Thanksgiving Fables

I sat in the airport terminal twitching my foot nervously. Mike and I were waiting for my dad to pick us up. Mike could tell I was nervous about this trip and was trying to distract me.

Halloween, Birthdays, and Obligations

“Faith.” Maggie said stiffly when she answered the door.

“Maggie, it’s great to see you.” I said cordially.

“No need to lie.” She tittered.

Her tone was a joking tone but her eyes told me she meant it. Mike laughed and I joined in half-heartedly as we walked over the threshold to Mike’s dad’s house.

True Friends

I walked into our conference room and immediately knew something was up. Hazel was sitting at the head of the table and she never came to our weekly meetings for the Glass Penny. Hazel may have recruited all of us to join this theatre but up until now she’d been very hands off (aside from providing a significant investment to the establishment of this theatre and ongoing production checks). I smiled at her and took a seat next to Zeke as we waited for the others to trickle in.

When Molly arrived she sat across the table from me and I gave her a weak smile. She responded by looking at Hazel. I don’t blame Molly for being cold to me. After the way we left things, I can understand having a cooling off period. It sucks but she’s entitled to her feelings about our friendship as much as I am. I’ve been an asshole, we both have. We need some space and I get it.

Ashley and Riley walked in with coffee, followed by Nick. They settled in and Hazel cleared her throat. In front of her was an office binder. She flipped it open.

Real Talk

“I just need some time, Faith.”

“Well, time is up. You’ve had almost a week. Plus, I need to talk to you.”

He stepped aside from the door and I walked into Mike’s apartment with a new fire in me.

Damage Control

Molly is officially gone. Our apartment feels so empty without her and I’m still trying to figure out what I’m going to do. Our lease is up next month and I’m pretty sure I won’t renew it, which means I have a month to find a new apartment in my price range and then actually move into it. I also have to budget in buying a ton of new furniture since virtually all of our furniture was Molly’s due to mine being destroyed in the fire.

Terrible Tell-All

The day after Molly’s announcement, I decided to call Mike.

“I miss you.” I winced at how pathetic that sounded, “And I don’t really know what else to say.”

“I miss you, too.” Mike said.

His voice was soft.

“Do you want to come over and talk?” He asked.

“I would love that.”

Cold Shoulders

“I don’t know what to do.” I said into the phone.

“Have you tried calling him?” Penny asked.

“I don’t know what to say to him.”

Mike and I hadn’t talked since our fight and I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t feel like I did anything wrong and I wasn’t sure what he exactly he wanted from me. I’d asked Zoey for some advice a few days after and she wasn’t sure what I should do, either. Penny was trying but her ideas were the same ones I had been going over and over and deciding against. After five more minutes I sighed and we said good bye.

“Trouble with Mike?” Molly asked from the breakfast nook.

Dark Elephants

Things at The Glass Penny have been going well. We’ve been discussing the possibility of instituting an internship program for the summer in 2015. Having interns would help keep our costs low and we could offer several different internship positions in a variety of theatre jobs. I’m excited about looking into this more and getting it off the ground, hopefully.

“I could have my own intern for our summer show! It’ll be so cool to be able to teach someone else what I do.” I said.

I was at Mike’s apartment sitting at his kitchen table, telling him about my day while we ate dinner together.

“That’s awesome.” Mike’s enthusiasm didn’t match his words.

He’d been more reserved lately and I wasn’t sure what to say. It felt like Mike wanted to say something but never did and it was a giant elephant in the room. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to address it or not because I wasn’t sure what was going on with him. After dinner we sat on his couch and watched television.

“Do you want to watch Project Runway?” I asked excitedly.

Mike gave me a mock disgusted look.

“No way. Let’s watch Bar Rescue.”

I shrugged and snuggled up to him on the couch as he changed the channel.

“This show grosses me out. It makes me never want to leave my house again.” I joked.

Mike gave a quiet snort to show that he’d heard me and I just couldn’t take it anymore.

Halves

“What? Mike, I’ve met your all of your sisters, she’s not-”

“She’s my half-sister, Faith.”

