Page 68 of Big Sexy Love
‘Ahem,’ the woman clears her throat. ‘I am sorry, madam. I didn’t realise you’d been personally recommended. Of course. Please excuse me. Mr Allen is very particular about who he meets with. Okay…Will ten thirty a.m. tomorrow suit? I can squeeze youinthen?’
‘Yes!’ I yell. Then I cough and try to sound more like the character I’ve spontaneously concocted. ‘That will be, um, amenable. Thank you and… bestwishes.’
‘Um, best wishes to you too,madam.’
I hang the phone back in its holder and Seth puts his palm out for a high five. Laughing, I smack my hand against his, adrenaline coursing throughmybody.
How the fuck did I just manage that? Yes! I will finally get to give Chuck Birdie’s letter! I won’t have letherdown!
‘That was kind of amazing,’ Seth breathes, his eyes twinkling. We’re so close to each other in this tiny storeroom, I can see the flecks of pale green that make his eyes looks soturquoise.
I take a deep breath. ‘I didn’t think she was going tobelieveme!’
I open the storeroom door and we head back past a couple having a row by the pool table, towards ourbooth.
‘Have you ever tried improv?’ Seth asks when we sit down. ‘I have a feeling you’d be amazing at it. That phone call wasinsane.’
I take a sip of my beer, my mood considerably lifted by the fact that I have finally located the enigmatic Chuck. ‘Is that what you were doing at the communitytheatre?’
‘Yeah,’ Seth smiles fondly. ‘But that was beginner’s stuff. We have a group at UCB – The Upright Citizen’s Brigade – and that’s professional improv and sketch comedy. A bunch ofSunday Night Livewriters and cast members, including me, were discovered there. It’s pretty much making stuff up on the spot, but inateam.’
‘I’d be too scared. I wouldn’t know whattosay!’
‘It can be nerve-wrecking at first but the buzz you get, theadrenaline. It’s ridiculous. It’spurejoy!’
He looks sohappy.
‘It sounds cool,’ I say. ‘Andterrifying.’
His eyes light up. ‘Oh man, Olive. You should definitely come and watch a show! You don’t have to try it, even just to watch. I really think you’dlikeit.’
‘I’m leaving Thursday morning, remember,’ I laugh, running my finger in a circle on the booth table. ‘But otherwise I would have reallylikedthat.’
Seth’s smile falls slightly. ‘Oh, yeah, of course.’ He taps the side of his beer bottle, ‘This must be going to my headalready.’
‘Yeah. Three a.m. flight. And I’ll definitely be taking some Night Nurse. If I can knock myself out beforehand that’ll be for the best ofeveryone.’
I feel my cheeks turn red, just thinking of the last flight. It occurs to me then that Seth had thought I wanted to join the Mile High Club with him. And he was willing to. Does that mean he found meattractive?
Not that I’m bothered. Obviously. Seth is not even my type. He’s a bit rumpled, his hair needs a good cut and he’s way too laid-back. He’s definitely not the kind of guy who would have a five-year plan. He probably doesn’t even have a five-day plan. I mean, not that Ihavea type. People who don’t date or have sex don’t tend to have types. But if Ididhe would probably look a lot like Colin. Or maybe JamesMcAvoy…
‘Three a.m.?’ Seth says, leaning his elbows on the table. ‘So you’d have to be at JFK around12.30a.m.’
‘Right…’
‘Sotechnically, you could come to my improv show tomorrow night. It’s seven until nine. I have to go straight to work afterwards – it’s our writing night – and you would have plenty of time to make your flight. You could even bring your cases to thetheatre.’
I bite at my thumbnail, trying to work out my timings. I suppose I could book a cab in advance. Make sure I packearly…
‘I mean, you don’t have to,’ Seth says his eyebrows shooting up. ‘But you could… if you wanted to do. It might be fun. And it willdefinitelybefunny.’
I take a swig of my beer. It’s a bit last minute. But everything’s been last minute this week and here I am, much to my own surprise, figuring it out. And by tomorrow night Chuck will have the letter and I’ll have fulfilled my mission. And then I can get back to Birdie, where Ibelong.
‘Okay, then,’ I say, a smile lifting the corners of my mouth. ‘I’min!’
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Chapter Twenty-Three
