Kari dug around from some food of her own. Pulling out the leftover chicken strips from Thursday, she made a salad, cut up the chicken and buttered a piece of French bread. Grabbing a cider from the fridge, she took her meal into the living room and settled down on the sofa for a little break. The sofa was a velveteen fabric with fluffy pillows. It was one of the few pieces of furniture Kari owned that wasn’t a hand-me-down.

Kari flipped through the channels, finally settling on some old sitcom. Ceylon padded back into the room, licking her whiskers and looking pleased. She surveyed the situation and decided she needed to join Kari on the sofa. She jumped up next to her, circled around once and settled down. After a quick bath, she curled her little soft head down onto her paws and drifted away.

Having finished her meal, Kari sipped her cider and flipped to the movie of the week. It was one of her favorite mysteries, “Dial M for Murder.” If only she could be so clever! The breeze from the afternoon had cooled her house down, so she grabbed her afghan and curled up underneath it. Ceylon didn’t appreciate the disturbance, but did quickly resituate herself on the edge of the blanket.

Kari awoke somewhere around 4:00am, Ceylon still curled up at her side. She didn’t remember much of the movie so she must have fallen asleep pretty quickly. She had no idea she was so tired. The movie was on at 8pm, so no wonder she woke at 4. Folding the blanket, much to the cat’s dismay, she laid it on the back of the sofa. Picking up her plate and empty cider bottle, she made her way into the kitchen, dropping the bottle in the recycling and the dishes in the sink. She was just about to head to her bedroom when she noticed her computer was still on. She didn’t like leaving it on as the power was sometimes wonky in this house. Crossing to it to turn it off, she caught sight of a new email message. It was from Evan!

Surprised, she sat at her computer and opened it. He was thrilled to help her, glad she was coming over and would do what he could to facilitate some time with Nick. He added that Nick had asked about her after their last meeting. Kari’s heart fluttered. Nick had asked about her? Holy cow, they only met for a few minutes at the Q & A. The rest of the message was about details – when was she coming, how long was she staying, where was she staying and an offer to use his guest house. His guest house? Since when did he have a guest house. Stunned, she hit “reply.” She confirmed what she could about the trip, sent a “Hello” to Nick, and told him she’d think about the guest house because she wanted to be close to the theatre, where was it located? Signing off with a  “Cheers” she hit send. Ceylon startled her as she rubbed her head against Kari’s leg. Reaching down to pick her up, she bumped the tea pot on the ledge. It wavered but didn’t fall over. She put the cat on the chair and grabbed the tea tray. Carrying it to the sink, she swore she heard the teapot talking. Talking? Whoa, she must be really tired. She placed the tray on the sink and bent over to look closely at the pot. Indeed it was talking. She leaned in to listen. “Beware. Something is afoot.” What? “Beware. Something is afoot.” “What is afoot?” She asked the pot…then realized how ridiculous this was. But the pot answered. “Just beware.”

Ceylon jumped on her chest. She was still on the couch. It was 4am and that was a dream. “Oh, thank god,” she thought. “I’m not crazy and talking to a tea pot…but then the email wasn’t real either, was it.” Gathering up her dishes, she went to the kitchen. After putting things away, she noticed her computer was indeed still on. She also noticed the tea tray sitting on the ledge. Hesitating for only a moment, she grabbed it first, putting it on the counter. She then went to turn off her computer, but not before taking a look at her email. No message. She sighed, shut it down and went to bed.

##

Kari woke the next morning to her feline alarm clock. She looked at the real clock. It was 8:30am. Still groggy from that strange dream, she slid out of bed. Throwing on her robe, she brushed her teeth and slipped her feet into her red sheepskin lined slippers. She made her way to the kitchen. It was definitely a French press morning.

While the water heated up, she scooped the aromatic Kona coffee beans into her grinder, ground it for 12 seconds and dumped the grounds into the press. The water was not ready yet, so she dropped a slice of raisin bread into the toaster and fired up her computer. Just as she was pouring the boiling water over her ground coffee, she heard her email ding. She paused, thinking “could it be Evan?” Nah, it was just a dream. She finished pouring and set the plunger on top of the brown gold. She tried to wait until she had her coffee in her hand to check her email, but impatience got the best of her. She opened her mail box. There were five new messages and one was from Evan. The coffee timer went off, so she poured herself a cup of coffee, adding just a smidge of sweet cream. Clutching her cup she read her email. It was exactly what the email said in the dream…word for word. How could that be? How could she know that?  Trying to shake off the déjà vu, she replied, just like in her dream. But unlike her dream, the teapot was on the sink. Eyeing it from her desk, she willed it to dare to speak, but it remained silent. At least that was only a dream.

