TherestofWednesdayflew by in a flash. Serafina read McKenna’s lines to keep the show moving forward. Even in a case when someone gets injured, show people don’t have time to stop and take stock of anything. By the time I got home that evening, I was physically and emotionally exhausted. Before I went into my place, I walked next door and knocked on Kirk and Carissra’s door. I heard shuffling inside before the door opened.
“Oh, hey, Erika,” Kirk said. He was wearing a red apron with a cartoon turkey with a speech bubble that read, ‘They stuff what where…Oh, hell no!’I laughed when I read it. Kirk smiled knowingly.
“Love that,” I said. “I needed a laugh today.”
“Uh-oh, what happened?”
“I won’t bore you with the details of my crazy life. I came by to talk logistics about tomorrow.”
“From what I can tell, nothing about your life is ever boring. And right now, I’m getting ready for tomorrow. So, come on in and have a glass of wine.”
“I don’t want to bother—“
“Not a bother at all. It’s boring cooking in here all by myself.”
“Where’s Carissra?”
“She’s over in the other tower at a friend’s house.”
“I’m glad she’s making friends in the building.”
“Me too.” Kirk opened the door a little wider and gestured for me to come inside. I hesitated for a second but took him up on his offer. I walked in, and he ushered me to the other side of the kitchen. There was a window with a ledge separating the kitchen from the dining room area. “Hope you don’t mind red.”
“Not at all. I’m pretty open with my wine preferences.” He pulled a red wine glass from a cabinet before popping the cork off an already-opened bottle. He poured the glass and sat it in front of me.
“It’s an Australian Shiraz,” Kirk said. “Beyond that, I can’t tell you anything else about it. I know if you swirl the glass, you can see if the wine has ‘legs.’”
Just for the fun of it, I swirled the glass and watched as the residue of the wine clung to the top part of the glass as it slowly slid down. “Nice.”
“So, tell me about your day. In the immortal words from Charlie Brown, ‘Psychiatric Help, Five Cents.’”
“Wow, you’re definitely cheaper than my therapist,” I joked, making a mental note to call and schedule an appointment. I clearly had a lot to work through from the past few weeks. I spent the next forty minutes detailing the craziness that started on Monday and ran through this morning.
Kirk looked at me and patted me on the shoulder before saying, “Whoa…you’ve had a couple of…days, haven’t you?”
“That’s one way to put it,” I said, nudging him with my shoulder. “At one point, my life wasn’t this crazy or full of drama, but geez.”
“Well, I guess drama does come with the whole theater thing. Doesn’t it?” Kirk asked.
“Oh, theater people are definitely larger-than-life characters, but this has been crazy for even my regular drama-riddled life.”
We sat there for a moment, just holding each other’s gaze.God, he has beautiful eyes.
There was a sudden sound at the front door as it opened, and Carissra wheeled herself inside. “I’m home,” she started to yell but then saw Kirk was in the kitchen.
“Oh hey, sorry I’m later than I said I would be. I got caught up in a video game I was playing.”
“Not a problem. Honestly, I hadn’t noticed.” Kirk gestured toward me, but I doubted Carissra could see me from where she sat. “I’ve been catching up with Erika.”
“Hi, Erika,” Carissra said as she wheeled herself past the kitchen to where she could see me. She looked at the glass of wine in front of me and asked, “More drama at work or more man troubles?”
“Wow…” I said, squeezing my face together in shock. “You don’t mince words.”
“Hey, I calls them likes I sees them,” she said with a smile. “From my vantage point, there’s no reason to beat around the bush.”
“Well, to answer your question, I guess it’s a bit of both, but I won’t bore you with the details. Kirk has already been my therapist for the night. Besides, I don’t want to trouble a teenager with my drama.”
“Whatever,” Carissra said, rolling her eyes dramatically. “I may be a teenager, but I’m quite perceptive.”
