Page 2 of Finding Finn (Foggy Basin Season 2)

“Finn?” She walked up to me. “Sorry, traffic was a little worse than I thought. Did you have a nice flight?”

“It was fine,” I lied. Try to be positive , I reminded myself. First impressions and all.

“Oh!” She giggled happily. “I’m Buffy, your administrative assistant. I’m so excited to meet you.”

“You’re Buffy?” I scrunched my face up. “You’re not quite what I was expecting.”

Her face fell.

“I mean, I thought you were going to be like fifty,” I laughed. “I have no idea why. Actually, I was told that you’ve been at the theatre for almost twenty years, so… older, I guess. It’s so nice to meet you, too. Sorry, I’m discombobulated from travel. It always wears me out.”

“Ok. I have been at the playhouse for twenty years, but only five as the admin assistant. I grew up in the playhouse and have been involved since I was eight. I got out of college and had no idea what I wanted to do, and the job came open.”

“You got a degree in theatre?”

“Oh, God, no.” She reached out and grabbed the handle of one of my bags. “Let me help you with these. No, I have a degree in business. But I’m glad I’m where I am instead of some high-rise in a big city, you know?”

“You are adorable. Please be my friend. I know no one.”

“Honey, this is a small town. You’ll know everyone by next week. Trust me.” She giggled as she turned and started walking. “My truck’s not far away and we can put these in the back.”

Of course, she drove a truck. She didn’t actually look like the type, though. I wanted to say no. I didn’t want my nice luggage to get all scratched up in the back of her pickup, but I didn’t want to come across like an asshole either.

I shouldn't have worried. Her cherry red truck was very nice, and she slid my luggage into a compartment that she had in the back.

“Nice truck,” I grinned as I slid up into the passenger seat.

“Her name's Bernadette Peters. She’s a ginger and a princess.”

“Perfect name. How far is the trip?”

“Oh, not too bad. Maybe an hour if we don’t hit traffic. You just sit back and relax and tell me all about yourself. We’ve never had someone here at the playhouse who’s actually been on Broadway. It’s very exciting for us.”

“I was in the chorus, so it was not glamorous.” I laughed. “I shared a dressing room with five other guys. It was a great year of my life, and I got to experience quite a bit. But it was exhausting and really hard on my body.”

“But you were on Broadway. I mean, that’s the dream, right?”

“Most definitely.” This was just making me more depressed. As hard as it was, it was something I could never have again, and that just made me want to crawl into a hole. I mean, I was in Foggy Basin of all places. Maybe this was my hole.

“Did you meet any stars?”

“Sure. I met Bernie at Broadway Barks a couple of times when I volunteered.” I definitely did not call her Bernie!

“I was in the show with Jeremy, which was cool. He’s very down-to-earth, just like he seems. I was in a show with Sutton and Kerry.

But honestly, the stars and the chorus are two very different things.

Sometimes you create a real bond with one of the leads, but the lives we lead are not the same.

My friend Jonathan, who I was in Once Upon A Mattress with, became really good friends with Audra when he was in a show with her.

Alas, that never happened to me. We’re friendly, but not actually real friends. ”

“Wow, that’s not what I expected. You do a show here at the playhouse, and you become good friends with everyone.”

“Yeah. I remember that from when I did community theater as a kid. It was the same in college, too. But the professional world is very different.”

“That’s depressing.”

“Agreed. I thought I had really made it when I got my first Broadway show. It took me five years to book another, and in the middle of rehearsals, I had an accident. As quickly as it came, it can be taken away.”

“So, you were only on Broadway once?”

“Broadway twice, Off-Broadway three times, and I did two national tours.”

“That’s so cool!”

“I guess. As soon as one show closed, I went looking for the next. Sometimes I was lucky, and other times it was back to waiting tables at the Stardust. New York is feast or famine.”

“You’re going to love it in Foggy Basin.

Everyone is really nice. We have great food and bakeries.

There is a giant chalet that’s fairly new.

It’s still under some construction, but some of the shops and stuff are already open.

But when it comes to the playhouse, everyone takes care of each other.

We’re really excited that you’re here, and we plan on doing wonderful things together. ”

“I’m… looking forward to it.” I smiled wanly. “Hey, I thought some guy named Jim was picking me up. What happened to him?”

“Oh… He had something else that he had to do. Jim is… You’ll get used to him.”

I didn’t quite know what to do with that, so I nodded and stared out the window. After a short time, we drove into the quaint and small town of Foggy Basin.

“Welcome home, Finn.” Buffy smiled.