Big Apple Dreams (12 page)

He didn’t actually touch you!
My brain screamed at me.
It was a dream!

I took a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves, before splashing water on my face.

It was the picture he sent. That has to be it. I mean, he looked smoking hot! Who wouldn’t have a dream like that after seeing it?

I grabbed the hand towel and dried off, still feeling slightly breathless.

I looked in the mirror once more, surprised to see the satisfied smile on my face.

Oh boy. I’m in trouble.

Chapter Twelve

“So, explain to me your restaurant,” I said, stirring the noodles that Lizzy had put me in charge of.

“What do you want to know?” she laughed.

“How are you going to open one? I mean, I’m sure that you can, but working at Olive Garden doesn’t exactly seem like a stepping stone towards accomplishing that goal.”

We laughed together as she washed a
bundle of fresh spinach before answering.

“At this point in time, it seems like it’s never going to happen,” she sighed, laying the leaves on a cutting board and pulling out a knife. “I keep trying to save up enough money to do something—anything—that will make me feel like I’m moving forward
, instead of standing still. Things just aren’t working out, though.”

“Don’t give up,” I said encouragingly. “If you keep working at it, things will fall into place.”

“I hope so.”

She finished her chopping and sprinkled the greens over a sauce she’d made earlier, clearly satisfied with how it turned out as she tasted it.

“Thank you,” she said, taking the spoon I was stirring with. “Would you mind setting the table?”

“Not at all,” I said warmly, opening the cupboard to grab the plates.

“You’ll need four of them,” she said nonchalantly.

I turned back to her, eyebrow raised.

“Who did you invite over?”

She mumbled her reply, shooting me a mischievous grin.

“What was that?” I laughed.

“Evan.” She shrugged, turning her smile back to her work.

My pulse quickened as I remembered the dream I’d had the week before. It had only occurred the one time, but it was burned into my brain for the rest of eternity.

“Who else,” I said, clearing my throat as discretely as I could.

“Oh, yeah. The Boy Toy will be here in about ten minutes. He texted me when he left his house.”

“What,” I screeched, running for my closet. “You decided to wait until now to tell me?”

“I know you’ve been busy and haven’t gotten to see each other,” she giggled. “I thought a surprise, late night dinner party would be fun. Besides, I get in trouble with Evan if I cook a bunch of food and don’t invite him over. This way, he’ll be off work, too.”

“I’m wearing sweat pants!”

Her cute, baby blue sundress made more sense now.

I dashed across the apartment while she finished cooking, laughing at me the whole time. Panic welled up inside me as I tried to find something that wasn’t dirty. A small voice whispered that I wasn’t ready to have Chris and Evan together in the same room.

Just as I pulled a nice, black, three quarter sleeve shirt over my head, there was a knock on the door. I hoped it was Evan, who seemed less likely to care that I only had half of my hair fixed.

“Hey, Liz.”

His warm, baritone voice came muffled through the door and I breathed a little easier.

Calm down, it’s just Evan.

Suddenly, the thought of him pulling my stockings off and trailing kisses down my legs popped into my head and I gasped, knocking my brush to the floor.

“Mara?” Lizzy asked, knocking on the door. “Are you okay?”

“Yes!”

I quickly picked it up and ran it lightly through my hair.

This is going to have to do
, I sighed to myself.

There was another knock at the door as I exited the bathroom. My eyes were instantly caught on Evan
, though, a blush creeping through my face. Once again, I was remembering the things his dream self had done to me.

“
Hey,” he said with a smile. “Long time, no see, right?”

“Yeah,” I laughed nervously, reaching up to twirl my hair around my finger.

I can’t stop thinking about it
, I cried to myself.
How am I supposed to sit here with my boyf—

“Mara!” I drug my eyes from Evan, turning to the doorway. Chris looked handsome as always, in his suit. I was beginning to wonder if he really worked that much
, or if he dressed up because he liked it.

“Chris,” I said as warmly as I could, walking towards him as he held his arms out to me. “How are you?”

“Fantastic, now that I’m with you,” he said, placing a finger under my chin and bringing our lips together for a light kiss.

“Okay,” Evan said loudly. “What’s for dinner, Liz?”

