Here's to Us(What If It's Us #2)(77)

“There has to be an easier workaround,” I say.

Suddenly, I’m out of my seat, crossing the few feet of space between the front row and the stage. I stare for a moment at the trio of backdrops. They’re intimidatingly huge, but at least they’re on wheels. I give the center panel an experimental push.

“Redecorating?” Taj asks.

“Just trying something.”

Taj sets his yogurt down and stands.

Five minutes later, we’ve rolled the center panel back and pulled the side panels in, until the set’s no longer three adjacent apartment rooms. Now it’s just a living room and kitchen, with a hint of a nursery tucked behind them—just a foot of toothpaste blue backdrop and the edge of a crib. “So the baby’s always there,” I explain. “She’s just a little bit offstage.”

I watch Taj take it all in, following his gaze from panel to panel. It’s wild how the simplest tweak can change the entire feeling of a space. The overall focus is tighter, and the added depth makes the apartment feel that much more real. Like there’s this implication of life existing beyond the boundaries of these sets. No idea what Jacob will think, but I’m pretty sure I love it.

“Okay,” Taj says. “Say we’re Addie and Beckett, middle of scene eight, when they’re arguing and Lily wakes up—”

“Right! So what if Beckett’s actually offstage for that scene? Like we get a sound cue where she’s crying, and you see him go into the nursery—”

“Huh!” Taj purses his lips. “So . . . we keep Addie in the living room . . . are they just talking between rooms? Maybe he pops his head around the side, so we feel him in there?”

“Exactly,” I say—and for the first time since Ethan left, a light flickers on in my brain.

I usually feel like such a fuckup at work—even when I’m not dropping the ball, it always feels like I’m just about to. But something’s clicking today in a way I can’t quite explain. Taj keeps nodding when I talk and typing notes on his phone, like my ideas are worth writing down. Like I’m not just some dumbass intern. Or at least I’m a dumbass intern with potential.

“Oh, wow!”

Jacob’s voice—my heart leaps into my throat.

“This is so interesting,” he says, sidling up to Taj. “Walk me through it.”

Taj gestures toward me. “It’s all Arthur.”



Jacob clasps his hands. “Taking creative risks. We love to see it.”

“It probably won’t work,” I say quickly. “It’s just a random idea—I haven’t really had time to think it through. I was mostly just curious. Seriously, I can put everything back the way it—”

“Or,” Jacob says, smiling, “you could tell me about it.”

Ten minutes later, Jacob and Taj are off and running—photographing the stage from every angle, texting the stage manager, slipping into this whole second language of abbreviations and theater jargon. It’s the kind of thing that makes me feel like such an amateur, normally, but today feels different. Today, it’s just another piece of the magic I helped set into motion.

I watch from the front row, in dazed disbelief.

Jacob loved my idea. He actually gasped when I explained it. He called me a genius.

Yes, I’m a total disaster. Yes, Ben’s moving. Yes, I fucked up with Mikey. No, I’ll never be able to pull off a floral tie the way Taj can.

But.

Jacob Demsky. Called me. A genius.

When they wander back over, Jacob’s cradling the GDB like it’s his actual baby. “There’s been a truce,” Taj explains.

It feels so good to laugh.

“Arthur, you changed the game.” Jacob leans over Taj to fist-bump me. “I’m checking in with Miles tonight to get a couple of new cues locked in, but I actually think we’re in good shape. I don’t know how to thank you.”

“I’m so happy to help.” I flush proudly.

“Seriously. God, take the rest of the day off. Or take Friday! Catch the Greyhound, surprise your boyfriend—”

Taj elbows him, and he stops abruptly, midsentence.

For a moment, no one speaks.

“Um.” My voice comes out an octave too high. “I don’t. Have one of those.”

“One of . . .”

“A boyfriend. Not anymore.”

“Oh.” Jacob turns toward Taj and me. “Oh, Arthur. I’m so sorry.”

“No, it’s fine!” I add, a little too quickly. “I’m the one who initiated it. I care about him, but. I guess I realized I wasn’t—I’m not in love with him. I really wanted to be.”

“Then it sounds like you made the right call,” Jacob says, so simply it cuts me wide open.

The whole story spills out. “It just sucks, because we were actually really great together, and now I miss him. So much. But it’s just not it. And how could I fix that? I don’t know; maybe we could have gotten there eventually?” A lump swells in my throat. “I guess part of it was me realizing I’m still pretty hung up on someone else, which obviously wasn’t fair to Mikey. He shouldn’t have to wait around for me to get over Ben—that’s my other ex. My first ex. But that’s not happening either. Seeing as he’s following his boyfriend to LA.”