It was errand day, so she grabbed a Clif bar, finished her coffee and darted to her room to get dressed. Ten minutes later she was out the door. The morning was a whirlwind of errands – farmers market, market, car wash, gas, and oil change. By noon she was starving and hot. The temperature was beginning to rise and she was dressed a little too warmly. She stopped at Oscars for a taco and a soda before heading home. On her way out, Sandy was just walking in.

“Hey, how’s it going?” Sandy breezed to Kari after exchanging a hug.

“Excellent. I’ve got some great news. I get to go back to London…in two weeks! Can you believe it?” Kari said.

“That’s fantastic. How long will you be gone? Do you need me to house sit?” Sandy asked.

“Three weeks, and yes, that would be great. Ceylon loves you!” Kari answered.

“She’s a sweet thing. Just give me the details. Let’s meet for coffee? Tuesday?” Sandy asked.

“Tuesday is getting kind of full. Wednesday? I get out of class at 4:30.” Kari offered.

“Wednesday it is. How about at Temple? Kinda bored of Starbucks these days.” Sandy smirked at her.

“I’ll be there. See you then!” Kari waved at Sandy.

“Bye! And congratulations!” Sandy smiled and stepped into the shop.

Kari got into her car, a Subaru that had kept her safe through many a mile. Carefully pulling out into traffic, she cruised around the school to her home. She always loved pulling into her driveway and opening the electric gate that led to her garage. It was a one car driveway, but it was bigger than most so she didn’t feel crowded. She didn’t park in the garage as that was needed for storage, but her dad had helped her put up a car port in front of it so her car would be under cover. Putting her car in park, her cell phone rang. Looking at the number, she couldn’t identify it. Hesitating as she didn’t like to answer unknown numbers, she felt like she needed to pick this one up.

“Hello?” She said quietly.

“Hello. Is this Kari Watson?” The voice was male and decidedly British.

“Yes, who is this?” She was curious. It wasn’t Evan.

“This is Nick. Nick Mitchell. I hope it’s alright that I called.” The voice had a silky quality to it, to go with his smile. Kari caught her breath before answering.

“Um, hi Nick. Of course it’s alright, but to what do I owe this pleasure?” Kari desperately tried to keep her voice calm. It wasn’t working.

“Well, Evan rang me this morning to say that you were coming to London to study and that you wanted to meet with me. I was so captivated by you at our last meeting, I was sorry we didn’t get more of a chance to talk. I decided I couldn’t let this opportunity go by and risk the chance that you wouldn’t come out here, so I asked Evan for your number. He, um, was rather surprised at my request.” Nick said.

“I can imagine he was.” Kari chuckled.

“Why would he be surprise…uh oh, did I stumble into something here? Am I ‘trespassing’?” Kari could hear the “quote marks.”

“No, not at all.” Kari laughed again. “Well, at least not as far as I know. This makes me think there may be something on that side, but he’s never said anything. Our meetings are always around our annual conference and therefore mostly business. No worries. He’ll be fine.”

“Well, I’m relieved. I thought I’d just made a mess of things. So, you are really coming over here, and soon?” Nick asked.

“Yes, indeed I am. In two and a half weeks.” Kari said.

“Why the delay, why not come now?” Nick sounded excited.

“I have to finish the school year and I need to wrap up some things at my day job before I can go. Plus I need some time to plan my project.” Kari.

“Well, I’ll just have to wait then. Promise me something?” he asked

“Um, sure…what is it?” she asked.

“You’ll let me meet you at the station when you arrive. I’ll take you to your hotel. Maybe we could have dinner?” He querried.

“Uh, that would be nice…but…” Kari hesitated. How would she bring up the fact that she might be staying at Evan’s guest house? And what was up with Evan anyway? He couldn’t possibly care for her like that, could he? No…she shook her head.

“But what? Already have plans for that night?” He said jokingly.

“No, that’s not it. It’s just that Evan has offered me the use of his guest house, and depending on where it is, I might take him up on it. The hotel cost is quite expensive.” Kari paused, waiting for his reaction.

“No worries. I can take you wherever you are staying. If the guest house falls through, I have a guest room you are welcome to. And I’m in South Bank, just off from the Old Vic. Unless that would be too forward?” She could hear the smile in his voice.

