Winter's Spell, page 6
She supposed it was to be expected for a brewery called the Pride of Ptown. It was a neat little pun that she enjoyed.
“Hey.” A voice called out to her from one end of the bar, and she saw that Henry was over there putting away some pint glasses. He waved her over.
Henry was very tall and pale, with a shock of bright red hair and dark red beard. His seaman’s dark navy sweater perfectly showed off his trim physique, and a small gold hoop in one of his ears glinted even in the dim pub lighting. He smiled broadly at her as she walked over and slid onto a barstool. She had some time to spare before Tessa and Chayo were due to show up. Henry, as well as his brother and co-owner Jack, were friendly and easy to talk to; soon enough she was telling Henry all about the different saws she was going to be using for the play. Henry, as it turned out, was a bit of a woodworking geek himself.
When Tessa showed up, she sat next to Roxy on one of the stools. Jack showed up behind the bar as well, and introductions ensued. Jack was quite a bit shorter than Henry, with hair that was more of a dark auburn, also cut short. He had no facial hair, but his eyes and nose were clearly similar to those of his brother, and they both shared a fair Irish complexion. Together they made a good-looking pair, and though Roxy’s romantic interests leaned another way, she could recognize that their looks would contribute to the success of their business, especially in a place like Ptown that was so popular with gay men as well as lesbians.
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” said Tessa, leaning over the bar to shake hands with Henry and Jack. She looked around the pub and took in the décor, including a large stained-glass mosaic behind the bar depicting a rainbow and the phrase “All are Welcome.” “I love that you really take the ‘pride’ part seriously. That’s great.”
“Oh yeah, definitely,” said Henry. “I mean, if you can’t be out and proud in Ptown, what’s the point?”
Tessa nodded vigorously in agreement. “I agree. That’s why when we stage The Winter’s Tale in March, Leontes will be played by a female actor as a female character. We’re doing a major gender swap.” She practically beamed with pride.
“Really? That’s an amazing idea,” said Jack. “I read that play in college, and Leontes always kind of freaked me out. He’s so intense and scary. Making him a woman sounds way more interesting. It totally changes—”
“—the whole pregnancy narrative,” finished Tessa enthusiastically. “I know. It just hit me one night as I was researching the play.”
The two of them continued to discuss the implications of the casting in a way that made Roxy feel completely clueless. She’d never liked Shakespeare, mostly because she’d struggled to understand one word of his plays in school. Diagnosed with dyslexia later on, after dropping out of college, she’d understood better why she’d struggled with reading so much. The diagnosis had come too late for her, though, and now she only associated Shakespeare’s plays with a sense of personal failure and frustration. Aside from that, she had never even heard of The Winter’s Tale. Hearing Tessa and Jack enthuse about it made her feel a bit of FOMO. Maybe she should try to read it? She was working on the sets after all. And their enthusiasm for it made her want to know more. She had learned some strategies now for reading that might help, too. She’d have to think about it.
She turned back to Henry, who had finished with the glasses and was now putting the finishing touches on that evening’s drinks list. The tasting room featured a full bar with an extensive cocktail and mocktail list in addition to their beers.
“That looks great.” Roxy admired the rainbow chalk art on the signage.
“Thanks.” Henry gave the sign one last look before turning back to Roxy. “What can I pour you?”
“How about some more of that Gose?” said Roxy. She’d loved that beer in particular at her initial tasting.
“No problem,” said Henry. He was so easy to work with, and a little less intense than his brother. Roxy felt an immediate kinship with him. Maybe it would be easier to make new friends in Ptown than she’d expected. And queer friends, too. Henry was gay, Jack was trans, and Chayo was clearly also queer…it was the opportunity of a lifetime to get to hang out with so many cool queer people.
Just then, Chayo showed up. She spotted them at the bar and Roxy waved her over.
“So, should we get a table or sit at the bar?”
