Page 27 of The Sitcom Star
Adrian braced himself.
But Sydney didn’t embarrass him further.“Is it a pain in the ass wearing heels all the time when you play Waverly?”
“Yeah, next time I write a character for myself, I’ll make sure that wearing flats is part of her personality.”Maddie looked over at Adrian and smiled.
Oh, yeah.He definitely still had a big crush on her, and she’d spent a fair of time with him in the past few weeks.
Maybe that really did mean something.
“That was fun,” Maddie said as they left the bar just before eleven.
“Yeah?You sure it was okay?”Adrian asked.
“I hadn’t done anything like that in a long time.Hanging out with a bunch of people I’m not working with.”
“Is it strange when you’re asked about the show?”
“I like hearing that people enjoyed it,” Maddie said.“I mean, that’s what makes it all worthwhile.The fans.You don’t need to avoid asking me questions about it.I don’t mind.”
Yes, he’d avoided asking too much about it because he was afraid it might be weird.“Do you want to do movies?Or do you prefer TV?”
“I love the immersive experience of going to the movie theater, but there’s something about a TV show that people tune into every week—”
“Or binge all at once.”
“Yeah.Either way, there’s something about characters you keep coming back to, over and over.Characters whose familiar antics can be a comfort, and it can bring people together.”She paused.“My mom and I have never been close, but she’d regularly hang out in the living room when I watchedGilmore Girlsas a teen, even if she’d never admit to liking it.”
He nodded.They were ambling down Bloor Street, toward the subway.He wanted to walk slowly so he could spend more time with her.
“It’s still early,” she said, “and you know what I want to do?Sit in a park late at night.Something else I haven’t done in ages.”
He grinned.“Look at you, being spontaneous.Christie Pits?”
He couldn’t help recalling the last time he’d been out with his friends and hadn’t felt like going home right afterward.He’d bought himself some bubble tea, then literally run into Maddie.
And now, here they were.
The park was rather busy.There were groups of people covertly drinking, smoking up.Someone had a banjo and was trying to get their friends to sing along.
Maddie led him to a spot on the slope of the hill that wasn’t too close to anyone.He told himself that didn’tmeananything, but his heart was still thumping quickly.
“The weirdest part about my success,” she said, “is how it’s changed things with my family.”
“How so?”
“You remember my sister, Kathryn?”
Adrian had a vague memory of a girl two years older than them, one with long black hair and glasses.“Yeah.She was a year behind Colleen.”
“She was always the favorite.We were both good students, but she was interested in therightsort of things, unlike me.I was the artsy-fartsy one; she liked science.She’s a doctor now.For years, my parents would only brag about her, and they told me to go back to school and get a sensible degree.”
“Like what?”
“Law was their main suggestion, since I have no science background.”She made a face.“BeforeChu’s Restaurant, I had a bunch of acting jobs, but I also did freelance copyediting and data entry so I could pay my bills.When I told my parents about the show, they were skeptical anything would come of it.Then it kept getting bigger and bigger, and they started bragging toalltheir friends and acquaintances.”She looked down at the grass.“In a way, it was nice, because they’d never been proud of me like that before, but when Mom told my auntie that she always knew I’d make it, it was like she was rewriting history.”
“Yeah, I could see how that would be frustrating.”
“And Kathryn doesn’t know how to deal with our parents bragging more about me than her.I know many people have more serious problems, but…”
