Chapter 10
Zoe examined her sketchbook for any spatter that Derek had missed as a way to avoid looking at him. The longing in his voice
gutted her. He was trying so hard to mend their friendship. She had to make more of an effort because she was the one who’d
kept her distance from him.
She missed her best friend.
The Boss Babes were also her best friends, but she’d known Derek the longest. They’d spent almost every waking hour together
for four years. It took his coming back into her life to realize she’d had a Derek-shaped void.
Luckily the cover had done its job and protected the inside of the sketchbook. She flipped through the pages and tried to
look at them with fresh eyes. With Derek’s eyes.
“I guess these aren’t so bad,” she said as if speaking out loud instilled more confidence. She’d drawn them in a creative
fog after running into Derek yesterday. The sketches were basic but she’d captured the character’s energy and evolution. She
needed to redraw them and add more detail and color, but deep down they felt right.
She knew this without reading Derek’s script or hearing the music. They’d created this show from angst and frustration about
their aspiring theater careers. She knew every scene they’d created by heart.
“Zoe, no one would believe that you drew those costumes without seeing our script,” Derek said softly. “But I can. We lived and breathed T ? m Cám whenever we weren’t working on stuff for class.”
“Those nights on the roof were some of my favorite memories.”
“Aha!” He grinned. “You haven’t stopped thinking about it all these years.”
“Well, it would be fun to design something out of the ordinary,” Zoe conceded. To her surprise, she’d been bereft after turning
in her Lysistrata commission.
“Lingerie is not ordinary. Give yourself credit.”
“You know what I mean. Remember when my design professor gave me chicken wire, fabric scraps, and spray glue and told me to
make a dragon headdress?” She flipped to a blank page in her sketchbook and tried to sketch it from memory.
“Oh God, for that weird play about dragons in space?” Derek groaned. “I know the point of the student playwriting showcase
is to experiment, but that one was strange.”
“I thrived on the challenge! Nothing like making costumes on a tiny budget.” Zoe bit her lip as she tried to remember if it
had a beard.
“You didn’t have to play said dragon,” he muttered.
“You were cute,” she teased.
“I was supposed to be menacing. Villain, remember?” He mimed the choreography from the play and stopped mid-move. “You think
I’m cute?”
“Stop! As if you didn’t know half the underclassmen had crushes on you.” After their run-in earlier, she finally understood
why. He was adorkable.
He shrugged. “I was too focused on my classes to notice.”
“How come you never dated anyone back then?” Zoe searched his eyes for clues, but he’d found some more napkins and wiped his
shirt.
“Are we really going to talk about how uncool I was in college? I came here to discuss our future.” He actually looked offended about his single status during undergrad.
“I was only curious.” Zoe shrugged.
“You promised to hear me out, but why don’t you read the script and watch the private showcase we did for Prestige Rep? But
you can’t show anyone.”
“I’ll lock my bedroom door before I watch it.” Zoe crossed her heart and grinned.
“I’m serious,” Derek said sternly. His eyebrows furrowed. “We can’t have the news leak until we’ve assembled the rest of the
creative team and cast. You know the media will judge us harder because of who we are.”
“I swear on our secret handshake,” she replied.
“Not the terrible handshake.” Derek rolled his eyes. “I’m never going to live down that cast party, will I?”
“You can count on me to keep things quiet.”
“Emailing it now.” Derek pulled out his phone and tapped on it rapidly. “You can watch it at home after you change into some
dry clothes.”
“You don’t want to be here while I watch?” Zoe’s face fell. Dinner had been awkward but she wasn’t ready for it to end. They
had six years of catching up to do.
“No way. I’d be a nervous wreck hovering over your shoulder like T ? m’s ghost did with the emperor.”
“Cinderella’s spirit was never anxious,” she reminded him. “Besides, in our version she never dies.”
“Maybe I need a fairy god and a magical singing fish to look over me.” He closed his eyes and pretended to make a wish.
“Give me some chicken wire and a few hours.”
They both laughed. Zoe was relieved that the weirdness between them had disappeared.
“Call me as soon as you finish reading and watching. Even if it’s late.”
Zoe shivered at the intensity in his eyes.
“Even if it’s two in the morning?”
“Trust me, you’ll want to talk about it.” Derek began bagging up their trash. “There, as if it never happened.”
Except for their soaked clothes. But no number of napkins could fix that.
