It's Complicated

Chapter 14

I sat there, waiting with vomit all over my skirt. Mr. Scott came with some dishtowels and a small bucket of soapy water. "Here," he said gruffly as he sat it on the floor and handed me the towels. "Clean up the best you can. I'm sorry I can't let you leave – I'm very busy today." He seemed genuinely sorry as he walked away.

I couldn't clean my dress, but I cleaned off my legs and wiped the skirt off as much as I could. I'd do the floor in a little bit. Once I got myself cleaned up, I wiped the floor. This was a good day, but this put an end to that.

When five rolled around, I didn't have time to go home – I just hopped in the car with the others and went to the Dairy Arts Center. I knew I smelled like vomit. It didn't help when Shay covered her nose next to me on the backseat. I scrunched even more into my corner of the car.

Even the cast members wrinkled their noses when I did their makeup. The only thing keeping me up working instead of crawling into a corner was knowing that I would see Mario when this was over.

When the curtain went up, I walked over to edge of the stage to watch. A moment later, a young man walked up to me. I recognized him as the director. He appeared to be in his early thirties. His nose twitched and he glanced at me.

"Are you feeling well?" he whispered.

"I'm fine – I just had a sick kid at work earlier."

He nodded. We went back to watching in silence. As the scene changed, I went back to my station. It was time to alter the makeup on the lead. Shadow changes to pale blue to match the new outfit, the lips switch to a light pink from light red, add some powder to her nose that's beginning to shine. Ready. She leaves and one of the guys from the next scene comes. He sits in the chair. I refresh his powder, get the edges of his wig just right while Kenny sprays it just one more time to cement that final stray hair. I cough once as he leaves.

"Don't spray that at me," I tell him.

He shrugs. "Sorry. I have to spray this, otherwise people with have hairs flopping around everywhere. But I'll try to spray it in a different direction next time."

"Thank you."

When the play ended, I got a text from Mario saying he was parked in the back by the door and to get there quick since it wasn't exactly a parking spot. I smiled to myself as I put my phone back in my bag. Kenny waved me away when I tried to help, so I rushed out the back. Mario's car was parked behind some other vehicles, blocking them in. I ran over and opened the passenger door.

"Fair warning," I said as I slid in. "I smell like vomit."

He frowned and sniffed. "What happened?"

"Sick kid at work. I need to go home and get changed before we go do anything."

"Sure thing." He drove away from the theater. "So, how did things go? Aside from the kid, that is."

I shrugged. "Normal? I don't know." I shifted my bag at my feet. "Everyone kept trying to cringe away from me. I can't wait to change and not smell like this."

"When did it happen?"

"Less than an hour after I got to work."

He grimaced. "Sorry to hear that." He glanced over at a red light. "I don't blame you for wanting to change. Nice dress, by the way. Looks nice on you."

I smiled as I looked down at it, but my eyes caught on the stains. How was I going to get them out? "Thanks. It's my favorite."

"It's easy to see why." He gave me a sad smile before turning his attention back to the road. A few minutes later, he turned into our drive. "Your stop," he intoned as he put it in park.