“Thank you…for both offers. I’ll take you up on meeting me at the station. I’ll be coming into Paddington. I’ll give you the details when they are finalized. As for lodgings, I’m still working that out. Can I tell you later?” she asked.

“Of course, as long as you promise me you won’t back out. I really want to see you again.” He said.

“I promise as much as I can promise. I don’t forsee any problems unless the funding from the school doesn’t come through. Thank you. I’d really like to see you again as well.” Kari felt the heat rise in her cheeks. She really couldn’t believe she was having this conversation with Nick Mitchell. He was excited to see her! What next? Could today get any better?

“Well, I won’t keep you. Evan gave me your email. May I send you a message?” he asked.

“Yes, especially since overseas calls are so spendy these days. We’ll chat by email. Are you on Facebook?” she asked.

“Yes, I’ll send a friend request. I’ve wanted to but wasn’t sure you’d remember me.” He sounded uncertain.

“I was thinking the same thing about you. I’m glad we were both wrong. I’ll look for that request. Thank you for calling, it was nice to chat with you.” She said.

“You are welcome. And I’ll look forward to our next chat…by email or in person. Cheers!” he said.

“Cheers! Bye now.” Kari hung up the phone , stunned. Did that just really happen? Nick Mitchell, an idol of the theatre to her, just called her to make sure she was really coming to town. She pinched her arm. “Ow!” Well, she was awake this time. And she looked at her phone. The call was listed in her call log. “Okay,” she thought, “that was weird. At least I know how I’ll be getting from the station to my lodging.”

Evan! What to do about Evan? She didn’t know where the guest house was, so maybe it wouldn’t be convenient. From what Nick said, it might be awkward if she showed up at Evan’s house with Nick. But maybe Nick was just over sensitive to it, hoping there was nothing going on and reading into every word out of jealousy? What was she to do? Leave it alone or address it? Here she goes, overthinking things again. Just see what Evan says, and take it from there. Maybe it isn’t even an issue.

Kari tried to think of the last time she and Evan were together. It was January and she was in the city for an education conference. He was a guest speaker. She tried to remember what happened. They had dinner, he walked her back to her room…oh, no! Was Nick right? She remembered he wanted to come in, but she was exhausted. She put him off that night, not really thinking anything of it. She wasn’t in company with him really again, but now that she thought about it, he seemed to keep his distance. Their parting was perfunctory, almost cold. But his response to her email was so warm. Maybe she was imagining things. The real question was whether to address this here or there. For now, she decided to address it later…maybe tomorrow, maybe in London but definitely later.

Kari walked up the steps to the back porch and unlocked her door. Stepping into her kitchen, she noticed something was different. Looking around, she didn’t se anything amiss right away, but something definitely felt wrong. Cautiously, she set her purchases down on the floor by the door and grabbed the Louisville Slugger her dad insisted she keep behind each door. She stepped quietly through the kitchen, towards the living room when she heard a “thump.” She moved quickly into the room just in time to see Ceylon disentangle herself from the table runner that normally lived on the coffee table. In the middle of a quick cleaning, Ceylon looked up as if caught out doing something wrong. Surrounding her on the floor were the items from the table – a candle holder and tea light, two coasters and the remote. “Damn cat!” Kari sighed. “Good thing you are cute!” Still a little wary at the weird energy in the house, she untangled the cat and replaced the things. Grabbing the bat, she toured the rest of the house just to make sure. As she passed her linen closet, she grabbed her sage bundle. She’d smudge the house after she put her groceries away. She couldn’t afford bad energy right now.

Putting the bat behind the door and the sage on the desk, she tidied up her kitchen, did the dishes and stashed the purchases. Picking up the sage, she noticed a piece of paper on her desk. Her name was scrawled on the front in a childish handwriting. She looked over her shoulder. How did this get here, she thought. Her hands were shaking a she opened the note.

“Kari, sorry for barging in, I just wanted to tell you I put your trash cans away. They were down about three houses. Darn kids were having a go at you again.  Cheers! Sam.”

Kari breathed out audibly. Sam was her next door neighbor and always looked out for her. She was pretty sure her dad had put him up to it, but she also thought he was just a genuinely nice guy.

