Chapter 28 Aria
ARIA
I arrive backstage early for the Saturday closing night show so I can give out the swag I had made to the crew and leave out gifts for the cast in the dressing rooms before they get to the theatre.
Chloe is already here, zipping around, talking into her headset.
When she sees me, she comes over to give me a big hug and help carry my bags.
“Gawd, I’ve missed you. You really should have been here to see how much the audience has loved this damn show.
You better go out onstage for the curtain call tonight. ”
“I will.”
“You have to.”
“I will.”
“You better.”
“Chloe.”
“Come with me.” She leads me to a table backstage. On it is a large flower arrangement. “I signed for these a little while ago. They’re for you!” She watches me intently. “Go ahead and open the envelope here, and feel free to tell me who it’s from! Or don’t. You don’t have to. But feel free.”
I don’t have to open the envelope to know who this stunning white and green centerpiece is from. The envelope is stamped with the name of the floral design boutique my mother always orders from in Malibu. “It’s from my mom,” I tell her. “But I have a feeling Miles is responsible for this.”
The note from my mother tells me that a very nice man named Miles tracked her down and told her about my musical because his daughter told him I hadn’t invited her.
He offered to fly my mother out for the closing night performance.
She explained to him that she doesn’t like to fly, and he offered to make arrangements for her to take the train.
She apologizes for not spending forty-eight hours there and back on a train to see my show but tells me she wishes I had told her about the musical anyway.
That she’s proud of me and wants to support me even if she can’t be here.
And she says that she very much approves of this man named Miles.
That’s saying a lot, since my mother has never approved of any of my boyfriends in the past, least of all Tyler. That may, in fact, be one of the main reasons I rebelled by dating Tyler to begin with, but that’s beside the point. Miles is the point. Macy is the point.
After I set out all of the gift bags in the dressing rooms, I retreat to the tech booth.
I plan to watch the show from the front row tonight and mingle with the audience in the lobby beforehand too.
Half an hour before the house opens, Chloe brings me a big basketful of gifts and cards from the cast, who have now arrived to get into costume.
So many sweet, handmade cards from the girls, but my favorite is the one from Macy.
This time, she drew a picture of me on a surfboard, singing into a cordless microphone. Just like on the poster for Great Vibes, but she and Miles are on the board behind me with their own microphones. Inside the card, she wrote:
Thank you for helping US find our voices.
Love, Macy and Miles
It feels like with those few words, written in a child’s handwriting, signed by Macy and Miles, I’m already getting what I want and need from the two people I’ve come to want the most.
In the past week, Miles and I have only communicated via email, about the theatrical rights for my show.
But I found a single purple iris on the passenger seat of my convertible when I left to come here today.
It’s the exact same color as his Cheshire Cat suit.
Next to the iris was a little packet of catnip.
I’d like to think that the catnip meant “Heeeere, kitty, kitty.” At least, my nether kitty interpreted it that way.
My brain considered it a very cute way of letting me know that I’m his catnip.
Watching the closing night performance as part of the audience is more thrilling than I’d expected it to be.
The cast is really tight now, and Macy has truly blossomed.
It’s not that her voice is amazing—yet—but she embodies the character of Alice and conveys the kind of genuine confidence and emotion that you don’t always see in youth stage performances.
I’m proud of her, and I’m proud of Miles and me for believing in her.
The show just flies by, and I’m the first to jump to my feet to give them a standing ovation.
Some girls in the audience hold out flowers for Macy, and she goes downstage to receive them like a prima ballerina.
The whole cast waves me up on stage, clapping and cheering for me.
Macy comes over to share her bouquets of flowers with me.
I wave to the audience, and then something very unexpected happens.
Everyone in the cast, except for Miles and Macy, step back, and James brings his electric keyboard out to the side of the stage. Miles and Macy stand downstage near the hidden microphone, and Miles addresses the audience.
“Ladies and gentlemen, if you wouldn’t mind giving my daughter and me a moment to share something else with you…” When the applause dies down, he turns to me and says, “Aria…”
“Yes…?”
“Macy and I would like to sing a little song that Macy helped me write for you, accompanied by your composer and music director James. Thank you, James.”
“Thanks for including me,” James calls out, and then he turns to the audience and says, “If you like what you hear, my band will be performing at the Hotel Café in Hollywood tonight. Come check us out.”
“Fantastic,” Miles says. “But first—check this out.” James starts to play the introduction to a bouncy up-tempo song as Miles joins hands with Macy. “This is my I Want song, Aria, because…”
“I want to wake up every morning to your face or your text
Because whenever I don’t, I feel blue.”
“He really does—it’s sad.
But when he sees you, he’s so happy he could spin all around
On a hill, just like my voice twin Julie Andrews.”
“It’s true.
’Cause it’s you that I want, making rhymes and making sexy times—”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“And I hope that you never do.
And it’s you that I want, from Santa Monica to Malibu
That first time I saw you, I just knew.”
“He just knew!”
“That it’s you.”
“It’s you!”
