Page 48 of Broken Romeo
I plaster the sweetest smile I can onto my face. “Yes?”
He pauses and I brace myself for whatever harsh criticism he’s about to say.
“That was gorgeous. Your voice is as beautiful as I remember.” An earnest smile flicks the corners of his mouth. “Keep up the good work.”
* * *
With my phone pressed to my ear, I make my way downtown a few blocks to the bar Nolan texted me about.
“What am I doing?” I hiss into the speaker. “I don’t even have enough money to feed myself properly, but I’m going to blow ten bucks on a cocktail?”
“Ten bucks?” Jill says. “How long has it been since you’ve had a drink in the city?”
“Eleven bucks?” I squeak.
“More like fifteen.”
I halt mid-step.
“Fifteen bucks? For a drink?” I squawk.
Jill doesn’t let me spiral much further. “Just order a PBR.”
I groan and resume walking, only at a much slower pace. “I hate beer.”
“PBR is basically water.”
“Yeah, beer flavored water.”
Jill sighs. I know I’m acting like a petulant teen, but I can’t help it. Beer is just that gross. “Fine, but they’re usually only a couple bucks and it’s ironically cool now to drink PBRs. Everyone will think you’re a hipster and that you live in Brooklyn.”
“I do live in Brooklyn.”
I could practically hear the eye roll in her voice. “They’ll think you live in the cool part of Brooklyn.”
I pass a group of people standing in front of the building, leaning against the bricks laughing. Cigarettes dangle from their lips, and I walk through the cloud of cigarette smoke, then pause in front of the glowing sign for the pub.
“Are we sure this is a good idea?” I ask.
“Yes,” Jill scolds me. “This is a cast gathering, and you are part of the cast. You belong there. Besides, I’m on a deadline tonight, so all you would be doing is coming home to a bottle of cheap wine and that stupid diary you have to read.”
“It’s a journal.”
“Whatever. I hate him for making you read that thing.”
Secretly, I love it. It’s like a weird gift he’s given me to be able to relive that time through his eyes. And I hate to admit it, but I think he might be right. I think it might be helping my performance.
“You don’t hate Holden,” I say. “You miss him. He was your friend, too.”
“No,” Jill says, her voice frigid. “The guy I miss is a lie. A fraud. He was never really my friend. He’s the guy who hurt my best friend.”
I smile despite the poison in her voice. That’s Jill for you. She’s as sweet as can be until you fuck with someone she loves, then the Jersey girl rears her head and it’s over.
“Now!” She claps on the other end of the phone, her voice back to chipper. “Get your butt in there, order a PBR, and for the love of God, meet a nice guy so you can finally move on from Holden.”
Just then, Nolan pops his head out of the bar. “New Girl! What are you waiting on? We’re in here.”
Jill giggles in my ear. “Like him. He sounds cute!”