Ethan put a hand to his ear and leaned in, further invading my space. "What'd you say?" he asked even though I was pretty sure he had heard me.
"She said she can catch food in her mouth," Mia confirmed, looking past me at Ethan. "And she can."
"Everybody can do that," Ethan said, sitting back confidently like he was a champion food catcher from way back.
I giggled at his silly confidence as I shrugged one shoulder confidently. "I pretty much can catch anything you throw at me. I almost never miss."
I could tell Ethan knew I was joking around, and we smiled at each other.
"She really can," Mia agreed. "She'll catch everything you throw as long as it's within like four feet. If it's close, she can catch it."
Ethan glanced into the restaurant like he might be considering asking me to show him my skills, and I immediately started shaking my head. "I'm not doing that in here," I said.
"Oh, come on, how am I supposed to believe you can do it if I don't see you do it?"
"She can," Mia said in a convincing tone. "I promise she can. I've seen her catch like fifty peanuts in a row."
"I thought that was M&M's," Justine said, chiming in.
"I'll put some peanuts and M&M's to shame," I bragged.
Ethan laughed. "M&M's will break a tooth!"
I glanced at him and shook my head with a completely serious expression. "I'm a professional," I said in a dry tone. "I don't crack teeth."
He grinned. "You know I'm gonna have to see proof of these skills," he said. "You can't build it up like this and expect me to go without seeing you in action."
I shook my head. "Not in here."
He sighed regretfully. "Then I'm gonna need an alternate talent," he said. "One to which you can show proof."
I laughed and squinted at him.
"Show him your glove," Mia said. "She knits. Earlier, at the gallery, she was showing us this glove she's working on."
I smiled at Ethan. "I'll show it to you, but if anything, it's just gonna prove that I'm a jack of all trades and a master of none… especially knitting. I still have to watch a tutorial every time I move to a different step."
I dug in my bag and came up with the glove, which happened to be still attached to two circular knitting needles. "I've only ever knitted hats and scarves," I said. "Gloves are a little intimidating, but it's really about just following the pattern."
Ethan took the half-finished glove from me and turned it over in his hand. I was using some beautiful, brightly colored wool that faded from one color to the next, creating a striped pattern.
"You made this?" he asked.
I shrugged sheepishly as I reached out to get it from him so I could put it away. Ethan dodged my attempts and held onto it, staring at the construction of it. I watched as his eye found the piece of string at the top of the glove and followed it into my purse. "It's still connected," I explained. "I'm not done with it yet, so it's still connected to the ball of yarn.
"May I see it?" he asked.
I smiled and dug in my bag, easily coming up with the ball of yarn, which was about the size of a tennis ball and mostly consisting of shades of blue. The glove was pink, orange, and green, and I smiled as Ethan held both the glove and the yarn, looking at them.
"I don't guess I've ever seen how this was done before," he said. He handed it back to me. "My grandma used to do something like that, but I don't remember any of those fancy contraptions. I think she just had one metal stick and some yarn. I remember her yarn had a paper band around it with a lion on it."
"I know what you're talking about," I said. "But she was probably crocheting. I think that's what you mean when you say one metal stick. This is knitting. I don't know much about crocheting, but it's really similar."
"Well, I'm impressed," he said sweetly.
I grinned. "Thank you, but I should disclose that I'm not done with them yet and there's still a good chance I might mess everything up on the fingers."
"It's okay, I'm satisfied with what I saw," he said, nodding his head like I had passed some sort of exam. "I'll still take knitting as one of your talents even if you mess up the fingers. The hand part was enough for talent status."
I grinned and shook my head at him. "My knitting's got nothing on my food catching skills," I said.
Ethan found amusement in my smack talking. I loved that something so silly intrigued him, and it was even more fun knowing that I could deliver on the food catching claim if he ever put me to the test.
I really had practiced it for countless hours when I was in the ninth grade, and I had never lost the ability to catch with my mouth.