I pulled away from Chris, practically shaking from nervousness. It felt like everyone could tell I’d had a sexy dream about someone I wasn’t dating.

“It smells delicious,” Chris said with a smile. “Thank you for inviting me.”

“It was a nice surprise for Mara,” she said, ignoring her brother and grabbing the plates I’d never set, handing them to Evan. “I know you’ve been missing each other.

Evan glared at her for a split second before taking the stack from her and setting them out in their places.

“Was it a nice surprise?” Chris laughed, wrapping his arms around me once more.

“Yes,” I said with a smile, reminding my insides to calm down.

You didn’t actually do anything with Evan. He and Chris have been around each other before. Just act normal and you’ll be fine. Nothing is wrong.

“It was a surprise for me
, too,” Evan butted in, going back into the kitchen to help bring the food out.  

“I figured you’d only care about the food,” she replied smoothly.

Chris led me over to the dining area and pulled a chair out, motioning for me to sit down.

“So, have your classes been going well?” he asked, talking softly so as to create our own conversation.

“Really well,” I said with a smile.

“Any job opportunities
, yet?”

“No,” I said, caught off guard by the direction he was going. “I picked up a couple of shifts this month to help pay for the classes. It’s been pretty tight between the two. I don’t think I’ll make it to any auditions until next month
, when I have some wiggle room.”

“Will there be room for me, too?” he laughed, a teasing twinkle in his eye.

“I would hope so,” I laughed, my attention breaking from him as the other two joined us at the table, setting the food down in the center.

“This is one of my own creations,” Lizzy said, laying a napkin over her lap. “So let me know what you think—for real! My feelings won’t be hurt if it’s terrible.”

“Lizzy can’t make anything bad,” I laughed, grabbing the serving spoon.

“I beg to differ,” Evan said, leaning forward and resting his folded arms. “When she was about seven or eight, she got the bright idea to cool off our ramen noodles with apple juice.”

“It was terrible,” she laughed, remembering as well. “But, like he said, I was only seven.”

“A few years after that, she decided to make peanut butter cookies for everyone.”

“Sounds yummy,” I giggled.

“You would think so,” Evan laughed
, leaning closer to me. “She put a whole tablespoon of salt in the dough though.”

“They were inedible,” Lizzy chuckled. “No amount of sweet could save them.”

“Mom was crushed,” Evan said, a fond look in his eye.

“She would always eat the dough with us,” Lizzy said, the same look on her face. “That’s one of my favorite memories from being a kid.”

“Is that what helped you realize you wanted to open your own eatery?” Chris asked.

By this point, everyone had dished their own food and was taking the first bites.

“I like this one,” she said, smiling. “And, yeah, I guess so. I never really thought about it. I just always knew that I wanted to own my own restaurant.”

“What if it never happens?”

“It will,” Evan said with a little force.

He looked a little put off, his fingers gripping around his fork.

“Dreams fall through all the time,” Chris continued, oblivious to the fact that he’d obviously done something to set Evan on edge.

“If you work hard enough
, though,” I said, trying to ease the tension. “Anything can happen.”

“That is true,” Chris said with a smile, raising his first bite to his lips.

We all watched as he chewed it up and swallowed, the grin on his face growing even wider.

“This is really good!”

“Thank you,” Lizzy breathed out, relaxing instantly. “I always get so nervous when someone new tries my food.”

“You don’t need to be,” Chris said appreciatively. “This is very well done.”

“She’s good at what she does,” Evan said, smiling at his sister in triumph, as if he’d won some unspoken battle.

“What about you, Evan?” Chris asked, scooping another bite up. “What’s your dream?”

“He wants to be a playwright,” Lizzy said.

“Really?”

“Not exactly,” Evan chuckled nervously.

“Whatever,” I said, rolling my eyes. “He already has a story idea. Someone else wrote it bad
, though, so he’s going to write his own.”

“How interesting.” Chris wiped his mouth and folded his hands in his lap. “Aren’t you worried that there’s not enough job security in that
, though?”

“What do you mean?” Evan asked.

“Will writing be enough to take care of you and any family you have for the rest of your life?”