I sat down heavily on Mike’s couch and let out a deep breath before looking at him with all the confusion in the world painted on my face. He sighed and put his hands together. I could tell he was choosing his words very carefully.

Discussions

I found myself sitting across the table from Mike, staring at him icily. How we got here, I’ll never know. Things seemed so great and yet, here I was, confronting my boyfriend about cheating on me. I’d hoped I’d never be in this situation again, and I’d never thought it would have been with Mike but here I was, waiting for him to explain himself.

Same Old Same Old

The light streaks of pink shooting across the sky as the sun started to rise made the view from the window look like a painting. Mike’s room was still dimly lit and I listened to his heartbeat and breathing as my head rested on his chest. One of his arms was around my shoulder and the other was tossed up above his head. He was deep in sleep and I was watching him. He looked so…peaceful. I silently wished I could feel that way. But that wasn’t going to happen, not after what I’d seen earlier.

Little Talks

Sarah has started school so she’s not living with Mike anymore, at least not until May (she’ll be graduating in five years instead of four due to her double major so she’ll be graduating in two years rather than this spring). As a result, Mike and I have been spending a lot of time at his place. Partly or privacy and partly because my relationship with Mike is a point of tension between Molly and I and it’s just better I think for our friendship if she’s not around when he is. We were sitting on his couch snuggling (and making out) when Mike stopped.

“I need to talk to you about something.” He was blushing slightly and I immediately felt nervous.

Start of the Fire

In hindsight, my phone call to Adam was probably one of the more stupid things I’ve ever done and I definitely wasn’t thinking clearly when I did it. I was upset and in shock.

Burned Bridges

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and looked up to find Serena sitting on the edge of my bed, stretching. She was topless and I admired her bare back before propping myself up.

“Good morning.” I smiled.

“Good morning to you.” She smiled wide and leaned forward to kiss me, “I’m going to make us some coffee, why don’t you go take a shower and I’ll join you in a few minutes.”

She winked at me and I nodded before heading into the bathroom.

Lady in Red

“Day’s end can’t come close enough, right?” Aaron popped his head above his cubicle.

I was working on a deadline and had just sent my final piece into my editor. This particular piece was about the police brutality in Ferguson, Missouri over the weekend and was pretty challenging but I was satisfied with what I’d managed to produce. I knew where Aaron was going with this line of conversation, though.

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to join a few of us for happy hour after work?” He asked.

Usually, I turn Aaron down for happy hour but Dan’s words rang in my ear about how the invitations will eventually stop. I was in the mood to celebrate my article being done anyway so I agreed to go. We had a few more hours left of the work day so I started up on my next project: A District Attorney’s son who wrapped his car around a tree while driving drunk and had somehow managed to avoid any charges.

Flipped Tables

Admittedly, what I did was kind of stupid in how risky it was. I thought the end would justify the means, I guess, but saying it backfired is an understatement. At the very least, I thought it would make Faith realize what she’s doing. The best case scenario was, obviously, to get her and Adam back together. I really did think that if she just saw him and talked to him for a bit she’d get it together and realize how stupid it is for her to get back together with Mike, at least not right now.

My plan failed. Hard.

Dished

“So, Faith, how was your date with Mike?” Zoey asked me.

We were having our weekly brunch meet-up and I’d only just had my breakfast pancake platter put down in front of me before Zoey completely caught me off guard. I’d invited Penny (with Zoey’s blessing) to join us and there were several reasons why Zoey’s topic of choice was an issue: I hadn’t told anyone but Molly that Mike and I had reconnected, considering what happened with Adam, I didn’t want Penny to hear about this…assuming she already didn’t know. I also wasn’t sure I wanted to gush about Mike to my friends and have Penny tell Adam about it. Rubbing all of this in his face would just be too cruel. And finally, I hadn’t told any of them about Adam’s surprise visit and didn’t plan on telling them about it.

Losing Faith

“Dude you need to stop listening to that shitty Passenger song and actually ‘Let Her Go’.”

“What? Dan, that’s not even what the song is about.”

“Yeah it is.”