Roxy glanced over at Tessa to see what her preference was, and if she wasn’t mistaken, she thought she saw a look of disappointment and confusion pass over Tessa’s features. Roxy felt a pang, yet again. Had she been wrong to invite Chayo? Had Tessa’s invitation truly been for a date?
The moment passed, though, and Tessa smiled. Maybe Roxy had imagined her disappointment.
“Let’s sit at a table. It’ll be easier to talk.”
“Sit anywhere you like. It’s self-seating,” said Jack. “But I recommend one of the snugs while they’re still available.”
Tessa and Roxy grabbed their drinks and walked over with Chayo to one of the snugs, which even had its own little door. It was like entering a tiny private room in the pub. The noise of the other patrons faded into the background as they shut the door behind them.
The conversation bounced lightly between the three of them, moving from the play and the sets, to the schedule of rehearsals, which began the following Monday, to the latest television shows and movies they were watching. After a while, Henry and Jack showed up and crowded in with them with a couple of flights of tasters with both current offerings and some experimental ones the brewery was working on. Their regular evening bartenders had showed up, and the two of them had some time to spare before things got busy.
“Mmm, these beers are wicked good,” said Chayo with an expression of deep appreciation as she took another sip of a piña colada porter. “Damn.”
“You know, we almost called the brewery that,” said Jack.
“What?”
“Wicked Good Brewing.”
Everyone chuckled at that.
“That would’ve been a great name for a brewery around here,” said Tessa enthusiastically.
Roxy nodded in agreement. “Why didn’t you go for it?”
“We really thought about it,” said Henry. “But in the end, we really wanted to embrace the Pride side of Ptown. It’s so meaningful to us and to so many people who come to Ptown.”
“Absolutely,” said Chayo. “I used to work summer jobs here as a teenager and it opened my eyes to how life could be. Living openly, you know?”
Henry and Jack both nodded enthusiastically.
“Absolutely,” said Jack. “There’s something so special about having a business in Ptown and one that is queer and trans owned at that. We wanted to make sure that we helped keep Ptown queer.”
“Do you ever get complaints?” asked Tessa. “From straight or cis patrons, I mean?”
“A few, here and there, but not a lot,” said Henry. “We make sure to fly our Pride flag out front in the high season so folks know what the ‘pride’ in the name is referring to.”
“That sucks about the complaints,” said Roxy. “This is such a cool place. And the beers are so good.”
“So good,” echoed Tessa and Chayo.
“Thank you,” said Jack. “It means a lot. And the complaints haven’t made a difference in how we run things. Some people will complain about anything.”
Jack’s last comment launched them into a discussion of one-star reviews of national parks that Tessa had seen online, and the conversation moved on. Soon enough, their food arrived, and Jack and Henry excused themselves to see to the running of their business. It had been so nice to have them there, chatting all together, Roxy thought. She hoped they could all hang out again soon. She had managed to forget about Hazel and her own feelings of loneliness; instead, she felt warm and included.
She couldn’t help noticing Tessa’s gaze lingering on her every so often when she thought Roxy wasn’t looking. She was intrigued, and she had the feeling, yet again, that Tessa’s interests went beyond friendship. She was flattered, of course, but she was trying her hardest to keep her own feelings in check. The old Roxy would have found it oh so easy to slide into something fast and fun with Tessa, but the new and more mature Roxy didn’t want that. She wanted to know there was more than just sexual potential. There was no point, for example, to starting something with Tessa, if she’d never see her again after the show production. That’s not what she wanted.
She was brought out of her reverie by a knock at the snug door. Before anyone could say anything, the door swung open. On the other side stood a strikingly beautiful woman with brilliant green eyes and long, platinum blond hair. The woman’s gaze swept over them imperiously. It finally landed on Tessa.
“Here you are!” she said in a mixture of frustration and ownership. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”
Roxy glanced over at Tessa and was surprised to find her blushing deeply.
