Page 13 of Christmas Crisis
Stone. Ugh. Video chatting with Miranda. At least he hadn’t manifested in my apartment. But it made me queasy to hear him say nice things about me. All of this would be less complicated if he were a mustache-twirling supervillain instead of just a thoughtless little twerp. I resented that I—somewhat—sympathized with Miranda’s desire not to destroy his career.
Not wanting to eavesdrop, I rapped on the hallway wall.
“Come in.”
Miranda scooted up against the headboard when I entered, patting the space beside her on the unmade bed. She was still in a T-shirt and pajama bottoms, and her hair didn’t look brushed. Her computer sat open on her lap. Stone appeared to be sitting in a set trailer, with a rack of clothes behind him. He’d be unrecognizable to most of his fans, who were used to his wild hair and the beachy, shirtless vibe of his videos. The loveable himbo. The Stone on screen had slicked-back hair and wore a well-fitting black suit with a black button-down underneath, open to mid-chest. His hair had been darkened, and he sported three days of beard growth.
“Hey, Leo!” Stone waved enthusiastically. “Do you like the threads?” Leaning away from the camera, he pulled out his lapels. “I’m playing a Mafia enforcer. Pretty cool, right? It’s only for one season because—spoiler alert—my character gets blown up in the last episode. Man, I’m really looking forward to filming that—”
“Focus, Stone,” Miranda admonished gently. “Unless you want the general population to wish your blown-up character is actually you, we need to make sure we’re on the same page here.”
“You’re right. Sorry.” He gave anaw-shuckssmile. “I get excited talking about this gig.” Stone stared straight at the camera. “Leo, my dude, I want to tell you how much we appreciate you doing this. Shoshanna thinks it should all besmooth soon. Miranda is still upset by her oopsy, though, even though I keep telling her I know it was an honest mistake.”
Miranda pressed against my side. “I’m not really crying anymore. Stone just woke me up with a call request—Shoshanna finally got a new laptop to him—and I think it made me emotional seeing his face, after everything that happened yesterday. I’m good now.”
“You’re more than good, babes. You’re beautiful. I’m just sorry we’ve done so much of our relationship this way, over screens, and I wish I could be there in person to tell you it’s gonna be okay.”
I could tell Stone’s remorse was sincere. As much as moments like this helped me understand why Miranda started dating him in the first place, and perhaps why she’d stayed in it as long as she had, his lack of urgency got under my skin. He seemed perfectly content to let Shoshanna—and Miranda—solve this problem for him.
On the bed, Miranda burrowed into me, pulling my arm around her shoulders. Stone remained unfazed. I supposed the people in our lives were so used to our affectionate behavior that it no longer merited a second glance. Even from her boyfriend.
To me, she said, “Stone was telling me that Naomi is all-in with the plan. But they also agreed that they’re going to wait to end things until after Valentine’s Day—it would be too suspicious to do it now—so no one freaks out again. Shoshanna will send out her statement about us within the hour. By some miracle—or maybe because of the holiday—no one’s revealed my identity yet. Lauren thinks it looks better that they're releasing my name now, to show we’re not trying to hide anything.”
“Which means if there’s anyone you want to give the heads-up to, this is the time,” Stone chimed in.
“Are you going to tell anyone?” I asked Miranda.
“Since my sisters are unreachable until next week, I only need to warn my supervisors. I’m going to shoot them an email in a few minutes, letting them know my fifteen minutes of fame are starting.”
I thought about my work situation. “My crew doesn’t need a heads-up. They already assume Miranda and I are secretly together.”
“Really?” Miranda sounded intrigued.
“Mm-hmm. It’s easier for them to wrap their minds around, since they don’t know why I don’t date.”
“You really don’t, then?” Stone asked. “I’ve never seen you with anyone, but I always figured you were just, like, discreet.” He chuckled. “I bet you’d kill the game on dating apps. You could lean into the whole magical hammer thing.”
Oh, that’s right. Stone is still Stone.
I pushed the mute button on Miranda’s side of the call. “You didn’t…tell him about me?” I questioned, avoiding moving my lips so Stone couldn’t make out the words.
“Of course not,” she answered the same way.
Pushing my fingers against my forehead, I breathed out. “Sorry. That was stupid. I shouldn’t have asked.”
I unmuted the computer. “My bad, Stone. Technical issues.” Scooting a few inches away from Miranda, I said, “The reason I don’t date is complicated… And private.”
He raised his palms. “Hey, no worries, dude. Your hammer is your business.”
Miranda covered her giggle with a cough.
Muffled shouts sounded from behind Stone. “Dang. Gotta get back on set.” He stood. “Thanks again, Leo. Babes, we’ll talk soon.”
“Talk soon,” Miranda replied to the already-black screen. Facing me, she asked, “Seriously, who do you need to tell?”
“Right now? Just my parents. And as soon as your sisters, James, and Will get back, them too.”
Miranda rose from the bed and stretched her arms above her head. The move displayed a ribbon of toned stomach and pushed her breasts against her thin tee. A twinge of electricity zipped down my spine at the sight of her pebbled nipples. I forced myself to ignore it.