"I can whistle anything," Justine said.
Whistling was another one of the random talents I'd worked on over the years. Justine was most likely talking about whistling tunes, but I knew how to do the loud, shrill kind of whistle like you'd use to get someone's attention from far off or hail a cab. It took me a full week to strengthen my tongue and cheek muscles enough to deliver a sound, and I had to stick my pointer and second fingers into my mouth (a total of four fingers at one time) to make it work right, but I could indeed deliver an ear-piercing whistle if I wanted to. Of course, I would never claim that particular talent right after Justine made her whistling declaration.
I was in the middle of thinking about not saying I could whistle when Mia said, "Let's hear some."
"I'm not gonna bust out whistling," Justine said, looking at her like she was crazy. "Not in here."
"Ethan doesn't believe you without proof," Mia said.
"I'm willing to believe without actual proof," Ethan said. "I just wanted to see what this young lady was capable of after so much talk."
I turned to find that he was staring straight at me. The restaurant was dimly lit and there were a few candles on the table, so light danced on his face. Bad Medicine was one of my all time favorite TV shows, and it seemed surreal to be sitting next to the star of it—especially when he was looking at me with a teasing grin. It seemed a little different than the smile I'd seen him wear on TV. I wondered if he was actually using a different expression in real life, or if it was simply that his appearance was different in person than onscreen. Either way, he was stunning. I was trying to get over being starstruck, but it was very difficult.
"I can whistle, but I can't do it without using my fingers," I said out of nervousness. It didn't hit me until after the words left my mouth that I had already decided I wasn't planning on claiming to have whistling skills. "I'm kidding, I can't really do it that good," I said, backpedaling for Justine's sake. I cringed inwardly, wondering why I couldn't have just kept my mouth shut.
Just then, the server came to our table with desserts, which were free of charge on account of our friends Sarah and Collin owning the place and them being the sweetest people ever. There were eight of us, and the server explained that we had two of each of the four items. They all looked delicious, so there was no fighting over who would have what—we just sort of all reached in and grabbed whatever was closest to us.
Mia was on one side of me, and Ethan was on the other, and we all had something different. We ate a few bites, and then I inspected Mia's dessert before leaning over to stare at Ethan's. His was chocolate cake with fresh raspberries.
"That looks good," I said.
"It is good," he said. "So does yours." He peered into my bowl. It was a fancy ice cream sandwich with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and freshly baked cookies. "I was thinking about finishing yours after I was done with mine," he said.
I pulled my bowl away from him as if to tell him that I would guard it with my life. "I'm just playing," I said, bumping his shoulder with mine since he was leaning in so close to me. "You can have it if you want."
Mia pressed into my leg with her knee, and I pushed back.
"How about we eat half and then trade?" Ethan asked.
"I was gonna suggest that, but I didn't know if you wanted to share that cake."
"I don't, but I do want the rest
of that cookie."
"I'll give it to you without the cake," I said. "You can have your cake and cookie, too."
"They're gonna do it tomorrow, you guys!" Lu said.
Everyone on our side of the table looked at her, and she beamed and pointed at Lane and Zoe.
"They're doing it tomorrow, and it's gonna be at the collective. We have till 6pm to plan a wedding and make it spectacular."
"Are you seriously getting married?" Mia asked.
Zoe smiled and nodded.
"Tomorrow?"
Zoe nodded again. "Six o'clock, at the collective."
"They're gonna do it upstairs in the studio," Lu explained. "I told her we'd make it look good."
"We will," Mia said.
Lu looked at me. "Can you come by and help sometime tomorrow morning?"
I nodded.
"Maybe you can just bring clothes and plan on sticking around for the ceremony."
"Am I supposed to wear a dress?" I asked.
"No dresses," Zoe insisted. "I mean unless you're inclined to wear dresses on a normal day."
"I'm not inclined," Justine said.
"Who's on the guest list?" Mia asked. "Do I get a plus one?"
