by Jenn Marlow
I knew better to worry. I just felt so damn bad about it. But instead of saying anything else, I sighed and looked out the window. And just as I did, I noticed that we were turning into a bright illuminated parking area, an old-school theater’s roof radiating just beyond it.
“Wow…” I mused, noticing how nice the theater was. It was far from Broadway; but I was proud that it was at an actual playhouse; and not just any playhouse… a nice one.
Hell, even the ticket booth seemed to be lined up a lot farther out, with a lot more people occupying the line than I would have thought for something that Polly was in.
I squealed out in delight and ignored everyone’s snickers to my sudden noise.
I didn’t care.
It was all such a pleasant surprise. I was happy for her.
And, I also squealed for another reason; the fact that there were people outside buying tickets meant that—with any luck—that the play hadn’t started.
And it also made me feel thankful. Not just for Polly and her pending success; but also because the flood of people made me realize how incredibly lucky we were to find a parking spot. When I looked around at the circling vehicles, that thought was reiterated. I knew as I watched several vehicles drive around and around, that had we just a moment or two later, we may not have been so lucky.
“We need to get in there before it starts!” I whined, flopping my seatbelt hurriedly off of me.
“Zoe, you’re going to have to calm down,” Derek sighed.
“Yeah, you’re being a little uptight,” Jim agreed.
“I’m sorry guys,” I apologized, taking a breath, as I looked around at all three men and the small girl standing in front of me as soon as I exited the town car.
“It just means a lot to me,” I sighed, slamming the car door.
“You’re just going to have to take deep breaths,” Abigail’s sweet voice reassured, as we walked towards the large theater.
I sighed deeply and straightened the skirt of my dress; I needed to compose myself a little bit better. I needed to be sane and just enjoy the show.
We were there.
I had to stop being an uptight psycho.
Derek’s arm draped over my shoulder, and he led me towards the theater’s entrance. I took a deep breath, and before I knew it, we had already made it to Will Call and grabbed our reserved tickets.
A rush of relief washed over me when we were immediately turned over to a small-bodied, baby-faced, young man so that he could usher us to our seats. I always hated trying to find where I was supposed to go in a theater—especially one as surprisingly large as this one.
“This way,” the young, baby-faced boy instructed, using his hands to signal us.
He guided us down the hall, and through a large set of double doors, leading into the auditorium. And I gasped at the size of the auditorium that we had just walked in.
I knew it had to be big, based on the size of the theater, but I definitely wasn’t expecting something quite as large as it was.
The ceilings were high, and there were VIP boxes on other floors, and I could tell that it also must have been used as an opera house.
I looked around, my mouth agape in awe, hardly paying attention to the young man that was leading us towards the front row. “Ma’am?” he called, and I noticed that I was in front of our group, and that he was clearly talking to me. I blinked, focusing on him as he pointed down to the center of the front row. “Center stage. They say ‘Reserved’ on them.” He smiled and pointed to the empty seats, empty seats right next to a group of people I didn’t recognize, surrounded by one person I did recognize.
Polly’s older brother, Cameron.
“Hey Cam!” I called, waving like a teenage girl at a school retreat. He smirked and nodded at me, acknowledging my presence, but I could also tell that he didn’t necessarily want to make it a social visit.
He never was the social type.
Not like Polly.
In fact, they were polar opposites.
“See, Zoe,” Abigail said sweetly, as she moved passed me to claim the seat I was headed for as her own. “We made it on time.”
I smiled down at her, wondering why she wanted to sit in the seat that I was aiming for. “You’ll want to sit next to your boyfriend; and I wanted to still sit next to you.” She smiled up at me, her eyes pleading with me not to get angry, or say otherwise.
But looking at the girl made me wonder how anyone could possibly ever say no to her. She was the epitome of cute and sweet. I’d be hard pressed to say that it’d be difficult for me to ever say no to her.
“Abi…” Jim said, moving passed me to catch up to his daughter. “You’re going to sit next to Daddy.”
Jim moved to take Abigail’s seat and swiftly moved her small body next to him so that she sat one more seat towards the aisle. “You can still sit next to Zoe, but she’s not going to watch you. Daddy is,” Jim whispered sweetly, and just like that, for the second time, the seat I was going for was claimed by Abigail.
I laughed, letting the girl settle in before I took a seat right next to her. The play was going to be great, I thought, as Derek’s warmth enveloped me from the other side. On one side I had a cute little girl, on the other I had the man I loved, and in front of me was going to be my very best friend in the world performing her little heart out for the entire arena to see.
Chapter 8
Almost as soon as we were settled, the lights of the large arena-esque theater began to dim. The small chatter that filled the room quickly died down. I gripped the Playbill tightly with my sweaty palms. I was nervous. Nervous for her.
I couldn’t dare flip through the pages; I couldn’t look at her name. I felt the butterflies fluttering in the pit of my stomach enough without doing anymore to remind me of the fact that she was in a leading role.
