Page 56 of Wham Line
Maybe they’d come back.
I made my way toward the front of the house and reached the hall at the same time that Bobby stepped out of the vestibule.He looked better than he had the day before: his eyes were clear and alert, and the circles under them had faded, and he’d even combed his hair back into its familiar part.Today’s outfit was a navy pullover and jeans that put him squarely in the category of a guy who plans on taking care of business.
The first thing out of my mouth was “Bobby?”I looked past him, but he was alone.“What are you doing here?I thought you were with your family.”
“I’ve been calling you.”
“Oh my God, is everything okay?Did something happen?Wait, were you the one who told Fox?”
He took out his phone, tapped the screen, and held it out for me to see.“What is this?”
All I could see at that distance was something red.“I don’t—”
He took two steps forward and made a peremptory movement with his hand.“What is this?”
It was my spreadsheet, the one where I’d tracked all my agent submissions.
The one with all the red highlighting to show, you know, the universal rejection ofA Work in Progress.
“Where did you—”
“What is this?”Bobby asked again, more harshly this time.
“Were you looking through my laptop?”
“It was the first thing on the screen when I unlocked it,” Bobby said.“I couldn’t help seeing it.”
The flowers, I thought through the rising storm of emotion.I’d told him to check my email for the flowers I’d ordered.
“Were you going to tell me?”Bobby asked.
“Tell you—”
“Were you going to tell me about this?It’s a simple question, Dash.Yes or no.”
“Bobby.”But I stopped.And the question that fell out of my mouth next sounded like a child’s.“What’s happening?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I don’t know.I was going to—Bobby, what’s happening right now?”
“You were going to tell me?When?Next week?Next month?”
“I don’t understand what’s happening right now.I got another rejection from an agent.Hold on, is that why you were calling me?Is that why you drove all the way out here?Because it’s not a big deal—”
“It is a big deal!”Bobby’s shout rang out.“It’s a very big deal!This is your career, Dash.This is the most important thing in your life, and you’ve worked so hard on it, and I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”
“I didn’t want to bother you—”
“I’m your boyfriend!”It was beyond shouting now—a full-throated fury that had Bobby louder than I’d ever heard him before.“You’re supposed to tell me this stuff so I can fix it!”
Some essential linkage in my brain disconnected, and then I was looking at Bobby from a long way off, and everything got much quieter.There was so much to unpack in that sentence that for a moment, I couldn’t say or do anything.Then I latched onto the topmost part of it, and a sound of disbelief escaped me.Taking my phone from my pocket, I turned and started toward the den.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”Bobby asked, following me.
I shut the door to the den behind me.
Bobby opened it and came into the room.“Dash.”
