Taking the Stage

by Paige Parsons

  Sputtering, Roby shot up and ran her hand down her face, doing more harm than good as bubble remnants dripped into her eyes. She must have slipped well and truly into her fantasy. Damn whoever was on the phone! Taking a minute to gather herself and her sense of balance on her wet noodle legs, Roby pulled herself up, steadying her arms on the side and truly hoping the ringing would stop. There was no reason for anyone to need her at this hour. Snatching the phone off the docking station, she answered.

  “Hello!”

  “What took you so long to answer the phone?”

  Was he serious? He had zero right to be exasperated by her delayed response.

  “Excuse you, but I’m the one who was interrupted.”

  “From—” He purposefully let the words trail off to nowhere, waiting for her to fill in the blanks.

  “It doesn’t matter! Just— What do you need, Joseph?”

  Getting the sense that she was wound up about something, he wrongly assumed it was about Katharine’s arrival in the morning. She was to land at Sky Harbor International at ten-twenty in the morning and head straight over to the theater. Sean and Jerry were picking her up, since leaving her and Robyn in the car together made the whole lot of them extremely uneasy.

  “I needed to do exactly what I’m doing, which is checking on you. I thought you were feeling better about everything after dinner.”

  “Well, not so much better as I am resigned to the fact. But if that’s the only reason for this call, I can assure you I’m ready to deal with whatever comes up. Is there anything else?” Having only one desire where he was concerned, at the moment, meant that Roby wanted to end this conversation as rapidly as possible.

  “Robyn Renée, I don’t want to meet cross behavior with my own cross behavior, so please tell me what has you being so short tempered with me.” Measuring his tone, he was making a great effort to not simply demand an answer to his question, and put a halt to the attitude being offered.

  “Well, Joseph, I don’t want to discuss it with you. Since it isn’t about work, and you’ve made it abundantly clear that the show can be our only focus right now, we couldn’t possibly manage a discussion about what’s bothering me.”

  Joseph knew this had been brewing for a while, and since their kiss three nights before, it was an even bigger elephant in the room. He thought opening up to her that night would make it clear to her why he was avoiding this particular exchange. She knew he clearly had feelings for her, and he hoped she shared similar feelings. How could she not understand that after things went so horribly wrong with Katharine, he wouldn’t want to mix the personal and professional aspects this relationship soon, if at all? He’d only shared a small taste of his true dominant side, and didn’t want to overwhelm her. Sure, he knew what he sensed was the depth of her submissiveness, but he wasn’t sure that now was the time for a heavy-handed push. How could he keep his developing feelings in check, maintain the professional distance he needed to, and move them forward? He was left with only a single option—one foot and one word in front of the other.

  “I had a hard time leaving you tonight, too. I’m way to big for your couch, and you don’t seem to enjoy staying at mine very often. I did offer for you to stay for the duration.”

  “No! Absolutely not! You do not get to have me under you without having me—”

  “Let’s not be crass.”

  “Joseph, I’ve been married, and you’ve been, well, with Katharine, so I don’t think either of us needs to shy away from the obvious. Please let’s drop this. I’ll see you at the theater. Good night.”

  The phone almost didn’t make it into the docking station. Her skin was tightening from all of the bath products air-drying on her from head to toe. It wasn’t exactly cold in Arizona, yet she was shivering so much she had to steady her right hand with her left, so she didn’t end up cracking the screen of yet another phone.

  Keeping her damp, messy bun in place she pulled the plug on her bath, and on the thoughts of any pleasant finishes to the evening. Wasting wine was never a good idea, so instead of walking to the kitchen to pour it into the sink, she crawled from the foot of the bed to the head while hanging on to it. Propping up on the headboard, she decided to pour the fermented fruit juice into her.

  “A toast,” she slurred, holding the bottle up a bit, “to unfinished business and whatever comes next.”

