There's Something About Sweetie(83)

“I know I said that, but I reject that idea out of hand. I reject the idea that we don’t belong together.” Elijah stepped even closer to Oliver and took his hands in his. “The thing is, Ollie, I feel so incredibly fortunate to know you. Love is unpredictable and so … so freaking elusive. I just can’t stop thinking about how damn lucky I am.”

Oliver looked steadily into Elijah’s eyes. “You’re just saying that because you’re lonely.”

“I’m not,” Elijah said without missing a beat. “I’m saying that because it’s true. I love you. Don’t you remember the good times? Don’t you remember how it used to be?”

“I’m starting to forget,” Oliver said, taking his hands from Elijah’s.

“Dude.” Samir grabbed Ashish by the arm and turned him around, and Oliver walked away.

“Sense the mood,” Ashish hissed, turning back to Elijah. He put a hand on Elijah’s shoulder, but Elijah shrugged it off and strode away, not meeting his eye. Sighing, Ashish turned back to Samir, who was basically dancing from foot to foot, impatient with news. “What’s going on?”

“Yo. It’s all set.” Samir flashed a set of very white, very straight teeth.

Ashish waited. “Is that supposed to make sense to me?”

“Everyone, please take your seats,” Andre said into the mic onstage. “The first band is just about ready to begin their set. Please find a seat.”

“Damn,” Ashish said, looking over his shoulder. “I wanted to wish Sweetie luck one last time.” But he saw the bands were all sequestered over to the far right. He couldn’t even see her, thanks to the line of tall dudes in the front.

“Forget about all that,” Samir said as they made their way to their seats. The yellow overhead lights in Roast Me switched to multicolored ones, and the crowd whooped and clapped. There were so many people, those who couldn’t find a chair were crammed into the back. “I have the definitive answer to Oliver and Elijah’s problems!”

Ashish looked at Samir as they sat. “Bro. What did you do? Is this what you’ve been plotting?”

Samir frowned. “Plotting?”

“Yeah, I saw you on the balcony last night, looking all Brutus-like.”

“Okay, but Brutus was the bad guy. I’m not betraying anyone, I’m bringing the lovers together.”

“If you can do that, I’ll have to call you David Blaine.” At Samir’s confused expression, he shook his head. “Go on. I’m listening.”

“So I went and spoke to the first band when we got here, and they’re on board. They’re going to play ‘Crazy in Love.’” He looked all gleefully expectant.

“That old Beyoncé song?” Ashish asked, totally confused.

“Not just that old Beyoncé song, Oliver and Elijah’s song,” Samir said in a tone that suggested it was common knowledge.

“Um, what? How do you know that? I don’t even know that and I hang out with them every single day.”

Samir crossed his arms and looked a little abashed. “Let’s just say when people don’t like you, they don’t talk to you. And if they don’t talk to you, you learn a lot by just listening and learning.”

“Ah.” Ashish felt a pinprick of sympathy for Samir. Being disliked and ignored had to have sucked big-time, but he’d still stuck by them. “So okay, back to your nefarious plan.”

“If by ‘nefarious’ you mean ‘ingenious,’ then okay.” Samir smiled and leaned forward again. “So, the first band’s going to play that song, and before they begin, they’ll say, ‘This message is from an anonymous audience member. When two people are meant to be together, things just fall into place. This song goes out to the man of my dreams.’ And get this.” Samir leaned even closer, all excited. “I’ve sent Oliver and Elijah each a note that says the other one dedicated the song to him!”

Ashish stared at him. “You what? When does that ever work out well in the movies? And let me tell you, it’s usually the messenger who ends up shot. So don’t come crying to me if that happens to you.”

“O you of little faith,” Samir said. “Just watch and see. Those two just need to get together and talk to each other without all that anger and guilt in the way. This is going to be amazing.”

“Ye.”

Samir glanced at him sideways. “Gesundheit.”

“No, it’s not ‘O you of little faith,’ it’s ‘O ye of’—you know what? Doesn’t matter. I hope you’re right, man. They were just talking to each other, and … I feel like their whole problem is that this love thing just hit them between the eyes when they weren’t expecting it. They need to understand how lucky they are to have found it at all. I think Elijah has, but I’m not sure about Oliver.” Ashish craned his neck to find Oliver. He saw him opening a little note, reading the message, and then putting it away in his pocket just as the first band began to introduce themselves up onstage. He couldn’t figure out from his expression what he was thinking. He found Elijah a couple of seats down from him, opening a note too. Elijah’s eyes immediately began searching the crowd for Oliver.

Ashish’s heart hitched. He really, really wanted this to work out for them, he realized. And maybe Samir’s plan seemed totally hokey, but he couldn’t help hoping. He turned to Samir. “I’m glad you’re trying this,” he said. “Thanks.”