Chapter 14 #2
Exhaustion hit me in a wave and I realized that not only had I not eaten since breakfast, it was nearly dinner now and Heath would be coming over for his break.
Shoving the papers back into the library book where Clarence had hidden them for me, I left them on the desk and hurried to the kitchen to figure out dinner, Charlemagne and Muffin following in a little parade of hopeful treat begging.
#
"THIS IS REALLY GOOD," Heath said, reaching for his glass of tea.
I'd manage to cobble together a vegetarian pasta and side salad with garlic bread before he stopped by and, despite my arm aching, found I actually had a pretty good time doing it.
Cooking was starting to feel less like a chore—mind my macros, gotta cut weight for this audition so stick to this bland, high protein diet—and more enjoyable as I started making more meals on my own for both myself and to share.
"For some reason, I didn't imagine you cooking.
I thought you'd order out or something."
"Is it because I'm too pretty to be good in the kitchen?
" I asked, fluttering my lashes dramatically.
Heath laughed, blushing a little, and we fell into an easy conversation about his shift, about the library (minus.
..well, a lot of my visit there—both of them), and segued into a slightly less comfortable vein about the holidays.
"I'll probably go see my folks," I sighed.
"It's been a long time. And I kind of miss Long Island, if you can believe it." And I still had to reply to Mom’s texts and calls. Okay, I admit I’m not a great son when it comes to communication, at least lately.
I made another mental note to call her Tonight and sort out the holidays and catch up on life.
He smiled softly. "I've never been to Long Island. Or anywhere around New York City. Just Plattsburgh to visit some cousins a few times, and Albany for a Youth Government project junior year of high school."
I told him about the small town where I'd grown up, trips to the city as a kid and how it just fed my desire to act.
I thought about sharing what I'd found in the papers, what I was thinking about the entire Tubbs situation, how I knew something was fishy, it wasn't just an accidental death somehow, but I swallowed that all down and kept up a steady patter about my hometown, my first play, the commercial that got me 'discovered' when I was really too young for it.
"LA was terrifying," I admitted, poking at a tiny tomato in my salad.
"We flew back and forth at first, till I started getting longer roles in things, then Mom and Dad took turns staying out there with me till I was old enough to stay on my own.
Mostly Mom—Dad hates flying. It was..." I shook my head.
"It was nothing and everything like I thought it'd be when I got to that point. "
"When we were kids—okay, teenagers, but that's pretty much just tall kids," Heath chuckled, "a lot of us talked about getting out of Lester Cove. Going to New York, Chicago, London..."
"Which were you?" I asked quietly. "New York? Chicago? London?"
"I always said New York, but I never meant it," he said with a small, self-deprecating shrug. "Always knew Lester Cove was my home and, even if I left for school or to see what I could see, I'd always come back."
"Never seduced by the bright lights of the big city?"
He shook his head. "Maybe flirted with the idea a bit but never a seduction." Heath glanced up from his plate and met my gaze. "What about you?"
My face warmed and my mouth went a tiny bit dry. I grabbed my tea for a soothing sip before I answered. "Well, I think we all know I was well and truly seduced at a young age. Sparse as my IMDB page is, you can still see I succumbed to the allure of Tinseltown."
"You don't have to be on, Damien," he said gently. "I like you already. I don't need the act."
Startled, my face heating so fast I felt dizzy, I muttered, “Thank you,”
We both ate in quiet for a few minutes after that, until Heath's work cell rang shrilly. "Damn it," he sighed. "Pardon me for a moment?"
I nodded and started clearing our empty plates as he stepped into the living room to take the call.
I couldn't hear much, just a word here and there, but after are few minutes he sounded closer, sharper.
"Are you sure? Okay. No, I'm with him right now.
Yeah... I know. Okay. We'll be there in twenty. "
"Be where in twenty?" I demanded, turning from the dishwasher with raised brows. "My only plans for the rest of the night are reading and sleeping." And snooping. Can't forget the snooping.
Heath drained the last of his tea and shot me a curious, maybe sympathetic look. "Plans have changed. Can you meet me at the station in about half an hour?”
"Wait, what? I need to call Ben so he can get Matty down here. I'm not going to the station with you!" I pressed back against the counter as if that could stop Heath from manhandling me into cuffs—well, a cuff—if he really wanted to.
Disappointment flickered in his expression before he shook his head, sighing. "You're not under arrest. Did you think..."
I didn't answer, just edged past him to grab my phone. "I'm not dumb. If I'm being accused of something—"
"For god's sake, you're not!" He threw up his hands. "You know what, just meet me there, alright? Thirty minutes!
Guilt and uncertainty tugged hard at my chest, the look on Heath's face fanning the flames. I'd figure out if I needed to apologize to him later, but I couldn't help but think I just made him feel the same way Max made me feel earlier.