by Aidan Wayne
“Thank you!”
“Sure.”
Ashlee gave Dana the second scrub brush and moved aside so Dana could get next to the tub with the cleaner Ashlee had bought. They worked in silence for a few minutes, before Ashlee said, “Do you mind if I turn the music back on?”
Dana huffed a laugh. She tended to laugh quietly. Ashlee wasn’t sure why. But it was a nice laugh, either way. “Sure. It didn’t sound like you were listening to ‘Whistle While You Work,’ so.”
“I listen to plenty of other things besides Disney music,” Ashlee replied, starting her phone up again to her warm-up playlist. Really upbeat music she could move to. “I’m a dancer, remember? I’ve danced to a little of everything.”
“Well, I like what you’re playing now, anyway,” Dana said before getting back to work on the tub.
With both of them working together in the bathroom, the music playing, companionable silence besides that, Ashlee was surprised when she realized she was probably finished.
“I think I’m done,” Dana said a few moments later. “Also, ow.”
“Ow?”
Dana sat up straight from where she’d been bent over the tub. “Back hurts. I’m surprised if yours doesn’t.”
“Oh.” Ashlee had barely noticed. She was sort of used to working her body hard, and the aches and pains that came with that. “No, I’m fine.”
Dana stood up and stretched. “Are you done?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Good. And now we’ve vacuumed every room, cleaned the kitchen top to bottom, scrubbed the bathroom down, and our room is neater than it was when we moved in in August. Anything else?”
“No, no, I think we’re good.”
“Good. Now what?”
“What do you mean?”
“Inspection’s tomorrow,” Dana said matter-of-factly. “And everything is clean. I doubt either of us wants to mess anything up, and I frankly refuse to clean—or do—anything else until inspection’s over with. We have literally been working on this together since we both got home at three. It’s after six.”
“Oh.” Ashlee hadn’t realized how late it was. And Dana had worked so hard to help her. And she hadn’t even cared that much about inspection. “Do you want to go out to dinner? My treat.”
Dana looked startled. “What, really?”
“Yeah, of course. You’re always making me food. Even if I’ve sort of started learning how to help.” Dana was surprisingly patient when it came to teaching Ashlee how to cook.
“Well, yeah,” Dana said. “But you also go half in for groceries now.” Which was true. Ashlee had started asking Dana to plan meals a little in advance, so she could make sure to buy at least half of the ingredients needed. It was only fair. Even if Dana did tend to buy more herself, on a whim. And Ashlee still got to eat what she cooked. Even though Ashlee had taken on most of the cleaning herself in exchange, she still didn’t think things were entirely fair.
“Do you want to get dinner or not?”
“Sure,” Dana said after a minute. “Where?”
“I was thinking the Liberty Tree Tavern. The food’s good, and it’s a fun place to go. It might be a little crowded because it’s right around dinnertime, but I’ve never had a problem getting a table. If we leave now, we should get there by seven, even with the bus-rush.”
“Wait, get where?”
“Magic Kingdom.”
Dana looked surprised. “You want to go to Magic Kingdom now? Like, right now?”
“Sure,” Ashlee said. “It’s open till ten, so we’ve got plenty of time for dinner. We could also walk around a little bit if you want to.” She grinned. “I know all the good spots, even if it’ll be too late for characters.”
Dana seemed to think for a minute, and then she nodded. “Okay, yeah. That sounds good.”
“Great! Let’s go.”
“COME ON,” Ashlee said once they got off the bus at Magic Kingdom’s backlot. “I’ll show you where we go in.”
“You sure you don’t want to just go to the cast member café?” Dana asked, following Ashlee down a hallway. She’d never been to the Magic Kingdom one, but she knew it had an eatery; she’d passed it on her search for the salon.
Ashlee waved a hand. “We can use it as a last resort if Liberty Tree is too busy and we can’t find something else we like. But I’ve kind of got my heart set on Liberty Tree.”
“Okay,” Dana said. “Whatever you want. I mean, I’ve never been there, so I don’t care as much, I guess.”