“No, it’s not, it’s about only realizing you’re in love with someone until you’re not with them anymore.”

“Oh…well. Whatever, man! Then make like Frozen and ‘Let it Go’!”

Cut!

Adam’s kisses sent a spark through me and made me see fireworks. I realized just how much I missed him and it was painful. But not as painful as what happened next.

Melee

It was date night and I had invited Mike over to my apartment for dinner. Molly was at Calvin’s for the evening which I was relieved for because it meant I wasn’t going to have to worry about being judged for hanging out with Mike. He was standing in my kitchen with a light blue long-sleeved shirt on but had the sleeves pushed up as he worked with a skillet. I took it in and smiled internally.

“You know, I think Sasha and Dolly would get along really well. We should take them to the dog park sometime.” He said.

I agreed and we were trying to decide on a good day to take them out when there was a knock on my door.

“What are you doing here?” I was shocked and looked back at Mike who was focused on the stove in front of him. I gently closed the door and stepped into the hallway.

A Change in Perspective

I found myself totally spacing out on the couch thinking about the fight we’d had a few days before. I know it’s normal for roommates, and especially roommates who are also best friends, to fight sometimes but it seemed like we’d been fighting a lot more often than usual. Neither one of us had said anything to the other about the fight we’d had, we just sort of ignored it.

I was supposed to be paying attention to the gorgeous man in front of me but I was just too distracted.

The Molly-Eyed Monster

I found myself zipping up my jeans in the dark in Mike’s bedroom. He was laying on his bed with his eyes closed. I had come over after that night’s performance with the intention of talking to him about whatever it was that we were doing but we ended up with a repeat of the other night in my apartment. Sarah was gone with friends for the week on a camping trip a few hours away and we had taken advantage of the privacy.

As I slipped my shirt over my head I hesitated saying anything to Mike. He looked so peaceful and I didn’t want to interrupt him, especially because this conversation was going to be unavoidably awkward.

The Storm Inside

“You don’t have to do that.” I said trying to stop him but he held the front door open for me and stood next to me. I could feel the heat from his body.

“I’m not going to let you go out in this weather. Let’s go.”

I walked into Mike’s hallway and followed him to the elevator. We went to the lower level parking garage and got to his car.

“Wait…is this yours?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Mike said unlocking my car door.

“Is this…”

“Yeah, it’s the one I was working on with my dad. I got rid of my Honda.”

“Wow.” I said taking in the cherry red ’69 Mustang.

I slipped into the passenger seat and buckled up as Mike started it up. I wish I could say that the ride back to my apartment was magical but it wasn’t. It was awkward as hell.

Crash of Storms

Molly and Calvin had gone to see her mother in Michigan for the weekend so I had the apartment completely to myself when I got home from the show on Saturday night. I kicked my shoes off and put my hair up into a sloppy bun before walking into the kitchen in my comfiest outfit (a white crop racer-back crop top and black hipster maxi skirt) to make some popcorn. I turned my stereo on and soft rock pumped through the speakers lightly punctuated by the popping sounds coming from the microwave. I was in a pretty good mood, the show had gone well and the next day was a rare Sunday off due to some theatre maintenance we’ve had scheduled since December. I grabbed a root beer from my fridge and popped the cap off as I stood in front of the sliding glass door to the balcony.

I could see flashes of lightning streak the sky periodically and hear the rolls of thunder course through the city streets around me. It was only a matter of time before the rain started and I smiled to myself. I’ve always loved summer storms. The way they cool everything down, wash everything away. The power they can have. There’s something so much bigger than you when it comes to storms. It makes you forget your problems for just a little bit.

Or maybe that’s just me.

The loud, cranky beeping of the microwave pulled me out of my thoughts. As I filled a bowl with the fresh, hot popcorn my phone rang. I recognized the number immediately and was surprised but hesitated about answering. I chewed my bottom lip, sighed, and picked it up. The only sound I could hear on the other end of the line was intense sobbing.

A Blog Announcement...Or Two

Hello readers!

