The Cupid Reconciliation Genrenauts Episode Three

by Michael R. Underwood

  “Precisely. I never really got into dancing, but Susie here, she’s dancing reality show–level. I keep telling her to try out; it’d be a good platform-builder.”

  Activate Super-Cute Lesbians act! Leah thought.

  Susan poured it on a bit more until Anna relented and let them audit the class. They changed into their gym gear and barefoot on the cold floor, joined in when the Fosse started.

  Leah stumbled her way through the class, while Mallery was on the beat the whole time, fierce and loving it, even with the cast locking one arm into a permanent chicken wing.

  After class, Mallery used some kind of social-force-of-nature magic to convince Anna to grab coffee with the two of them, leading the way to a theatre-crowd cafe around the corner called the All-Nighter.

  “How did you get into show business?” Mallery-as-Susan asked, her Georgia accent holding.

  “I grew up in Queens, and my parents took me to see shows when I was a kid. I bounced around between a few different majors, racking up music and acting classes before settling on a finance degree. Got me a steady but soul-crushing day job.”

  “I know how that is,” Leah said, not having to act as Anna took a sip of her coffee. Their Leading Lady continued. “Off-Broadway roles started lining up, and I was able to go part-time, then quit the finance biz altogether, thanks to the studio. Heck, I was even offered a spot as a partner in the studio. That was unreal,” Anna said, twitching as if shaking off the idea. There was more than that behind the move, if Leah was on the mark with her people-watching.

  “Anyone special in your life?” Leah asked, diving right in. Mallery had warmed her up enough, and this sure as heck looked like an opening.

  Anna leaned back, head against the booth, which told Leah she may have misfired on her timing. A microexpression wince from Mallery corroborated her failure.

  Mallery jumped in to cover, “Oh, Toni, let’s not pry.”

  “No, it’s fine. It’s just…” Anna said, looking for words.

  “It’s complicated?” Leah volunteered.

  “Yeah. I was seeing this guy; he was sweet, super-organized, he planned these incredibly thoughtful dates, and he loved the theater. Loves, I guess. But then, and this will make you laugh, he proposed six months into our relationship, the day after I was offered partnership at the studio.”

  “Oh, my.” Mallery took a sip of her drink, shifting in the seat. “I assume from your tone that wasn’t a good thing?”

  “It was just...I mean, we’d only been together for six months, and Theo’s down on one knee, and I’ve never lived in one place more than a year since I went to college. I didn’t like to be tied down. And now, with the studio and something I can almost be unashamed to call a career, and the ring, it was all just too much.”

  Mallery put her hand on Susan’s for a moment. “Oh, honey, don’t I know it. Toni here’s like this Theo, I think. She loves to organize everything, loves to know answers to questions before they’re asked. It makes my life livable, but sometimes you don’t want to be tied down, am I right?”

  “Totally. And then it gets even worse. I come back after leaving town for the weekend to sort out my head, and he’s been in a car accident.”

  Leah tapped into the refreshed sympathy and dialed it up as best as she could to feign the shocked reaction she should have, covering her mouth and nose with her free hand.

  “Oh no,” Mallery said. “Is...”

  “He’ll be fine, thank god. The car wasn’t going that fast, and he fell well, the doctors say. He’s in PT now. I was on the plane when it happened, and no one picked up when I called. I turned straight around for a return flight, but I got caught in a weekend’s worth of cancellations. I went straight to the hospital when I got back, but his doctor said that he didn’t want to see me.”

  Leah shared a quick look with Mallery, wishing for telepathy. That’s what the debrief was for. She wasn’t the biggest Rom-Com fan ever, but this definitely sounded like breach-worthy levels of weird. Would a guy that just proposed really turn her away like that?

  Anna looked down into her coffee. “So I left, deleted his number, and pretended that it never happened. Which is super-mature, right?”

  “You both went through a trauma; it’s understandable,” Leah said, leaning into sympathy while thinking that Anna’s extreme reaction was probably fallout from the breach. Breaches weren’t just one break in the story, like the accident. They snowballed, like people leaving town in her first mission or the diplomatic implosion on Ahura-3.