I felt a large lump in my throat, a lump so large that I couldn’t even swallow it.
But almost as if on cue, Derek’s hand found mine. He gripped my balled up fists firmly and pulled it open. The Playbill dropped to the floor, and I felt my hand relax within his almost instantly. He was good at making me forget.
“She’s going to do great,” he whispered, and as soon as he did a piano began playing softly. All of a sudden, a sound of a whirling wind came across, and I couldn’t help but wonder how they had mimicked it. Were they using a fan? What were they using? Nothing sounded motorized… it just sounded like a heavy wind.
And all of a sudden, chills ran over my flesh and I realized that I was cold.
Snowy hills appeared with a backdrop of mountains and a gorgeous blue sky. And then there stood Polly. She wore heavy gear, and although I had no idea what mountain climbers wore, I assumed the costume was probably pretty accurate.
I couldn’t help but curve my lips in a smile as I watched her look out in the audience just before she was accompanied by another actor.
He came up from behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He was good-looking. Tall, with dark features, and a gorgeous-looking physique. I actually felt like I was looking at a man who climbed mountains in his free time.
Polly leaned into him, lovingly.
“It’s so beautiful, Tim,” she sighed, continuing to look out into the audience.
“You’re beautiful,” he said, and immediately my eyes rolled to the back of my head. A love story? Really?
Polly sighed contently, just before pulling away so that she could turn to face him.
Their eyes locked, and I shuddered at how convincing she was.
I felt like I was watching an actual corny scene take place, rather than a made-up one.
I watched, mesmerized, as the man lifted her chin with his finger and thumb, and found myself sitting at the edge of my seat when her eyes closed longingly and he leaned in and kissed her.
I was surprised by the kiss so soon, or their confessions of love at all, for that matter. I wondered if that meant the play might lead into some sort of treacherous zone. I mean
the main characters never got together until the end, unless something bad was going to happen. And I knew, right then, that I was already intrigued. I was in it. I was in the story. It had enveloped me.
My hands gripped the arm of the chair so tightly that my knuckles turned red then white.
I could hear Derek chuckle from beside me.
I couldn't tell if it was me that he was amused with, or if it was seeing Polly so intimate with someone in such a cheesy love scene. Regardless, my eyes remained forward.
“I don’t think anything is going to spoil this!” Polly giggled, pulling away from the kiss.
“Five months in paradise, babe!” Tim countered, grabbing onto her shoulders. “It's going to be a dream come true.” He smirked in what I could only call a perfect Derek-esque fashion.
“You’re a dream come true,” she said with a smirk, pulling him into another embrace.
“I love you, Julia,” he whispered, but only faintly.
I scoffed, despite the tenderness in the moment. I couldn’t blame her and all the canoodling with such a hunk of man. He was hot, and it looked super cold on that “mountain”. I was cold just sitting in the audience of a play about a mountain. If I was actually smack dab on something with snow all over it, I would have stayed huddled up to him the entire time. That was for sure.
“Are you checking that dude out?” Derek whispered, feigning offense.
“I was!” Abigail whispered in response.
I nudged them both lightly, laughing. “Watch the play, guys!”
And then the piano started playing once again—funny, because I didn’t realize that it had even quit in the first place—and the lights on the stage went black once again.
And when they turned back on, we were in a different scene, inside what looked like a cabin. Julia and Tim sat at a small round wooden table, and they were talking in hushed, but easy and light-hearted tones.
Yeah, their fates didn’t look good.
Was this a horror play? Was a monster or Yeti or even a crazy, risen-from-the-dead slasher man going to murder them?
I should have taken bets.
I watched as the actors conversed. They leaned close to one another, their body language reading like two people in love.
“I just can’t believe we’re here,” Julia said to Tim, as they sat at their adorable little cabin table. She reached out and grabbed his hand.
“We just need to get out on that mountain,” he replied. “We only have a few months of leave to conquer that bad boy.”
“My mom thinks we’re crazy,” she said and laughed, pulling their intertwined hands up, kissing the back of his.
“I think everyone thinks we’re crazy,” he said and smirked. “It’s a long vacation on a mountain, secluded from the entire world.”
And that’s all I needed to know. From there, I had a pretty good idea that someone was going to die on that mountain. I sat further up in my seat, invested.
“Darn, she's good,” Jim whispered several times—over and over—after Polly spoke, and I could do nothing but smirk in response. He must have trained himself not to curse in front of his daughter. Seriously, who used the word “darn” otherwise?
The stage went black again, and again, and although I had seen performances before, I couldn’t believe how different Polly was in her role as Julia.
Julia was such an adventurer, energized, open with her emotions, and accepting of newness. Polly was almost the direct opposite; that’s why it was so incredible that she was pulling it all off.
“They have a lot of chemistry,” a woman in front of us whispered. “I wonder if they’re sleeping together.”
I was a little frustrated by what she said…
Just because they had chemistry, they were automatically having sex?
But then again, I realized that I wouldn’t know.