There isn't a post today but I do have a blog announcement that has been a long time coming, I think. I'm sure a lot of you think that this announcement has to do with the end of the blog and, in a way, you're right...

Water Under The Bridge

Work the day after the party was…uncomfortable. I knew that pretty much all of the cast and crew had learned about what happened and were going to be watching me closely and that really bothered me but I also recognized there wasn’t much I could do about it. Before the cast and crew arrived, though, Zeke showed up and didn’t immediately brought it up.

Tucker to the Max

We had a belated party for the opening of Tucker’s show tonight and I knew we’d regret hiring him. The show was given a shorter run than the other ones we’ve got planned because of the debacle we’d had at the beginning that led to Tucker being hired in the first place. So, once the show closes (in three weeks) I will have a nice month-long vacation from running shows during the night and will only have to run rehearsals during the day. Sweet! But…back to what happened at the party…

Unspoken to Spoken

After talking with Molly some more I had decided to give Zoey her space and let her come to me when she was ready to talk about what had happened with Penny. It took a few days but she sent me a text asking if she could come over and I agreed.

Blindside

Penny and I sat at a booth waiting for Molly and Zoey. We went to a familiar little café that serves the best brunch in town and I was excited for her to meet my friends. Some of the conversations I’d had with Penny made it sound like she really didn’t have a lot of friends outside of Dan’s old college buddies and some co-workers she was friendly with so I thought introducing her to Molly and Zoey would be a great way to meet some new people.

When Molly showed up she was surprised to see another person but shook Penny’s hand as I introduced them before sitting down and making small talk.  I hadn’t told Molly or Zoey that I was bringing Penny because I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal. Boy, was I wrong…

Box of Worms

Running with Sasha every morning has been an important solace for me. It helps clear my head and gives me the focus I need to get through every day. I haven’t been doing much outside of working and just taking care of myself. I haven’t heard from Adam at all since the weekend he left…until today.

New Beginnings

Penny and I hung out and it was a lot of fun. We went to see a movie (How to Train Your Dragon 2…because we are adults…ahem) and then grabbed dinner afterwards. I like Penny a lot. She’s honest and genuine and incredibly sincere. Over dinner we talked about things with Adam and how I was feeling about it all and after we talk I always seem to feel so much better.

Mutual

“So, that’s it? You just ended it?” Molly said.

“Faith, what were you thinking?” Zoey asked.

The three of us were at the dog park by my apartment with Sasha and Bear (Wesley’s German Shepherd, who Zoey was taking care of while he was out of town for a photo shoot). I told them that Adam and I were no longer together and they were completely floored.

“I just knew we wouldn’t make it if we tried long distance.”

“Well, that’s not true,” Molly said, “There’s no way you could have really known that unless you actually tried it with him.”

“Seriously.” Zoey said.

I sighed.

“Look, you guys don’t have to make me feel bad, okay? I already feel horrible enough as it is.”

“Have you talked to him since then?” Zoey asked.

He Is Worth It

Adam and I planned to have a quiet dinner together the night before he was supposed to drive a moving truck to his new apartment in Cincinnati. We had just finished packing up almost everything (his bed would be packed in the morning) and were deciding on what we wanted to eat. I hadn’t been looking forward to this night at all.

We decided to order in pasta from an Italian place about 20 minutes away. When it arrived, I mostly just picked at my penne. We were sitting on the floor with our plates sitting on a box.

“You’re really quiet.” Adam said.

I shrugged.

Choice Words

By the time I arrived at the bar after getting off of work, the party was in full swing. I had steeled myself for this before I left but everything just felt so much more final and real now that I was surrounded by balloons and banners that said things like “good luck” and “bon voyage”. Adam immediately came over to me and kissed my cheek. He pointed me to the food table and was squirrel away by Dan to go talk to some friends he knew across the room.

I stared at the food table and felt sick.

“Faith!” Dan came up behind me and roughly threw his arm around me, “I’m so glad you came! Isn’t this great?”