  Mallery followed up. “How long between the accident and when you went to visit?”

  “I was gone when the accident happened. So, like a week. No, five days. He’d just woken up, and I wasn’t there. Can you blame him for not wanting to see me?” Anna’s eyes went red and puffy as her emotional fortitude crumbled. Normally, eyes didn’t do that so fast. Must be another story world thing, Leah thought.

  Mallery took Anna’s hand and squeezed. “He went overboard with the proposal, sure, but did you tell him about the partner offer?”

  “I did, and that’s when he proposed! He said the timing was perfect, that everything was coming together just how he’d imagined it.”

  “That is a bit off.” Leah had no idea where Mallery was going with the conversation. So she tried to answer like an actual friend.

  “It is,” Anna said. “It’s like I didn’t even get a say in my life. He fit the story he’d been telling himself in his heart or, more accurately, the story he’d been raised to tell himself because his family told him to, and I was the missing piece, the perfect adornment to his perfect life.”

  “Did you tell him that?” Leah asked.

  “Of course not. It’s just how he is. He likes things to go smoothly, and I go with the wind. We made it work for a while. I’d helped him be more spontaneous; he helped me be grounded. This was just way too much, all at once. I’ve been reeling ever since.”

  “How long ago was all this?” Mallery asked.

  “A couple of weeks now. Theo’s out of the hospital, and I…I don’t know what to do. The easy thing would be to forget about it, try to figure out if I want to stay here and teach dance for the rest of my life, if that’s something I can handle. He made his choice, right?”

  Anna looked out the window, at the marquee of a theatre across the street. “Being a partner at the studio would limit what kind of and how many shows I could audition for. It’s trading possibility for certainty, but not the certainty I wanted.”

  “You like the studio; you obviously like the people,” Leah said.

  Mallery jumped in, answering for Anna. “Of course she does. They’re delightful. Loveliest bunch of ladies I’ve ever met.”

  “You haven’t been up against them in an audition,” Anna said, an absent chuckle reaching all the way to her eyes.

  Mallery cocked her head. “Fair point. So, what can we do to help? Do you want to play hostess and show us all of the cool sights of the city and distract you from the life drama?”

  Leah caught the ball and ran with it. “We’re excellent distractions. Susan here can hold a room for an hour just talking about her makeup regimen. Now, if I let a makeup artist do my face like they’re used to, I’ll end up looking like a geisha doll. Asian faces paint different, and not many makeup folks know how to work on faces that aren’t white.”

  “No one can do you justice, my dear.” Mallery leaned over and took Leah’s face in both hands, planting a big, Roger Rabbit smacker of a kiss on her lips.

  All of a sudden, it was very hot in the cafe.

  Leah leaned back and fanned herself, leaving Anna to clap in delight.

  “Oh, you’re so cute. How do you stay spontaneous after being together for so long?”

  Mallery favored Anna with a smile. “We’re actresses, my dear. We wake up as different people every day. Just find a way to make that work for you. Shall we be off?”

  Leah managed to nod. Or maybe it was just more swooning.

/>   “This was great. I mean, I unloaded all of this drama on my friends already.” Anna stood and donned her coat. “They’ve been through the ups and the downs, and it’s good to get a fresh perspective.”

  Mallery put on her own coat with delicate grace, keeping eye contact with their mark. “Well, we’re here for about a week, give or take.”

  “Susan likes open return tickets.”

  “I’m like you, my dear. I like to keep my options open.” Changing the subject, Mallery asked, “So, when will we see you next? There are a million and one things to do and see here; I’m simply overwhelmed. I could use some spontaneity.”

  “I just don’t know where to start,” Leah added.

  Anna looked between the two of them. “Well, I don’t have class tomorrow...”

  “Excellent. So, we’ll pick you up at, what, eight? New York theater folk are late risers, yes? I’ve gotten used to five AM call times, myself, so it’ll be lovely to sleep in.”

