I took a peek out into the audience while Stacie did her speech and I found my husband with another bouquet in the front row. He was alone this time, but he was here, and that was what mattered most.
Everything was going perfect until the lights went out on Thomas and I. Instead of backing up he pressed himself harder onto me and began sucking on my neck. I froze. I didn’t want to ruin the scene, but I didn’t have much room to pull away. I sat there in silence while he continued to kiss me. Finally, when I regained thought I pinched him hard on his shoulder. He ripped his arm away quickly and got the hint.
I wanted to murder him in real life. When the show ended and I got the chance to get out of costume I hurried to a mirror, and sure enough there was a giant hickey on my neck. He came in shortly after and I spun around. He saw me giving him the death glare and he held up his hands.
“It was a joke. A parting gift,” I shook my head and finished packing up.
“It’s not funny Thomas.”
I hurried out to start helping break down the set. Everyone here was skilled and had done this so many times it barely took twenty minutes. Stacie reminded everyone that the party was at her house and we shut the theater down and all left.
I was still fuming from Thomas’ not funny joke. I wanted to vent, but I knew Mark would flip a lid and I didn’t want to start a fight between the two. He was in such a great mood; it would be a shame to ruin it over something that was over and done with. I could cover it up with makeup easily.
Stacie’s house was overflowing by the time we arrived. The music was blaring and beer and food covered every available surface. I grabbed a beer and forced myself to relax and enjoy the company. This was the last time this specific group of people would be together.
Someone had set up the live taping of the show on her TV, so we went to the living room and watched a bit of it. It was kind of crazy to see myself on the screen. I had never had a show taped before. We were a traveling troupe with little money. We used to rely on local theatres for costumes, scripts, and whatever sets they had that we could borrow. Hiring a cameraman was never in the budget.
“You look great up there,” someone I didn’t recognize told me. I thanked them. Mark squeezed my shoulder and excused himself to find a bathroom. Moments later his empty space was replaced with Thomas’ presence. I rolled my eyes and sighed deeply.
“I’m not in the mood right now Thomas,” I told him, but he reached out to touch my shoulder.
“I need to apologize. I don’t know why I thought it would be funny, but obviously it wasn’t. I don’t want you to think of me as some scumbag. I swear I’ll be good. Friends?” He offered his hand out for me to shake. I was hesitant, but finally shook his hand.
Suddenly the music lowered and we turned to see Stacie holding up two rather large bottles of vodka.
“Who wants to play a game?” She shouted. The room let out a collective groan. Feeling bad that no one wanted to play with her I raised my hand.
“Are you crazy?” Thomas asked me and I shrugged.
“I guess. Come with us,” I said. He glared at me but followed me. Mark was coming out of the bathroom just as we were heading outside with Stacie and a few others. I grabbed his hand and pulled him forward.
We sat at her patio table and she gave us all shot glasses, pouring vodka in each of them. Mark sat on one side of me, while I insisted Gabby sit on my other side. I saw Thomas frown but quickly sit on the other side of the table opposite me.
“Can we get some chasers?” I asked and she hurried back inside, returning with cans of coke. She set them on the table for us to grab.
“Okay, we are playing name that line. I am going to say a line. The first person to shout out whose line it was gets to tell someone to drink. If you guess wrong, you have to drink. Okay, first line.Were you poor? Did you eat chicken pot pies?”
The table erupted but the first person to get their hand up was Gabby. Stacie motioned to her.
“That would be miss Jackie-O herself,” she leaned over and squeezed my shoulder. Everyone cheered and Gabby looked around the table for her victim.
“Stacie, you drink.”
Stacie blinked rapidly for a moment. I think she was confused about what had just happened. “What?”
Gabby repeated herself and after a long moment Stacie took her shot.I looked at Gabby and she winked at me, and then turned to give everyone a look. The table quickly understood and everyone who guessed a line correctly chose Stacie to take the shot. After the fifth shot she called the game off and slumped in her seat.
“When this kicks in I’m going to throw up. I hate you all,” she murmured. Everyone laughed and Thomas offered to grab everyone beers.
We spent the rest of the evening shooting the breeze with the cast. We laughed about the show in which my wig slipped to the side so much it was very obvious, and the audience started laughing.
“Yeah, but what about the time you tripped on the stairs and almost landed on your face?” I teased Gabby.
“I almost peed myself I was so freaked out for a split second!” She exclaimed.
Eventually the party started thinning and I let out a yawn. Mark, who had been a trooper the entire time asked me if I wanted to leave. I looked over at him. He was so handsome. I told him so and played with his jacket. He kissed my cheek and stood up.
“I’m going to go grab the car.” He waved to everyone. “It was nice meeting all of you. Maybe I’ll audition for the next show, get to make some inside jokes with all of you.” He gave them one last smile and left.