  Chapter Nine

  Jon Bon Jovi sang about going out in a blaze of glory, but Katharine Dresden could teach lessons on entering in one. She never thought she’d be coming back, but turning down Sean Haight, especially when the need was so clearly expressed, would’ve been career suicide. Sean knew where all her bodies were buried, metaphorically speaking, and he knew exactly what buttons to push to get what he needed. If not, there would be no way she would agree to work with Joseph James Davis again. Having spent the better part of a decade being furious with her ex, she really wasn’t sure how their first encounter would go. She was grateful to Sean and Jerry for arranging to pick her up and get her settled from the trip.

  Like opening an oven door, the oppressive air was a wall of heat when she stepped outside. She donned her shades and proceeded to move to the curb to wait for the guys to circle back around. Damn terrorists made it so every aspect of travel was just a little more extra than it needed to be at any given moment. So instead of just pulling to the curb and waiting for her, there was a series of text messages that went back and forth about which door she was coming out of, how long she thought her luggage would take, and how many times they planned on circling. She wiped her brow and ran a hand through her hair in relief as the SUV pulled up. Jerry popped out to put her bags in the back. Sean’s embrace practically lifted her off the ground.

  “It’s good to see you, Kat!”

  “It’s good to be seen. When that door opened, I remembered why Los Angeles was so magical to me when I first moved out there. You forget that Arizona only has two true seasons. The first is hot, and the second is hotter. It’s like fall doesn’t exist here. I hope you have this beast turned down to frozen. My goodness.”

  She pushed all of her words out in a mad dash, then yanked on the front passenger door and slid into the seat. Sean heard the door slam as he went around to get back into the driver’s seat.

  Jerry looked on with a sense of awe. “So, I guess this means I’m sitting in the back.”

  “I appreciate you.”

  Sean grazed his shoulder and squeezed down as he placed a quick kiss on his cheek. Jerry followed to sit behind his husband in the back seat. He observed her over her shoulder as she dabbed at her brow and methodically touched up her make-up.

  “Seatbelt, Katharine.” Sean fixed her with a pointed look, waiting for her to put away all of her supplies and strap in before he checked his mirrors and pulled out into the flow of traffic.

  Katharine certainly had her charms and talents, and he remained hopeful that she would employ them all to get through this project. He was hoping for another magical Dresden-Davis production. There was only a small twinge of guilt when he thought about what this experience would do to his sweet Robyn. He did love her like a daughter, and in his heart believed that Joseph would be the right man for her, but bringing in Kat was the only choice he could make. There was no way he could have known that Michelle would not only get pregnant, but that she would leave the show for domestic Texas bliss.

  “Sean, I’m really feeling sluggish after the flight and standing in that oppressive heat, so maybe—”

  “No, we aren’t starting this already. We are going to get you checked into the hotel, grab a quick bite, and then you are going to the theater. There isn’t going to be any avoiding or putting off the inevitable.”

  “It won’t be anywhere near as hard as you think,” Jerry said. “This first encounter will be like ripping off a Band-Aid dear, but it’s best to get it out of the way.” He placed his hand on her shoulder as he tried to impart this bit of wisdom, but he could feel her stiffen under his h
and. She had been saying the right things, he suspected, yet there was clearly more beneath the surface.

  Back at the theater, Joseph was going through his own bout of anxiety. Seeing Katharine in an hour was going to be difficult enough, but his mind was only partially on that. There was a solid portion of his mind that was still stuck in the limbo of the conversation he’d tried and failed miserably at having with Roby. It wasn’t that he lied to her. He wouldn’t own something so heinous and against his character, but he knew that holding a huge portion of himself back and keeping her at arm’s length to protect her was, in turn, causing her far more harm than good.

