Epilogue
EIGHTEEN MONTHS LATER: WESLEY
Wesley Pierce was rarely nervous, but today he was having trouble keeping his breakfast down. He had a number of reasons to freak out, each one worse than the last.
Reason number one to freak out was that he had recently signed on long-term to work in Anne Bartlett’s security team. He was no longer assigned to Lauren specifically, but he wasn’t moving on to a new job either. The new arrangement was working out well in that he now had some stability. There would be no need to relocate any time soon. But being part of the team protecting your girlfriend’s mother was not a job you could fail at without earth-shattering consequences.
Reason number two he had to freak out was much more immediate. He was about to attend Lauren’s first feature film premiere, and he was still not comfortable in a suit. He doubted he would ever really be comfortable in a suit, but he had bought a brand-new one and had it tailored to fit him perfectly. Tonight’s event, he knew, would be the most important event he would ever attend in his life, second only to his wedding, and he couldn’t stop fussing over his appearance. It was a good thing his hair was impossible to mess up, because his shoes were far from shiny enough, and his tie was definitely crooked. Why had he never learned to tie a tie properly?
His third reason to freak out had everything to do with the surprise he was planning for Lauren. Planning this surprise had taken more coordination than any other event he had planned in his life, and that included surprise parties. There were so many people involved, and Wesley was depending on them to not only play their parts right, but also to keep their mouths shut and not ruin the surprise. In addition, he was stressing about Lauren’s reaction to this planned surprise. This could either go amazingly well or wind up being an absolute dumpster fire.
Tonight, Wesley was going to put himself out there in a brand-new way. It wasn’t just humiliation that worried him this time. It was rejection.
“You look good,” Lauren said, approaching him from behind. He disagreed, but he supposed it really was only her opinion that mattered. They had started living together in her apartment, which was much larger and nicer than Wesley’s was. He was glad for it because, ever since the kidnapping, he couldn’t sleep without keeping an eye on her. His mind would always wander to worst-case scenarios.
“I can’t get this tied right,” he said.
She turned him to face her and helped him adjust his tie so it looked like less of a mess. “No one’s going to notice if your tie isn’t perfect.”
“I think they probably will,” he said with a small laugh.
“Then I guess it’s a good thing you have me around to fix it for you. So, you can’t break up with me now. You need me. My evil plan has finally come to fruition.”
He laughed again. “Some evil plan you’ve got there.” Then he bent down and kissed her, being extra careful not to smear her makeup. She looked gorgeous as usual, wearing an asymmetrical white dress with so many flowing strips, it looked like someone had put it through a shredder. She had always looked like some kind of otherworldly creature to him, and tonight, she looked even more like an immortal, pixie princess.
“You’re the most beautiful woman in the world,” he said, staring down at her. “You know that don’t you?”
“What about Sophia Loren?” she asked with a wink.
“She doesn’t hold a candle to you.” Normally, he would have joked with her, saying, okay , you’re the second most beautiful woman. Then she’d bring up another Hollywood star, and he’d demote Lauren to third most beautiful, and so on. But tonight, he didn’t want to play the game. He wanted to tell her the truth. “Let’s go.”
On their way out the door, he took her favorite long coat from her coat closet and draped it over her shoulders. “You’re such a gentleman,” she said, nudging him. “I taught you well.”
He could tell she was nervous for the event. She always joked around more when she was nervous. And usually, he would play along. The problem was that he was probably even more nervous than she was, and he did not do well telling jokes when he was nervous.
All the way to the theater, he marveled to himself about how proud he was of her. She’d taken her life back into her hands, taken audition after audition. And she’d finally started getting roles. They were smaller ones at first, but with her talent, she had quickly won a role in a feature film, and now they were about to enjoy the fruits of her labor.
The theater was packed when they got there. Every seat was filled. Lauren’s mother was there with her entourage. Wesley’s old roommate, Jon, was in attendance, too. Even Jesse, Lauren’s out-of-state friend, the oldest one she still had, had gone out of his way to attend. Of course, some of them knew exactly what Wesley had planned for the night, and they had come to see that as much as the film itself.
“Why are your hands sweating so much?” Lauren asked, breaking Wesley out of his own head for a moment.
“Oh, you know…” He tried to come up with an excuse, but found his mind had gone completely blank. “Just a bit too warm.”
Lauren suddenly looked just as worried as he was. “You don’t think the film will be bad, do you?”
Wesley didn’t hesitate to answer her. “Not a chance, princess. It’s going to be amazing. I’ve just got a little stage fright, that’s all.”
She gave him a dubious smile. “Why do you have stage fright?”
“It’s sympathetic stage fright,” he said, hoping that was explanation enough. It clearly wasn’t, but Lauren didn’t seem overly troubled by it. There was too much else going on.
As soon as she entered the crowd, Wesley saw the love of his life transform. It reminded him of the transformation she underwent at her mother’s events, only this time, she wasn’t becoming someone else. This time, she was becoming a more powerful version of herself. She was unstoppable, smiling and saying all the right things to all the right people. He knew she would be exhausted when all this was over, but for now, she was reveling in it, and he was so, so in awe of her.
