His face lit up instantly. “I worried about your audition all day after talking about it last night. I’m happy to hear you got the role.”
“Still have no idea what the show is about, but I’m guessing I’ll find out eventually.”
“Well, you can tell me all about it over dinner. I’ll see you around 6:30?”
“Perfect!”
“Great. I’ll see myself out,” he said with a jerking motion of his head toward the front door. When the door closed behind him, I let out a sigh.
“That man will make a great husband one day.”
I pulled out my phone. I had a slew of messages that had come in from Johnny, so I hit the call button before bothering to listen to any of them.
“It’s about time you called me back,” Johnny said in lieu of a greeting. “I had to find out from my boyfriend that my best friend landed a starring role in a new Broadway musical.”
“I’m not in the lead. I’m a featured actor.”
“Whatever. You know that means they have some stunt casting they want to put in the lead roles, so the show will really rest on your shoulders.”
I rolled my eyes, but that didn’t have the intended effect when Johnny wasn’t here to see them roll. “If you’d slow down and let me talk, I’ll tell you what happened.”
“Gossip?”
“Of sorts.”
“I’m all ears.”
And like that, I told Johnny in minute detail everything that had transpired in the stairwell. The good, the bad, the ugly, and the hottie next door.
“I can’t wait to meet this new neighbor,” Johnny said with a purring sound in his voice.
“Hands off, he’s straight,” I blurted.
“Oh, and how do you already know this?”
“Because I may have assumed he was gay yesterday.”
“You didn’t?”
“I did.” So, I launched into the story of the previous afternoon and how it led to dinner with Carissra and Kirk.
“Well, I will take a quick nap before you and Amani get here. Tell Amani that at least one neighbor will join us and maybe two.”
The gasp on the other end of the line did its desired trick as I dropped that bombshell on Johnny.
“The hottie neighbor is coming to dinner?”
“My neighbor who helped me yesterday and today is joining us for dinner. Now, please be on your best behavior tonight. I don’t want to scare him from the building.”
“Would I do that?”
“In a heartbeat,” I deadpanned.
“True enough. See you at 6:00.”
And with that, he hung up the phone. I switched out the mixed vegetables for some green beans before downing an anti-inflammatory I kept around the house. I’m a dancer; stuff happens to us all the time. I can’t be running off to the doctor every time I injure myself or have a little inflammation. Thankfully, my primary care physician and I have an understanding. If it’s ever too bad, I promised I’d see her immediately.
I let myself drift off to sleep with the drugs in my system and green beans on my ankle.