Ashlee stopped and turned to her, wide-eyed. “You’ve been here since August and you’ve never eaten at Liberty Tree?”
Dana raised an eyebrow. “Mostly I make my own food, remember? And it’s cheaper.”
“But Dana, eating at Disney restaurants is part of the experience!”
“Well, I’ll have one now, then, won’t I?”
“Right,” Ashlee said, starting to walk again. “Definitely. Come on.”
Ashlee led her down a fair maze of hallways and turns, and while Dana didn’t have to struggle to keep up, she was positive she’d get lost if she had to navigate this place herself.
“How do you even know where you are?” she asked as they went down yet another hallway.
“Hm? Oh, it’s easy.” Ashlee pointed to the wall and then the floor, which had long stripes of color on them. “These help you get around. Besides, I’m so used to it. Going up and down and stuff.”
“Oh.”
They eventually ended up at a staircase. “Okay,” Ashlee said, holding the door open for Dana. “We’re here.”
Dana stepped out and stopped in surprise. They had emerged just outside of the Liberty Tree Tavern. “How’d you do that?”
Ashlee smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I told you, I’m used to it. Come on.”
It was pretty busy, but they still got seated in the John Paul Jones room without having to wait very long, at a table for two, with a menu to look at. Dana raised an eyebrow at Ashlee. “Do you know something about this place that I don’t?”
“What do you mean?”
“The menu doesn’t have any choices. It’s just a description of a meal and a drinks selection.”
“If you’ve never been here before, you should definitely get the Patriot’s Slush,” Ashlee said immediately. “It’s really good. If you like fruity things. Do you like fruity things?”
“Yeah, uh, I like them fine. Okay, I guess I’ll get that. But the rest of the menu?”
“It’s family style.” Ashlee grinned. “So you basically get a bunch of stuff and you get to serve yourself. I always try a bit of everything because it’s all good. Except maybe the mac and cheese?”
Dana looked back down at her menu and read it to herself again. Patriot’s Platter: Roasted Turkey Breast, Pot Roast, and Carved Pork Roast with Mashed Potatoes, Seasonal Vegetables, Herb Stuffing, and House-made Macaroni and Cheese. “Well it sounds good,” she said at last. “And if you like it, then I’ll trust you.”
When their waiter, Andrew, came by to take their drink order, they both asked for water, and then Dana asked for the Patriot’s Slush too, after a significant glance at Ashlee. Ashlee smiled and ordered her own, and then leaned back as Andrew left. “Remember,” Ashlee said, “it’s my treat. I want you to try everything.”
“Right. Because the restaurants are part of the Disney experience.”
“Exactly! I’ll have to take you to more. Have you had a Dole Whip yet?”
“What’s that?”
Ashlee’s horrified expression was entirely uncalled for, Dana felt. “Okay,” Dana said after a few seconds of Ashlee’s sputtering, “whatever it is, I’ll try it.”
“I’ve got a lot of places you might like to try,” Ashlee said, sounding shy. “Even if you’re not a huge Disney fan, the decorations and themes of some places are super cool. Like the Be Our Guest Restaurant? That’s, you know, Beauty and the Beast themed. It’s French food. I don’t know if you
like that, but I honestly have gone just to eat the dessert. They have a ‘try the gray stuff’ cupcake and it is so good.”
That did sound pretty interesting. And Dana liked Beauty and the Beast well enough. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll have to try it out.”
“Do you want to go with me?”
“Huh?”
Ashlee twisted a finger in a lock of hair. “It might be nice. To, you know, do something together outside of the apartment.”
And maybe Ashlee was feeling a little bit lonely, in the same way Dana was. “Sure, maybe. When our schedules match up.”
Andrew returned with their drinks, and Dana went for the Patriot’s Slush first. “It’s pretty good,” she told a beaming Ashlee.
“I’m glad you like it! I always think it’s so fun to watch someone else try something new for the first time and like it.”
Dana chuckled. “Is that why you want to take me to the Disney restaurants?”
“Maybe,” Ashlee admitted.
