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Nick drains the last drops of his beer and blinks slowly at the table, letting out a long sigh. “Well, I’m gonna call it a night.”
When he starts to walk away, the obligatory, half-strangled words come out of my mouth. “Happy Birthday, Nick.”
“Yeah…” He gives a disgruntled wave over his shoulder as he leaves through the crowd.
Kai pushes his glass to the center of the table and shoves his hands in his pockets. “I need to stop by the theater and grab my script. You two both have a ride home?”
We both nod, and Maureen replies without looking at him. “We’ll share a cab.”
I gulp. I know she’s angry that I hid this from her. Sharing a cab sounds like a death threat.
“Alright.” Kai turns from the table. “See ya tomorrow.” He disappears even more quickly into the crowd than Nick.
When we’re alone, Maureen lifts her gaze to mine. There’s betrayal there. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
I grab her arm, pulling her toward the exit. “Let’s walk and talk. I’m about to get a headache from this music.”
We step out onto the sidewalk, immediately hail one of the waiting cabs, and climb into the back seat. I turn to Maureen and bite my lip nervously. “Ok, so yes, last summer, when I met Kai in Long Island, we initially hit it off.”
She’s watching me silently. She doesn’t look angry as much as she does hurt.
I close my eyes momentarily. “I went back to his room. We kissed. But that was it. I didn’t tell you because it really doesn’t matter. I can assure you of that. Neither of us is interested anymore.”
She’s watching me with skepticism. “Did he walk away from you too?”
I quickly understand that she’s trying to connect the dots to make sense of what he did to her the other night. I shake my head. “No, I walked away from him.”
She purses her lips. “Oh, ok.”
“But he’s not interested in me now either,” I assure her. “It was so long ago. I didn’t want to bring it up if I didn’t have to. But Drew…”
“Yeah…well, I’m glad somebody said something.” She sighs, halting my words and looking out her window at the streetlights flying by.
I close my mouth, leaning my head back on the seat. Now everyone hates me, so that’s great.
After a few moments of silence, the cab pulls up to her hotel. “I’ll walk from here,” I say, getting out with her.
We silently stride down the sidewalk. It’s an exceptionally quiet night, and all I can hear is the buzzing of the greenish-yellow lights that line the street.
When we reach the hotel entrance, Maureen turns to me. “Look, if nothing’s going on between you two, that’s fine. But it would have been nice if you would have told me.” She brings a hand to her forehead. “God, I’ve been sitting around gushing about him to you.”
I frown and look at my feet. “I know, I’m sorry.”
“I’m tired,” she sighs, starting to turn away. “I can’t believe we’re starting previews tomorrow…after all this.”
I don’t reply. I feel like anything else out of my mouth might only make things worse. So I turn down the sidewalk and continue to my building.
She’s right, our first show in front of an audience is tomorrow, and I hardly know how we’ll all make it through. I haven’t kissed Kai since before our argument, and now, so much more has fallen apart. It’s bound to be a disaster.
I’m irritated with Kai, he doesn’t want to be anywhere near me, and Maureen is angry at the both of us.
I’m exhausted already.
I reach my building and climb the steps. When I arrive at my hallway, I begin to rummage through my purse for my keys. After a few steps though, I look up again and quickly stop in place.
Nick stands halfway down the hall, leaning against the wall next to my door. When he hears me, he lifts his head and smiles.
“Oh, hi Nick…um…” I clear my throat as I take a few steps in his direction. “What are you doing here?”
