“Huh?” Ethan asked, coming back to the moment. “Sorry… My mind wandered for a moment.”
“Where did it go?” Blayne asked.
“A friend of mine was a swing on Broadway. She covered nine ensemble tracks in the show. If something happened to any cast member, she stepped right in as if nothing had transpired. Anyway, she told me some of the backstage antics.” Ethan recounted the entire story as close to how Sally had told it to him as was humanly possible.
Ethan found it easy to talk to Blayne, even easier than when he had chatted with Blayne on the app. He looked at Blayne in the driver’s seat and smiled at the man.
“What?” Blayne asked when he caught Ethan staring.
“Nothing,” Ethan replied. “Glad to finally meet you after all this time. It feels like I’ve known you forever.”
“Because we have known each other for a long time.”
“You know what Imean. You’re exactly like I expected you to be…all smart and handsome.”
“And you, dear Roy, are nothing like I expected.”
Ethan narrowed his eyes in confusion. “How so?”
“Well, look at you,” Blayne said, gesturing at Ethan.
“And?”
“You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?” Blayne asked with a bit of a huff. “You’re definitely a hell of a lot hotter than I expected. You’re even hotter than the pic you sent me last night. I didn’t think you’d have a third head or anything, but when you wouldn’t trade pics for the longest time, I kind of had images of Quasimodo in my head.”
“Like the cute Quasi from the Disney movie or the old black-and-white movie?”
“Well, you’re definitely more Disney,” Blayne said with a wink.
“Thanks, I think,” Ethan laughed.
“Take it any way you want.”
“Why don’t you find us the show your friend was in?”
“You may not have it,” Ethan said.
“I seriously doubt that,” Blayne said with a grin.
Ethan looked through the iPhone, located a show, pushed play and the orchestration began.
“I loved this show on Broadway,” Blayne said.
“You saw it?” Ethan asked with a bit more shock than he’d intended.
“Yes,” Blayne said matter-of-factly. “This Texas boy tries to visit New York City at least a few times a year to catch up on his shows. Would love to live there, but the job of an academic doesn’t lend itself well to picking where you want to live.”
“What do you mean?”
“Academics have to specialize in specific areas. Then we must find jobs at colleges and universities looking for that specific skill set, teaching ability and background to fill a specific gap within a department. In my area, there may be three or four job openings across the country in a given year.”
“Damn!”
“Damn, is right,” Blayne replied. “Having taught public school for a couple of years out in West Texas while in graduate school will give me a huge leg up when I start looking for jobs after I finish my doctorate.”
“Cool. How much longer do you have?”
“I should finish coursework in the spring. Then next year, I will focus on writing my dissertation.”
