Chapter 40 - Nadia

I hurried home like I was fleeing the scene of a crime. Which, essentially, I was.
Hopefully my absence didn’t arouse any suspicions with the detective. All it would take was Andy slipping and mentioning that I came with him and then left before the detective arrived to suddenly make me the number one suspect. If I wasn’t already.
Braden was hanging out on the couch in the front parlor when I got home. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he said after taking one look at my face. He held up his phone. “Does it have to do with why Director Atkins just canceled rehearsal?”
“Ryan found another trap from the saboteur.”
Braden leaped off the couch. He was wearing grey sweatpants showing off a little bit of his bulge, and a black Pumpnation 2018 concert t-shirt with short sleeves showing off his arms. “What was it?”
“Sandbags tied up in the rafters. They were attached to some sort of electronic release system that could be remotely activated.” I swallowed the bile at the back of my throat. “They were positioned to hit Tatiana at the end of More Than Money.”
“Oh my God.”
“We called Atkins to show him. He said I should leave before the detective got there, because otherwise I would be a suspect.”
Dorian’s voice sounded on the stairs behind me. “You kind of already are the prime suspect.”
I smiled awkwardly at him. “You guys know I’m innocent.”
Dorian shrugged. Yeah, there was definitely an uncomfortable air between us after the kiss. “I know you’re innocent, but will a jury?”
“Please don’t mention anything like that. It’s bad enough worrying that a spotlight might fall on my head at any moment!”
Dorian held up his hands in apology. “You know, this would be exciting if it wasn’t all so, you know, deadly.”
“Danger is always more interesting when it’s happening to someone else,” Braden agreed.
Dorian grimaced, lingered for a moment, and then went back upstairs. When I turned around, Braden was looking at me funny.
“Everything okay between you two?” he asked quietly.
“Yeah, why?”
He narrowed his gorgeous eyes at me. “Not all leads are as clueless as Tatiana.”
I chuckled nervously. “I’m just shaken up. Between the sandbag trap, and the street performers who tried to kick our ass… Did Dorian tell you about that?”
Braden slumped back into the leather couch. “He did. My favorite part was when you tried to fork them to death.”
I flexed an arm. “Don’t mess with a poor girl from Queens. She’ll fork you up.”
“A valuable life lesson. I’m sorry you’re shaken up. I would be too if I were you.”
“You should be regardless,” I replied. “A lot of your scenes are with Tatiana. If a saboteur is trying to hurt her, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll be collateral damage.”
“Nah, nothing is going to happen to me.”
“How can you be so sure?”
He flashed a white smile at me. “Because I’ve chosen to be in denial about all of it. My life isn’t in danger and I have nothing to worry about. I’m good at compartmentalizing.”
“Ignorance truly is bliss.”
I went upstairs. While rounding the stairs from the third to the fourth floor, I passed Dorian’s open room. “Hey, hold up a sec,” he called out.
I paused, already cringing about what the conversation might be like.
Dorian jogged over to the door and put a hand on the frame. His hair was down rather than in a man-bun, like a silky curtain around his head and shoulders. “I wanted to make sure things aren’t weird between us.”
“Of course not,” I lied. “Nothing weird at all.”
The relief on his face was palpable. “I’m really glad to hear that. The last thing I would want to do is fuck things up.”
“I agree. So let’s not make it weird,” I replied.
We stood there, letting it get weird.
If only it were as easy as that.
“Hey,” I said, happy to have thought of a topic. “Did they let you collect my pay? For the work this morning?”
“Oh!” He reached into his pocket and came out with a $100 bill. “They sure did.”
“Awesome. Thanks again for that.”
“Anytime.”
Dorian went back into his room and I went upstairs. I wasn’t sure what to do with myself now that I had a free night, so I started with a long shower and then changing into comfortable pajama pants and a loose t-shirt. When I returned downstairs, Braden and Dorian were arguing about what to get for dinner.
“The Flying Saucer has great food,” Dorian was saying.
“I don’t like Turkish. What about Korean?”
“I had Korean two nights ago.”
“Korean food is good enough to have every other day,” Braden argued.
I listened to them before saying, “You know, you two don’t have to order the same thing.”
They blinked at me as if they hadn’t thought about that.
“We’re going to start this new show on Netflix,” Braden said. “The one with Jason Bateman.”
The invitation lingered in the air, but the only open spot was on the couch next to Dorian. I knew I’d spend the entire time tensely wondering what he was thinking about, and over-analyzing if my arm was too close to his leg.
“Maybe so,” I said, going into the kitchen to get a glass of water to buy myself time. By the time I came back out into the parlor, Braden was receiving a phone call.
“Yeah, sure,” he said into his phone. “Be there in a little bit.” He hung up and sighed back into his chair. “That was Ryan. He and Andy are camping out at the theater in case the saboteur comes back tonight.”
“Hey, that’s not a bad idea,” I said.
“But they want me to bring them sleeping bags and stuff.” He looked forlornly at the Netflix screen on the TV.
“I’ll go,” I said, leaping on the opportunity.
Dorian cocked his head. “Are you sure? You look like you’re ready to get comfy yourself.”
“I don’t mind at all. And it won’t be the first time I’ve ridden the subway in pajama pants.”
Braden helped me gather what they needed: sleeping bags, toothbrushes, a change of clothes. “Andy already has two pillows,” I said.
He paused while stuffing pillows into the duffel bag. “Oh that’s right. How’d your date go? The Central Park picnic is a classic date.”
“That’s what Dorian said. The date went really well. It was nice to get outside, enjoy the warm sun, and relax.”
I cut it off there. Was Braden waiting for me to say more? It felt like he could tell that something more had happened on the date. It should have been natural to tell him…
But somehow, I couldn’t.
“Hey,” Braden said, snapping his fingers. “I meant to ask you. My parents are back in town and want to get dinner after rehearsal day after tomorrow. You free?”
“I’ve got a shift at the bar.” I flinched, and quickly added, “But I’ll get Robbie to cover for me. He owes me.”
“You sure?”
I smiled. “I wouldn’t miss meeting your parents for the world. That’s what all this is about, right?”
My wave encompassed the entire townhouse that was emblematic of their proposition to me. I was here to help convince his parents that he had a girlfriend, and I would be as accommodating as possible.
He smiled back at me. “Great. It’s a date.”
“A fake one, at least!”
I slung the small duffel bag over my shoulder, put on a long coat, and took the train back down to midtown. On the walk from the station to the theater I stopped at a Turkish restaurant on the way to get some food to go. When I got to the theater, I found it unlocked. I went inside and locked it behind me.