- Margot -
y heart nearly burst through my chest.
Hearing Landon say that he wanted me to be his—officially—was my ultimate dream come true. Yes, I knew actions spoke louder than words in a relationship, but he was a man of so few words that his still held meaning.
Besides, I was one of those people who had to hear it, especially when it came to him, since we’d gotten off to so many false starts in the past (many of which seemed to have been entirely in my head). But this, this was proof that I wasn’t imagining us this time.
This was real. We were happening. I was at an Off-Broadway show with my boyfriend, a man who seemed not only happy to have me hanging on his arm, but a man who seemed equally eager to accessorize my knee with his hand. In fact, it felt like we were touching in some way during the entire performance, as if the once invisible line between us had simply melted into the earth.
And it felt big, these feelings. Too big.
I mean, I’d never had a problem keeping secrets, but for the first time in my life, I understood what compelled people to spill them. After all, how could I possibly hide the happiness I was feeling? Where could I possibly tuck it away when it was so big and bright and burning?
Part of me wanted to tell everyone that Landon Bishop was my boyfriend. I daydreamed of changing my Facebook status and wondered how people might respond. I wouldn’t do that, of course. I wouldn’t do anything to create the illusion that our relationship had anything at all in common with anyone else’s.
’Cause it didn’t. It was bigger, better, stronger. I could feel it in my bones. So as much as I felt like the cat who’d finally gotten the cream, I didn’t actually want to share it half as much as I wanted to keep it to myself, as much as I wanted to spend every day wrapped up under blankets with him, his warm breath on my ear as he caught up on whispering a decade’s worth of sweet nothings to me.
However, despite the unfamiliar feelings spin cycling inside me, I did do my best to pay attention to the show. Not that I had a choice.
Izzy’s performance demanded my focus every time she stepped into the spotlight, and I was so proud of her it felt as if I were the one who taught her to act. Better yet, her bold performance gave me hope that I could make it here, too.
Granted, I’d already enjoyed breakfast (and more) in bed with a beautiful man followed by an impromptu matinee, which wasn’t exactly the start you’d expect from a sorry excuse for a city girl. Still, she was a great role model for me since she’d come from a quiet town, too, and was a freaking rock star now…even when she wasn’t dancing with a chair, wearing fishnets and red lipstick.
But while I knew it was only a part (albeit one she totally nailed), it was funny to see her in action when I felt like I finally wasn’t playing a part for the first time in my life.
I wasn’t pretending to be happy; I was happy. I wasn’t pretending Landon liked me back; he did like me back. I wasn’t pretending to have a good job in the city; I really had one, one that was going from strength to strength.
Sure, maybe it was all the bold music and the drama and the sass on stage getting to me, but it felt like more than that. It felt like I’d arrived, like I’d have every right to bow after the final curtain if I wanted to, hand in hand with the rest of the cast.
I knew that was ridiculous. I’d crap myself if I had to stand in front of that many people, but that didn’t keep me from clapping and smiling harder at the curtain call than I had in years. The only thing that interrupted my high was the piercing whistle Landon let out when Izzy and Jenny stepped forward.
It actually turned me on, that whistle, and my mind flashed to thoughts of him cheering our kids on at sports matches for a moment before I realized I was getting ahead of myself.
I still had the whole afternoon to look forward to, and the last thing I wanted to do was wish this happy time away or jump ahead to the good parts, especially when I was right in the thick of one.
“Well?” he asked as the heavy red curtain swished closed for the last time. “What did you think?”
“I thought it was brilliant,” I said. “And I think I’ve been wasting my life not going to the theatre every weekend.”
“It’s more fun when your friends are in it, but that was a great show.”
“Totally.”
“Even though I kept wishing it was you up there straddling chairs in tights and high heels.”
I laughed and peeled my coat off the back of my seat. “You must have a very active imagination, because I wouldn’t know the first thing about straddling a chair half naked and—”
He cocked an eyebrow. “No? Because that’s a show I would see more than once,” he said, taking my hand and leading me towards the aisle. “If only I knew where to buy tickets.”
“That was a one-time performance,” I said, shuffling behind him. “It was the grand opening and the grand finale all at once.”
He smiled back at me like a scheming schoolboy. “In that case, I know which part was the grand finale. But to clarify, was the grand opening the bit where you—”
“Enough,” I said, squeezing his hand.
When we reached the end of the row, Landon let some elderly women start up the stairs ahead of us, and I slipped my arms around his waist, hugging him to me so my cheek was pressed against his back. Two seconds later, he stiffened in my arms.
“Dick,” he said. “Hi.”
My stomach dropped.
“Landon. Great show, wasn’t it? Lovely way to spend a—” My boss’s face fell with my hands as he peeked around to see who was hanging out of his favorite employee. “Margot.”
“Hi,” I said, my voice barely squeaking out. “Did you enjoy the show?”
It was obvious from the look on his face that if he had, how unimpressed he was now had quickly made him forget. I watched his beady eyes bounce back and forth between Landon and me as he and his heavyset wife stopped traffic on the stairs towards the exit.
“Nice to see you again, Mary,” Landon said, affecting a casual tone.
Mary acknowledged him, but it was obvious from her basset hound wrinkles that joviality wasn’t her default setting.
“We’ll talk next week,” Dick said to Landon. Then he nodded at me, repeated my first name like it was mud, and continued up the stairs with his wife.