“My suit is off the rack, but thanks. You look…ten times what that suit costs and more.”
“Thanks. I think we look very dapper and even better together. Your car awaits, young prince.”
Luka stopped him for a long kiss first, and then he asked, “Where are we headed?”
“No hints. Just know, we have a wonderful night ahead of us.”
They went to the car, and the door was opened for them. As soon as they were both seated, Luka said, “God, this feels…weird.”
“Weird good?”
“We’re in a limo, how could that be bad?”
“Right.”
As they rode, Luka grabbed his hand to hold it. “Thanks for sweeping me off my feet. This has been…nice so far.”
“Glad you said so far, or I’d think I was getting the brushoff.”
“Not a chance. I’ve been looking forward to this all day. In fact, I called off a rehearsal for this.”
“Luka, I don’t want to interfere with your career.”
“It’s a pre-rehearsal with the cast. We’ve scheduled a few of them before we start rehearsing with Monty. Don’t worry, I’ll be top of my game.”
“Even though you hate it.”
“It pays the rent, and that says a lot in this town.”
He owned his apartment, but he remembered how hard it was to pay the rent when he’d started out, and how many roommates it took to accomplish it. “You live alone?”
“I didn’t always. This last play made it possible. I was making scale and over, so I could do it, if I skipped a few luxuries like meat and internet. I still have internet, though, if I go downstairsand around the block to the nearest coffeehouse. So, I have adjusted.”
“Poverty makes a man have ingenuity. I learned where all the free lunches in the city were, how to find the most reliable roommates, and where the washers and dryers were easier to mess with to get a few free loads done. Man, I’d almost forgotten all of that.”
“I want to forget, and soon. Ingenuity or not, it’s exhausting.”
Benson further remembered that. “Yes, it really is. I’d offer to help, but I don’t want it to ever seem like I’m treating you…like some…”
“No, that would be tacky to just start leaving money on the nightstand. I get it, and believe me, if I need your help, I’ll ask. It’s not easy to do, no, but for now, I’m okay.”
“And you might be better after tonight. You see, I can help, if not handing you money, which would, I agree, be tacky.”
“Oh? Like making this entire play just to help me? And…meet me?”
Benson felt his throat closing, and he nearly choked on the air he’d just inhaled.
“Wow, your eyes can get very wide when you’re surprised.”
“Who told you that?”
“No one. I’m not stupid, and I’ve watched Flash Dance about a million times. I always envied Alex’s warehouse.”
“God, me too! I loved her place. I dreamed she talked him into moving in with her and they lived there happily ever after.”
They laughed as Luka said, “Well, I don’t have one of those, so we won’t be doing that.”
“Okay, well, let’s see where the night takes us, and I may start looking for an abandoned warehouse to renovate.”
