“That’s my man,” Johnny cut in. “He can’t go to anyone’s house without bringing at least two dishes.”
“I’m not that bad.”
“Keep telling yourself that, honey.”
Kirk finally stared at the group huddled outside the kitchen in the cramped entry hallway. “Okay, all of you, go sit down.”
“Aye, aye, captain,” Johnny said with a mock salute. He grabbed Amani by his upper arm and dragged him into the living room.
I huddled on the other side of the opening that separated the kitchen and dining area, which was becoming my usual spot when I hung out with Kirk. “Now that all the chefs are out of the kitchen. Do you need anything?” I said it softly enough that only Kirk could hear me.
“Nah, I’m good… Why don’t I pass you stuff, and you can put it on the table?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Kirk started unwrapping things and handing them to me. I then placed them on the table. Before long, the table was so full I wasn’t sure if there would be enough room for everyone to have plates in front of them.
“The turkey is done,” Kirk said. He pulled the turkey out of the oven. The little thermometer in the turkey had popped up. He lifted it out of the oven.
“I don’t know where you’re going to put that on the table,” I warned him. “It’s already pretty darn full.”
Kirk leaned around to stare at the table and gave me a sideways smile. “I guess we have enough food to feed an army out there. I’ll slice the turkey here and put it on a platter.”
“Okay.”
A few minutes later, Kirk came out of the kitchen with a giant platter of cut turkey and everyone oohed and awed. We ate and talked for the next two hours. When it was all said and done, I tried to get Kirk to let us help him clean up, but he wouldn’t hear any of it. I promised to drop by the next day to pick up the chairs I’d hauled over.
“Thanks for an amazing Thanksgiving,” Kirk said as I was leaving. He stood in the entryway, his hand gripping the top part of the door as he leaned against it.
“What? You cooked everything. I showed up with a couple of bottles of wine.”
“Not that. You made this whole day special. Since the accident, I’ve not seen Carissra light up like she did at the parade. I didn’t realize how much we needed that.”
I reached out and gently patted him on the chest, letting my hand linger just a second longer than was just a friendly pat. “I’m glad I could do that for her. Being a semi-celebrity has its privileges.” I looked at my hand and quickly removed it before saying, “Well, I have rehearsal tomorrow. Gotta get some sleep.”
“I can’t believe you don’t get a day off,” Kirk said, shaking his head.
“We start tech week on Monday, so we need to be clear on where things are with the show before we start with lights, special effects, the orchestra, and many other people flying about the theater to help us get ready for our first performance.
“When is that, by the way?”
“Not this Tuesday, but the following one.”
“That fast? You just started rehearsing.”
“In our world, things are often this fast or faster. But,” I drew the word out before I finished my thought, “this is really fast for a new musical. As they say, that’s show business.”
With that, I turned and walked next door. When I pulled out my key to unlock the door, I glanced to my left. Kirk stared after me with a contented look on his face.
Chapter 19
Iwokeupthefollowing morning early. I know my body. It runs like a machine. And anytime I put extra stress on that machine, it likes to rebel in subtle ways. Yesterday I stressed out my body twice. I performed outside in the cold. And while we were only lip-synching to the music, I think everyone on the ground was still singing. We just weren’t full-on belting for the balcony singing.
Then there was Thanksgiving dinner. I enjoyed every bite, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. However, my body wasn’t used to that much food in one sitting, so I was more sluggish than usual as my body was still processing what I ate. To help my body readjust, I needed to take a moment and support it. If I was going to survive eight shows a week, I needed to make sure my body was in peak performance.
So, off to the gym I went on an early Black Friday morning. The gym was pretty much empty. There was another guy lifting weights, but other than the two of us, I could have heard a pin drop. I guess most people don’t need to be at work by 9:30 today. San Nicolás had given us a whole extra thirty minutes because it was Thanksgiving. Whoop-de-doo! And I guess those people who are up early are looking for shopping specials and not a quick warmup for the day.
After running, I went back to my apartment and dragged out my yoga mat. I didn’t have time for an entire routine, but I needed to limber up before heading into a full day of rehearsal. After running through a traditional asana set, I took a child’s pose for a few minutes. I enjoyed the cool mat against my forehead as I stretched my arms out in front of me while continuing to practice my ujjayi pranayama breathing.