“It’s hard to say,” Evan said hesitantly. “Success in the performing world depends largely on what other people think of your work, no matter how much you put into it.”

“Exactly! You could put countless hours into something and have nothing come from it.”

“But it would be worth it, to me,” Evan said. “It’s hard to follow your dreams. A lot of people take the easy way out
and pretend that they’re happy for the rest of their life. No one sees them dying inside, wishing they’d followed their heart.”

“Spoken like a true writer,” Chris laughed, picking up his fork again.

“What about you, Chris?” Lizzy asked. “Do you have a dream?”

“I’m perfectly happy the way I am,” he laughed.

“He wanted to go to school to be an architect,” I said softly, suddenly butting into the conversation. “But he was worried he wouldn’t be able to support himself, so he didn’t do it.”

“Sometimes dreams can’t be followed,” he said with a shrug. “I’ve never regretted my decision.”

I looked up from my plate and glanced at Evan. He looked like he wanted to call Chris on his last statement. I’d never seen him so hostile before. Something had ruffled his feathers bad.

“Well, thank heavens Mara followed her dream,” Lizzy said, raising her glass to me. “Otherwise, none of us would be here now.”

I blushed as the men raised their glasses, as well, the same expression on their faces. It took me a second to realize that it was admiration—and that Evan’s wasn’t brotherly.

As if he’d noticed me catching on, he broke his gaze away from mine and looked at his sister. It seemed the same smile was given to her
, as well, but I was sure I detected a slight change.

What am I doing? Chris is right here! Stop looking at Evan.

I turned my gaze back to Chris and smiled warmly, leaning forward and meeting him for another small kiss.

I didn’t miss the tightening of Evan’s fist out of the corner of my eye as I pulled away.

Chapter Thirteen

“That was intense!” Lizzy said breathlessly, leaning up against the mirrored wall.

“But fun,” I said with a smile, trying to catch my own breath.

We’d gone to our first dance class together at a studio not far from the apartment. It had been nonstop action for the past hour
. I’d loved every minute of it. The feeling of being back to what I did best was amazing.

As it turned out, Evan had been serious about coming to classes with us. He couldn’t make the dance classes because of work, but he’d told us both he’d do his best to see if he could make it to the acting classes on the weekends.

Lizzy had only signed up for the weekday dance lessons with me. She’d dropped several hints that if Evan were going to show up to act she wanted to be there to see it, though.

She was about to get lucky.

“Hey,” I said after taking a long drink of water. “Do you know if Evan has been working on his play at all?”

“I’m not sure. He hasn’t said anything to me about it.”

“We should ask him the next time he comes over.”

I slid my shoes off and placed them in the duffle bag at my feet, Lizzy doing the same beside me. All around us, the other members of the class packed up as well, saying their goodbyes until next week.

As we were leaving the building, Lizzy’s phone rang out from the front pocket of her orange jacket. She fumbled with her light gloves for a moment as she pulled it out to check it.

“Looks like we get to pester Evan about following his dream tonight after he gets off,” she said with a smile.

“As long as it’s good pestering,” I sighed. “I’m so sorry for how Chris acted at dinner.”

It was probably the millionth time I’d apologized for his unsupportive behavior. I’d never realized how . . . realistic he was before. It was like he had no room for dreaming, unless it involved becoming something with a six figure salary. I hadn’t really seen that side of him, which had me both worried and calm about the future of our relationship. Hopefully, it was just a one-time thing
, and I wouldn’t have to bother with it anymore.

“There’s a lot of people out there that think the same as he does,” Lizzy said with a shrug,
apparently knowing that she didn’t need to tell me it was fine one more time.

“Do you really think so?”

“Of course. How else do you end up with people who hate the job that they spent years and thousands of dollars towards? They’re in it for the money. What they don’t realize is that money won’t make them happy. Just think—would you rather have all the money you could ever want and never perform again, or be on stage every night, singing your heart out?”

“On stage,” I laughed. “I wouldn’t be happy if I couldn’t do what I loved.”

“Exactly! People think that they’ll just do whatever makes the most dough for them, and then they’ll be happy. They build mansions and buy fancy cars and pretend like they didn’t need to be a teacher, or whatever other low paying job they always dreamed of. The sad part is when they actually trick themselves into thinking nothing is wrong. They stop listening to their heart and it ends up killing everything inside them.” 

