Haunted (6 page)

“OK. I hope you find one,” I said as I turned to leave.

“Me too, Ruby…me too.”

I stopped short when I remembered why I wanted to talk to him in the first place.

“Hey, are you coming tonight?”

“That's the plan,” he said, his back facing me again.

“As in 'that's the plan but it may not be carried out'?” I asked for clarification.

“No. As in 'I'll be there because that's the plan'.”

“Good,” I replied, walking out of the bathroom. The dryer buzzing down the hall was my cue to leave.

* * *

Backstage was chaotic as I had expected it to be. My nerves were getting the best of me, making it difficult to put my false eyelashes on. Matty walked by and laughed as I nearly glued my eye shut.

“Here,” he said reaching his hand out for the tube. “Before you hurt yourself.”

He drew a thin line across the base of the fake eyelashes and delicately plopped it in place, just above my lash line. He took the liberty of doing the other side, and I didn’t argue.

“Are you sure you're not gay?” I asked jokingly, knowing that he got that question all the time.

“Yes, I'm sure. I have three older sisters. They used me for dress up,” he replied. “I do this instead of getting therapy. I figured I'd put my torture to good use.” He lifted my chin to the light to inspect his work. “It looks good, but you need more shadow. And you could stand a little more bronzer too.”

“More bronzer? I think the jig is up, Matty. I'm ghostly pale, and no amount of bronzer will hide that fact.”

“The stage lights will wash your face out more. You need to give definition to it,” he explained. “Here, give me that. I'll do it.”

I let him fix my face up to his satisfaction then went to the dressing area to get prepared for the first number. Once dressed, I sat and stretched in a corner by myself. This was a big moment for me, and I was thinking about how nice it would have been to share it with my parents. The only person who'd be there was Cooper, and I wasn't positive that would even happen. I felt very alone. As I made my way to the stage for the opening number I tried not to focus on that.

My first three of four performances went amazingly well. Being on stage was intense but thrilling at the same time. The lights blinded me and I could barely see that people were watching me have my moment on the vast stage. I was officially in love with performing.

Matty found me before our last dance together and we ran through a few technical moves while we waited; our number was second to last. He said that was quite a compliment to the choreography. I took his word for it.

I must have looked nervous because he came and put his arm around me in a friendly gesture.

“You're doing great, Ruby. You're really far more talented than you give yourself credit for,” he said encouragingly.

“Thanks, but it's not that.”

“What is it? Can I help?” he asked sweetly.

I frowned at him and shrugged.

“It's just, well, the last time I 'performed' this piece for someone, it was really private, and somewhat accidental for that matter,” I tried to explain. “I feel a bit…exposed doing it here. I didn't realize that I would.”

He hugged me with his long arms and put his chin on my head.

“Dance is therapeutic, Ruby. You're not exposed, you're vulnerable – but I'll be with you. Focus on that.”

I smiled up at him as I gave him a squeeze back.

“I don't think I could do this with anyone other than you,” I said admiringly.

“I know,” he said smiling. “I'm the only one tall enough to lift you.”

I punched him in the arm lightly as I called him a choice name in jest.

“At least I didn't call you big! That would have been misinterpreted for sure,” he laughed. “I'd have been in the dog house forever!”

“True. And my tall ass forgives you, for now,” I replied. He seemed satisfied with that response.

We joked around for a few more minutes before we had to line up in the wings; we were next. As the roar of applause broke out for the number preceding ours I felt butterflies in my stomach, hoping we would draw a response like that with “Gravity”.

The curtains closed and we made our way onto the stage to assume our positions. Matty gave a quiet whistle and I looked across the width of the wooden platform at him. He shot me a wink and a smile that made everything better in that moment.

I heard the squeak of the curtains as they opened behind me. I saw my long, dark shadow drawn out on the wood floor before me. I felt the warmth of the lights on my back as I stood still, waiting for the first two chords of music to play. As the time approached for the movement to start, I took a deep, cleansing breath and cleared my mind. I didn't want to think, just dance.

Instead, a single image popped into my mind.

Sean…

10

After the show, I cleaned up a little and toned down the mess on my face. I just couldn’t go out in public with that much makeup on, even if it was only for a minute. I gathered my things up and said some quick goodbyes before I headed out to the car. I was looking forward to a quiet night at home and was anxious to get there ASAP. As I was exiting the building I ran into Matty, literally, and he offered to escort me to the parking lot.

“I think we brought down the house with your piece,” he observed, sounding proud. “The crowd went nuts! Everyone was on their feet.”

“I didn’t notice,” I replied distantly.

I hadn’t really been looking at the crowd as much as I was looking through them. I knew Cooper was supposed to make the trip down to watch, but with our roller coaster of a relationship and his current lack of reliability, I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Instead of trying to connect with the audience, I scanned over them the entire time; it worked for me.

“Well, they were. You should learn to take a compliment if you’re going to continue to produce pieces like that one,” he said jokingly.

I smiled weakly at him.

“That piece was a result of divine inspiration. I don’t think I’ll be replicating that any time soon,” I replied, as I deflated even further.

“Too bad,” he lamented. It was amazing.”

We rounded the corner of the auditorium and crossed the street to the parking lot. Our cars were all the way in the back so we meandered through the hundreds of others, Matty chatting all the way about the evening and our respective performances.

As we neared the final row, I scanned the lot looking for where I’d left the Audi. I froze immediately when I found it, causing Matty to plow into the back of me as my “warning: stops short when startled” sign was clearly not working. While I peeled myself off of the trunk of the car before me, Matty remarked about the gentleman perched atop the hood of my TT.

