“I’m sorry, Joseph. I went from annoyed to murderous, and—”
Cutting her off with a kiss, he picked her up to return to his chair with her on his lap. They still had fifteen minutes.
Throughout the entire process, Roby and Joseph’s relationship gained ground. There was just as much of her stuff at his house as there was in her apartment. She definitely hadn’t moved in, or done anything else even semi-official, but it was clear that pushing her away wasn’t on his mind, either.
Finally, they were approaching the dreaded tech week, where all of the elements of the show came together. Roby and Joseph, along with the light and sound designers, met to paper-tech the show first, in order to write all of the various cues into Roby’s prompt script. The next day would be dry tech. The process could be tedious, but Roby would be able to work out some transition issues without subjecting the actors to the mix. She was taking a break in Joseph’s office when there was a knock on the door.
“Come in.”
“Don’t you look comfortable back there?” Sean said from the doorway.
“Hey! Where have you been hiding?” On her feet and in his arms before he was completely in the office, Roby squeezed him tightly.
“Nowhere. I wanted to give you both some space to work. Besides, your reports are so thorough that I’m sure I haven’t missed a thing.”
“Not being needy or anything, but I like having you around. No more lurking in the shadows.”
“You got it, kid. So, how are things going? You ready to bring your actors in tomorrow?”
“I think so. I feel really good about this show, Sean. You were a hundred percent right about Joseph James Davis. The man is a brilliant director. Stop giving me that look. I thought he was a great director before.”
“Right. Of course you did.”
“Truth be told, I loved working with Michelle, and most days I want to throw Katharine down a flight of stairs, but the woman was made for this role. It’s like it was written for her. If you tell anyone I said that, I’ll deny it three times.”
“I’m proud of you, Roby. I know this last year hasn’t been easy, but every day I’ve seen more of your sparkle come back. I don’t ever want to see you lose it again. This is the life you were meant for, and I’m so happy you found it and have accepted it.”
“I didn’t just find it. It was handed to me with great care and confidence. I’m glad you’re proud of the way things have turned out.”
“I couldn’t be happier. Anyway, I wanted to stop by and say that, and to drop off your official opening night party invitations.”
“Fancy. I have a great dress already picked out.”
“You’ll be beautiful in whatever you wear.”
Roby followed him to the door, and they embraced one last time before she was back to the computer, breaking the schedule down and sending out emails to let everyone know exactly what to expect over the next several days.
Later that night, sitting in her apartment alone, Roby waited for a call from Joseph. He’d been busy most of the day and then said he had a late dinner meeting he needed to go to alone. She got that elevator-drop feeling in her stomach, but pushed it away as he closed her car door and leaned in for a kiss goodnight.
“I’ll call you when I get in, beautiful. Drive safe. Love you.” He touched the hood of her car one last time and was gone.
Love you? Did he just say love you? Roby didn’t know what to think, and he hadn’t given her a chance to respond properly. Love you. Falling asleep on her couch, those were the last words dancing around her psyche.
Chapter Sixteen
They’d done two twelve-hour days, and were finally dark. Thank goodness for Mondays. Roby had laundry to do, groceries to buy, and even she was starting to feel like she needed to run a broom, mop, or vacuum through her place. Joseph had the luxury of a housekeeper. She did not.
She slipped her night apron over her head. It was a silly impulse purchase from the Evil Overlord Kitchenware Catalog, whose description read: Exclusive black cotton twill with stars embroidered with the hair of your enemies. That had tickled her often-twisted sense of humor, and she had to have it. Rubbing the stars scattered across her chest, she liked to imagine it as hair strands from the blonde scalp of her leading lady. She stuck her hands in the too-long purple rubber gloves she wore to do dishes. It wasn’t that she had a fancy manicure to worry about, or anything. Honestly, the only time she ever got one of those super fancy special manicures her sisters loved was on special occasions. She couldn’t recall when that last was, but she would be going in the next few days in preparation for the opening night gala Sean and Jerry were hosting. Sloshing her hands through the murky, crumb filled sink water, she was starting to look forward to it. Anything had to better than spending your day off cleaning. The plan was for Joseph to pick her up for dinner later that evening. He had yet another meeting he didn’t need her to attend and a sudden set of errands to run that he neither needed nor desired her to complete. Pushing her insecure and increasingly paranoid thoughts to the back of her mind was getting harder and harder.