“I understand completely,” I said as we entered the station and waited for our train to arrive. “They do it to themselves because of their own fears. Sometimes other people do it to them,
which I think is worse. My parents were always so supportive of what I wanted to do, even if they thought it was a long shot. They never once told me that I couldn’t do something. I was always pushed to do my best.”

Our subway train arrived and we joined the crush of people boarding, taking seats next to the door.

“My mom is a lot like that,” Lizzy said with a smile. “She always tells me that I have to run any new recipes by her before I let anyone else try them.”

She laughed, shaking her head and displaying one of the biggest smiles I’d ever seen her wear.

“I’ve never asked you about your parents,” I said, suddenly realizing how true the statement was.

“There’s not a whole lot to share,” she said with a shrug. “My dad left when Mom was pregnant with me. Apparently, he was a real tool—to paraphrase the things she has to say about him.”

“Wow, I’m so sorry,” I cringed. “I had no idea.”

“It’s fine,” she chuckled. “Mom was a great parent. She worked two full time jobs and a part time gig on the side while we were growing up, just so we could afford the things we needed. Eventually she met Chuck—that’s her boyfriend—and fell in love. She finally got brave enough to let him move in when Evan started high school.”

“Are they still together?”

“They are. He loves her very much, but he’s too chicken to ask her to marry him. It’s been over ten years that they’ve had each other and they still blush when they see each other.”

“How cute! I’m assuming that you and Evan get along with him very well then?”

“I always did,” she said with a laugh. “Evan had a hard time at first
, though. He’d been the man of the house for so long. I think after the first two years, though, he treated Chuck like he was our own dad.”

“Do you go visit often?” I asked with a smile.

“They moved upstate after I moved out, so not a whole lot I feel guilty about it, but I know they understand. I make it home for the majority of the holidays, though. Evan comes with me when he can, but sometimes the show keeps him tied up.”

By that point, our stop had arrived and we’d made it back to the street, the apartment complex just ahead.

“I miss my parents,” I sighed. “I’d planned on going back and visiting them as often as possible, but that’s starting to look like never. It will be a miracle if I make it home for Christmas without their help.”

“You should video call them
, again,” Lizzy giggled. “I enjoyed getting to meet them last time.”

“They liked you a lot,” I said, smiling warmly.

We climbed the steps to our building, making the stair climb to our floor in no time at all. Before I knew it, we were flopped down on our beds, still discussing our parents.

There was a knock at the door as Evan let himself in, dropping his
key, bag, and motorcycle helmet by the entryway.

“Sisters,” he said with a nod, heading straight to our refrigerator.

“There’s leftover spaghetti in the bowl on the top shelf,” Lizzy said, not bothering to get up and greet him.

“Great!” he said enthusiastically. “I’m starved. I didn’t grab anything to eat before the show like normal.”

“That’s because you’re stupid,” Lizzy said with a wicked grin.

“Ha ha, very funny,” he said snidely, pulling the container out and scooping some noodles up with his fingers.

“Gross!” I laughed. “There’s forks in the drawer right next to you.”

He tu
rned and pulled one out, holding it up for me to see.

“Better?”

“Absolutely.”

He made a show of putting the utensil in the dish and licking his fingers clean, winking at me
, while Lizzy made disgusted sounds.

“How was class,” he asked after taking a seat at the table.

“Good,” I said warmly, happy to see him enjoying the leftovers so much.

“Fun,” Lizzy added.

“Awesome.”

He continued to shovel the food into his mouth as if he were starving. The noodles would hit his chin and slide up into his mouth, leaving sauce trails in their wake.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I burst into laughter and rose from the bed to grab a napkin for him.

“Thanks,” he said, one of his perfect smiles cutting through me as I handed it to him.

“No problem. Hey, have you started on your play at all yet?”

I waited for him to swallow, grinning at the surprised look on his face.

“I did a little, actually. Why?”

“I wanted to invite you to something,” I said, excitement flooding me.

