“Mami,” Jules said in a pleading tone.
“What?” her mother said with a shrug. “I saw the way Amir looked at you on stage tonight.”
Amir. Of course she would think that. Sophie wanted to sink through the floor and disappear.
“He wasacting,” Jules said. “I already told you there’s nothing between me and Amir.”
“I should go,” Sophie said. “I just wanted to say congrats again, Jules. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Jules grabbed her hand. “Please stay. Won’t you come to dinner with us?”
“Yes,” Paula agreed. “I insist. I’d love the chance to get to know you better.”
“I wish I could,” Sophie said, but as much as it hurt to walk away, she couldn’t do this. Not tonight. “But I already made other plans.”
Jules’s face fell, her expression so wounded that Sophie almost took it back. But she couldn’t go to dinner with Jules’s family and let her mom grill her about what boy Jules liked. Sophie’s emotions were too raw for that tonight. Her pride was dented.
“Please?” Jules asked, holding Sophie’s gaze.
“Sorry,” Sophie told her, taking a step back. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Okay,” Jules whispered, a crease between her brows.
“It was great to meet you,” Sophie told her family, and then she turned away, one hand pressed against her heart. As soon as she’d reached her dressing room, she grabbed her coat and bag, making a quick excuse to Tabitha for why she wouldn’t be able to join her castmates for drinks after all.
Sophie rushed out of the theater and into the frosty night. Something dark and ugly swelled inside her, building with each step she took. Every fear, every insecurity, every disappointment she’d harbored over the last few years rose to the surface, twisting painfully in her heart.
What if her moment in the spotlight never came? What if she never recaptured the pure, unblemished joy she used to feel at the end of a performance, before she’d allowed this bitterness and resentment to creep in? What if she’d foolishly fallen in love with another woman who’d never be able to acknowledge their relationship publicly?
As she walked down that slushy Brooklyn street, headed for her pull-out couch in the apartment she was about to lose, Sophie feared she was setting herself up for heartbreak, both personally and professionally, and she only knew one way out.
Syracuse.
20
Jules couldn’t stop replaying the look on Sophie’s face when she’d introduced her as a friend. From there, everything had gone wrong, and Jules was furious with herself for it. In the whirlwind of the day, she hadn’t had a chance to anticipate how she should handle the moment, but short of coming out to her family right here in this crowded hallway, she wasn’t sure how she could have done it differently.
“I made us a reservation at Fin,” her mom said. “I know it’s one of your favorites.”
Fin, the seafood restaurant where Jules and Sophie had shared their memorable—and memorably interrupted—first date. She forced a smile. “Sounds great.”
“You okay, sweetie?” Her mom was nothing if not perceptive.
“Just tired,” she said. “And still a little sick.” She had hardly felt her stomach during the performance, but it twisted uncomfortably now, reminding her of its presence…and her guilt over the way she’d let Sophie walk away.
“Are you up for dinner?” Paula asked. “Maybe we should celebrate at home.”
“Mami,” Alex protested. “We’re starving, and we promised the girls a fancy dinner if they sat through the show.”
“We’re going,” Jules told him. “Just give me a minute to change.” And maybe a quick cry in the bathroom, because she was ridiculously emotional right now. Tonight had been a dream come true, and yet…
“Jules!”
She turned to find Sarah, her assistant from the Sapphire, hurrying down the hall toward her. “Hey, Sarah.”
“I just wanted to let you know there are people at the stage door waiting for you. Should I tell them you’ll be out?”
Jules blinked. People at the stage door. Waiting forher. “Yeah…yes, I’ll be right out.”