“Isn’t that your car over there with the guy sitting on it?” he asked, body tensing slightly.

I tried to remember to breathe.

“Yeah. Yeah, that one’s mine,” I replied.

He turned to face me, his brow furrowed with concern.

“Do you know him?”

“Yep…sure do.”

His concern turned to confusion.

“So who is it?” he asked.

I looked at Matty’s face while I grasped for a simple way to describe who my tall, dark and handsome hood ornament was. There was no easy way to explain it and I didn’t feel like trying.

“Gravity,” I mumbled, sighing heavily as I walked over to my car. I looked back over my shoulder to see a very baffled Matty watching me.

“He’s my divine intervention, Matty,” I said, hoping to clarify further.

“I'd prefer he not be,” he said, with the faintest touch of hostility. Matty knew I'd been hurt by him. He wasn't a fan. “Are you going to be OK?” he asked, moving to catch up with me.

“I'm fine, I promise. Go home…I'll see you at practice.”

“Let me know you got home safely, okay?” he asked, stopping his pursuit.

“I will,” I said, forcing a smile. He turned and headed for his Jeep parked a couple of rows away.

Always watching out for me.

My attention was guided back to my car when a voice called to me, softly.

“Hello, Ruby,” said Sean as he pushed himself elegantly off the hood of my car. He closed the final few yards between us quickly and came to rest inches away from me. “That was quite a routine you did at the end there. It felt oddly familiar though. Have I seen it before?” Sean asked. The smile I loved to hate crept slowly across his face.

I forced a closed-mouth smile in return while I ducked around him toward my car. As I reached the driver’s side door my phone started vibrating.

“We need to talk, Ruby,” he said plainly, as though it weren’t an option. Without responding I looked at my phone to see who was calling. Cooper. I put my phone away.

“Did you hear me?” he asked.

“Yes, Sean, I heard you, loud and clear. Not tonight,” I wearily protested.

He looked as though he was about to rebut, when my phone once again started going off. Seriously, Cooper, what the hell?

“I need to take this,” I told Sean and walked back to the trunk of my car. “Yes?” I asked with a heavy amount of fatigue in my voice.

“We’re going out. Now. I’m going to meet you at Vain,” Cooper said, speaking a mile a minute.

“No good, amigo, I’m pooched. I’m going home.”

“No, we’re going out to celebrate your performance. It was awesome. I’ll be there in twenty, I just have to go pick something up first. I’ll meet you outside,” he continued.

“Fine. I’ll meet you there. Bye,” I said and hung up without waiting for a response from him.

I turned to walk around the car and saw Sean leaning on the far side of the open car door.

“Cooper, no doubt,” he said.

“Yep.”

“What did he want?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but he wanted to make plans for the night,” I replied.

“And what was the consensus?” he asked, expression unchanging.

“We’re going to meet at the house and hang out. I don’t think he’s planning on having you come over. Sorry,” I replied, plastering a wounded look on my face in mock pity.

There was a flinch of emotion from Sean for the briefest of moments before it vanished completely. I wasn’t certain that I'd even really seen it.

“I guess he’ll just have to get over it, now won’t he? If I recall correctly your couch will hold three, so you’ll just have to make more popcorn than usual.”

“Suit yourself,” I responded, knowing that there was no chance that was happening. Going out with Cooper was looking better by the second.

You have fun with that, buddy. Guess you’ll just have to get over it, now won’t you?

I climbed into the car and turned it on. Sean hovered by the door looking like he wanted to say something or was waiting for me to; I just couldn’t tell. Something in his face was just off. He looked tense and that didn’t bode well for the conversation he thought we were going to be having that evening. I just wanted to run away.

“So I’ll see you at home?” I asked.

He did a quick nod and headed off to wherever it was he’d parked. I took off out of there as quickly as possible, heading for the highway. In the rear view mirror I saw him watch me leave to see where I was going, making sure I was headed for home.

How stupid does he think I am?

* * *

I got onto the highway and drove for a few miles only to get off three exits later. I never saw Sean anywhere behind me so I was pretty certain that I was in the clear. He was not going to be happy when he got to my place and realized he’d been had, but I figured that was a problem for another day; I’d add it to my ever-expanding list of them.

I made my way to Vain and as I passed by the club I saw Cooper crossing the street to enter. I honked the horn at him, but he didn’t seem to hear me. He pulled a Sean and totally skipped the line, walking right past the bouncers working the rope. I didn’t think I was going to have that kind of luck.

So much for meeting me outside.

I sighed aloud as I found a spot to leave my baby for the evening and got out. Fumbling through my handbag, I tried desperately to locate my phone as I crossed the lot. I needed to get Cooper to come and get me or I was in for a long night of hanging out with the always scantily clad bar-goers; not a fate I was enthused by.

I popped my head up to avoid being hit by cars as I crossed the street, still trying to find my phone to no avail; it just wasn’t there. Upon reaching the other side of the street and the extremely long line to get in, I realized that I must have dropped it on the passenger seat. I was instantly annoyed but knew it’d be a lot faster to go back to the car to call Cooper and have him get me in rather than wait in line, so I conceded and started to make my way back to the parking lot. As I passed the main bouncer working the line he looked at me funny and then scanned his clipboard.

“You Ruby?” he shouted at me.

“Uh, yeah. Why?”

He unlinked the red velvet rope and motioned me toward the opening.