Megan pushed one gown after another down the clothes rack in front of her, barely listening to her sister as she talked.
"Hmm," she interjected from time to time pretending to be interested in the conversation but her mind was elsewhere. She'd had Stacey on the brain ever since their earlier encounter. Even now she realized she was searching for something blue because of Stacey's recommendation.
"So, next week I'm flying to Mars and leaving James at home with the pet giraffe," Kim said nonchalantly.
Her sister's words went in one ear, out the other and then doubled back finally grabbing Megan's attention. "What?" she asked.
"Oh, so you can hear me," Kim said with a humorously snarky tone. "I thought maybe I was speaking in a foreign language."
"Sorry," Megan said admitting to her distraction.
"Never mind," Kim said with a wave of her hand. "Whatever has you so preoccupied is clearly more interesting than stories about my workaholic husband. So, spill it! What gives?"
Megan glanced at her sister and then quickly put her attention back on the clothes rack in front of her. She wasn't sure she was ready to tell Kim about Stacey yet. Not that her sister would have an issue with Megan being attracted to a woman. After all, it was Kim who first helped Megan accept that she might be gay.
It was more than a year before Megan met Renee. Kim was home from college on Spring Break and the two sisters were in Megan's room catching up on everything that was happening in each other's lives. Kim was telling Megan about a guy named James she just met and Megan was telling Kim about a girl named Lisa who was in the marching band. Megan hadn't realized how much she'd been talking about Lisa until Kim stopped her mid-sentence and said,
"Why don't you ask her out already!"
That was Kim. Direct and to the point. Megan, on the other hand, took the circuitous route about everything.
"Ask her out," she replied. "What are you talking about?"
Kim just stared at her little sister. Then her lips twisted to the side they way they always did when she was about to make what she thought was an obvious point.
"Megan, you like Lisa," she said. When Megan didn't respond Kim continued. "You like like her!" she said emphatically. "And it's cool. You don't have to pretend with me."
Megan shook her head vigorously. "I don't know what you're talking about, Kim. Sure, Lisa is a great musician and she's fun to be around. She smart and kind and pretty."
The more Megan talked the more the lightbulb above her head lit up.
Kim tilted her head to the side and lifted her hands. "And you like her!"
That was Megan's less than dramatic coming out story and even though she never did ask Lisa out the following year she met Renee and began her first lesbian relationship.
Megan downplayed her sister's previous intuition about her love life with a shrug. Just because she picked up on it then did not mean she knew anything about Megan today. Besides, there wasn't anything to tell regarding her current crush -- at least not yet.
"It's nothing," Megan said finally answering her sister's question. "I'm just a little preoccupied thinking about the audition next week," Megan volunteered as a partial truth.
Kim's eyes narrowed and she leaned closer to her sister. "I don't think that's it," she said accusingly. "It's almost as if..."
Suddenly Kim's eyes grew large and her mouth fell open.
"You. Met. Someone!" she said accenting each word with a finger poke in Megan's arm.
"Ouch," Megan said swatting her sister's hand away. "Don't be ridiculous. When have I had time to meet anyone? All I do is sit in my apartment all day and play the piano."
"I'm not the one being ridiculous!" Kim said tightening her glare and holding her pointer finger threateningly in midair. "I know you Megan Green. I can tell when someone's grabbed your attention. And since when am I not the first person to hear about it?" Kim stuck out her lip in a pout as if her feelings were hurt.
Megan let out a long sigh and shook her head. It was no use trying to hide her feelings from her sister. Plus, if she was honest with herself she wanted someone to talk to about Stacey.
"It's nothing -- yet," Megan began.
Kim clapped her hands excitedly. "But you want it to be something, don't you?" she exclaimed. "Oh I just love love," Kim gushed. "At the beginning, it's so romantic and exciting." Kim clutched her hands to her chest and rested her chin on her knuckles. "Alright, tell me all about her. How old is she? Where did you meet? Have you been on a date yet?"
Megan looked away, focusing her attention on the dresses in front of her again. "It's not like that," she tried to explain. "We're not dating, we just shared some Mediterranean food."
"In some countries that would mean the two of you are now engaged," Kim joked. "Wait a minute!" Kim blurted out a little too loud. The saleswoman behind the counter looked in their direction but Kim waved her off.