Bon Voyage

Things have been weird for the past few days. Since we decided to try doing this long distance, we’ve come to an unspoken understanding not to bring it up. Adam moving is this constant elephant in the room that neither of us wants to address but it’s getting harder to ignore, especially with the moving boxes piling up in his apartment. But, Adam brought something up the other night that made his impending departure too difficult to ignore.

Ohio Bound

Adam and I hadn’t talked since I left his apartment in the middle of the night besides a text he’d sent me the morning after:

    

           I know you need time and I’ll give you some space. –A

I kept going back to reread it periodically since then, I’m not sure why. I found myself on Zoey’s couch with the girls sitting around me.

“I feel like there’s no good solution to this.” I said looking into my cup of tea.

“That’s because there’s not.” Molly said.

The Other Shoe

I walked out of the booth after the night’s performance and smiled.

“Hey, I didn’t expect you to be here.” I said.

But the smile faded away when I saw Adam’s face.

“We, uh, need to talk.” He rubbed the back of his head and looked really upset.

Penny For Your Thoughts

Adam’s interview was today and since I didn’t have to work, I stayed over last night and sent him off this morning with lots of luck. I hung out at his place until he got back because I wanted to hear about how it went. I didn’t realize it was going to be such a long day for him. He didn’t get home until well in the afternoon.

On The Hunt

I stood outside Adam’s door knocking for at least five minutes and decided to just let myself in. There was loud music playing and I followed it to his office. He was sitting in his desk chair with his pajama pants on, an old college t-shirt, and a baseball hat turned backwards playing the air drums and singing very badly to One Republic’s Love Runs Out.

“I thought you were going to work on your interview prep for that job.” I yelled over the music and leaned against the door jamb with a smirk on my face.

Adam jumped at the sound of my voice and turned around.

The Last Dance

I turned my head to look where Adam had been looking behind me and saw four people, two men and two women. The younger woman had brown hair pulled into a very Barbie-esque pony tail and was wearing a light blue cocktail dress with jewelry that looked incredibly expensive; she was young, early twenties at the most. The older woman had red hair that was pulled into a severe French twist. She was wearing a paisley wrap dress with long sleeves and a look on her face as if she smelled something sour. The younger man looked like an All-American kind of guy and was wearing a tux. The older man was also wearing a tux and seemed to be in his mid-thirties but his very neatly trimmed brown beard made it hard for me to really place his age. When I turned back around I gave Adam a questioning look and it was like he was a different person. He was wearing a fake smile and had stood up and buttoned his jacket stiffly.

“It’s SO good to see you! I can’t believe you’re here.” I heard the younger of the two women say.

“Let’s get some tables together. You won’t mind, of course.” The older woman said.

“Actually, we were-” Adam said.

“Don’t be absurd, it’s not a problem. Where’s the help?” The younger woman waved Adam off.

While a team of wait staff moved two tables on either side of ours, Adam shook the mens’ hands and then gave the two women hugs while everyone seemed to talk at once which made it hard for me to hear what was going on. It was like I wasn’t even there.

“Oh, that’s a nice shade.” The younger woman said wiping my lip stain off of Adam’s lower lip that I hadn’t noticed was there, “Surely that was given to you from this woman you’re with. It’s a classy shade.”

Her judgmental tone hung in the air. I gave Adam a wry look and thought to myself: Maybe it would have been better if I’d been ignored…

Adam scrambled to introduce me to everyone.

The First Dance

Adam and I arrived at the restaurant about 30 minutes before our reservation so we could have a drink at the bar. I had worn the dress Adam had given me and swept my hair back with a silver and crystal (totally fake ones) barette. I wore the necklace Anna had given me and a pair of silver pumps, too.

“This place is the nicest restaurant I have ever been in. I feel like I should take my shoes off so I don’t get the floor dirty.” I said.

Adam laughed and handed me a crystal flute of champagne and then clinked his to mine.

“Congratulations on closing your first show for the Glass Penny, Faith.”

He leaned forward and gave me a sweet kiss but we were interrupted in the middle of it by a woman in an elegant black dress.

“Adam?”