They found their seats with the rest of the cast, and Wesley reached over to take her hand. The theater was all red and velvet with dim lighting and a huge, imposing screen at the front. It was one of those movie theaters that had once been a regular theater, and so the stage was still there, sitting in front of the screen like the ghost of something that would never quite die. Wesley had done his research on the location of this premiere before he came up with his ultimate plan. And truly, it was perfect.
The director of the film stepped onto the stage to give a little introductory speech, and Wesley sat patiently through it, though he couldn’t seem to stop his leg from bouncing in anticipation. He squeezed Lauren’s hand to reassure himself, though she probably thought he was doing it to reassure her.
Then the director said, “We have a special treat for our audience tonight,” and everyone perked up. Only a few of them were expecting this deviation from the norm, so everyone was suddenly interested. “This theater we’re in has a long history in stage performance. It’s a mistake for those of us in film to ignore the roots of our own art form. So, we have decided, tonight, to acknowledge the shoulders of the giants we stand upon.”
The director lifted the microphone from its stand and took it to the front of the stage before he continued. “We’re going to perform for you a pivotal scene from tonight’s film, but we’re going to do it live. There will be no rehearsal other than what we know from the film itself. The actors did not know they were going to be doing this performance for you all tonight. But we aim to show off the talents they still have buried in their DNA as actors. May the ancestors of our craft look down on us tonight and smile because we haven’t let them be forgotten.”
Lauren turned to look at Wesley, so much confusion in her face. Is he crazy? her expression seemed to say.
Wesley just shrugged at her, hoping he was believable as a completely ignorant bystander who was just as surprised as she was. Although, he knew it would be risky to bank on his own acting skills. He did his best to use the skills Lauren herself had taught to him.
Suddenly, the director of the film started calling up actors to do this impromptu performance. And of course, Lauren’s was among those names he called. Lauren went rigid in her seat. “What?” she whispered. “No one told me about this.”
Wesley leaned over, put an arm around her, and squeezed her shoulder. Then he kissed her cheek and murmured, “Go on, princess. You’re going to kill it up there. I know you will. You know how to improvise in trying circumstances, right?” He grinned at her. “So, break a leg.”
Lauren slowly rose from her seat and walked alone to the stage in her tattered-looking white dress. To Wesley, she looked like a bride, walking away from him instead of toward him. But he knew what was coming, and he knew it would all be worth it in the end. She turned back once, and he urged her to go on, giving her an enthusiastic thumbs-up. She clearly had no idea what to make of this, and Wesley couldn’t blame her. It was highly unusual, as he understood it.
When Lauren and the other actors got up on that stage, only Lauren looked lost. That was because, of course, the others had already known this was coming. In truth, Lauren was the only one on stage who wasn’t in on it, and Wesley had orchestrated it that way on purpose.
The director passed out the script they were meant to perform and explained the event to them. “What you’re holding in your hands is a slightly altered version of a scene you will all know well. We had to change a bit of it to make it appropriate for a live stage performance, but when you get to that part, it will become clear what you have to do. There will be no rehearsal, as I have said. I want this audience to see the talent I have in store for them. First on the stage, and then on the big screen. Let’s begin!”
Wesley shook his head with a slight roll of his eyes. The director was definitely hamming this up more than he needed to. But, Wesley figured, he probably didn’t get many opportunities to be the star himself, so of course he was going to eat up his one chance. Regardless, Wesley was grateful the director had even been willing to put on this show just for him.
The actors quickly glanced at the beginning of their script and took their places on stage. The script itself was three pages long, so they didn’t have time to read through much of it before they began. They all played their parts wonderfully, of course, and Wesley enjoyed watching as much of it as he could before he, too, had to make his way to the stage. The makeshift spotlights and the dark theater obscured him from the actors’ view, and this, too, had been carefully planned.
He was three rows from the stage when all the actors flipped to the final page of their scripted scene. Lauren held out one hand just as the script instructed her to do, and her costar placed a small, unassuming, black box into her palm. She looked at it, questioning. This was not part of the original scene, but the director had mentioned some changes, so she rolled with it, just as Wesley knew she would. Even so, he could see the questions blossoming on her face. The suspicion. The worry. And finally, the understanding, as she came to the lines she was supposed to speak next.
She faltered, clenched her teeth, and fought back tears. Wesley waited right in front of the stage for her to speak the all-important lines he had written for her. Whether or not she spoke them would give him the answer to his question. She held the box and script in one hand as the other hand flew to her mouth, and she finally lost her composure completely.
She was crying, but Wesley could tell they were good tears. The poor thing tried to speak her lines so many times but burst into sobs every time. Finally, Wesley climbed onto the stage and stood before her. And he waited.
Lauren looked up at him, tears streaming down her face, her hands shaking in disbelief. But she was a professional, after all, and she eventually managed to speak her lines. “Farm boy,” she said, almost breaking down again. “Farm boy, will you marry me?”
Wesley took the box from her and withdrew the ring he had chosen for her weeks ago. Then he slipped the ring on her finger, took her face in his hands, and kissed her before giving her the answer she’d been waiting to hear since she first called him farm boy . “As you wish.”
The End