In Love With Alex Brightman

chapter twenty nine

December 13, 2018 [Thursday]
•19 weeks left•

The next day, I walked into rehearsals exhausted from my hectic morning. Too many series of events ruined my pleasant sleep and brought me into a groggy mood when I got to the theater. First, my alarm didn't go off—which of course had to happen on a day of rehearsals. That made me late and I had to rush to the theater. I didn't have time to run and grab a coffee either. That was a big problem because I function on coffee.

Alex invited me to meet him at the coffee shop that morning, but I saw his text forty minutes after he sent it. I was already on my way to the theater, so I quickly told him that I woke up late and I couldn't make it. I didn't check to see what he said after that, though.

When I got to the theater, I jogged inside and quickly signed myself in. I saw almost everyone else was already signed in, but rehearsals didn't start for another ten minutes, so I wasn't completely panicked.

I breathed heavily as I sat down on the bench inside the main entrance. No one was in the ticket booths, so I was able to close my eyes for a few seconds.

"Well well well, Sarah Holland. It's nice of you to finally join us," I heard a familiar voice scold above me. I giggled, scrunching my face with my eyes still closed.

"It is, isn't it," I joked, brushing back the escaped strands from my rushed ponytail. "But no fear, Sarah is here," I smirked, opening my eyes to see a cheesing Alex standing in front of me. I almost forgot why I had such a bad morning. "I have arrived. No need to clap."

"Well, I think it's actually the other way around, shortcake," he corrected me.

"How so?" I asked. Just then, Alex brought out a S'more Frappe from behind his back.

My eyes widened as I gasped, covering my mouth with the back of my hand. "You told me you were running late, so I got it for you," He shrugged, handing it to me. I stared at him, dumbfounded, unable to speak a word. That was so thoughtful.

"Did you really do that?" I awed with a small smile. He nodded, furrowing his eyebrows at me.

"Of course I did. I'm still trying to earn your forgiveness," He stated the obvious. I chuckled, setting my drink on the bench next to me.

"Well, you're off to a great start. Thank you, Alex," I beamed at him, before pulling him into a quick hug. I sighed, missing the feeling of being close to him again.

When I started to slightly back away, Alex squeezed his arms around my waist. "I missed you," He whispered so low that I almost didn't catch it. I was caught of guard by his shy words, I didn't say anything back. He snuggled his head more into my neck, his stubble tickling me.

I did miss Alex—a lot—but I couldn't tell him that. My mouth didn't want to say it, so I just squeezed him back as a response. "Thank you again for my drink. That was really nice of you."

"Come on," He said, pulling away to look at me. He leaned down to pick up my drink from the bench and grabbed my hand. He turned around to lead us to our dressing rooms. When he realized what he did, he instantly let go of my hand, looking back at me, cautiously searching for a reaction. "Sorry," he shied.

"Stop being awkward. It's just me," I rolled my eyes, grabbing his hand again and continuing our walk to the dressing rooms. It was just a friendly gesture.

After I quickly poked into my dressing room to throw my stuff on my desk, Alex and I made our way to the house. We all usually met there in the mornings so Timbers could make his starting announcements.

When we got there, I realized everyone was called in that day because of the huge crowd of people taking up the seats. I caught the sight of Rob standing at his seat and waving his hand, motioning for us to join him.