“Lisa, this is Chayo, our head carpenter—I think you already know one another. And this is Roxy, one of our stage crew.” Tessa took a deep breath. “Roxy, meet Lisa Collins, our Leontes.”
Lisa’s gaze lingered uncomfortably on Roxy’s face before settling back on Tessa.
“And your ex, don’t forget,” said Lisa, with a snarl of a smile.
Roxy’s mouth fell open. This was Tessa’s ex-girlfriend? A sinking feeling nestled into the pit of her stomach. How could she have thought she had any chance at all with Tessa? She felt very silly for entertaining romantic notions about Tessa or her interest in her. Clearly, she was used to dating gorgeous celebrities and her glances at Roxy meant nothing.
She realized with a start just how much she’d taken for granted that Tessa was interested in her romantically, and now she found herself surprisingly disappointed. She was also confused about Lisa’s cool, appraising look. If looks could kill, Roxy was very sure she’d be dead.
Chapter Six—Tessa
Tessa felt her whole throat go dry even as the rest of her was sweating profusely.
Lisa.
Lisa freaking Collins, her ex-fiancée, the Broadway starlet, the star of her show, was standing there in the door of their snug, looking as arrogant as ever, and an entire week early in Ptown.
She’d only just had her agent fax over the signed contract. There was no way Tessa had been expecting her to arrive the same day. Not when rehearsals hadn’t even started. Not when she’d been hoping to use that week to hang out with Roxy, if she was very honest with herself.
“Well?” Lisa’s cool, clear tones rang out with the trademark imperiousness that would make her a perfectly terrifying Leontes on stage and a perfectly terrifying person off stage. “Aren’t you going to invite me to sit down? I’m famished.”
“Oh, yeah, um, of course,” sputtered Tessa. She was sitting with Roxy across from her and Chayo next to her, so Lisa slid in next to Roxy. How awkward.
An uncomfortable silence fell over the table that Tessa didn’t know how to break. Finally, Chayo handed Lisa a menu.
“We just ate,” she said. “The food came out super fast and it’s all delicious. I’ll raise our little flag here to signal the server.”
Each snug had a small switch that when engaged, would lift a little flag on the door to let the server know that the table needed something.
Lisa took the menu and studied it for all of a minute. French onion soup and Caesar salad, guessed Tessa. It was her standard order.
There came a knock on the snug door before it opened.
“What can I get you?” asked the server.
“French onion soup and Caesar salad,” said Lisa, and Tessa felt her stomach clench. Something about that order brought back a cascade of complicated feelings—their past shared intimacy, their past arguments, the horrible breakup… She avoided Lisa’s gaze and carefully studied the wood grain of the table, certain she could feel Lisa’s eyes boring into her head.
“Anything else?”
“I’ll have an eight-ounce pour of the cherry pie porter,” said Roxy.
“I’ll do a pint of the chocolate gingerbread stout,” said Chayo.
“I’ll have a glass of Chardonnay,” said Lisa after a pause.
The server left and Tessa felt it was safe to lift her gaze again.
Wrong.
Lisa was looking right at her. Another silence stretched out between them at the table. This time it was Roxy who tried to rectify the situation. Tessa felt utterly tongue-tied.
“So….not much of a beer drinker, huh?” said Roxy to Lisa.
“No.”
Another awkward silence. Chayo coughed.
Finally, Tessa ventured to speak directly to Lisa again.
“I wasn’t expecting you here for another week,” she said. “We only just got your signed contract today.”
“That explains a lot,” said Lisa, rolling her eyes. “It figured Ramón was behind with everything. I suppose he also didn’t inform you that I was arriving tonight?”
Tessa shook her head. Unless Joy had gotten the news and simply forgotten to pass it on to her, which seemed unlikely.
“I’m so sorry. Neither I nor the assistant director, Joy, got any forewarning. Obviously! Otherwise I hope you know that I would have come out to meet you. Did you take the ferry? Or fly in?”
“I drove,” said Lisa. “Fortunately, I suppose, otherwise I really would have been up shit creek with no one knowing I was coming.”
