Marley chuckled. “Ooh, they have steak frites. That’s what I’m having.” She closed her menu. “I’ve been clean eating for months and I need a cheat day.”
The server came then, and Nikhil ordered braised short ribs, and Marley the steak frites.
“Everyone in LA is on some special diet,” Nikhil said once the server left. “I’m always nervous ordering at a restaurant. I had a date walk out on me once because I was ‘triggering,’” he said, making air quotes. “Dating in LA is a trip. Do not recommend.”
Did that mean he was single? “Did she warn you in advance that she had food issues?”
Nikhil snorted. “I honestly think everyone in LA assumes everyone has food issues. Hard to be a foodie living there.”
“The restaurants in LA must be amazing, though.”
He shrugged. “Eh, I prefer Toronto. In LA I cook more than go out.” He chuckled. “I’m a bit addicted to cooking shows. I like to re-create what I watch.”
“You ever think about moving back to Toronto for good?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. Most big auditions are in LA. But it would be good for…” His voice faded. “You’re living in the city now, right?”
She nodded, then told him about her and Shayne’s little house in the east end.
“Wow, that’s pretty close to the film studio,” he said.
Marley frowned. Was he implying they would see each other while he was filming? Have lunch or something? She couldn’t tell. Thankfully, the server came with the food then. The steak looked perfect. Juicy, charred, and with a creamy green peppercorn sauce. Marley immediately dipped a slim fry into the sauce, then moaned with appreciation.
“Good?” Nikhil asked, smirking. His short ribs looked amazing, too—a big hunk of beef in a glistening sauce on a bed of mashed potatoes and leeks.
Marley nodded. “So good. Yours?”
He took a bite. “Perfection.”
“Your nails look nice,” Nikhil said after they’d been eating silently awhile. “I thought they were skin color. But now I see they are like… shimmery. They glow.”
Marley smiled. “It’s a luster powder over nude. This is about as bold as I’m allowed to do at Reid’s.”
“That’s too bad. Hands like yours should be… adorned. Bright colors and jewels.”
She raised a brow.
He laughed. “I like your hands.” Should Marley thank him for the compliment?
“It’s killing me,” he said after a few moments of silence. “Why’d you go seeThe Last Time He Cried? There were much better movies at the festival that year.”
She shrugged. “I was looking through the listings andsaw your name.” She’d been surprised to see the name Nikhil Shamdasani. She knew he was an actor, and she had even seen a few of his small TV roles. She’d gone to the festival screening alone—even though she knew friends would join her if she asked. Shayne for sure, but even Reena probably would have come, too.
But she hadn’t wanted to explain to anyone how she knew the supporting actor or listen to Shayne make cracks about Nikhil being a love-them-and-leave-them fuckboy. She didn’t want someone else there when she saw him in person for the first time since high school. But he wasn’t even there. Just the director and the lead actor.
Nikhil sipped his beer. “I’m pretty sure that movie was a mistake. Careerwise, I mean.”
“I loved it,” Marley said.Objectivelythe film was not great, but Nikhil’s performancewas. He wasn’t the lead… and it was clear that his role was meant to be a punch line. Comic relief. But he brought so much more to the part. His character had a tragic past, and the tragedy was sometimes played for laughs, but with nuance. He somehow made viewers want to give him a hug after laughing at his one-liners.
Or at least he made Marley want to do that.
“I thought you were great in it,” she said. “And I know I wasn’t the only one. I read the reviews—they all said you were the only good thing in that film. They said you were going to be a breakout star.”
“Yeah, well that prediction was false.”
Marley frowned. “Um, the Bronze Shadow?”
Nikhil shook his head. “They said I was going to be a breakoutromanticstar. Another review said I should be doing more dramatic roles. I rarely get auditions for romantic or dramatic roles. I’m not romance-hero material, apparently. Same for dramatic roles. I’m missing a certain something. Probably white skin.”