We Accept the Love We Think We Deserve

So much has happened since I last posted. I’ll start with therapy…

Relapse

On a spur of the moment, Zoey, Molly, and I decided to do a book club sort of thing together. We’ve all been meaning to read the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin but none of us have gotten around to it yet so we thought we could all read it together. Adam pointed out to me that the series hasn’t actually been finished yet, that there are still two books to be written, but these books are huge and will take me forever to get through so I think the next one will at least be published by the time I’m ready to start reading it.

Molly and I headed over to Zoey’s place early on Sunday morning to talk about the first half of the book together and have brunch.

“I think Joffrey is such a brat.” Molly said.

“Me, too. I think Tyrion is my favorite character so far.” I said knocking on Zoey’s door.

When the door opened, Zoey was not the one standing there.

“Hello ladies.”

Shadows

Molly and I met Zoey for lunch yesterday and it felt so weird to not have Anna there. I tried not to notice it and updated Zoey on the situation with Tucker and work.

Switcheroo

You guys, I am so livid. Things at work have gone totally downhill. The director we were going to have for our next show had to suddenly drop out. His mother had a stroke and he needed to go back home and deal with family stuff, which I completely understand. It’s WHO they replaced him with that I am mad about…

Good Morning Indeed

“Good morning.” I said.

Adam woke me up by kissing my forehead.

Rocks

I’ve been back to work for almost a week and it all seems so…weird. Being back has been helping keep me distracted and things are going to get pretty busy next week as we’re going to start rehearsals for the next show (we just finished auditions for it and they went okay) while simultaneously having performances in the evening. The overlap will last a few weeks until the new show is ready to go into tech; we’ll have to strike our current show the week before while simultaneously loading in the new set. It’ll be pretty hectic but I think the distraction is the best thing for me.

The Final Gift

Slowly, painfully, things are going back to normal. Well, my new normal…without Anna. Occasionally I will see or do or smell something that will remind me of her and it will feel like a bucket of ice water is poured over me as someone punches me in the gut. I can’t breathe and it all comes rushing back. Like what happened yesterday.

Granted

At our last session, Dr. Sheehan said that my grief for Anna would ease with time and that getting back to my old routine would help me move on. The problem was…I didn’t want to move on.

Silence, My Old Friend

We buried Anna today.

This is the End

And on that cheery last post, Modern Day Faith is officially over forever.
Thanks for reading!
-del

A Beautiful Day

The day was so sunny and wonderful. But it's always calmest before the storm, right?

We Need to Talk

I was having a productive morning before the knock on the door came. I’d gotten up early, taken Sasha for a run, showered, and took stock of our groceries to make a list for later. Molly had spent the night at Calvin’s and wasn’t home yet. When I heard someone knock on the door, I had a feeling of dread come crashing over me.

Down in The Dumps

“He’s going to dump me.” I whined to Anna over brunch.

I’d met her for brunch to get her take on this situation because I could tell that Molly and Zoey were tired of hearing me overanalyze it with them. I didn’t want to bother Anna with her due date so close but I really needed some advice.

Morning Mash-Up

I woke up to an empty bed and the sounds of Adam cooking in someone’s kitchen.

“Good morning.” I said giving him a hug from behind.

He was standing at the stove making scrambled eggs in his pajama pants and his hair was disheveled from sleeping.

“Good morning to you.” He pulled me around, put his arm over my shoulder, and gave me a kiss.

Body Language

“Adam?” I called.

I had just gotten done with a show and went to Adam’s apartment right after it so we could talk about the discussion I’d overheard with between him and Peter. I walked in, took my shoes off, and called for him.

“In here!” Adam’s voice rang out from his bedroom.

Friends and Foes

This weekend I met Adam’s friends and he met mine. And let me just tell you it was a DOOZY of a weekend.

Friendlies

Adam and I were out on a date. The weather was finally not blisteringly cold so we met up at a park and walked around near the lake for awhile until the wind picked and we were too cold. We ended up going to a little Italian place for dinner.

I wore a black scoop neck dress with ¾ sleeves and some black booties and Adam was wearing a grey sweater that really brought out his beautiful green eyes and dark wash jeans. We looked good.