And hey, well, Dana wasn’t going to complain. “All right,” she said, pulling her phone out of her pocket. “Let’s pick a day, then. For Be Our Guest.”
“Awesome!” Ashlee rummaged in her purse for her own phone, and they got to going over schedules.
They were interrupted when their food arrived.
“Wow,” Dana said in response to the massive amounts of plates and platters their server had brought over. It was basically Tetris watching them squeeze everything onto the little two-person table.
“Yeah,” Ashlee said happily, before taking another sip of her own Patriot’s Slush. “Isn’t it great?”
“That is a lot of food.”
“Take some,” Ashlee said, pointing to the platter with her fork. “It’s all really good. The green beans are the best.”
Dana ended up serving herself a little bit of everything, including the mac and cheese, just to try it. She took a bite of the mac and cheese first. “Okay,” she said after finding it lacking, “you’re right. That isn’t all that great.” She’d much prefer to eat other things and not fill up on it. “My own is way better.”
“You make your own mac and cheese?” Ashlee sounded impressed.
“Well, yeah. I mean, it’s not too hard. Pasta. Cheese. Combine.” She laughed a little. “Okay, there might be a few more steps, but it really isn’t too hard.”
“If you say so. The only mac and cheese I know how to make is from a box.”
“So that’s what we’ll do next time we make dinner together,” Dana said. “Mac and cheese.”
“That’s a good plan.” Ashlee smiled.
Dana smiled back.
Chapter Thirteen
WE PASSED inspection!! Dana’s phone read when she checked it after clocking out. They left us chocolates and a note that we were “exemplary.” We’ve got to celebrate!
Okay, Dana texted back before she hopped on a bike to head back to the Hollywood Studios home base and Costuming. What do you want to do?
She got a reply while she was waiting for the bus back to Chatham. Dinner together again? We could go to Be Our Guest! I think we deserve it. And its desserts.
Now? Dana asked, checking the time. It was about six. It’d be closer to seven if they met up at Magic Kingdom to go to Be Our Guest. Won’t it be crazy busy for dinner?
It’s not so bad anymore, Ashlee replied. I heard it was nuts when it first opened, but I’ve had dinner there before after a shift. We might have to wait in line, but we should get in.
Dana had looked up the Be Our Guest restaurant last night, after Ashlee had talked about it. It did look like a cool dining experience, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to chance the dinner rush. What if we saved going there for lunch sometime, she suggested. We’re both off on Wednesday. We could go then. Waiting two days won’t hurt anything. And I can make dinner. Mac and cheese, right?
Oh! Okay. That sounds good.
Cool. I’ll see you when I get home.
“WE HAVEN’T seen each other in forever,” Maya said. Ashlee had called her while she was waiting for Dana to get home. “We’ve totally got to get together.”
“Yeah,” Ashlee said, “that’d be great. Maybe we could meet after our shifts are over.”
“Yeah! You want to do Wednesday?”
“Oh. I’m sorry, I can’t. I already made plans with Dana.”
“Okay. Wow, you guys have really been hanging out a lot, huh?”
It was true; they had been. Ashlee still hung out with everyone in Characters, but for the most part that was while they were all at work together. Maya was her real best friend at Disney that she did stuff with. They still talked when they were both scheduled at the same time and ran into each other, and usually tried to get lunch or something together at the backstage café, but Maya, understandably, wanted to spend a lot of her free time with Bolin. So they hadn’t been doing a whole lot of hanging out on their own time. Which meant that Ashlee was spending a little more time at the apartment, and with Dana, and, well, it was nice talking to Dana now, and getting to know her, and learning to cook with her, and figuring out hairstyles, and even watching movies together. She genuinely liked hanging out with Dana. And Dana didn’t seem to mind it either. “Yeah,” Ashlee ended up saying. “We ended up getting along after all, huh?”
“Hey, I’m not going to complain. While it was interesting to hear about the drama, you have been so much happier now that you two are talking and not screaming.”
