The Summer I Met You

CHAPTER 20

Dad and Walker look up from the kitchen table, both are sipping on some coffee. Papers are scattered all over the table.

"Come sit," Dad says.

I'm weary about this, but I plop myself down next to Walker. Why does it feel like I'm in trouble? I fidget in my seat, trying to make myself comfortable.

"I was contacted by your friend — er— co-star?"

"By Chase Dawson." Walker helps him finish.

It's like my heart doesn't know how to handle the news. It flutters in a quick erratic beat, then slows back to normal, before picking up the pace again. Hearing them say his name out loud does things to me and I wish it wouldn't.

"Chase Dawson contacted you?"

Now I'm even more confused than I was before I walked in here. I hope Chase didn't call them to try and win Dad over, just to weasel his way back to me. They sneak a glance between each other as if talking through telepathy.

"Apparently, you are very missed out there in L.A. Chase ran something by the TV studio and everyone involved with Starlien. They want to do an advanced screening of your last episode at The Orbit."

My eyes feel like they are going to pop out of their sockets. I'm not sure how to respond to this news. They basically want to do an advance screening of me dying. That's lovely.

"I told them only if you were okay with it, we would go through with the deal. I've got a contract right here," he says, sliding the paper over in my direction.

My mouth goes dry. I'm not ready yet to look at it. "What's in it for you?"

"Exposure for the theater, but we'll only do it if you say it's okay," Dad says.

I look up at dad, thankful for his hesitation.

I have a thousand questions before I can say yes to this. And if Chase is involved it feels like a scam. Something is off and I can't quite put my finger on it.

As if sensing this dad continues explaining. "It would be run like a premier, with a red carpet and cast appearances. We'll sell tickets to about three hundred fans—"

"Cast members will come here?"

The thought of Chase coming here to Long Island does not sit well with me. Also, the media coming to destroy the only privacy I have left doesn't sound like a very good deal to me.

"Chase, Rachael, I forgot the other girl's name, but yeah."

My thoughts drift to Mom. What about her? Does she know about this? Will she be coming? Will she make money off this event too?

"Lennox," Walker puts a hand on my shoulder.

I shake my head coming out of my thoughts. "And Mom?"

"We can't seem to touch base with her, but I have every right to sign for you to do it as she does," Dad says.

I raise my brow. I know she's traveling with her new beau but I'm in shock that she wouldn't want to cash in on such an event.

"I don't want to put the weight of this on your shoulders, but we can't move forward without your permission to do so. I would never do something like this without letting you know first. I know what happened between you and Chase was not pretty, and how much it hurt when they cut you from the show. But also look at the positives, it could help the theater and in turn we could profit very much from having this kind of event."

Normally I wouldn't hesitate to say no, but the one person who will benefit from this would be Dad and he deserves all of it. He worked so hard to build that theater and make it a staple name. Even in tough times, that theater still got him through many mortgage payments, it bought him this beautiful house we live in.

The question is simple, do I continue to be a selfish person and only think about myself in this situation? Or do I think about Dad and how this opportunity could really help him?

I take a deep breath and remind myself that I wanted to change. If I don't start somewhere I'll still be the same girl Max met at the airport. I don't want to be her anymore.

"Okay," I say.

Their eyes convey that they want me to be sure and my answer was not convincing enough.

"I think it's a great idea. I love the Orbit almost as much as you do and I want you to have everything you dreamed of," I say, grabbing his hand in mine. "I got my dream, now it's time for you to get yours."

After half an hour of talking about it, I finally decide it's time to relax and possibly take a nap while Dad and Walker make dinner. I'm drained from the day I had and the new news that my L.A life will be coming here to New York. It's all a bit overwhelming but I need Dad to know that I'm here for him too and I believe in the theater just as much as he does.

Before I take a nap, I decide to post another question to dad's Instagram. Secretly I kind of hope VGMaster will reply. I'm also thinking about DMing them back.

Orbit_TheaterLI: If you could pick another cast for the Transformer movie, who would your dream cast be?

After I send a message to our followers, I send a quick DM to VGMaster before I can chicken out. The minute I hit send my phone starts ringing and Alexa's name pops up on my screen. All I can think is it's only been one day since I've seen her, and I have so much to tell her.