They’d moved forward in every relationship aspect over the final weeks of rehearsal, missing none except the important one, to her mind: sex. Pressed against him as they kissed goodnight each evening, and curved in the classic sleep-spoon fashion when she decided to stay over, she could feel his desire, and was more than confident that her feelings weren’t one sided. However, if she so much as moved her hand south toward his throbbing manhood, he’d break free of the embrace, change the subject, and, in extreme situations, simply leave the room. It wasn’t that the cuddling on the couch, making out (in the house, in the office, and in the car), heavy petting like teenagers, and lonely-girl-fantasy-induced masturbatory sessions didn’t have their merits, but she wanted that man’s hands on her in more than just her fantasies.
As she dried the last dish, Robyn realized she wanted a cup of herbal tea and maybe a quick nap more than she wanted to finish the task before her. Sadly, the voices in her head kept up a stream of mini lectures about cleanliness being next to godliness. It started with Sr. Anita in the ninth grade, then moved to her Gram’s less religious, but still highly motivating, approach, and was rounded out by her sister Merry’s lovingly judgmental tone, before ending on Joseph’s stern suck it up and get it done. Roby laughed out loud and went into the pantry to take out her Swiffer. It was another hour and a half before she moved into the bedroom. It would seem that even a tiny little one bedroom apartment can turn into a slovenly hovel, if left unattended for long periods of times.
She was determined to make the rest of the clothes fit in the dresser. Practically propelled from the bed and using all of the force she could muster, Roby pushed her feet into the mattress, shoved up on her toes while pushing her arms down into the top drawer. She really should’ve just gotten rid of the excess, but instead, she kept piling new things on top. It was a miracle the bottom of the drawer hadn’t fallen out and become one big double deep trunk. When the phone rang, it startled her so she almost cartwheeled right off the side of the bed.
“Shit!” Roby managed to scramble her way up and toward the phone before it went to voicemail. “Hello.” She flopped back to listen and recover her breath.
“Robyn it’s, Kat. I need a favor.”
She rolled her eyes so hard she was surprised it didn’t produce sound. “What do you need? I’m in the middle of a few projects right now, Katharine, and I can’t just drop everything. Besides, we’re supposed to be dark today. Can we please deal with this tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow we’ll be back focused on the show. I’m too far out to make it to the shop before it closes. All you need to do is give them my name and pay the balance.”
“You want me to pay the balance, too? How much?”
“I think it’s either six or eight hundred dollars. Take a thousand to be safe, and I’ll give it back to you tomorrow at rehearsal.”
“You do realize this is in no way a
part of my job description.”
“Sweetie, that’s why I called it a favor.”
Robyn was slowly counting to ten repeatedly in her head. If she stood her ground, Kat would make the next few days impossible, but if she did it, she would feel like the biggest pushover in theatre. Why couldn’t it ever just be easy? After a few more moments of silence, Robyn was sitting up, writing down the name and address of the exclusive dress shop. As she hung up, it was an even bet as to whom she hated more—Katharine for asking, or herself for agreeing to do it.
Getting lost en route just added to her aggravation. There was no way she was getting home in time to get showered and dressed to be ready when Joseph rang the bell. Damn that woman. It was like she knew they had plans. It was neither a secret nor a scandal, but it wasn’t a proclamation, either. Katharine had seen them leave and arrive together, on occasion, and had come bursting into semi-awkward situations where swollen lips and smeared lip-gloss were telltale signs, but no matter her snide comments and asides, her suspicions were never confirmed.