Ashlee laughed. “That’s definitely true. She’s actually really nice? Like, she’s still all dry and sarcastic, but that’s just how she talks. When we were arguing, it was because we were both being defensive and making each other mad. Now that we’re getting along, we’re starting to speak each other’s language. She’s super smart too. Did I tell you she’s taking like three classes while she’s down here? And works. And she’s teaching me how to cook!”
Maya laughed. “You mentioned. All of those things. I’m glad you guys like each other now, I do. So about hanging out….”
“Right. I’m off Saturday this week. What’s your schedule like?”
“I’ve got a half day, nine to one, for rehearsal. You want to go to the outlet mall once I’m done?” The buses also ran to a mall not that far from Chatham. It was a fun place to hang out that wasn’t totally Disney-fied.
“That sounds great. Text me once you’re done and we’ll meet at the bus stop?”
“Definitely. It’ll probably be around two-ish. I’d want to go home and shower, you know?”
“Oh yeah, of course. I’ll be home, so just let me know, okay?”
“For sure.”
“Ashlee? You home?”
“Oh, that’s Dana,” Ashlee told Maya. “She just got home. I’ll talk to you later?”
Maya laughed. “Hopefully tomorrow! I’m still working fur until I’m done getting parade-trained. Only another week and I’m ready!”
“I can’t wait,” Ashlee said, waving to Dana before Dana headed into the bedroom. “You’ll tell me the moment you get put out there, right? I’ll go to which park you’re at. I’ll take the day off.”
“Awesome. And I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“I’ll try! And definitely on Saturday?”
“You know it.”
Dana came back out of the bedroom just as Ashlee hung up. She was wearing a nice, flowy gray skirt and a pretty white T-shirt with pink flowers on it. Her hair was still tied back in the two pigtails she’d decided on that morning, and she’d put in a pair of dangly gold and pearl earrings that Ashlee had lent her. She looked incredibly cute.
Dana smiled at her. “Okay,” she said, “ready to make dinner?”
Ashlee’s stomach fluttered entirely against her will. She swallowed.
Uh-oh.
“SURE,” ASHLEE said after a long few seconds. “Great.” She stuck her phone in her pocket and stood up. “What do we do first?”
“First we check to see if I have all the ingredients,” Dana
said, going into the kitchen. “Because I’m not sure I do.” She looked in the pantry and yeah, she didn’t have macaroni and she knew for sure that she didn’t have cheddar cheese, which was what worked best with her recipe. She turned back to Ashlee. “Want to go to the store with me?”
“Now?” Ashlee asked.
Her trepidation was understandable. The bus to the nearby Publix only came once every hour, making it a two-hour round trip at least. If you decided to take the bus. “I walk,” Dana explained. “It’s only like a mile away. I can make that in fifteen minutes. Twenty if I walk slow.”
“Oh. Um, well, yeah. Okay.”
“Never thought about walking?”
Ashlee shook her head.
Dana grinned. “I didn’t either, but about a month ago I missed the bus to take me back, and I really didn’t want to wait for another hour. And I remembered the direction we’d gone and turned, so I just set out. And it was super easy. I bought some reusable bags to make it even easier. I just sling one over each shoulder and I’m good.”
“It’s so cool that you’re so strong,” Ashlee said after a minute.
Dana shrugged. “I mean, yeah, I guess I am. But it doesn’t matter in this case? Like, you can walk just as well as I can. And it really is easier to carry things on your shoulders than in your hands. And you’re strong too. I mean, I’ve seen you practice.” Not often, because usually she tried to be asleep when Ashlee practiced, but sometimes it was Dana’s day off, or Ashlee was working on something in the living room and Dana had just… stopped to watch, a little. Ashlee didn’t seem to mind, and it was fascinating to see how she could move. Dana could never imagine being a dancer or being that graceful.
Ashlee blushed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Thanks.”
“So?” Dana asked, ignoring that Ashlee was acting kind of weird right now. “Did you want to come with me? Or I can go by myself. It’s not a big deal.”
“No, I’ll come! I-I mean, yeah. It’d be nice to walk there. It’s a cool evening. And I’d like to know how to get there on my own. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to walk myself. It’d mean I wouldn’t have to wait for the bus. Especially if I had frozens.”