The server returned with the drinks and Lisa’s food. It was a relief to Tessa that there was some activity at the table to distract them from how awkward the situation was. She took the opportunity to order a hot toddy. Her body had quickly gone from hot to cold again, and she found herself shivering under her many layers.
Why, oh why, did Lisa still have this effect on her? Like she wasn’t good enough. Like she was just an appendage to Lisa’s success. Like she was a little kid with dirt on her face.
Next to her, she could feel how annoyed Chayo was. Chayo had been one of her closest friends in the New York theater scene, and she’d helped Tessa realize that her relationship with Lisa was unsustainable. Many late-night discussions with Chayo had revealed to Tessa that Lisa had taken advantage of her and controlled her in their relationship, and she knew that Chayo hated Lisa for what she’d done to Tessa. It was a true testament to their friendship that Chayo had agreed to work on the show, knowing that Lisa would be the star.
Across from her, Roxy sat quietly, evidently cowed by Lisa’s appearance. And Lisa had been sizing up Roxy when she first arrived. It was so awkward Tessa could hardly stand it. As soon as Lisa finished her food, she had to find a way to break up their evening. The tension was getting to her. How on earth was she going to get through the show? She was beginning to doubt the logic of inviting Lisa to be the star.
“I’m so sorry, Lisa, that I didn’t get the news in time. You must be tired after that long trip. Luckily, your lodgings are very close to here and very comfortable. I’m not sure they are ready for check-in, though, so we’ll have to put you up in a hotel.”
Lisa looked at her as if searching for something in her face. Tessa wondered what she was looking for. Signs that she was still in love with her? She hoped not. She was done with all that. She knew better now.
“That won’t be necessary. Ramón already made a reservation at a boutique bed-and-breakfast for this week somewhere around here.” She paused. “This Chardonnay is surprisingly decent.” She looked around the table, her expression unreadable. “I’d love to hear more about the preparations for the set.” Her gaze landed on Chayo, her eyes full of an unspoken challenge.
Tessa wondered if Lisa remembered Chayo at all. She was one of the friends who’d come to their shared apartment after the breakup to gather up Tessa’s things. She’d been too nervous to go back for them herself after their final argument.
She probably did. Lisa never forgot a face.
Chayo, realizing that Lisa was directing her inquiry to her, as head carpenter, launched into an overview of the sets and major props and where they were in the process of making everything. It was a much more detailed and technical overview than what she’d outlined for Roxy earlier in the day. Her tone of voice was authoritative and knowledgeable, and Tessa hoped to goodness it would be enough to establish Chayo’s authority on the tech side of things. Lisa was known around theater circles for having lots of her own “suggestions” for all aspects of shows. She was a bona fide diva.
Lisa appeared satisfied with Chayo’s relation of things, however, and she turned her gaze to Roxy, sitting next to her.
“And you? How did you get involved in the show?” There was a quiet edge to the question.
“Um, well, you know, I’m not an actual theater professional or anything. But Tessa and I went to college together, and we met recently at my best friend’s wedding. Turned out that we were both going to be spending the winter in Ptown and she invited me to help out. I can always use the money,” she added, and then looked like she immediately regretted it. Lisa cocked an eyebrow.
“And what are your theater credentials?”
“You don’t have to answer that,” interrupted Tessa. Lisa was clearly trying to make Roxy feel bad, and Tessa felt her temper flare. “I invited Roxy to help. She’s a jack-of-all-trades, with plenty of amateur theater experience. Certainly, more than enough for what she’ll be helping out with backstage. The point of my grant is to get the public involved in putting on a Shakespeare production. This is meant to be a community-facing project.”
“Roxy’s got a great handle on the tools,” added Chayo, sensing Tessa’s annoyance. “She’s going to be a great addition to the crew.” She smiled warmly at Roxy, and Tessa was grateful. Roxy smiled at both of them.
