“Oh, this should be good. I’d love to be a fly on the wall when Pnina Poésy gets wind of this.”
“Penny and Jane and the rest of them are friends with Charlotte. And if Charlotte knows,Matiknows.”Matiis the Slovenian word formother. “Violet…” For some reason something she had said triggered another thought. “Do you ever talk to Brando? About me?”
Asking was fruitless, I knew. I hadn’t spoken to Violet, or anyone, about the offers on the table. But Brando knew. Whoever told him I had the chance to dance abroad, anywhere I wanted to, had to be in my inner circle.
“Yeah,” she said with a flair of drama. “As if. I have a hard enough time getting you to talk. If you’re Alcatraz, he’s Fort Knox.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. Have you been telling him things about me?”
“Like what?”
“Never mind.”
“Do you need a chill pill,Sandy? Because you’re tripping.”
Before I could respond, Brando moved from the fire and met us.
“Hello,” I said, rather breathless.
“Hi,” he said, a wide grin stretching the planes of his beautiful face.
Violet groaned. “I need a drink.” And she left us to our own little bubble.
“I missed you.” I looked up into his eyes, so warm from the fire.
“It’s been five minutes, Scarlett.”
“Those five felt like a lifetime.”
“Baby,” he said, and I shivered. He had only called me the endearment once before, and during a time when worry for Violet had me anxious. “Come.” He took my hand in his, instantly engulfing me in warmth. “You need a spot close to the fire.”
A soft plaid blanket had been laid over the bed of Mitch’s truck. Brando swooped me up and set me on the edge of the bed, legs dangling over the side. He handed me a water bottle from the ice chest. I took it with thanks. It wasn’t until after the concert that I realized how loud Violet and I had been screeching and how parched my throat felt.
Brando leaned against the truck, his legs crossed at the ankles, drinking from his own bottle.
We chatted for a bit about the concert (he said he enjoyed it more than he thought he would), about Mitch (he’ll come around, he’s just having a bad night), and about when the next train would come through (he figured it would be about another twenty minutes).
A couple of guys went to walk past but, seeing Brando, invited him to see a sports car one of them had just bought. He still didn’t know that I knew his father was a famous racecar driver, but it made sense when one of the guys mentioned that Brando would appreciate the speed of the car.
I encouraged him to go; being warm and comfortable had its perks. He gave me a kiss and told me that he’d be back in five.
“Stay put,” he said, walking backward. He gave me a stern look. “I mean it.”
“And if I don’t?” I lifted my hands in surrender. “I’m kidding, Brando!”
He had started to come back, the usual fire making his eyes smolder.
Believing me, he turned to go again, and I noticed that Penny and her friends, including Jane, had gathered around a lone dead tree and were watching Brando as he faded off into the night. I decided to ignore it.
Nothing really interesting caught my eye afterwards, so I fixed my gaze on the sky, admiring the hundreds of stars that brightened the darkness. A full moon ballooned in the center of our universe, the one that belonged to us, lending the stars a helping hand.
A fondness for the sky and all that it included, especially the stars, seemed to have been with me forever. Sometimes it was hard for me to describe the connection to it. It all felt so connected to life, even though they were so far away. One part heaven; one part reality. Elliott’s death had only increased the love and admiration that had been there from the start.
Closing one eye, I raised a hand, splaying my fingers. Stars dotted the spaces in between. I moved my hand back and forth, just to make waves.
“Is he a friend of yours?”
It took me a moment to reach the voice. I had been far, far away in my own galaxy. “Who?”