  She was the last thing he thought of before he closed his eyes the previous night. It had been years since he was in toss and turn hell, especially over a woman. He knew Sean had been up to something from the moment the offer was made and they started discussing the team. Joseph had been adamant about bringing along Max, and it had become an absolute deal breaker for the older man. Initially, Joseph had been pissed, but knew Sean well enough that the truth would reveal itself. A week after he’d finally given in, he flew out to Phoenix to sign the contract and look for a rental house. Their dinner had been stilted until Sean hit him with several hard truths.

  Friendship and mentorship were the foundation of their history together, and there was something about Sean that made the people he allowed into his inner circle simply confide in him. He often used that information to his advantage, but somehow it was never in a manner that made anyone resentful. It often improved one’s attitude, even if you had to dust off the skid marks after being run over by his tractor of possibility fulfillment. Sean knew all about Joseph’s dominant nature, his foray into domestic discipline, and the truth around his split with Kat, which went deeper than what had led to the cheating. Kat would never allow him to fully take her in hand, and he wasn’t interested in living a life in constant battle. None of his flings in New York ever got beyond bedroom games. If he so much as hinted at boundaries outside the bedroom, the women balked, and things would be over before they ever got going.

  “You’re in a rut in New York, Joe. I know the work is pouring in, but unfortunately it’s all pretty much the same kind of work. This show is a chance to make a difference with a new passion-filled piece that can change the lives of all who encounter it.”

  “Aren’t you laying it on a bit heavy?”

  “Damn it, no, I’m not. You aren’t here just because of your sense of loyalty to me. You read the script, and you know I’m right. Now, I pulled together the team you wanted, and your contract will likely have me take a second mortgage out on my home, but I can see the big picture. Get your head out of your ass and look at it with me!”

  “You didn’t pull together the team I wanted. If you had, Max would be sitting in one of these empty chairs. I don’t want to be stuck babysitting one of your projects.”

  “What happened to trusting me?”

  “I do trust you, but I also know you, and the thing I trust most is that you’re up to something, and I want to know what it is before I’m ambushed.”

  Sean sat back and drained his scotch and soda. “Robyn is a dear friend. She’s like a daughter to me. She was one of my students, years ago, and, honestly, I pushed this project along because she needed a new start. I could have shelved this for another six months, easily, but she didn’t have six months.”

  “What the hell, Sean? Is she sick?” Joseph was sitting up straighter, and all of his focus was on the man in front of him now.

  “No. My God, man, I wouldn’t put anyone in that situation. Robyn was never a theatre arts major. Her family wanted a nice safe career choice for her. She took all of my classes as electives, and ended up with a minor in theatre. Her grandmother helped her mom raise her and her sisters, and if they were going to pay for college it had to be in field that wouldn’t leave her working fast food and living on someone’s couch.”

  “Sounds like most parents’ reaction to finding out their child wants to be an artist of any kind.”

  “Yeah, but you didn’t know the formidable woman that was her Gram E. Robyn, for all of her spirited feistiness and willingness to be a stubborn brat in so many things, is at heart a people pleaser. That is most true when it comes to her family. She’s a middle child in every sense of the word. She got her degree in education and became a teacher. Those kids were lucky to have her, for sure, but she wasn’t on the path she was meant for at all. I did what I could to keep her working on small pieces during the school year and bigger projects during her summer breaks, but once she met her husband, it got harder and harder to keep her. He was the final turn of the dial on that pressure cooker. He was a principal, and on the surface, it seemed the exact type of man she’d been craving.”

  “She craved a dream-crushing man who kept her from being happy?”

  Lyrics filtered across the room to the guys from someone’s phone, and they both turned toward it as they heard, “It’s raining men, hallelujah… it’s raining men, amen…” A group of laughing girls went through the door. Clearly, the ring tone was meant to be retro or ironic.