Megan kept her eyes glued to the clothes rack in front of her. She could tell from the inflection in her sister's voice, that Kim was putting two and two together.
"Are you talking about your upstairs neighbor? The actress? The one who practically attacked you for playing your piano too loud?"
"She didn't attack me," Megan said with a dismissive shrug. "Besides that's all over with. We've come to an understanding and..."
Megan stopped mid-sentence because Kim was now laughing so hard that she didn't care what look she got from the snooty saleswoman.
"I knew something was up!" she said clapping her hands together. "You were completely nervous about your audition last week and now you're calm and relaxed."
Megan wanted to disagree with her sister but she knew what she was saying was true. Her preoccupation with Stacey had given her something else to think about other than the life-changing opportunity.
"Look, don't let me give you a hard time," Kim said catching her breath. "I'm just happy that you've met someone who puts a smile on your face. Maybe New York will be good for you. I told mom you were fine and she could wait until the baby was born to make a trip to New York."
Kim's hand flew up to her mouth after her last statement.
"What?" Megan asked, suddenly alarmed.
"Oh, darn. I wasn't going to mention it until after your audition."
Megan felt her heart clench and her breathing became shallow. "Kim?" she asked warily. "You didn't tell them why I'm here, did you?"
Her sister reached for her neck like she was clutching invisible pearls. "Of course not, Megan. I told you I wouldn't share your secret and I haven't."
Kim paused and bit her lip.
"But?" Megan asked sensing there was more to hear.
"They're coming to New York for a visit," Kim admitted with an apologetic shrug.
Megan closed her eyes and let her head drop to her chest.
"They're only staying for the weekend," Kim said trying to be cheerful about the news she knew her sister didn't like.
"Great, just long enough to drive me completely crazy," Megan replied shaking her head.
This wasn't what she wanted to deal with.
"I can't think about that right now," Megan said grabbing another blue dress off the rack. "We'll talk about it after my audition," she said as she darted off to the dressing room with an ocean of blue fabric clutched under her arm.
Chapter 9
"Blue is definitely the color for you," Stacey said parroting the comment she'd made to Megan as she walked the few blocks to the subway station.
The truth was she'd made up the whole thing about the dress color just to mask the fact that she'd been gazing at Megan for an unusually long amount of time. She hadn't meant to stare but ever since they had lunch, Stacey found herself becoming more and more curious about her downstairs neighbor.
In-person she seemed quite reserved -- almost shy -- even when she was angry. But there was another side to Megan that was evident through her music. There was a freedom, a passion that came through when Megan played the piano. Stacey could he
ar it even through the floor/ceiling barrier between their apartments. Stacey couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to encounter that passion in person.
She was so focused on that thought that she didn't even notice the woman making a beeline toward her on the subway platform.
"Stacey Taylor? Is that you?" a voice chirped.
Stacey looked up and the broad smile that thoughts of Megan cause, shrank.
"Oh. Hi Karen," she said trying to mask her dislike for the woman now standing in front of her.
"It's so good to see you," Karen said cheerfully. "I'm just getting back off the road and it's nice to bump into a familiar face."
Stacey heard Karen had gotten cast in the West Coast tour of Hamilton where she doubled as both one of the Schuyler sisters and the woman who slept with Hamilton while his wife and children were away on vacation. Perfect typecasting, Stacey thought.
"So, what have you been up too?" Karen asked.
Stacey just shrugged. There was no use making the workshop she'd just finished seem like more than it was.
"Nothing much," Stacey said.
She glanced down the tunnel hoping to see the light of an oncoming train. The thought of throwing herself in front of it flashed through Stacey's mind. Anything to get away from Karen!
"I did a workshop at the Ladder but it's dead in the water," she said.
"Hang in there, Stacey," Karen encouraged. " I'm sure something will come your way soon."
The words seemed harmless enough but Stacey could hear the pity in Karen's voice and that annoyed her even more. She was tempted to brag about her upcoming audition but that wasn't news she wanted to share with someone like Karen. Knowing Karen, she might try to weasel her way into an audition for herself.
"Well, I'd better get going," Karen said. "I've got rehearsal in half an hour. I don't know if you heard but I'm joining the ensemble in Chicago."
"Yeah. Someone mentioned it to me. Congrats," Stacey said forcing a smile.
She didn't like it that she actually felt jealous of Karen. Stacey had always prided herself in being supportive of other artists she knew. But everything about Karen just rubbed her the wrong way.