Her account would be overdrawn by midnight the following day if she didn’t get that money from Kat and back into her account. Dropping her purse on the kitchen counter, Robyn shoved the puffy garment bag into her front closet and hastened to her bedroom to take a quick shower. While she was washing with her favorite fragrant shower scrub, Roby ran through a mental photo album of what was in her closet, while trying to remember where they were going for dinner.
Rubbing lotion into her damp skin when the bell rang, Roby let a few cuss words spew out of her mouth. Everything was clinging to her as she pulled on the short purple robe that was so threadbare it didn’t absorb much of anything. Okay, a second buzz couldn’t be good. Clearly leaving him in the hallway until she was presentable wasn’t the answer.
“Hi, handsome.”
Robyn stretched up and gave a quick hello peck on the cheek. As she was turning to dash back to her bedroom she could feel herself being tugged back to the spot in front of her gargantuan boyfriend. He spun her around, and when they were face to face, he took hers in his hands and gave her a proper kiss hello. Her hands settled on his chest and, for a moment, she relaxed into the hug. Until his hand connected with her backside.
“Ow! What the hell was that for?” At this point she couldn’t exactly pull out of his grasp as he was holding her so close.
“Don’t compound it, sassy mouth.”
“In order to compound it, wouldn’t I have to know what was wrong in the first place?”
“Did your clocks stop working? Are you sick?”
“No, of course not. Do I look sick?” Robyn rolled her eyes at him in exasperation.
“Then please tell me why you’re still in your robe when we have a seven o’clock reservation.”
“I’m sorry. Give me ten minutes, and I’ll do my makeup in the car.”
“No, ma’am, we will not. I have zero desire to race through central Phoenix on two wheels for an award winning steak and killer calamari.”
“That sounds deliciously like a meal made in heaven.”
“It would’ve been, but I’ll call and cancel, and you can experience it another time.” Roby looked deflated with her little pout. She wanted to rage, but it had been her own fault. Joseph hated being late to anything, and she knew it. He wanted to call the restaurant in enough time to allow someone else to appreciate the reservation.
“Are we going anywhere?”
“If you can manage to change that pout to a smile in the next twenty minutes it’ll take you to get ready.”
“It won’t take twenty. I promise,” Robyn called as she made her way to the bedroom. With her beautiful cocoa complexion and unblemished skin, doing her makeup merely consisted of eyeliner, mascara, and lip-gloss.
He wanted to throttle her, but would save the chastisement for later. If he took the time now, they wouldn’t be eating for another few hours. Chronic lateness was her biggest fault, but she truly had been doing much better. Something must have thrown her schedule off, and he would find out what, soon enough. She looked adorable when she emerged seventeen minutes later, still sticking earrings in her lobes.
“Now, this is the vision I was expecting when the door opened before. You look gorgeous, sweetheart.”
“Thank you. I have to admit I was rushing around so much that I forgot what kind of restaurant we were going to, and I had zero idea what I was going to put on. I think I did well matching up with your sexy ensemble.”
He had paired dark washed denim with a burgundy V-neck sweater over a charcoal grey t-shirt underneath. It was finished with a charcoal grey wool blazer and a scarf thrown casually around his neck. The black boots on his feet were a nice switch from his usual sneakers worn during rehearsal. Roby’s look was of a similar casual dress style. She had matched a pair of olive green skinny jeans tucked into brown faux suede booties with a solid three-inch heel. It was one of the rare times that she wouldn’t need to be on tiptoe to kiss him. Her long sleeve white t-shirt hugged her fuller frame nicely, then gave way to a slight flare, dropping a couple inches lower than the leather jacket she also wore. The scoop neck would reveal an enticing amount of cleavage, but she kept that as a surprise for later, with the leopard print infinity scarf discreetly covering it up. She was in the process of swapping her workbag for her much smaller one when Joseph came up behind her. Had anyone been looking from behind him, Robyn could not have been seen. He completely surrounded her. The kisses he scattered on her neck made her lose focus on the task at hand.
