Why?
SHANE:Would you want to make a cameo?
In the monologue, I mean. Maybe a sketch if you’re feeling adventurous
She started to type something, then stopped. He added hurriedly:
It was their idea
LILAH:haha
No sketches
I’d do the monologue though
When would I have to come out?
And would they pay for it
SHANE:Just for the dress rehearsal on Friday, if you can. And probably
LILAH:deal
SHANE:you’re the best
He hit “send” before he could stop himself, then put his phone back in his pocket, immediately self-conscious. To his surprise, it buzzed again immediately.
LILAH:So how’s it going out there?
SHANE:good, I think. We haven’t really done anything yet,
but everyone’s cool so far
Doesn’t seem like they’re going to humiliate me on purpose, at least
LILAH:idk
You know what they say
Never trust a comedian
They’ll do anything for a laugh
Five nights later, as Shane was sweating his way through the live show, he regretted not taking her warning seriously.
He couldn’t even blame sabotage, though. He was bombing, and it was nobody’s fault but his own.
Things had started out okay. The monologue had gone over well; he’d stumbled over the cue cards a few times but managed to get laughs everywhere he was supposed to.
The highlight had, of course, been Lilah’s cameo. One of the cast members, Faith, had come onto the stage dressed up as an uncanny Lilah-as-Kate, and the two of them flirted heavily, moving closer and closer, complete with smoldering, meaningful eye contact, and dramatic music not unlike the score ofIntangible.
“Sorry, am I interrupting something?” Lilah’s entrance had been greeted with cheers and applause, Shane biting the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning.
He rode into the first commercial break on a high, pulling Lilah into a dazed hug as soon as he left the stage, his heart hammering wildly in his chest. Maybe it was his nerves, but it feltlike she was holding on extra tightly. But too soon, he was rushed off to wardrobe to get ready for his first character.
It was all downhill from there, though.
During the brainstorming phase early in the week, he hadn’t wanted to seem like a diva, so he’d enthusiastically agreed to every idea that the writers had thrown out, whether or not he liked it. There hadn’t been much time to second-guess during the breakneck rehearsal period, with sketches being added, dropped, and rewritten every hour. Throughout it all, they’d assured him that, as chaotic as the process seemed, it always came together in the end.