“You really think our Cinderella will change Broadway?” Zoe had never in a million years thought their late-night ramblings
would be turned into a musical. Yet here they were discussing costumes and musical numbers.
“I know it will if you’re by my side,” he said with so much confidence, it gave her chills.
After a long shower with plenty of body wash, Zoe could no longer smell the root beer on her body. She wanted to watch Derek’s
video right away, but the soda had glued itself to her body. Instead of her usual evening routine of face creams and body
butter, she grabbed her tablet.
“Mr. Bobbins, sorry I was out so late on a Sunday night,” she apologized to her orange tabby.
The cat stood on the wide arm of her oversize fuchsia love seat and yowled. She patted her head as she debated grabbing her
small tote of art supplies. Once she settled down in the plush cushions, it took too much willpower to get out of it. She’d
learned the tough way that it was better to pull out everything she thought she’d want for the evening. Once Mr. Bobbins sat
on her lap, she was stuck.
Not that she minded. The love seat was her favorite spot in the living room she shared with her roommate, Trixie Nguyen. It was the first piece of furniture she’d splurged on after moving out of her brother’s place. After years of squeezing her hips into chairs, she’d wanted one big enough to curl up in to read or binge the latest fashion design competition.
“Wine. Yes, I need a glass,” Zoe said to her cat.
She’d adopted Mr. Bobbins from a shelter after Trixie and her boyfriend got serious. Her roommate often spent the night at
Andre’s house, which made their cozy apartment feel too empty. The cat was finicky as cats tend to be, but he always knew
when she needed a cuddle.
She pulled out a half-empty bottle of sauvignon blanc from the fridge. After setting it and a stemless wine glass on the coffee
table next to her, she grabbed her sketchbook and bag of art supplies. Just in case she felt inspired after watching Derek’s
video.
“Well, Mr. Bobbins, I’ve stalled long enough.” Zoe settled into her chair and tucked her legs under herself. The cat curled
itself on her thighs and immediately fell asleep.
Her finger hovered over the email icon. What if the showcase was nothing like what they’d fantasized about back in college?
Like how she could never capture the costume designs that she’d imagined in her mind. Maybe it was better to allow their version
to be ethereal.
But Derek was so convinced they were on the same wavelength about the show—even after all this time apart.
“Don’t be a wuss, Zoe,” she said out loud. The cat stirred and mewed in his sleep. “Even Mr. Bobbins thinks I should get over
myself and watch it.”
The video automatically played after she downloaded the attachment. Derek and an Asian woman—she must be his cowriter—were
on a small stage. She could make out shadows of people sitting in the fourth or fifth row. He introduced himself and Th ? o, who was a composer.
Zoe sat up straighter. She’d never known of a Vietnamese composer. Of course they existed. Why wouldn’t they?
Derek’s brief summary of the story was their version. Then he nodded at Th ? o, who played a few chords on the keyboard in front of her. He sang T ? m’s part and soon Th ? o joined him as Cam. The duet was haunting and beautiful. It was full of the love the stepsisters had for each other.
Even Mr. Bobbins approved by purring loudly.
Zoe’s entire body was humming. Her chest was so full of excitement, she thought it might explode. The musical was everything
she’d hoped for and more. She’d be an idiot to turn down the chance to design costumes for it.
But that would mean returning to a world that would always ask her to compromise her values. Every assignment she’d received
from her professor had chipped away at her values little by little without her realizing it. Let’s make this character more
Asian, he’d said as he critiqued her drawings. He’d tell her to make the eyes smaller or comment on how she needed to make
her figure drawings taller and skinnier.
By the time she had realized how little her designs reflected who she was, she didn’t know how to fix it. Except walk away.
She’d walked away from the theater program and eventually walked away from Derek.
When it came to lingerie and fashion, she trusted her instincts without hesitation. Her stomach twisted and her wine tasted
sour. She didn’t have the experience for this job. She had worked at summer theaters as an assistant but never had the chance
to design a professional production on her own. She had no idea how much the industry had changed in the last six years.
Derek was hiring her because they were friends. Not because of her skill. There was no doubt this show would receive national
media attention. If she failed this again, she’d take him down with her. Then both of their dreams would be shattered.
Zoe wouldn’t do that to him. Theater was his life. At least she had Something Cheeky to give her purpose.
So why did it feel like she was giving up on herself all over again?
“Mr. Bobbins, want to watch the showcase again?” She scratched his chin, but the tabby only snored in response.