New Beginnings: A Broadway Fanfiction

Two

I shouldn't have chided Andrew for complaining about the cold. Once we took the elevators down to the lobby and exited the glass pane doors, it really was just that. Freezing cold. I pulled my sweater tighter around my chest, letting out a little shiver. "Look who's cold now." Andrew said with a smug expression. I gave him a small glare before adjusted the way my bag hung on my arm. "I'm way tiny compared to you." I pointed out. "Almost a whole 10 inches in height can make a huge difference in body temperature, you know." Andrew scoffed loudly, but placed an arm around my shoulders. "You are lucky that the station is only a few blocks away." He muttered. "I'll try and keep you warm until then."

We continued on walking until we reached the corner of 59th Street and Columbus Circle. "Here we are." I muttered, taking in a sharp breath of the chilling air before making my way towards the signature dark green banisters of the Subway. As we descended down the stairway to the station, Andrew's grip around me tightened. "You don't need to keep warming me up." I said with a cheeky grin. "We are only a mere moment away from reaching the bottom of this flight."
"I'm not doing this for you, dork." Andrew retorted. "I'm trying not to fall to my death on these narrow steps."

I rolled my eyes, but dropped the grim expression once we reached the warm and stuffy air of the Columbus Circle Station. People were running around everywhere, sliding their MetroCard's across the faces of the turstiles, paying for last minute tickets at the machines, and even picking up a quick treat or a newspaper to read on the train from the vendors. Luckily, Andrew and I already had our MetroCard's handy so we got through the security system quite easily. As we veered right and hopped onto a downward escalator, Andrew let out a sigh. Not a sad sigh or an angry sigh. Not even a happy sigh. More like a sigh of astonishment. "What?" I questioned, and he turned his gaze towards me. "Can you believe that we have our first preview tonight?" He asked, shaking his head as the words left his mouth. "It just seems so surreal."
"I agree. Seems like only yesterday you made me spill my iced coffee at the read through."
Andrew chuckled, pushed a hand through his hair as we neared the platforms. "That was technically not my fault. You were the starstruck one. I just came by to say 'hello' and you got so surprised to see the Andrew Rannells, standing right in front of you."
"Yeah, whatever." I giggled, stepping off the escalator. "Don't flatter yourself until you buy me another one."

As soon as we reached the right platform we hopped on a South Ferry bound 1 train and rode it for 5 minutes to 50 Street Station. Thankfully this station is only a few blocks from the Walter Ashford, meaning I didn't have to rely on Andrew's 'tall person heat', as he now called it, to make it to our destination without turning into an ice block. We made it to the stage door in no time, and I let Andrew do the honors of knocking. Within seconds the door flew open to reveal Brian, the stage manager, with a prominent scowl hanging on his face. "You're late." He grumbled, pushing the door open wide enough for us to walk through. Andrew glanced down at his wrist watch and shrugged. "Only by a few minutes. The trains were running late."
"I don't care about the goddamn trains." Brian grumbled once more, his sour-faced expression even more salient than before. Andrew held his hands up in surrender before sneaking me an irritated look. "Lets go, Audra. We wouldn't want Brian to blow a fuse." He quickly grabbed my arm and dragged me up the small flight of stairs and down the dressing room hallway, creating a safe distance between us all. "Who stuck a pole up his ass?" He whispered.

"Hey!" I scolded, slapping his arm lightly. "He is just having an off day."
"Some off day." Andrew grinned wickedly, still bathing in the glory of his previous remark. "Anyway, I am going to get changed so we don't miss mic check. Meet me out there?" He asked, pointing to the stage entrance. I nodded quickly and he did the same before running off towards his dressing room. I watched him dawdle away with a chuckle before pushing open the door to my own room and stepping inside.