“Yeah, it’s you who gave my daughter her stage debut.”
“Thank you! As a vocal coach I give you rave reviews!”
“I want you.
I need you to be the one who gives me a talkin’-to,
And I want to do more talkin’ to you.”
“All the time!”
“You’re the most special girl
Next to the other most special girl
To me.”
“’Cause it’s okay for my dad to have two.
Me and you.”
“Her and you,
You’re a dream that’s come true
For a grumpy old poopiehead.”
“That rhyme scheme is off.”
“Yeah, this song is not perfect like you
I could go on and on and on
But I have to end this song
So we can get off this stage and let the audience go home.”
“So just pretend this was a big finish
But really it’s the beginning for my dad—”
“To ask you to become a Brodie too…”
And that’s when he lets go of Macy’s hand, pulls a small box out of the pocket of his purple trousers, gets down on one knee in front of me, and says, “I want to marry you, Aria.” He pops open the ring box, and even though I have never in my life thought about what kind of engagement ring I’d want, I know the second I see it that I want that one. “Do you want to marry me?”
I project, loud enough for the people in the back row to hear it when I say, “I do.”
He stands up and places the diamond ring on my finger. “Thank God, or else it would have really thrown off the rhyme scheme.”
I grab Miles Brodie’s ridiculously insane face and kiss him so hard.
It sounds like all of Santa Monica erupts in applause and cheers.
James starts playing “You’re the One That I Want” from Grease, and the audience joins my cast of musical theatre nerds in singing and dancing around.
Not that that I Want song is better than the one Macy and Miles just sang. It’s just more familiar.
When I finally detach my lips from Miles’, I go over to give Macy a hug. She hugs me back without hesitation, and then we sing and dance together with Miles. Because she’s really lightened up now, and her daddy has too.
Miles drops Macy off at her mother’s house after the cast and crew party he hosted at a restaurant near the theatre.
I’m tossing a few things into my overnight bag when he texts me that he’s home and tells me to come over.
I go to the back door of his house—because it’s convenient, not because I’m his back door girl.
“This is for you,” he says as he opens the door and hands me a house key.
“Thank you.” I add it to my key ring immediately.
“You can stay here as often as you like. I’d like you to stay here often.
And by often, I mean all the time. And by ‘I’d like you to,’ I mean I want you to.
” He pulls me into his arms, and I drop my bag to the kitchen floor, wrapping my arms around his waist. “You can keep Mrs. Wilson’s guest house as a studio. ”
“And a place to retreat to when you’re being grumpy.”
“I was only grumpy because I couldn’t have you.”
I pull back and arch an eyebrow at him.
“Mostly because I couldn’t have you. Also once I’d met you, and for a year or two leading up to that time when I met you.
” He kisses my neck. “I’m sorry if I ever made you feel like you aren’t special or that you aren’t a part of things.
I really want you to be a part of my family.
They want that too. So, if you’re ready…
I’d like to start a new group text convo, and I want you to be a part of it.
” He lets go of me and pulls his phone out of his pocket.
I have to laugh because he says it like we’re all moving into a huge house together or something. “I would love to be a part of your family. I’m ready.”
He grins and shakes his head. “You think it’s just another group text convo, but it’s one of the biggest and most confusing commitments you’ll ever make in your life.”
“Uh…I ride ocean waves every morning, and I’ve committed myself to a career in musical theatre—I think I can handle a group text chat.”
“I love your attitude,” he says. “Hang on to that, babe.” His thumbs keep tapping the screen of his phone. “Okay, get your phone out. You ready?”
“Yes.” I get my phone out. “I’m ready.”
MILES: You guys. I would like to introduce a new member to this group text convo: my beautiful and very talented FIANCéE, Aria Cross.
ME: Hi, everyone! It’s a pleasure to be here.
FRANKIE: Oh my God, you’re my new BFF! Dibs!
FRANKIE: Also, congratulations. Hi.
SCARLETT: Welcome to the group, Aria! And congratulations on being Frankie’s and my new BFF.
DYLAN: Hey, Aria. Nice to have another Disney Channel alum and fellow enthusiast of thespian pursuits amongst us.
Miles disliked “Hey, Aria. Nice to have another Disney Channel alum and fellow enthusiast of thespian pursuits amongst us.”
OWEN: Are we all engaged now? What are we going to give each other shit about if we’re all happy? This is a comedian’s worst nightmare.
POPS brODIE: Welcome to the family, Aria. It being Saturday night, I took the liberty of hiding Bonnie Lyn’s phone. I have shared the happy news with her, and suffice it to say…she is very pleased.
MAMA brODIE: I found my phone and I am so deliriously horny for you both!!! I feel so blitzed to have three wonderful women jacking our family. Welcome to Us, areola!
I lock my phone screen and slip my phone into my bag. “Is it okay if I respond to that in the morning?”
“I’m sure they’ll understand.” He picks me up and carries me upstairs. “I am so deliriously horny for you, areola.”
“I’m gonna jack you so hard, you’ll feel blitzed.”