Page 116 of Just Ten Seconds

“I’ve been waiting outside in the cold for thirty-five minutes.” Her hair is pulled back in a low ponytail, and her face is barren of makeup. “When are you coming out?” she asks, not even acknowledging Dean, Amanda, or his mother.

I inhale a surprised breath. “I didn’t know you were coming. How did you know the play was happening tonight?”

She looks at me like I have ten heads. “I called Jackie because she picks up the phone unlike someone else I know. The one I raised. The one I birthed after thirty-six hours of labor. The one who should answer the phone for her mother. The show was very nice, by the way. A little slow. I could have done without Ursula’s dramatics, but otherwise, it was fine.” Her words are matter-of-fact.

I look around to make sure no one heard her statement, and I motion my eyes toward Amanda to call her attention to the little girl with the blue-and-yellow hair, who was obviously in the play. “Mom, this is Amanda, and she was a fantastic Flounder today. Right?” I nudge my mother.

“Hi, honey. You did a wonderful job,” she says to Amanda. Thankfully, my mom isn’t a complete lunatic. She has some manners. “I need to eat. I’m famished.”

“That’s perfect!” Ines states. “We were just going out for pizza. I’m Ines Delgado. Dean’s mother.”

Mom looks at her like she’s missing the joke. “Who’s Dean?”

He lifts a hand and gives a closed-mouth smile. “I’m Amanda’s dad.”

She glares at Dean with a confused frown and then down to Amanda. She eyes Dean again and then over to Amanda and Ines. When she looks at me, it’s with a hand on the lapel of her coat and a scowl. “I take it, Dean calls his mother.”

“Daily,” Ines says with a smile.

My mom turns back to me, her eyes pinched and a curious expression on her face. “Come, Mara. We’re going out for pizza.”

“Yay!” Amanda yelps as she takes my and Ines’s hands.

I mouth, I’m sorry, to Dean, who just closes his eyes and shrugs as he says, “Let’s go eat.”

The walk to the pizzeria is awkward, but you’d only know it if you were me or Dean. Amanda is telling her grandmother all about what it was like being onstage, and my mom is telling me all about the traffic she hit, trying to make it up here in time. Dean is silent as he listens to Amanda, and I’m silent as I try not to look at Dean.

We sit down, and the waitress is quick to take our drink orders. This is actually a perfect spot to eat. Pizza is fast. We’ll eat. We’ll leave.

“So, Mara, the world-famous actress, have you been in anything I might have seen?” Ines asks from her seat in the middle of the table.

I take off my coat. “Just a few bit parts. A role in Law & Order. An extra in a couple of movies. I haven’t auditioned or taken a class in five years.”

“Have you thought about getting back into it?” she asks.

“Actually, I’m thinking about trying out for Footloose,” I say.

“You are?” Amanda jumps up and down. “That’s so awesome!”

“You are?” Dean looks surprised with the news.

I smash my lips together and play with the hem of my sleeve. “I’m really nervous. I haven’t done musical theater since high school.”

“I can give you pointers,” Amanda declares. “We can discuss it over pancakes.”

“Well”—my mother looks down and adjusts her napkin—“that’s very good to hear.”

“You think so?” I turn to her in question.

She leans back and raises her arms. “You are an actress. It’s not what I would have chosen for you as a profession, but you have a degree in performing arts.”

“It’s community theater, Mom. It’s not a paid job,” I explain.

“Then, you should get your ass into the school and start getting paid as a drama teacher.” My mom turns to Ines and states, “I worked two jobs to put this girl through college, so she could be a bartender and audition all day long. She only gave it two years of trying before she gave up.”

Ines thumbs over at Dean. “This one used to skip school and get into fistfights. College would have been a dream, but he came out on top.” Her arm lies on Dean’s shoulders as she gives him a squeeze and a shake. “My son, the builder. Takes after my brother.”

My mother looks up toward Dean. “You own your own business?” she asks.