Page 35 of The Dramatic Life of Jonah Penrose
When he got back to Castle Road, his body cried out for rest, for a reprieve from the waterfall of guilt, but he couldn’t relax. The Persephone Theatre called out to him, the evening performance waiting, an audience ready to be swept up in the tragedy of Troy. He kept his head down as he traveled through London, his phone on silent, all distractions taking up too much of his attention, draining him even further. His dressing roomdid nothing to comfort him, and neither did Bastien, who barely said a word as he signed in then closed himself into his own room, leaving Sherrie to help Jonah get ready.
“So, I finally saw Romana over the weekend. It wasamazing, we had the most mind-blowing sex, seriously, but then I’ve not heard from her since,” Sherrie said, swiping a makeup brush over Jonah’s face. “She acts like I don’t exist, then picks me up when she wants me.”
“What do you want out of this... thing with her? A relationship? You’ve never been too fussed before.” He was glad Sherrie was in the mood for talking; hearing about her dating life took the spotlight away from his father sobbing on the floor.
“That’s because I’ve never met someone like her before. She’s stunning, obviously, and she’s funny and does this cute thing with her nose when she laughs. And when I’m with her it’s like we’ve known each other for years, you know? But now... well, now I know I’m nothing more than a booty call.”
“Well, don’t be a booty call. Leave her hanging.”
“Coming from the man who is painfully single and seriously needs to get laid.”
Jonah scoffed and batted his hand at her. “I do not need to get laid.”
“Babe, I’ve seen how tense you are since you broke up with Edward. Haven’t you met with anyone on FullStack?” She went back to inspecting his face before putting her makeup kit away. “You’re a cutie, you should have dozens of guys messaging you on there.”
“They do message me.”
“Then go fuck one of them!” she exclaimed as she helped to fix the microphone wire in his hair. “Get the tension out of your system.”
Jonah allowed the image of Dexter on his knees with those beautiful lips of his to cross his mind, then shook it away. “We are talking about your love life, not mine.”
“Well, my vagina’s going to be as dry as a desert from now on. It’s closed, and Romana won’t be getting access ever again, so I have nothing further to report.”
“Too much information, Sherrie.”
“What? Do vaginas scare you, Jonah?”
“No, but I don’t want to hear about how dry yours is.”
She tutted, then sighed loudly. “I just want Romana to admit she’s in love with me so we can get a dozen cats and live in happy lesbian bliss until we die. Why is that so hard?”
A message from Dexter flashed on his phone.
“Bit soon for the L word isn’t it?”
“Lesbian?”
“No,love, you idiot. Have you tried talking to her about it?” Jonah asked, swiping to read what Dexter had to say.
The Penis Destroyer:Can’t do Thursday. Sorry.
No kiss. No explanation. Brilliant.
“She doesn’t listen,” Sherrie said. “Hey, what’s with the frown?”
“Oh, nothing.” He placed his phone back on his dresser. “Just... family stuff.”
“Shit, yeah, sorry, Bastien said you went up to help your dad. How was it?”
“Fine.” He lied just as his phone lit up again; this time a notification from Instagram sat on his screen. He reached for it and swiped up to unlock the screen, only to see he’d been tagged in a photo by Dexter. It must have been taken a while ago. Jonah’s hair was shorter than it was now, which reminded him he needed to book himself in for a haircut, and he stood onstage, his hands clasped together as the rest of the cast stood behind him. It would have been taken just as he came out for his bow at the end of the show. He wondered when Dexter took it, the faceless person with his phone held up taking photographs, and why Dexter felt the need to keep it and then post it after what must have been weeks.
Jonah looked down to the caption beneath it:So lucky I get to call this star my friend. He stared at the words with such intensity the letters ran around on the screen, muddling the meaning entirely, and a rather large part of him wanted to remove the tag while also removing himself from Dexter’s apparent damage control. Dexter made out with him, ghosted him for a week, then canceled their drink plans just to post this crap? Jonah groaned and slammed his phone down, causing Sherrie to flinch.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, eyeing his phone suspiciously. “More family stuff, or is it Edward?”
“Why would you think it’s Edward?”
“Bastien told me he’s been texting you, begging to get you back. Kinda romantic, don’t you think?”
