The Chemistry Test

20. orchids and oh shits

Day Nine

From somewhere backstage came a loud thud, followed by a series of profanity, snapping my attention away from Zak and toward the stage. 
Moments later, a very large, dark shape, which I eventually made out as Damon, appeared from behind the curtain, carrying an assortment of stage props.  It took him a second to notice us, but as soon as he did, all 6'5'' of him jumped back in startlement, everything in his hands clammering to the floor.

"Jesus Christ."  He covered his face with a baseball mitt sized hand.  "You scared the hell out of me."

I tried to hold it in, but I couldn't help giggling.  Seeing such a massive, intimidating guy scare so easily was hilarious. 

"Sorry."  I giggled, walking up to the stage where his face was turning redder by the second.  "Here, let me help you."

He opened his mouth to protest, but I was already gathering up some of the props and handing them up to him.  I could feel Zak's gaze, but was pleasantly surprised to see him appear beside me, grabbing the rest of the fallen props. 

Just taking a quick glance at him, I got the feeling that we were putting the whole Mark conversation on hold, at least for the moment, which gave me a simultaneous wave of relief and worry.

Damon took them, giving us a curt nod and turned to head backstage, but before he was out of sight, an idea popped into my head.

"Wait,"  I said, and he looked over his shoulder, cocking a caterpillar eyebrow.  "Are you, um, busy right now?"

He turned around to face me, looking down at the props in his hands before meeting my eyes again.  "Sort of.  Why?"

"Well, I was thinking,"  I looked over at Zak, who seemed even more confused than Damon, "Since we're about to head over to Kyoto's, maybe you'd want to grab some sushi with us? If that's okay with you."  I met Zak's icy eyes, which softened as he nodded.

"Yeah, man."  He said, shrugging up at Damon.  "Feel free to join."

Part of me had a genuine motive to invite Damon to relieve some of the awkward tension between us, but another part of me just wanted to test Zak's reaction to such a spontaneous and unexpected invitation. 

Although, I could tell that it wasn't his first choice to have Damon third-wheel, nor was it mine--especially on our first date--but I had to keep in mind that it was all for the chemistry test, anyway.  If anything, getting on Damon's good side would help everything go along a little more smoothly in the long run.

His dark eyes flickered between both of us, a vague expression of confusion and intrigue on his face.  "I wouldn't want to spoil the mood."  He said, now looking over at Zak to exchange what I could only interpret as a 'bro-code' look.

Trying to ignore the subtext of his words, I insisted, "You should come.  You can't say no to sushi."

He looked at Zak again, and they seemed to communicate with a single glance before Damon's dark eyes met mine again. 

"Does sound good."  He sighed, "You sure?"

"Are you hungry?"  I asked.

Damon shrugged and nodded, which I took as a yes.

"Then, yeah.  Come on," I smiled, trying to convince myself that this was a good idea and not one that could blow up in my face in a matter of seconds.  "It'll be fun.  The more the merrier, right?"

Originally, I had planned to jet home and quickly change into a casual date-night look, but now with the skyscraper of a boy crammed into the backseat of my Toyota Camry, my plans had, obviously, changed.