“My acting teacher said that if we knew any playwrights who wanted to hear their work acted out to make sure it was flowing well to invite them to next week’s class. He’ll split us into groups and let us all work together. That way we’re getting to experience fresh stuff on the spot and you get to make sure you’ve written what you want.”

“That sounds like it could be cool,” he said, clearing his throat nervously. “I don’t know if what I have is good enough for something like that
, though.”

“Sure it is,” I encouraged.

“It’s just a first draft. I don’t even have a name for it, yet. There’s only one, two person scene done and it’s in the middle of the show.”

“That sounds like a whole lot of excuses,” I said, folding my arms and giving him my best serious face.

“It is,” he laughed. “I’m not sure, Mara. I’m not good at putting myself out there when it comes to that.”

“So why don’t you bring what you have over here tomorrow
, and I’ll read it with you? I mean, I’m sure that it’s good enough for an acting class to read through. It won’t even be the whole class, but whatever. If it makes you feel better, I’m more than happy to see what you have first.”

“
I could maybe do that,” he said, a pondering look on his face as he surveyed me.

“Great! Get ready for me to sing your praises,” I said, putting my hand on his shoulder as I stood and left the table.

“If you say so,” he chuckled.

“You wouldn’t even tell me what your idea was when I asked you about
it all that time ago,” Lizzy pouted, still lying on the bed.

“Who said I was going to tell Mara?” he joked.

“You can come over tomorrow afternoon if you’d like,” I butted in. “I’m off.”

“No fair!” Lizzy wailed. “I have to work! You can’t read it without me!”

“That sounds great,” Evan said, a humorous twinkle in his eye. “Then you can tease Liz about knowing something she doesn’t.”

“You’re so mean,” she said, rolling her eyes and getting up, heading to the bathroom.

“I’ll tell you what it’s about,” I laughed as she shut the door.

“You ruin all my fun,” Evan said, the most hilarious pout face I’d ever seen stretched across his features.

“I’m excited to see what you have,” I said, smiling at him.

“Let’s hope I don’t disappoint,” he laughed. 

“How could you disappoint me by doing something you’ve always wanted?”

His smile grew as he continued to look at me, silent. As always, he looked stunning in his blacked out work clothes.

I envied his opportunities to work where I wanted. It seemed pure luck that’d I’d managed to meet and befriend him. Had he even realized what he’d done for me and my dreams in the short time we’d known each other?

It wasn’t just work stuff, though. He seemed to connect with me on levels that other people didn’t. Every time we were together, I didn’t feel the need to put on a show. He made me feel like I could be myself, no exceptions.

The only problem was those pesky thoughts that would pop into my head about how attractive he was. Or how much I would like to be kissing him.

It wouldn’t hurt to touch just one muscle . . . would it? Just one time. It wouldn’t be sexual at all—just his arm, or that peck that looks like it could stop a bullet. It’s not like Chris would need to know. I wouldn’t be doing anything wrong.

I stopped my train of thought immediately, recognizing the signs of trouble that it was displaying.

Evan was still watching me, seeming to be lost in his own thoughts as well. The smile that tugged at his lips definitely held back unspoken secrets. Things that I was surprised to realize I wanted to know.

Images from my dream flooded back into my mind, the sound of his voice saying my name echoing in my ears.

Mara.

“What are you thinking about?” Evan asked, eyes piercing in my own.

“Nothing really,” I lied, staying still as he stood up.

“You’re not telling the truth,”
he said softly, moving towards me until there was only an inch of space between us.

“How do you know,” I said breathlessly.

He reached a hand up and pulled a strand of hair from my face, letting his fingers trail through the rest of my tresses.

“Mara,” he said uncertainly.

My heart jumped, hearing an underlying tone from the dream voice.

Is he leaning in? I’m imagining it. What if I’m not? Oh, I don’t care anymore.

His fingers brushed the tips of my hair, again, and my breath caught, waiting to see what would happen.

My eyes fluttered closed as his breath washed over my face.

The toilet flushed and we jumped apart as the door opened and Lizzy came back into the room.

“Okay, what did I miss?” she asked,
not seeing whatever had almost just happened between Evan and I.

“I was telling Mara about the plot of my play,” he said smoothly, taking his seat once again.