“To quote a cliché…it’s not you, it’s me,” Sophie said, looking down at her hands. “I was just feeling some things after my rehearsal, that’s all.”
“Bad things?” Jules asked. “Because you were amazing.”
“Not bad. Just complicated.”
Josie arrived with their drinks, setting two glasses on the bar in front of them. “Be back to chat more, ladies.” With a wave, she was off again to serve her other customers.
Sophie lifted her drink and took a hearty swallow, and Jules hoped the moment hadn’t passed. She wanted to know what was on Sophie’s mind. As if she could still hear the noise from Jules’s thoughts, Sophie took another generous sip of her drink and looked sideways at Jules.
“I guess part of me was wishing I would get to do those scenes for real,” she said. “This is the closest I’ve ever gotten, and standing up there today made me realize how far away I still am.”
“I don’t think you’re that far away,” Jules said quietly. “I really don’t.”
“Thanks,” Sophie said. “Anyway, I’m fine. Although I was pretty surprised when you outed yourself to Josie just now.”
“Oh.” Jules flinched, reaching for her glass. “She already knew, not about us, but about me.”
“When did you tell her?” Sophie asked, looking somewhat peeved.
“She and Eve came over one night to see my cats, since they were their foster moms when they were kittens. Anyway, I was in the middle of my sexual identity crisis, so I asked them for advice.”
Sophie’s expression softened. “I’m glad. It’s good to have other queer friends.”
“I guess it is.” Jules sipped her drink, enjoying the fizz of the prosecco against her tongue. She really was a sucker for a bubbly drink. “It was fun kissing you onstage today.”
“Yeah?” Sophie said, giving her a coy look.
“Didn’t you enjoy it?” Jules asked, eyebrows raised.
Sophie shrugged, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “I can kiss you anytime I want.”
“Oh really?” Jules leaned closer, pulse quickening. “Anytime at all?”
Sophie licked her lips. “That’s what I said.”
“Pretty presumptuous,” Jules murmured, and then they were kissing, not the chaste press of lips they’d shared on stage or in that Christmas bar last week, but a real kiss, the kind of kiss that left the flavor of Sophie’s whiskey drink on Jules’s tongue and had her blood rushing through her veins.
They lifted their heads, grinning at each other. Jules felt bold and daring, kissing a woman in the middle of a crowded bar. But since it was a gay bar, no one even batted an eye, except maybe Josie who was staring in their direction with a distinctly delighted expression on her face.
Jules leaned in to press her lips against Sophie’s again. “Want to come over tonight?”
“Yeah,” Sophie said. “I’d like that.”
* * *
Jules pushedthrough the theater’s back door, flanked by Sophie and Tabitha. It was Friday afternoon, and they’d just wrapped their last day of rehearsals. Tomorrow, she’d fly to Miami while Sophie left for Syracuse, both of them heading home for the holidays. When they returned after Christmas, they would dive straight into dress rehearsals ahead of the first night of previews.
They walked to the pub next to the theater, the same pub they’d visited after the first day of rehearsals. Tonight, Kari had reserved the back room for them. They arrived in twos and threes, gathering to share one final night together, a celebration after weeks of hard work.
“I have a surprise for you all,” Kari told them as she took her seat at the head of the table. Everyone turned to look at her, and Jules saw her own excitement reflected on her castmates’ faces. “Playbills,” Kari said as she reached for the large tote bag beside her chair.
Jules gasped, a thrill racing over her skin. Tears pricked her eyes in anticipation of seeing her face on the official artwork. Sophie’s hand slid into her lap, finding Jules’s and giving it a squeeze.
Kari pulled a stack of playbills out of the bag and began passing them around the table. The front cover was a vivid purple. Jules didn’t look directly at it at first, accepting the stack as it reached her. She lifted a booklet off the top and passed the rest to Sophie. Only then did she look down, inhaling sharply.
She was at the center of the image in Bianca’s blue dress, and she was kissing Micki. It was the shot they’d staged to illustrate the love triangle, with Jules leaning toward Micki, their lips barely touching as Amir held her other hand, attempting to get her attention. The words “It’s in Her Kiss” hung above them in big, dramatic letters.
Tears overflowed her lids and spilled down her cheeks. It was a beautiful design, absolutely perfect. This image would be printed on posters all over New York City and grace the marquee on the Sapphire Theater.
