wanted to order any food. I shook my head and left her with enough cash for our drinks and a modest tip, and then we walked outside, around the corner to a staircase that led down to the basement.
It was dark inside, fairly quiet. It was the type of place that left you feeling like you had just set foot inside someone’s garage; dimmed lights, a bar with people crowded around it, drinking, a bunch of people hanging out in small circles, a few tables and chairs arranged around musical instruments where the band would have been playing but was obviously on some kind of break at the moment.
We ordered a couple more drinks, paid for them, and stepped away.
“Nice place,” Violet noted, sliding her arm into mine and squeezing my bicep.
I realized that it was the first time she had touched me since we’d left the Fisher.
I leaned toward her and kissed below the rim of her Tigers ball cap. “It’ll get louder,” I warned her.
“Good, I love live music.” She grinned vivaciously, then pulled her hand back and r aised her glass to her lips before pulling off a long, eager swallow. Like maybe she wanted to get drunk, because I didn’t get the impression she wanted to be spending the night with me. All night she had shown such little interest in me.
I watched her finish the mojito and asked the waiter for another one. I had barely sipped halfway through my martini, so I declined when the waiter asked if I was ready for another.
“How was New York?” I asked once the waiter left to fetch her next mojito.
Shifting her attention back to me, she flashed a fake smile. “It was a quick visit,” she answered. “I’m looking at a theater there.”
I frowned, purely out of curiosity. “You’re moving Violets & Illusions to New York?”
She shrugged. “It’s possible. It seems people are really starting to notice the show. Luke, my manager, he says the reviews are really solid. So now we can head back—I’m from New York, I can’t remember if I told you that. Anyway, getting back to the big city allows us to take a serious swing at elevating the show’s profile. Maybe Broadway is the next stepping stone to Vegas, and that’s where I need to be.”
I sipped my martini.
I didn’t know that she had come from New York. Bill mentioned investing in the show to help move it to Detroit from Buffalo. I had just assumed that Violet had come from that part of the country. I would have remembered if she’d mentioned living in New York City because it had the ring of wealth to it, the exact same poison that my ex had come from and ultimately returned to.
“There’s a theater on Broadway,” she went on, and when I turned my attention back to her, I caught the glint of excitement in her eyes. “Now that Les Mis is finished, there’s a window of opportunity for me to swoop in and occupy the space.” She beamed, her lips turning into the same smile that had previously captured me. “I’d love to get a Vegas show, Carter. That’s my goal. Vegas will make me the greatest and most prolific female magician ever.”
I couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. New York and then Vegas? I wondered where or how I could ever possibly fit into her plans. But then again, it seemed she had already moved on from Detroit. Although I was standing in front of her in the present, in the next few weeks, I would exist in a distant compartment of her past. Suddenly, her standoffishness tonight seemed like a good, a way to wean me off of her before we really got started.
“Have you ever been to New York, Carter?” she asked as the waiter arrived with her mojito. She sipped from the straw, a big gulp.
I shook my head, a little disappointed.
She placed a hand over mine. “Don’t worry, sweetie. I’ll make sure you come out to see the show. It’s got an impressive stage, I’ll show you everything.”
Sweetie? It felt condescending and a little dismissive at the same time.
Our eyes locked, and the smile gradually melted
It was dark inside, fairly quiet. It was the type of place that left you feeling like you had just set foot inside someone’s garage; dimmed lights, a bar with people crowded around it, drinking, a bunch of people hanging out in small circles, a few tables and chairs arranged around musical instruments where the band would have been playing but was obviously on some kind of break at the moment.
We ordered a couple more drinks, paid for them, and stepped away.
“Nice place,” Violet noted, sliding her arm into mine and squeezing my bicep.
I realized that it was the first time she had touched me since we’d left the Fisher.
I leaned toward her and kissed below the rim of her Tigers ball cap. “It’ll get louder,” I warned her.
“Good, I love live music.” She grinned vivaciously, then pulled her hand back and r aised her glass to her lips before pulling off a long, eager swallow. Like maybe she wanted to get drunk, because I didn’t get the impression she wanted to be spending the night with me. All night she had shown such little interest in me.
I watched her finish the mojito and asked the waiter for another one. I had barely sipped halfway through my martini, so I declined when the waiter asked if I was ready for another.
“How was New York?” I asked once the waiter left to fetch her next mojito.
Shifting her attention back to me, she flashed a fake smile. “It was a quick visit,” she answered. “I’m looking at a theater there.”
I frowned, purely out of curiosity. “You’re moving Violets & Illusions to New York?”
She shrugged. “It’s possible. It seems people are really starting to notice the show. Luke, my manager, he says the reviews are really solid. So now we can head back—I’m from New York, I can’t remember if I told you that. Anyway, getting back to the big city allows us to take a serious swing at elevating the show’s profile. Maybe Broadway is the next stepping stone to Vegas, and that’s where I need to be.”
I sipped my martini.
I didn’t know that she had come from New York. Bill mentioned investing in the show to help move it to Detroit from Buffalo. I had just assumed that Violet had come from that part of the country. I would have remembered if she’d mentioned living in New York City because it had the ring of wealth to it, the exact same poison that my ex had come from and ultimately returned to.
“There’s a theater on Broadway,” she went on, and when I turned my attention back to her, I caught the glint of excitement in her eyes. “Now that Les Mis is finished, there’s a window of opportunity for me to swoop in and occupy the space.” She beamed, her lips turning into the same smile that had previously captured me. “I’d love to get a Vegas show, Carter. That’s my goal. Vegas will make me the greatest and most prolific female magician ever.”
I couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. New York and then Vegas? I wondered where or how I could ever possibly fit into her plans. But then again, it seemed she had already moved on from Detroit. Although I was standing in front of her in the present, in the next few weeks, I would exist in a distant compartment of her past. Suddenly, her standoffishness tonight seemed like a good, a way to wean me off of her before we really got started.
“Have you ever been to New York, Carter?” she asked as the waiter arrived with her mojito. She sipped from the straw, a big gulp.
I shook my head, a little disappointed.
She placed a hand over mine. “Don’t worry, sweetie. I’ll make sure you come out to see the show. It’s got an impressive stage, I’ll show you everything.”
Sweetie? It felt condescending and a little dismissive at the same time.
Our eyes locked, and the smile gradually melted
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