Zoe giggled. "I don't think we're having a guest list per say, since it's tomorrow and everything. It's pretty much just gonna be whoever's standing around upstairs when the preacher shows up." She gestured around the table. "Of course, y'all are all invited if you want to come by. Lane said he'll buy everyone dinner afterward."
"Pizza," Lane said. He was only kidding, but his comment got us started on a conversation about gourmet pizza. Ethan named his favorite place to eat and said he'd definitely come to the wedding if that was what Lane was buying.
It was a funny thing for him to say, and everyone laughed accordingly. I was probably the only person who wanted Lane to clarify that he would buy Alfonzo's Pizza and Ethan to clarify that he would be coming to the wedding in order to eat some of it. Neither of those things happened, and I was left to assume that Ethan had been joking and would not be attending the impromptu wedding.
Chapter 3
Lane and Zoe were both popular as individuals, so everyone at the collective was happy to hear the news that there would be a wedding. Zoe would be moving into Lane's apartment, which was in the same building, only on the penthouse level.
Shower & Shelter was the brainchild of Theo Duval, the man who owned the entire building. In the days when he was a struggling artist, he often found himself wishing he had a place exactly like S&S, so when he finally made it big, that project was one of the first philanthropic things on his list. Theo was Canadian by birth, but he loved New York City, and wanted his project to be there.
He bought a building in the Upper East Side and completely remodeled it. The first floor was an art gallery with offices, and the second floor was set up as free housing for up to thirty artists at a time, all of whom were on two-year terms. Each artist got a room with a bed and a mini fridge. There was a communal studio, kitchen, and showers, which were all kept in immaculate condition as a result of a good staff and strict rules. Theo traveled a lot, so he entrusted S&S to a guy named Lane who ran the place with great care in Theo's absence. Zoe was an artist who came to the collective with no training whatsoever, and Lane took it upon himself to do everything within his power to help her out.
Now there we were, planning their wedding. I had moved out of the collective several months before, but I loved the place and didn't mind going to help out. I wasn't alone, either. Many of the artists pulled together to make the studio beautiful for the wedding.
It was 4pm when Lu and I went upstairs to hang out with Zoe and help her get dressed. There were two apartments on the top floor, Lane's and Theo's, and Lane was given strict instructions to stay out of his apartment for the remainder of the afternoon so that Zoe could use it. Lu and I rode the elevator to meet Zoe, but Lu stopped in the hallway to finish a phone conversation.
Zoe opened the door and greeted me with a smile, noticing but not commenting on the fact that Lu was standing in the hall with her back toward us holding a phone to her ear.
"My friend Whitney's coming over in a few minutes to help me with my hair," Zoe said as she gestured for me to follow her into the apartment. "She asked if I wanted her to bring someone else from the salon to help with you and Lu, and I told her she could." Zoe shrugged. "It's not a fancy wedding or anything, but she offered, and I figured you and Lu might like somebody playing with your hair for a little while after all the work you did downstairs."
"I can't stay," I said regretfully. "I'd love to have her play with my hair, but I can't stay. I just got a text from Tabitha saying she needs me to take care of my little niece tonight."
"What's that mean?" Zoe asked, looking confused. "You can't come to the wedding?"
I shook my head regretfully. "I was going to stick around while you guys got dressed, but I have to be at the daycare to pick her up by five-thirty."
"Can't y'all just come back?" she asked.
"We could. I guess I could bring her back up here if she's feeling up to it. I didn't even think of that. I just figured I wouldn't be able to be here when I heard from Tabitha a few minutes ago."
"You know I don't mind if you bring Isabel. Do you think she'd want to come? You should go get her now, and Whitney can do her hair."
"Oh my gosh, she'd love that," I said.
Zoe punched at my shoulder. "You should go get her. I was gonna tell you to take some pizza home for her and your sister anyway."
