“On it.” Sophie took a swig of beer and set down the bottle to rummage through the pantry. A minute later, she held up the brownie box triumphantly. “Bonus, they’re dark chocolate.”
“I might have bought those specifically with you in mind,” her mom told her with a grin.
“Because you’re the best.” Sophie started gathering the ingredients she needed. There were no fancy chefs in her family. Her mom was an adequate cook and had made sure Sophie and Tanner always had a homecooked meal on the table at dinnertime, but she embraced easy favorites like pizza, casseroles, and spaghetti, and her brownies always came from a box.
“I have a proposition for you,” her mom said as she chopped tomatoes.
“Oh yeah?” Sophie whisked together water, olive oil, and a raw egg in a large mixing bowl.
“Go see Stuart tomorrow at the theater.”
“Stuart?” Sophie gave her a quizzical look. “Why?”
Stuart Grimmel owned the Alton Theater, where Sophie had spent practically every free moment of her childhood and teenage years. She’d acted in the theater’s youth productions through elementary and middle school, and in high school, she’d graduated to the theater’s main stage, taking any and every role she could get. Once she’d been old enough, she’d also worked there, soaking up as much of the backstage experience as she could. She’d painted sets and sewed costumes, worked the lights, and swept the stage after everyone else had gone home.
It had been her home away from home before she moved to Manhattan, and Stuart had been her mentor. She had nothing but fond memories of her years at the Alton Theater.
“Just go see him,” her mom insisted. “He’s expecting you.”
“Mom,” Sophie protested. “You’ve got to give me more to go on than that.” Because this felt like a setup, and she didn’t like it.
“Fine.” Her mom lifted her hands in defeat. “Shirley’s retiring, so he’s looking for someone to lead the youth program, and you’re the first person he thought of.”
“Well, why didn’t you just start with that?” Sophie scowled as she dumped the brownie mix into the bowl and began to stir.
“Because you’d tell me you don’t want to work at the local theater. You don’t want to be a manager. You want to be an actress. And I get that. I really do. I just think you should go see Stuart and hear him out. This could be an amazing opportunity for you.”
“That’s exactly what I’m going to tell you, Mom,” Sophie said. “It’s a great opportunity, but it’s not for me.”
“Go talk to him. That’s all I ask.”
“Okay,” Sophie conceded. It would be good to visit the theater and to see Stuart. And honestly, it was flattering that he’d thought of her for the job. The Alton’s Young Actors program had been such a foundational part of her career and still held a special place in her heart. She’d love to revisit that world, if it didn’t mean giving up her current life.
“Thank you,” her mom said. “Now tell me all about this girl you’ve been dating. Will I meet her on opening night?”
“I imagine you will,” Sophie told her. “But whether I’m introducing her to you as my girlfriend depends on whether she comes out to her family this week.”
“Yes, I guess it would,” her mom said with a nod. “That certainly complicates things.”
“It does.”
“Do you have a picture?” her mom asked.
Sophie nodded, setting down the whisk she’d been using to mix the brownie batter to tug her cell phone out of her back pocket. She pulled up a selfie she and Jules had taken together last week at the theater.
“Oh, she’s gorgeous,” her mom exclaimed. “I can certainly see how she caught your eye.”
“She is,” Sophie agreed. “But she’s also super fun to be around. She’s smart and funny. I think we complement each other well, like she’s bold where I’m jaded and vice versa.”
“And that’s so important to have in a partner, someone who challenges you to grow. Your father and I have that. It sounds serious, then? Or at least the potential to become serious?”
“I’d say potential at this point,” Sophie said. “We’ve only been together a few weeks, and the whole relationship is on shaky ground until she comes out, so we’ll see what happens.”
“Well, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you two. Is she from New York?”
Sophie shook her head. “Miami.”
“Ah, sounds wonderful right about now.” She glanced out the kitchen window at the snow-covered yard.
