“You’re glossing over the yelling.”
“Yelling or screaming? There’s a subtle difference.”
Alex managed to hold back a growl. “Joanna…”
“Fine. He yelled, or screamed, or barked at you to get out of his apartment. Then what?”
“I left, of course. Although today he said he wasn’tactuallytelling me to leave the apartment. Just that room.”
“To which you had looked in uninvited, taking him by surprise.”
“You’re determined to not take my side in this, aren’t you?”
“What side are we talking about? I don’t know him, and this may sound esoterically bonkers to you, but all I’m hearing is that you caught a sensitive man who cares what you think of him doing something he wasn’t ready to show you, and it seems tome like he’s already forgiven you. Stop stressing. It’s not like you walked in on him masturbating.”
Alex swallowed, biting both lips. “I really wish Vicente hadn’t told you about that.”
Joanna laughed. “I’m sorry. It might not be a fairytale romance, but it’s cute.”
“Cute? That I walked in on… ugh!”
She smiled, taking hold of his wrist. “That you then dated for more than a year after, silly.”
“What did I miss?”
Joanna and Alex gripped their drinks tighter, trying not to giggle as Vicente sat down. It gave them away immediately.
“Really?” Vicente asked, plating himself another croquette and some potatoes. “You’re never gonna let that story go, are you?”
“Sorry, it tickles me.” Joanna gave an innocent shrug, scooping up some of the bravas sauce on her fork, slipping it between her lips and moaning with soft appreciation.
“It’s much better with the potatoes,” Alex pointed out.
“I’m cutting my starches. Besides, I want to play with our choreography a bit more tonight. We’re on the edge of something amazing here. I can feel it, can’t you?”
Alex wasn’t about to point out that he’d seldom seen her eat much of anything, but he still noticed the way she’d deflected his inquiry with her own question. “I did. I mean, I do.”
Vicente’s eyes moved from one of them to the other. “Don’t get me wrong, you looked amazing, amor...”
She gave him a gracious smile.
“It’s just, that guy—”
“Jago is his name,” Alex interrupted. “He’s not joining us at any more rehearsals. He asked to sit in on one and he did. What we do with it from here is up to us.”
“Yes?” asked Joanna. “And what do you plan to do with him?”
“What do you mean?”
“Darling,” She gripped Alex’s shoulder, playfully jostling him back and forth. “He’s gorgeous, and for whatever reason, interested in you. Then, there’s the play. Didn’t you feel something while he was watching?”
“Feel something?” Vicente’s question was soaked with scepticism.
Joanna nodded. “It was like… I had every character inside my head all at the same time. I knew them all intimately. It should have felt confusing, but it didn’t. It was just the opposite, like every thought and action had its own place and order, and it all just flowed into each movement.”
“You’re forgetting the blood. That’s not a problem?”
“Forget about the blood, will you? I’m fine. I just know how I felt in that moment on stage. We all saw the difference it made. Are we really going to just toss that away? I just want to….” Joanna let out a determined grunt when the words wouldn’t come.
