“No, not a drama. I write comedies.”
“Comedies?” Liam seems even more interested. I’ve found that happens quite a bit. Whenever non-theater people think of theater, they always assume it’s solemn and serious. A lone man reciting theIliadunder a glaring spotlight. They forget that theater can be anything. Everything. There are no rules. It can be fun and nonsensical while still shaking you to your core.
“So, the way I imagine it, the stage is divided in two identical halves. In one jail cell, you have the characters in the current day, and in the other jail cell, you have the characters in their high school form. They can sporadically hear and observe each other, but they don’t interact directly. The older characters watch as the younger selves act out past memories. The younger ones look and listen to their older selves and wonder how they got there.”
“That actually sounds very compelling.”
“Thanks. Also, the prom king is there, too. As a ghost—as both the older and younger version of himself.”
“And you think my aunt can help you with this? It doesn’t really sound like her area of expertise.”
“I guess it’s not. Even so, getting her eyes on it would be invaluable. Our plays might not be alike, but similar themes are there. Love, anguish, humor, unknown pasts, undetermined futures—all that good stuff.”
“Clearly her input is important to you. Important enough that you’re going along with her dating scheme.”
I quickly wonder just how open I should be here—not yet ready to explain that this very well might be my last hurrah with his aunt. I also slow down our walking pace to a near crawl since we’re now nearing the kebab station, and I’m desperately willing his timer to go off.
“It’s not just her input,” I end up saying. “I like to make her happy. And I know she shouldn’t have asked me to do this, but I agreed, so I might as well just see it through. All I’m really doing is collecting some stories, anyways.”
“Well, if stories are all you need, I can help you with that.” He’s about to go on when the timer sounds. If we’re going to continue delving into my moral/ethical dilemma, at least we can be consuming tasty chicken kebabs as we do it.
Five minutes later, we’re doing just that. Liam and I continue walking.
“So, here’s what I propose,” he says, after taking a hefty bite. “Rather than soldiering on in your internet dating marathon, I think you and I should continue to meet up instead. I have plenty of stories of my own, or I could tell you stories from friends of mine that you could bring back to my aunt. That way, you fulfill your obligation, with the added bonus of not having to go out with people who may or may not be looking to dabble in their very first violent crime.”
“A thoughtful offer,” I tell him. “And I get the appeal for me, but what about you? What will you be getting out of this arrangement?”
“I’ll get to spend time with you.”
His says that so calmly and matter-of-factly that I can’t help but to be thrown by it.
“And why would you want to do that?” I ask.
“Because I like you.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“Which circles us back around to me wanting to spend time with you. I want to get to know you.”
That thought makes me happy. Too happy for my own good.
“As much as I’d like that, this conversation is pointless. Juliette told me, point-blank, that she doesn’t want anything going on between us. I can’t just go against her wishes or risk getting fired because we feel like hanging out.”
“Well, now that we’ve established that you do, in fact, want to spend time with me as well, we can focus just on the aunt issue. Honestly, I doubt she would fire you for being friends with me. I’m not exactly a people person. She should be pleased.”
“She should be, but she’s not,” I tell him.
“Then she doesn’t have to know.”
Fabulous. A sneaky, flirty, high-stakes rendezvous. I’m sure that won’t lead to anything inappropriate happening at all.
“How many more people are you supposed to go out with?” Liam asks.
“The negotiated number was three.”
“Okay then. So cancel this last one and be with me instead.”
Be with me instead. I don’t know if he intended for that line to sound quite so tempting, but that’s definitely how it was received.