"Yeah, because we're gonna have enough," Lu said, hearing that last part of Zoe's statement as she came into the living room. "Lane had me order thirty large pizzas from Alfonzo's."
"Are you really ordering Alfonzo's?" I asked, smiling at the memory of Ethan saying he'd come for it."
"Yeah, it's too bad Macy can't make it," Zoe said, wrinkling her nose at me.
Lu pulled back, scowling at me with a screwed up expression. "Can't make it where?"
"To the wedding," Zoe said, tattling on me.
I stuck my tongue out at her, and we both laughed. I focused on Lu who was now standing next to us, wondering what in the world was going on.
"I got a text from my sister that said she needed me to pick up Isabel," I explained. "She's gotta work late tonight. She didn't think she would, but something came up. Zoe was asking if I wanted to have my hair done, and I told her I didn't think I could make it. I didn't think about bringing Isabel back up here. I guess I'll go get her now and see how she's feeling."
"You better hope she's feeling good because you need to get back up here for that wedding, girl."
"I know, I hate to miss it," I said.
Lu's eyes widened as she shook her head seriously at me. "I wasn't even gonna tell you, Macy, but all I'm saying is that you better get back up here for that wedding because somebody's coming, and he was asking specifically about you."
A wave of adrenaline came over me, traveling from my knees upward and crashing down on my chest. She hadn't said Ethan's name, but she was smiling knowingly at me, and somehow I knew that's who she was referring to. I grinned uncontrollably because she was doing the same thing.
"What?" I asked. "What are you talking about?"
Lu smirked at me with a silly tight-lipped expression. "All I'm saying is that some prominent actor is coming to the wedding tonight, and that he specifically asked Joe if my friend Macy would be there."
Zoe let out a squeal of delight for my sake, which made Lu let one out as well. I sank my face into my hands to hide my excitement. "Are you messing with me?" I asked, reaching out to swipe at Lu's shoulder.
"I promise," she said. "I just talked to Joe, and he said Ethan text him saying he wanted to come up here for the wedding. He asked Joe if you'd be here, Macy."
"What'd Joe tell him?"
"That he was sure you would."
I paced a few steps in the living room, feeling unable to believe what I was hearing. My face felt h
ot. Isabel had been getting over a cold, and when I got the text from Tabitha, I just assumed I would be having a quiet evening of television with my niece. My thoughts had taken a complete 180. Now I was thinking about how in the world I could pick up Isabel and still have time to get back up here and have my hair done.
"I still have to make sure she's feeling well," I said when I realized I might be getting ahead of myself.
At that moment, there was a knock at the door. "It's Whitney," Zoe said.
"Let them get started on you two," I said, shifting my gaze between Zoe and Lu. "I'll go get Isabel and see if she's up for it."
"Text one of us when you pick her up," Lu said. "Maybe you can make it back in time to get your hair done."
I kissed them both on the cheek, and went to the door. I met Whitney and her assistant, Becca, as I was walking out and they were walking in. I explained to them that I hoped to be back in enough time to have them help me with my hair. Whitney put her hands into my hair without even asking permission and proclaimed how very much she loved curly hair. She pleaded with me to make it back in time even though she didn't know me and didn't owe me anything, and her excitement made me smile. I promised to do my best to get back.
***
"Why'd you get me eawly?" Isabel asked as we walked down the hall of her daycare together.
She was dainty and petit, just like my sister had always been. Her sandy blonde curls were pulled back into a loose, messy ponytail, and I walked behind her as I took her hair down and repositioned it into another ponytail that was slightly neater than the first.
"Langley's mom didn't even come yet, and neithew did Mawgo's." She looked up at me as I fell into stride beside her. "Why'd you get me eawly?"
"Your mama has to work late, and she asked me to pick you up. Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah. But cept, I have a tummy ache."
"Why do you have a tummy ache?" I asked, as I held the door open for her.
"Because my chicken nuggets was too spicy and so wew the chips."
Suddenly Starstruck (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective Book 4) Page 2