  Mallery manifested a business card out of seemingly nowhere and handed it to Anna. “Cell and email are the best. Shall we pick you up here, or do you live elsewhere?”

  “I live down in the Village. Why don’t we start at Union Square and find our way from there?”

  “Which one’s Union Square?” Mallery asked, as if the whole room would answer her.

  Leah put a hand on Mallery’s shoulder. “I know that one. Southwest corner, at eight?”

  “Sounds good,” Anna said with a polite smile.

  “So lovely to meet you, darling.” Mallery went in for European air kisses. Anna agreed, looking only slightly less shocked by the gesture than Leah had been when her teammate had planted one on her lips.

  They let Anna leave first. When she was out the door, Mallery hopped over to the next chair so that they faced each other instead of sitting thigh-to-thigh.

  “That went splendidly. We’ll have to work on our conversational rhythm a bit, but you’re a good improviser. King said as much, but chemistry plays such a big part, you never know.”

  Mallery topped off their glasses of water from the carafe. It seemed like they were going to stay for a while. “We’ve got plenty of time to come up with ways of steering the conversation more adroitly tomorrow, and maybe even working in a chance to get Anna and Theo in the same place to start to reacclimate them.”

  Maybe if I keep her supplied with water, she’ll solve the whole case by herself, Leah thought.

  “I think this one is going to take a few steps,” Mallery said.” It seems like they were almost, almost back together, but this car accident, it’s as severe a breach as I’ve seen in this world. Given what’s gone on the last six months, I shouldn’t be surprised, but still.”

  Leah took a long breath, letting the barrage of words roll over her. “Yep. Got it. Shall we get back to the team? Also, dinner?”

  “Got your appetite back, I see?”

  “Well, I jogged five miles today, when I usually run zero miles, so yes, I’m hungry. And as you said, there are a million and one places to see, most of them amazing restaurants. Please tell me the fancy genrenauts business card extends to expense dinners.”

  “Oh, but of course. We’ll have family dinner most nights that we aren’t in the field, and if folks don’t feel like going out, delivery. The food here is amazing; it all looks like it was made by world-renowned chefs and plated by food photographers. Just you wait.”

  “If you’re going to keep talking, we need to eat now.”

  “Hold your horses,” Mallery said, cranking up the Georgia. “Let’s get back to the condo first.”

  This is my life, Leah thought as they paid, left, and caught a taxi, again in a matter of seconds from Mallery whistling and raising her arm.

  My amazing, confusing, totally screwed-up life.

  Chapter Six

  The Glamour. The Marvel. The Paperwork.

  Roman sat at a chic desk at the corner of the gym floor, sorting through client charts. In reality, he wouldn’t need to do any substantive work with other clients, as he could farm them out to other PTs. They were there for Theo, and he was due for his first appointment at the gym any moment now.

  It had taken some finagling, with King and Shirin tag-teaming the computer systems to rearrange Theo’s insurance and make it so their gym was the only place where his physical therapy would be covered.

  A severe and beautiful white woman walked in. She had midnight-black hair and wore a lab coat draped over business wear. She held a clipboard, like she’d just walked off of the set of Grey’s Anatomy.

  “Are you Gregory Roman?” she asked from ten paces away.

  “Yes, may I help you?”

  “I’m Doctor Andrea Thorsson, and I’m here to talk to you or someone about why my patient was reassigned here when I’d referred him to, and he’d already started, physical therapy at another practice.”

  The hell? Roman thought. He put on a “what can you do? ” face to stay in character and rolled forward. “I just got the referral and saw him on my schedule. You didn’t have to come down here yourself. Should have taken it up with the insurance company.”

  Dr. Thorsson scowled. “This is quite ridiculous.”

  Roman shrugged. “Insurance companies, right?”

  A hobbling Theo Long walked in the door, with the assistance of a crutch. He said, “Doctor Thorsson, it’s fine. The insurance company says I should go here, I’ll go here. It’s the treatment that matters, right?”

