AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 25
Rachel
Rachel Winters could say no to just about everything and everyone—except Michael. So, when he called her in a panic at eight in the morning on Saturday begging her to rush in to teach a workshop again, she groaned, thought of a million reasons to say no, and then agreed. She dashed to the bathroom to make herself look presentable, strutted to the nearest Starbucks a few blocks away for a must-need caffeine fix, and marched into the workshop area in the theater, feeling like the scene was all too familiar when she blasted through the door with only two minutes to spare.
Wheezing and out of breath from rushing about, she flung open the door to the room.
But something was off. Something was different, and even though she could barely catch her breath, she took a few steps back in confusion, wondering if she was losing her mind.
She’d expected to dash in at the last second, apologize for running late, and head into her rehearsed lines about how she had gotten into acting. She would ask for questions and then do a demo with one major difference—there absolutely, positively, wouldn’t be a balcony scene. No way, no how. She’d learned her lesson there.
But when she walked into the room, she was shocked by the emptiness of it. There were no kids from an inner-city school like Michael had suggested. There were no teachers or students or audience of any kind to discuss theater with.
It was a room, completely empty, rows and rows of folding chairs with no one in them.
Rachel was confused. Had she misheard Michael this morning when she was still in a groggy haze? Had she mixed up the date or time? She sighed, pulling her phone out of her bag, checking to see if there were any messages.
When she pulled the phone out, though, another name lit up her phone and she was even more confused. The universe certainly had weird, weird timing.
* * *
“Hello?”she asked, too much in a frantic frenzy to think about the implications of answering his call. She was flustered and tired and still mildly out of breath, so she clicked the phone on without hesitation.
“Rachel. It’s good to hear your voice,” Zander said into the phone. “I’m so sorry I missed your calls. I had a majorly crazy week. There was a bad family emergency, and I was out of town. In the middle of it, I lost my phone. I never even saw you called. I’m sorry.”
Rachel stood, staring at the empty room, taking in the sound of his deep voice resonating through the phone. It was good to hear his voice, too, she admitted, although she was confused. And more than a little worried.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“No. It’s not. It’s absolutely not.”
Her heart froze and, despite everything between them, panic settled in even more intensely than when she’d heard the word emergency. “What is it?”
“Listen, Rachel. We need to talk. When you left that night, when you said it was over, I was an idiot. I was a complete moron for letting you walk away from me. I should’ve stopped you in your tracks. I should’ve pinned you up against the side of the theater, kissed you, and sworn to you I wasn’t going anywhere. Because that’s what I wanted to do. From the moment I saw you, there’s been this inexplicable thing there, Rachel. I know you felt it too. It makes no sense, and I don’t claim to understand the intricacies of it. Yet, somehow, it does make sense. It makes sense the universe would put us together, two semi-broken people with hearts filled with dreams we protect at all costs. The thing is, over the time we’ve known each other, something’s just clicked. It clicked in ways I can’t even describe. You made me a better person. You made me realize who I want to be, who I am. More than that, you made me realize a future without you isn’t something I can even begin to accept.”
Suddenly, the empty workshop didn’t matter. The words coming from Zander’s mouth were what mattered.
She didn’t realize it until this moment, but for the past two lonely weeks, she’d been waiting for this. She’d been craving this. She’d just been afraid to let the words ring with the truth.
She loved him. Pure and simple, she loved him. She didn’t want to love him. She’d tried to avoid it all up to this very minute. But the words he was speaking well, they were the words on her heart, too.
She guessed it was true, no matter how cheesy it seemed—when you know, you know.
And right now, hearing Zander’s words, a rogue tear fell from Rachel’s eye. She knew. Gosh, how she knew.
“I’m sorry. For everything. I was just scared—" she began, but Zander butted in.
“Stop. There’s no time for apologizes right now. This is the time for something else. Can you meet me on the stage, please?”
Rachel blinked, confused. “Wait, what? You’re here.”
“I’ll explain later. Just please come to the stage, okay?”
Rachel blinked again, still wondering if she was swirling in an alternate reality or if she was just plain delusional today. Because she swore Zander just said to come to the stage—how was he here? Was this whole thing some elaborate setup?
And if it was, what was Rachel walking into?
She took a deep breath, hanging up the phone. She stood for a long moment taking in the scene of the empty room, trying to contain her wild and frenzied thoughts.