“I love it when you where your hair down. You look gorgeous in anything you have on. You always make the outfit. The outfit doesn’t make you.”
“Aren’t you sweet?”
“To a point. We are going to discuss how you got so far off schedule today. But first, we eat.”
“Good, because I’m starving. Let’s get out of here.”
They ended up driving to a family owned Mexican restaurant not far from Roby’s neighborhood. It was a good thing they didn’t have to wait long to be seated. Roby had a sinking feeling that the hungrier he got, the more cranky-filled their discussion later would get. The pitcher of margaritas the waitress brought out with a platter of loaded nachos had them both feeling far more sated than when they arrived. Joseph ordered a platter of mixed fajitas for them to share, and the night was filled with laughter, quotes from the show, and subtle touches from one to the other all night. By the time the bill was paid and they were headed back to her apartment, Roby had put the incident with Kat and the dress pick up from hell behind her.
“Keys?” Roby placed them in his hand.
“I left a bottle of Riesling chilling,” she said, “so it would be ready when we got in. If you’ll get it open, I’m going to change. Take your boots off and get comfy.”
“Can do.”
Joseph was equally at ease in Robyn’s house as she had become in his. Once he was settled on her couch, he took off his boots and sat them to the side, then he proceeded to turn on the Apple TV to her classical music play list. When she finally emerged from her bedroom, Roby looked only slightly more comfortable than he did. Leaning with his back resting on the arm of the couch, Joseph had one leg up against the back and the other still on the floor, creating the ideal space for his sweet girl to snuggle into. When she got comfortable leaning back on his chest, he put the glass in her hand.
“So, are you ready for the big night.”
“Do you really need to ask? I’ve been waiting for this night pretty much since we met.”
“No doubts, huh? Not even when Michelle quit, and we had to bring Kat onto the project?”
Holy crap, she thought. He’s doing it again. He’d seamlessly transitioned into work talk while her entire being was focused on the personal.
“I’ve know Sean too long to ever be overly worried. The man really is theatre magic.”
“That he is, beautiful.” Joseph put his wine glass down and gently but firmly removed Roby’s from
her hand, as well. Circling her in his embrace, he brought his other leg up beside her, effectively cocooning her in. She sank back into the comfort of his arms.
“Now, this is nice.”
“It is. Roby, what happened today that threw off your whole schedule and made you so late getting ready?”
“I was just a few minutes behind, Joseph. We had a wonderful night. Let’s not ruin it with jibber jabber about punctuality.”
“Well, first, I don’t see it as jibber jabber. I want to understand the reason things happen, so we can prevent them from happening again. So, talk.”
Starting to squirm, Roby was all nerve bundles. It wasn’t as though she was truly in the wrong in any way, but this close to the finish line she didn’t need Joseph and Kat having a fallout. Kat stayed on the edge of unraveling, and once she lashed out, it might very well take the entire tech process to reel her back in.
“I did tell you the apartment was a hot mess. I ended up doing dishes for almost a full hour. I’m glad I took the time. I also managed to get to the store, and I swear I picked up more than wine. Although I did get a lot of wine.” Her chuckle sounded nervous and out of sorts, even to her own ears.
“What else?”
“What else, what?”
“Roby, I am seconds from losing my patience with this conversation. Now, we both know something more happened. Tell me. Right now.”
It may have seemed longer, but it was only a second or two before she caved, recalling their many conversations about honesty. If this relationship was going to work, and if she was truly willing to embrace a domestic discipline lifestyle, then she knew honesty was a main tenet.
“Kat called. She desperately needed my help running an errand for her.”
“What? She has absolutely no right to impose on you like that, especially on your day off. She knows that, I can assure you. What was the errand?”
Taking the Stage Page 12