  Theo looked thinner than his pictures, his smart clothes hanging a bit loose on his frame. He was put together, but not severe like his companion. Also, there wasn’t supposed to be a companion. Why was his doctor accompanying him to PT? He was glad King was out of sight; it’d keep another member of their team in reserve. Roman started to think of how they’d investigate her but refocused on the now.

  Roman extended a hand to shake. “We’ll take very good care of Mr. Long.”

  They had a staredown for a beat. As he watched her intensely, the doctor blurred slightly at the edges, out of focus with the world around her. Which meant she was connected to the breach, tied in more substantially than he’d imagined. That’d explain the odd behavior. The doctor was caught up in the story.

  “Well, don’t get too cozy,” Doctor Thorsson said. “I expect he’ll be out of your hands very soon. I’ll be here if you need me,” she said to Theo.

  Roman turned the doc’s comment back around on her, all smiles. “Sounds good to us. We love getting clients back on their feet as quickly and safely as possible.”

  Before she left for the waiting area in front, the doctor gave Theo a significant look, and more pieces clicked into place. He’d need to update the team as soon as this scene was done.

  Roman extended a hand to Theo. “I’m Greg Roman, I’ll be your therapist. Shall we take a seat and get started?” He moved to engage Theo and block off the doctor from the conversation, trying to minimize her role in the scene. A twinge of guilt ran down his spine as Mallery’s voice called out the macho power play for what it was. However, he didn’t see a way to preserve the connection without sidelining her. Social engineering wasn’t his forte.

  He kept one eye on the doctor to fill out his report to the team. They’d need to run down her connection to the story.

  Then they’d need to disentangle whatever her dynamic was with Theo. While trying to rekindle his relationship with Anna, and actually doing physical therapy so he’s ready for the reconciliation? Mallery needed to hear about this as soon as possible. First, the scene at hand.

  Roman led Theo to a pair of chairs along the wall of the gym. The man set aside his crutch and sat in the chair, wincing as he went.

  “So, your referral says you’re looking to recover range of motion and strength in your left leg. Can you tell me about the accident?”

  “I was crossing the street on Eighth Ave, and a black compact car comes careening around the corner, driven by some blonde woman in a hat. It hit me here,” Theo said,
gesturing to his left hip, “and kept going. I went flying, people say like ten feet, and landed weird on my leg. People say she didn’t even stop, just drove off. New York, man.” He shrugged. “Anyway. I was in traction for several weeks, and now that I’m out, I’m here.”

  “You got lucky,” Roman said with his best smile, trying to build rapport. “Why don’t you hop up on the bench here so I can see what’s what.”

  Roman rolled out some paper and Theo climbed onto the bench, sitting with his legs over the side.

  “What do you do for work?” Roman asked, testing Theo’s range of motion. He’d never actually studied physiotherapy, but a lifetime of dealing with his friends and comrades’ injuries let him fake it pretty well. “A lot of physical activity?” He stopped when he felt resistance and saw Theo wince.

  “No, I’m an architect. Desk jockey. I dance on weeknights and weekends, though. Or I did, I guess.”

  “Before the accident?” Roman asked, betting that wasn’t the answer but still baiting for the info.

  “Yeah, that, and. Well, just before the accident, I had a bit of a blowup in my personal life.”

  “Oh, sorry to hear that. Rough timing. On your back, please.” Roman gestured to the bench. “Any chance of putting things back together?”

  Theo leaned back, easing the descent with his elbows. The guy was not in great shape. They might have to go for a low-physicality reunion plan if he didn’t start making strides soon.

  “I don’t know. My fiancée, or she was going to be my fiancée. I proposed because I was so happy for her that she’d gotten offered this great job.” Theo was going red. Roman stopped for a moment, let his client-slash-lead catch his breath. “It seemed like things were finally coming together for her. If she wasn’t worried about her future, she’d be open to the proposal, but instead, I spooked her and she left for the weekend. Haven’t heard from her since, not even after the accident.

  “Oh, man, that’s harsh.”

  “Yeah, I just don’t know what to do. I mean, are we even together? Is that what happens when you blow a proposal? It’s not something you can take back.”