Wasting no more time, Kari lit up the sage bundle and walked the smoking bit around her entire house. She even decided to do the yards as it just felt weird. When she finished and extinguished the bundle in sand on the back porch, she made herself a cup of calming tea. As she sat on the back porch and sipped her tea, she began to believe it was just her excitement and uncertainty over this project getting the best of her. Her peace came back about halfway through the cup and she smiled to herself. Shakespeare. London. Money. Nick Mitchell. Even running into Sandy seemed to indicate this was all supposed to happen. Kari always was sensitive to the happenings of fate and destiny. She didn’t put her complete faith in it, but she certainly didn’t discount it either.

She started noticing it when she was in college. Things would fall into place with more regularity than her friends would experience. She began to meditate after taking a workshop at the local spiritual life center. It helped center her and become aware of the energies around her. As she became aware, she learned to tune into them and almost read them. She never quite got to the point where she “knew” what was going to happen, but she certainly listened to her gut instincts a whole lot more.

They hadn’t let her down and she was pretty sure they wouldn’t now. All indicators pointed towards a successful trip with maybe a little excitement thrown in. Not wishing to tempt fate, she prayed a silent prayer to the Goddess for guidance and safety. Finishing her tea, she went back into the kitchen.

She turned on her computer as she had some grading to do. A few years ago she decided to have final projects turned in two weeks before the end of the semester to take some of the stress off of both herself and her students. She had a pile of them on her desk. With the new project on her desk, she’d much rather work on that, but it could wait. Pouring a glass of ice water with lemon, she switched on her computer, grabbed her cell phone and settled down to work. “A Streetcar Named Desire”, set in Nova Scotia in May…in 1995. Shaking her head and trying to will away the headache that was threatening, she plowed on. “Will these kids ever get this project?” She said out loud.  Ceylon was sleeping on the rug. Hearing her voice, she stretched, got up and hopped up in her lap.

##

Four hours later, Ceylon was still sleeping but had shifted back to the rug. Kari’s headache was still threatening, but the projects were graded. She put the projects back in the box on the floor to be returned on Tuesday. Standing up, she stretched her back, feeling a little like her cat. It was 2:20pm. She had plans to see a movie tonight with Sandy, but the way her head and neck were feeling she wasn’t sure she’d make it. She was just going to grab her cell phone to send her a text, when she heard her email ding. Wiggling the mouse to wake the monitor up, she opened her email. It was from Nick!

Her heart gave a little skip. She wondered what he wanted as she sat down at her computer. The only way to find out was to read it…why couldn’t she open it? She stretched her fingers and her neck. The headache seemed to abate a little as she reached for her mouse, navigated to the message and double clicked.

Dear Kari, It was delightful to speak with you yesterday. I am looking forward to your visit. Please let me know as soon as you finalize your plans so I can arrange my schedule. Down to business, Evan mentioned you wanted to get together with me to discuss Original Practices. That is brilliant! Can you give me some details as to what you want to know so I can prepare? I’d like to make the most of your visit so you can get what you need. Here are some questions to think about:

1.What play are you going to be working on?

2.Will it be edited?

3.How big will the cast be?

4.What will the rehearsal/preparation process look like?

Also, will you share with me what you are already doing in OP so I don’t cover things you already know. I think we will be able to get a studio for some of this work and we have some graduate students from Brown who will be here and will be available to work with us on some techniques. I hope this is satisfactory to you. Please message me back when you get a chance. Cheers! Nick.

Down to business indeed. Well, that is probably good, Kari thought, as now is not a good time to start anything of the heart. As she crafted her response, she pulled out her notes from her last trip to London. With her heart full of anticipation and a little fluttery from his sweet words, she began to type. She worked hard to keep the sentimentality out of it and focused on work, but it was difficult. Including only a quick reference to “absolutely letting him know her plans” she detailed her plans for Henry V, her 90 minute edit, her cast of 12 and her 6-meeting rehearsal process. Signing off with a return “Cheers!” she sent it and felt a little lighter.

Grabbing her glass she walked over to the sink to give it a rinse. Ceylon wound herself around Kari’s legs as if to say…feed me! Looking at the clock and deciding it really wasn’t too early for a little food for her best kitty friend, she opened the drawer and grabbed the little can. “Mmm, turkey with greens?” Kari murmured to her feline. “Mrow” was the response. Taking that for a yes, Kari scooped the mush into a stainless steel bowl, set it down, picking up the dirty one from yesterday in the process. Dropping the bowl in the sink, she tossed the can out, rinsed the spoon and added water to the other bowl to soak. While Ceylon loved her food, she seemed to feel compelled to always leave a little behind. Knowing it would take a bit for it to soften for cleaning, she dried her hands on the towel hanging on the hook near the window.