Page 62 of Ms Perfectly Fine
“Dragon fruit smoothie,” Aimee added, and the others followed in quick succession.
“Maestro?” Autumn said to Sasaki, whom she knew wouldn’t be able to resist a caffeine fix, taking out her phone.
“Flat white,” he said. “And since we have completed our first run-through, I will treat everyone to pizza.”
He was met with loud cheers, and Heather was dispatched to get everyone’s order.
“Just a large pepperoni for us,” Nina told her as she and Autumn left to get the drinks.
Outside the theatre, they spotted Garrett waiting with an armful of flowers. He looked as glum as Nina had been all day.
“I think someone wants to make nice,” Autumn said, nudging her friend. Nina remained calm, not giving anything away. Half the mistakes they had been forced to stop for during the run-through had been because Nina was either playing too fast or couldn’t keep up. She hated watching her struggle because of a guy who didn’t know how lucky he was to have her, but seeing him arrive with flowers made her think a little better of him.
“You can stay and talk if you want to, or we can pretend he doesn’t exist and go about our business,” Autumn said, pulling her tote bag onto her shoulder.
“You can’t manage everything by yourself,” Nina protested, but then looked to him, waiting, and Autumn saw her friend falter. “Maybe I should talk to him…he did come.”
“Then talk. The coffee shop is only across the street; I can take two trips.”
Nina hesitated, while Garrett waited for her to make the first move. Autumn was surprised he would stand so close to the puddled street in his chinos for fear of getting a stain, then reminded herself he was trying to make a grand gesture for her best friend.
“I can go with you. I’m sick of being in the back office all day,” Heather said, coming out of the theatre behind them. “I was coming after you anyway; I forgot to give my drinks order. Aimee is going to order the food.”
“Great! We’re sorted, then.” Autumn looked to Nina. She hesitantly walked over to Garrett, whose grim demeanour suddenly evaporated.
They all walked across the street to the coffee shop. It was past six already, so the place was rather deserted except for some working on their laptops or reading in the corners. Garrett and Nina sat at a table, talking quietly, while Autumn stood with Heather, waiting for the dozen drinks.
“Do anything nice this week? You had a couple of days off,” Heather said, breaking the awkward tension.
“Nothing much, just took it easy,” Autumn said as the barista handed her the first tray.
“I suppose you were resting. It must have been awful not to be able to play,” Heather said.
“Did you get up to anything?” Autumn asked, unsure of how to reply. She ripped open a third packet of sugar to pour it into her drink. She couldn’t stand the taste of bitter coffee.
Heather raised her eyebrows at the sugar content. “Not this weekend. It’s always—”
She was cut off when Nina joined them to collect the rest of the tray. Autumn caught a glimpse of annoyance in Heather’s eyes, but it was quickly replaced with her usual blank stare as she took the next two trays. Autumn got the impression she’d wanted to talk about something, but with company, she clammed up. Maybe Heather was just socially awkward.
“I got pastries; I think everyone could use a sneaky treat,” Nina said, holding up a box of whatever the coffee shop had left after the long day.
“You’re just trying to bribe your way into everyone’s good graces,” Autumn teased, adding money to the tip jar as Garrett held the door for Heather. She always felt sorry for the baristas when they came in with their long order.
“I was messing up so much this morning. I think I owe them.”
Nina was the most confident person Autumn knew, and she hated seeing her beat herself up. “I was messing up for months. One bad day is nothing,” she reminded her friend, earning herself a small smile.
“You’re right. Also, everything is fine with Garrett now. Don’t let on that I was so upset earlier. I don’t want him to feel bad,” Nina whispered as they followed Garrett and Heather, who seemed to have no trouble talking to him. Autumn wondered what they were even talking about.
“It was nice of him to bring flowers. I didn’t think he would want to give it another go,” Nina said, smiling to herself.
“Of course he would! He’s lucky to have you.”
They chatted about the run-through until Garrett interrupted.
“Here, let me carry those,” he offered, hanging back and taking the tray from Nina.
“Where’s Heather?” Autumn asked.
