Page 109 of The Promise

Ahead of us is a roller coaster that weaves in between a handful of smaller rides. It’s shut down for the season, but it paints a colorful pattern against the winter clouds.

Beyond that, a big Ferris wheel is slowly rotating its passengers into the sky.

“Wow,” Sophie says. “I didn’t think they’d have anything running.”

“You wanna give it a go?” I nudge her.

She scrunches her nose.

I laugh and rub my stomach. “I’m hungry anyway. What’s good here?”

She peers around as the wind whips strands of her red hair out of her clip and across her face. “The hot dogs.” She points to a restaurant on our left. A neon sign in the window indicates it’s open.

“Then hot dogs it is.” I nod, stepping past her as my stomach growls.

We make our way into the retro building and the scent of chili and mustard wafts around us as we find an open table with a view of the water.

“Gosh, I can’t wait until it warms up.” Sophie shivers in her coat as she sits back in her chair. “There’s no way Chicago gets this cold?”

“It’s arguably worse,” I chuckle, taking a gulp of water as soon as our server delivers it to our table.

“Do you miss it?” She clasps her hands in her lap and sits up straight.

“Sure. I miss my family and the guys. But I love to travel. And I love New York.”

She nods, taking a sip of her own drink. “Do you think you'll ever move here?”

“I want to. If the jobs keep coming.”

She smiles. “I love it here. But I think it would be fun to perform all over…if I can.”

“You’re going to go places, Soph.” I beam at her. “And I don’t just mean on a map. This project is really going to kickstart your career. You’re incredibly talented.”

She looks down at her menu, trying to hide her shy expression. “Let’s see how opening week goes before we start making any assumptions.”

“You ready to do this thing every day for three months?” I tease.

“I don’t know. I’m kinda over you.” She pauses and then looks up at me through her eyelashes with a playful smirk.

I raise an eyebrow in jest. “Well, I hope they don’t extend the run longer, then.”

Her smirk slowly dissolves at my words, and she returns her gaze to her menu. “Yeah.”

Is that sadness? Does she wish she’ll have more time with me? I want to ask, but instead of pressing her, I decide to circle back to the original topic. “You’re bound for great things. Before you know it, Drew will be asking you for audition tips.”

She rubs her hand across her forehead. “Oh Drew…he doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut, does he?”

I shake my head and laugh, remembering how he singlehandedly crashed Nick’s birthday party to pieces last night. “In his defense. He had no idea what he walked into.”

Just then, our waitress appears to take our orders. I follow Sophie’s suit and get a chili dog.

She glances at me, then. “Maureen’s pretty ticked at me.”

I scoff. “I don’t know why.”

“Because she trusted me with her feelings for you. And I kept my history with you secret. That’s against girl code.”

“Ah, see, I’m only familiar with guy code.” I wink.

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