"Hopefully we'll get to share a stage soon," Karen said with a smile.
"Right," Stacey said through partially clenched teeth.
As Stacey watched the woman saunter away, she tried not to let the encounter dampen her mood. After all, she was on her way to rehearse for what might be her big break audition.
"I think this arrangement will really suit your voice," Ron said an hour later as Stacey stood at the piano next to him in his Bronx studio.
It took her a minute to recognize the piece Ron was playing but once she did she couldn't help but wonder if it was the right choice.
"Are you sure it's not bad luck to sing a song from a show that got canceled before it made it's Broadway debut?" she asked with a giggle.
Saturday Night was a musical by the renowned Steven Sondheim. It was supposed to be produced in the '50s but got shelved when it's major financial backer died unexpectedly.
"I think What More Do I Need is the perfect song," Ron retorted. "It's not sung a lot, so the producers won't be sick of hearing it when you come in. Plus, the way I've changed the arrangement will give you a chance to show off your range."
Stacey nodded as she looked over her copy of the sheet music. She was a little hesitant but she trusted Ron. He had years of experience as an accompanist and had probably helped more than a few actresses land leading roles on Broadway.
"Let's try it," she finally agreed. After all, if bad luck was following her she wouldn't have gotten the chance to audition in the first place.
After going over the song for a few hours with Ron, they recorded him playing the music and Stacey left the Bronx with an instrumental version she could rehearse with on her own.
"See ya on Wednesday!" she said excitedly as she left Ron's apartment.
On the train ride home, Stacey was so lost in studying the music that she hardly noticed when the conductor announced a short delay before the train left its current station. That was New York transit for you but Stacey didn't mind. With her earbuds snuggly in her ears, she continued preparing for her audition oblivious to the irritation her fellow passengers were suffering.
***
The following Wednesday, Stacey was standing in front of her mirror flat ironing her hair when the phone rang. She hit accept and then put the call on speaker.
"Hey, Ron! I'm almost ready to head out the door. I've just got to finish my hair but my clothes are all laid out and ready to go!"
Ron didn't say anything but in the background, Stacey could hear the familiar sounds of the subway. She wasn't surprised that he'd already left his house. It was going to take him a lot longer to get to the audition location from the Bronx. That's why on top of paying Ron for his time, Stacey offered to take him to lunch after the audition.
"Ron? Are you there?" Stacey asked yelling into the phone.
"Train... delay... Inman..." were the only words she could make out above the background noise.
"What?" she shouted. "The train is delayed?" Stacey felt her heart tighten in her chest. "It's okay, Ron. Just get off the train and grab a cab. I'll pay you back when you get to the rehearsal hall," Stacey said knowing Ron still had plenty of time to get from his current location to the audition by car.
Ron was saying something else but the only words -- or rather letters -- Stacey could make out were CNN. She scooped up the phone, ran into her bedroom and turned on the television.
"MTA officials have informed us that all passengers on board the southbound Number 2 train are safe but it may be a few hours before they can get them off the train."
Stacey stared at the video footage on the screen. There was smoke, and crowds of people streaming out of the subway station.
"Oh, no!" Stacey said as she realized Ron was stuck indefinitely.
He's not going to make it to the audition she thought in panic.
"Ron, I'll call you back!"
What was she going to do? She could call the casting director and see if it was possible to reschedule but that thought made Stacey's stomach churn. No, she was going to have to figure something else out.
Maybe she could sing to the instrumental recording of the song? Stacey hit play on her cell phone but immediately realized the sound was too distorted to use for her audition. She was about to go into full-blown panic mode when the FaceTime app on her cell phone rang.
"Knock 'em dead!!" Tony shouted with a big grin.
The sight of her friend almost brought Stacey to tears.
"Tony! I'm in trouble!" she said to the smiling face on the screen. "Ron is stuck on a train and can't make it to the audition. What I'm I going to do?"
"Well, first you're going to breathe," Tony said in a calming voice.
Stacey gritted her teeth and took a deep breath.
"You have the sheet music, right? Now you just have to find someone to play for you. Let's see, if only you knew someone nearby who played the piano." Tony's raised eyebrows accented his sarcasm.
Christmas All Around Us ; The Perfect Time for Love ; Playing for Keeps Page 24