Handiwork

I called Zoey a few days after I left her in her apartment to see if she’d had any clarity with a few days to think about it.

“No. I don’t know. I keep going back and forth. Maybe I SHOULD just talk to Theo. Maybe I’m just making a big deal out of nothing. Why don’t YOU talk to Theo?”

“You want ME to bring this up with him?” I asked.

Herstory

The girls and I were doing dinner and a movie. We’d just left the movie theater and headed to a cool new restaurant that was known for its gourmet burgers.

Breaking Legs

We opened the show. Opening night went okay but now that we are actually running it nightly, it’s a lot smoother. All the tech issues had been sorted out on our preview nights and the renovation was completed the night before our official grand opening. We received a lot of support from the community and it was nice to see. Mostly, though, I was relieved that we had finally opened and tech was over. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such a difficult tech before. I was SO not expecting opening to go well that I asked the girls and Adam not to come.

So last night I was not expecting to get done locking everything up and walking out to the lobby to leave only to find my boyfriend sitting on a bench with a bouquet of flowers waiting for me.

Tech Llama

I’m in the middle of tech and things have just been CRAZY. The moving set piece I mentioned awhile ago? Yeah, it’s broken and in need of an emergency part that we may not be able to get in time for opening night. The theatre’s renovation is also behind and, again, we don’t know if it’ll be ready in time for opening night. You can imagine where my stress levels are right now, especially when you consider that I haven’t slept more than five hours a night since it started because of how many things there are for me to get done.

When everything had wrapped on Friday night at 11:00pm I was absolutely exhausted. Molly offered to drop me off at home before she went over to Calvin’s to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

“Thanks again.” I said tapping on the roof of her car as she waved goodbye.

I trudged into the lobby of our building and leaned against the elevator wall as I rode it up to my apartment. I saw something laying in front of our door as I walked down the hallway. 

Open Book

Adam tried to approach Valentine’s Day with me a few days ahead of time.

Tick Tock

I dropped Adam off at the hospital and got him all checked in and as they were going through all the surgery prep I had to go run some errands for work.

“Okay,” I said smiling at him even though I was dead tired, “I have to go pick up that thing for the shop, but I’ll come back and greet you when you come back from surgery.”

“Alright.” Adam said. He gave me a kiss.

“Good luck.” I squeezed his hand and waved as he walked back to the inpatient surgery ward with the nurse.

Pipes

So my strategy of dealing with Adam’s outburst has basically been to pretend it didn’t happen. I’m not proud of that (and I know he’s not all that thrilled about it either based on his strategy of dealing with me not dealing with it…which you’ll all see in a second) but that’s what’s going on.

I was over at his place helping him pack for his surgery.

Slow as a Cheetah

Work has been pretty crazy for me lately and I’ve been running all over town to go to meetings and rehearsals and walkthroughs of our theatre (the renovation is almost done!). I’ve basically been working, coming home to sleep, and then going back to work.

“Hey, stranger,” Adam said when I answered my phone, “Do you have time to come over?”

Talkin' 'Bout My Communication

I wasn’t sure how to handle the situation with Adam so I tried to give him space. After two days, I left him a message on his phone. After three days, I was done waiting.

Well Shit

I found myself sitting in Adam’s living room with a glass of wine. It was our first date and I was nervous. I had my legs crossed and kept twitching my foot. It had taken me two hours to figure out what I wanted to wear (a black V-neck shirt and dark jeans) and how I wanted my hair (a high, simple pony tail).

Adam wanted to cook me dinner so I brought two red velvet cupcakes from a bakery near my apartment for dessert. He made a lasagna for us and it was yummy.

“I can at least help clean up.” I called from his living room.

And Here We Are

“Do you want to get out of here?” Adam asked me after we walked back inside.

I nodded.

Timing

Since the Amber Incident, I haven’t really gone out to do anything fun. I haven’t wanted to. The Halloween party Zoey had invited Molly and me to before everything happened wasn’t something I felt like going to in the aftermath. So I surprised myself when I accepted an invitation for a New Year’s Eve party from Steve.