Ever since dealing with Derek, I really hadn’t been there like I should have been. I had no idea what was going on in Polly’s life. It was a miracle that I even knew the name of her play. And I forgot that she had been taking care of a dog for me for months.
It was incredible how clueless I had been and how terrible of a friend I was.
And although Polly was good, and I was actually really enjoying myself and the play, I couldn’t wait for it to end.
I wanted nothing more than to just hug her, congratulate her, and douse her with warmness. She deserved it. She deserved a good friend. She was a good friend.
Chapter 9
I wanted to die.
Ever since I wished the play would end, more and more happened. Just like I thought, someone had met a terrible fate on the mountain. And that person was Polly’s character, Julia.
Of course, it was Julia.
They had trained for months, and one day, when they finally were able to conquer a large majority of the mountain, their equipment malfunctioned, their clips snapped, their ropes broke, and everything seemed to go to complete and utter shit. They didn’t have enough gear to go back down the mountain, so they waited it out, hoping rescue would come.
And it tried.
The rescuers worked overtime to try and find them, knowing that they were out on the mountain, but they couldn’t find them … at least, not in time.
Polly’s character Julia wasn’t strong enough to make it, despite Tim doing all that he could to keep her alive.
I was watching her last moments, as they professed their love for one another.
“Please, move on for me,” she whispered, her breath leaving her body, and Tim could do nothing, say nothing, through his tears.
He could only shake his head.
“I can’t,” he whimpered, but she held up a weak hand to shush him.
“Please. You need to. I want you to be happy,” she said quietly, so quietly that it was a miracle the audience heard her. “It doesn’t have to be right away, but someday, move on.”
“What if I don’t make it off this mountain?” He was finally able to speak.
“You will.” She sounded so determined, so sure of it. And I found myself gripping my seat again, tears falling from my stinging eyes.
It was like I could see, as she slowly took her last breath…
Tim nodded, holding her hand as the life went out of her body.
“Hey. Chill out. It’s acting,” Derek leaned in and whispered, rubbing my shoulder.
And although it was only acting, I could feel my heart beat out of my chest.
The lights went black again, and the curtain closed, causing people in the audience to begin to clap and cheer, a majority even going so far as to stand.
“Is it over?” I asked, but I already knew the answer. All around, people stood, clapping and cheering…so much that the sound overwhelmed my ears, and I felt my chest begin to thump. No one knew if Tim got off the mountain, but the last scene with the rescuers made it seem like they were close.
I shrugged, a little annoyed that I didn’t know the concrete ending of the play I had just invested hours in watching.
I heard audience members call out the name “Julia” over and over, seemingly genuinely impressed by her performance.
Hell, I knew that I was.
But I knew that I was probably one of the least enthused about the ending of the play. I was bothered by it, truthfully. And it had nothing to do with the writing, nothing to do with Polly’s brilliant performance… it had nothing to do with the play itself.
It had everything to do with my own fears.
My fear of losing friends; and most importantly, my fear of losing Derek.
The large curtain opened once again, and the entire cast stood, lined up, facing the crowd. They all grabbed hands and took a bow just before groups came up one at a time to the forefront of the stage.
The rescuers walked up first and took their bow.
And after just a few more groups of people, Polly and her leading man, whose name—according to the Playbill I had at some point picked back up off the ground—was Jona
than, walked up beside one another.
They glanced at each other, smiles broad and wide, before grabbing each other’s hand.
They raised their embraced hands into the air just before bowing to the crowd.
I watched as Jonathan, smiling brightly, retrieved a bouquet of roses from back stage and presented them to Polly. And I watched as she blushed in response.
I giggled, almost reciprocating her shy blush.
“That guy totally likes Polly.” Derek laughed.
“I hope he actually knows Polly…because Julia is the opposite.” I smirked. Polly was beautiful, talented, and intelligent in her own way, but she was full of personality. And ultimately, men didn’t see her coming.
And a lot were intimidated by that fact.
My gaze continued onward towards the stage, as I watched Polly converse, graciously, to her cast mates. And then she glanced out into the crowd and waved her free hand at the audience, her eyes darting all around. It was like her eyes were tracing the crowd, looking for someone specific, but she smiled widely at everyone as she passed over them.
She froze, her eyes locking with mine. Her smile widened, and her eyes glistened as she noticed me sitting directly in front of her. I knew, though, that I wasn’t who she was combing the audience for.
I couldn’t have been.
She knew where I was sitting.
She reserved the seats.
So who was she looking for?
My brows twisted in confusion, and as soon as the thoughts went through my mind, I watched as her smile faltered and she turned away, almost seeming… embarrassed? Or like someone had caught her doing something she wasn’t supposed to be doing.
The question was, what was she doing?
I had no idea.
But I was going to find out.
But the crowd was thick and people that weren’t even sitting in my row were suddenly all crowded around, packed in like sardines. But I didn’t care. I didn’t even care to stay with everyone I came with. Using my dominant side, I shoved my way past everyone, finally making it to the aisle.