24
"Dish!" Anna demands.
I gaze out the bedroom window to the street below and start from the beginning. "Well, we went out to dinner before his show."
"Not that. Did you sleep with him?"
"Anna!"
"What? It's an obvious question. I've been with Will for four years; we're boring. I need some juicy stories."
I'm not sure what to say. My instinct is to keep Tom all to myself. Talking about things might make it less meaningful. Then again, Anna's my closest friend, and I trust her with my deepest secrets.
"Well?"
"Yes!" I drop onto the side of the bed and grin.
"I knew it!" She squeals. "And?" she coaxes.
"And what?" I toy with her.
"Was he a gentleman or did he slobber and paw at you? Please say he was good."
I flop back. "Oh, Anna. It was wonderful. He's sexy and funny and tender." My hand caresses the comforter and my eyes settle on the spot where our heads left indentions in the pillows. "It didn't feel like sex. It was so much more."
Anna sighs. "I'm so happy for you. You deserve great things."
"I just hope he doesn't get sick of me."
"What are you talking about? This guy has been pursuing you for weeks."
A smile cracks my lips. "I know, but now that the chase is over, I hope things don't change. Guys get bored." Every guy I've known seems to move on after a few weeks or months.
"Stop it. You are your own worst enemy. Relax and have fun. What are you doing today?"
I roll onto my stomach. "He's got some meetings but tonight I'm going to the show again. I can't stay away." I'm about to tell her all about the show, but she gets a call.
"It's Will. Can we catch up more later?"
"Of course."
I end up going to every show that weekend. I’ve discovered the TKTS booth in Times Square where I buy half price tickets the day of the show. The seats aren’t up front, but every seat is great and I get to see him and hear his gorgeous voice. He's impossibly talented. I'm in awe and more than a little self-conscious of my meager accomplishments in life. How does he do it? How does he sustain this phenomenal level of performance day after day?
I'm too embarrassed to admit I've been to his show again so I rush back to his apartment right after curtain.
"How was the show?" I greet him with a kiss when he gets home. He smells of baby wipes.
"Good. What did you do?" He kisses me hello then heads to the kitchen for a snack.
"Started a book." I look away so he can’t see that I’m fibbing.
“You don’t need to sit here by yourself when I’m working, you should get out. I hear there’s a night lights tour that’s great. I can get you a ticket. Or there’s so many good shows to see.”
“I’m fine. It’s nice to lay around after this last crazy couple of weeks.”
He returns with a dish of chocolate-covered frozen banana bites.
“That reminds me. I have an appointment with my voice coach and then a meeting tomorrow.”
I do a double take. “You take voice lessons?”
“All the time.” He pops a frozen treat in his mouth and offers me one.
I help myself. “Why? You’re voice is perfection.”
He kisses my forehead, his lips cool, then slides his arm around me. I snuggle in with my head in the crook of his neck. “I need to keep my voice in shape. A professional athlete practices almost daily to stay at the top of his game. It’s the same for singers.”
“I had no idea.”
I snuggle in with my head in the crook of his neck. I take a bite of the chocolate-covered treat. Interesting. Not what I'd normally go for, but not bad. "So, tell me. Are there any dream roles you have?"
"You mean like Hamlet or Willie Loman?"
"Those are your dream roles?"
He laughs. "No. My tastes are much less sophisticated. Rather embarrassing, actually."
I sit up and face him. "Now you have to tell me."
He smiles and shakes his head. "Rock of Ages."
I've seen the movie and try to imagine him in it. "What part?"
"I want to play an eighties rocker with the big hair and leather pants."
"Huh." I don't want to burst his bubble, but I don't see him in a role like that.
He throws his hands in the air. "See, that's the reaction I got from my agent, too. Sean said I was too British, too boy next door. I begged him to send me on auditions for months until I finally wore him down."
"And how'd it go?" I ask skeptically, because I agree with his agent. Tom is many things, but I don't see him as a hardcore rocker.
He looks down and his face turns pink. "It was a train wreck. I'm standing up their doing my best Axl Rose, and you should have seen their faces. It was kind of a mix between disbelief and thinking it was a joke. After I left the room, they burst out laughing."
"You didn't get the part?"
"Not even a damned call back, and I would have been so good."
"Poor baby." I fight to keep from laughing.
"I don't need your pity too," he says fighting a smile.
"There are lots of things I feel for you, but pity is not one of them." I set his dish on the coffee table and push him back onto the couch.
"And what are you doing?" His eyes dance in anticipation as I crawl on top of him.
"I wouldn't want you to feel bad." I kiss his neck from collarbone up to his earlobe where I lightly nibble. "Is that okay?"
His arms go around me and pull my hips against his. "Absolutely."