TO BE OR NOT TO BE – PART 3

Mel gave him a funny look, raised her arms up like what's the problem, and said, "Halloween."
Luke shook his head and raised his arm to say okay, I get it. A hush fell over the crowd and I stood up to protest but Mel held up her hand telling me she was in charge here, don't make me look bad.
"What does Sunny have to say about it?" Luke asked. "Shouldn't we ask him?" He turns to me and says, "Well Sunny, how do you feel about this?"
I was feeling so small being the topic of this discussion, feeling they were all undressing me with their eyes.
I swallowed hard, I wasn't sure of anything. The thought was both exciting and terrifying at the same time. I managed to say, "I don't know, Luke. I've never been on stage before."
Mel cut me off before I could talk my way out of it. She said, "We can talk about it all night but the only way I can convince you is to show you. So give me thirty minutes to get him in costume and then you can make a decision. What have we got to lose?"
Luke turns to the group and says, "Anybody got any other ideas? No? Okay, Mel, you got thirty minutes."
Everybody left scratching their heads about what was happening. Shari stayed behind to help out. I got right into Mel's face. "What the hell, Mel. Why did you do that? Are trying to humiliate me, make me the fool?"
"Take it easy, Sunny. This could be a golden opportunity if you can pull it off. Think about the story. It will be in all the trades. Don't be such a drama queen."
"How do you know that's what I want? Why didn't you ask me before you put me on the spot?"
"Because you would have tried to talk me out of it. I know a little about this theater business and something like this could be just the thing to make this play a hit."
"Yeah, but . . ."
"No buts, trust me, it could be the best thing that ever happened to you. Only you will never know unless you try. If it turns out bad you'll be no worse off, everybody will commend you for taking one for the team. But if you pull it off, Sunny, this could be the start of something big and I want to be your agent."
That broke the tension and got a laugh out of me. Deep down I was excited about the whole thing, but I also realized the chance I would be taking.