Even In Pieces [bxb]

Chapter 5

Everett

I am surprised to find so many people here waiting for their tickets to get checked to enter the theater. We have been waiting here for a long while since there is only one guy to check the tickets. The ticket guy keeps looking over his shoulder, probably to find someone to help him.

"Why the hell are we here?" Pierce grumbles as he looks around.

"I couldn't get laid because of you, so you are doing what I want to make up for it." Sloane says with an evil grin.

"And that is to watch a real fucking play? Seriously?" Pierce turns to me so that I support him in his distaste of being here.

"Plays are fun," I say. They really are. I am a literary major for a reason. I love reading plays and classic literature as much as I love the modern ones.

"You have seen one?" Pierce asks, surprise evident in his voice.

I just shrug.

"He is studying literature you fucking moron," Sloane says to Pierce.

"Oh... right," Pierce looks a bit embarrassed as he realizes that.

Sloane and Pierce start bickering at each other and I zone out. My eyes roam around the theater front. The place is beautiful. It's got a dramatic flare to it with all the wood works and retro color schemes. My eyes fall back on the ticket guy and see him looking to the side, smiling in relief at something. I follow his gaze to see a man. He is dressed in the same red polo shirt, so probably the other ticket guy. I let out a sigh of relief myself, but then it gets stuck in my throat as I pay more attention to the other man. Jesus fucking Christ. That is not who I think is right!?

But Zachary stares back at me like a deer caught in headlights. He snaps out of it and starts checking the tickets as people keep crowding. He doesn't look over where we are, he actually completely avoids being seen by the three of us, but I keep my eyes on him. I can't stop looking at him.

Why the hell is he working here? This is where he comes every day at this time then? It doesn't make sense since he doesn't need any financial help. His dad is a well known movie director and his mom is a rich businesswoman. Why does he work part-time then? Why does he hide it?

"What are you looking at?" Pierce asks and then tries to trace my line of sight, but I don't let him.

"Nothing," I say, quickly turning his attention to me. It just didn't seem right to let him find out when Zachary obviously didn't want anyone knowing.

We finally got near the other ticket guy. The guy checks our ticket, gives us a smile and tells us that we can take our seats inside.

We enter and I instantly fall in love. Firstly because it was completely air-conditioned and smelled like chocolate. But more importantly it was radiant inside. It was dark except on the stage illuminated by dim yellow lights. The seats were fully cushioned and very comfortable. The set looked stunning too. The play's name was written above the stage 'Beyond the Oceans'. I have no idea what it is about except that there are pirates and that it's hysterical.

"This is really beautiful," Sloane says looking around.

I nod. We all take our seats somewhere in the middle. Soon enough the play starts. I got hooked. From the first scene it made my heart beat faster. It's about a young woman, Merlith, becoming a pirate even when she is told she can't because she is a woman. But when she finally has her own ship and travels around, she meets a man from an island on a cold night. A man named Ricardo who owns a tavern where Merlith and her crew stay for the night till they have to leave for their next destination a month from now. They fall in love hard and fast with featherlight touches and passionate promises. She tells him that he is the first man who has looked and seen her for the beauty of her dreams. The way they fall in love with each other like they were an end and a beginning is agonizing and fervent at the same time.