  “No, she wasn’t looking for that. It was just what it ended up being. On the surface, he was what she wanted. Strong, disciplined, structured, and, most importantly, dominant. She comes from a family of tough-cookie women but almost no men. Her father left shortly after her youngest sister was born, which forced the girls to live with her grandparents. Papa Jack was there, but Gram E ruled with an iron fist. She set boundaries for a child who had to free a spirit sometimes, and was easily enticed by too much fun and chaos. She’s always had her grams and older sister to be her safety net, and she knew she not only needed it, but also desired it in a husband. She just picked the wrong one. He turned out to be a spineless, lying, unworthy chump.”

  Joseph couldn’t help but laugh at the not funny at all scenario. “Who the hell says chump?”

  “I do. And he was one. She caught him fucking one of his new teachers in his office on his desk right before they were supposed to meet for dinner. I still maintain he wanted to get caught. He never really knew what it meant to take Robyn in hand, and when it got to be too much for him, he wasn’t man enough to say so. Instead, he took the coward’s way out.”

  “Still waiting to hear how I fit in.”

  “Don’t get smug with me, stretch. I know why things really didn’t work for you and Katharine. Easy. This isn’t about Kat. It’s about compatibility. Roby’s bank account and self-esteem need this boost. I’m in a position to make it happen, so I am. If it makes me a manipulative bastard—”

  “It does!” Joseph glared across the table at the man who he was suddenly questioning his relationship with over the last decade.

  “So be it. She’s good, Joseph. You won’t have a problem with her work, and I’m confident you’ll know how deal with anything else that comes up. There was a time when she was living on her own that I would sort her out, if need be, but too much time has passed to pick up that mantle again. I think you’re the perfect hands to put her into. There’s nothing keeping you in New York right now, except more of the same. I’m simply creating the space for possibilities.”

  ***

  He would have to get his desk cleared by the end of the week. The whiteboard needed to be updated, and the rehearsal schedule modified again. Kat demanded that her initial rehearsals with her co-star be closed to the rest of the cast while she caught up. Couldn’t have the star looking like less than her ensemble. Joseph wanted to ring her neck and say no way, but Sean had already made most of the concessions. What he really needed was for Roby to get in so they could have a minute or two alone before the blonde hurricane burst in. Picking up his cell phone, he sent her a text to see where she was, but before he could hit send the door swung open.

  “Surprise, surprise, lover! I’m back.”

  Chapter Ten

  Well, being gorgeous and making an entrance were never problems for her. Barging in unexpectedly was still a weakn
ess, though, and Joseph was equally loath of it now as he had been the last time he saw her. At least this time he was dressed.

  “Still struggling with knocking on doors, I see, Kat. I am impressed, though.” He looked at the clock on the wall to his right rather conspicuously. “You’re early?”

  “Blame that travesty on Sean and Jerry. Are you going to ask me in?”

  “Certainly. It’s good to see you, Kat.”

  Once he put eyes on her, he decided he wasn’t exactly being polite. This was a woman he had cared about and, although they had no business together as a couple, he could still appreciate what he always had. She was a beauty. At thirty-eight years old, Katharine Dresden was a statuesque beauty. She had let her pixie cut grow out a little, and now her semi-spiked mane was like a blonde halo. Only Joseph knew, too well, how that halo hid horns.

  “Come in and have a seat. How was your flight?”

  “Flying is always traumatic for me. Probably one of the biggest reasons I chose Los Angeles over New York. Even an hour in the air is hell for me.”

  “I’m betting it wasn’t a pleasure trip for the flight crew, either. I hope you didn’t drink too much. You’ll have a headache by two and be useless.”

  “I’m not a child, Joseph.”

  “I know. But it has been a long time since you’ve dealt with this heat.” Without her asking, he got up and brought her a bottle of water.”

  “Did I look thirsty?”

  She was playing at coy, but he wasn’t sure why. She was less outright angry than he thought she’d be, after all this time.

  “Did Sean hang around?”

  “He’s in his office with Jerry. It sounded like they were planning some sort of function.”

  “Knowing Jerry, it’s the opening night bash.”

  “I’ve hardly read a word, and he’s planning a party.”