“You okay, Jules?” Kari asked.
She swiped at her tears, nodding. “Dream come true.”
“Happy to make it happen for you,” Kari said. “You deserve this.”
Jules glanced at Sophie, wishing she were on the cover of the playbill too, wishing Jules was kissingher, not Micki.
“It’s gorgeous,” Sophie said, her tone and expression sincere. “I’m so happy for you.”
“I have even better news for you,” Kari told them. “This went live on our social media a few hours ago, so you’re free to share.”
“Don’t move,” Sophie said, grabbing Jules’s cell phone from the table in front of her, then handing it back with a sheepish look so Jules could unlock it for her. “Hold up the playbill.”
Jules did as she said, holding the pamphlet in front of herself as she posed for a photo. Her cheeks were still wet with tears, and her fingers shook as they gripped the playbill.
“Perfect,” Sophie whispered as she clicked several rapid photos before handing the phone to Jules.
She glanced at the screen, andgah, she looked a mess, but there was no mistaking the real, raw emotion on her face. Even if she ended up taking a more composed photo later, she was glad Sophie had captured this moment for her.
“Text it to your mom,” Sophie urged, resting a hand discreetly on Jules’s knee.
She nodded, not even bothering to type anything to accompany the photo. It spoke for itself. She took a closeup of the playbill and sent that too. Almost immediately, her phone began to ring.
Beside her, Sophie grinned.
“Julia!” her mother exclaimed as she connected the call. “This is beautiful. It’s amazing. Oh honey, I’m so proud I could burst.” Her voice shook, and Jules was crying again, not even caring that the whole table was watching her with amused expressions. Probably, they’d all heard every word. People outside on the street could probably hear her mother’s excitement.
“Thanks, Mami.”
“I’m sending it to Rob and Alex right now,” she said. “And all your cousins.”
Jules rolled her eyes in mock exasperation. “I’ll call you later, okay? I’m at dinner with the whole cast right now.”
“Tell them hello from me,” Paula said. “I can’t wait to meet them in person after Christmas.”
“I’m pretty sure they heard you,” Jules said, unable to fight her smile as heads nodded all around the table.
“Congratulations,mija. I absolutely can’t wait to see you up on that stage. It’s going to be one of the proudest moments of my life.”
Jules thanked her and ended the call, giving her castmates a sheepish look. “So, that’s my mom. And yes, you’ll all meet her when we open for previews.”
And then she almost did a really stupid thing. She almost leaned over and kissed Sophie, right here in front of everyone. They’d spent most of their evenings this week together, soaking up every moment before they left Brooklyn for Christmas, and it felt so good, so comfortable. So much that Jules had almost forgotten they had to keep this under wraps in front of their castmates for professional reasons. Not to mention, she wasn’t exactly sure what the rest of the cast had assumed about her sexuality.
The more time she spent with Sophie, the more secure and confident she felt about dating a woman, but at the same time, they’d kept their relationship in a protective bubble, separate from their day-to-day lives. No one knew, except Josie and Eve.
The enormity of what she had to do felt suddenly more real. Coming out was more than telling her family. That was only the beginning. She’d have to tell her friends, castmates, so many people in her life. Was she ready for this? She looked at Sophie, and the one thing she knew for sure was that she had feelings,strongfeelings, for this woman. And that meant she would have to do the work to be able to acknowledge those feelings to the rest of the people in her life.
Their drinks arrived, and there were many toasts, a lot of celebrating, and even more photos shared on social media. The excitement around the table was palpable. They drank. They ate. They drank more. By the time they stumbled outside together, laughter spreading like wildfire through the group, they were all at least partly drunk and feelinggood.
“Walk me home?” Sophie asked.
Jules nodded. “Unless you want to come over?”
“So tempting, but I have an early flight tomorrow, and unfortunately, I haven’t even started packing yet.”
“Okay, then.” She fell into step beside Sophie, headed toward her apartment. “I’m going to miss you like crazy.”
“Same,” Sophie said, linking her arm through Jules’s now that they had parted from the rest of the group.
