The Story of Tonight

Chapter Four

Lin-Manuel Miranda opened the Facebook app on his phone for at least the fifth time that morning. He was in between press obligations and was obsessively checking the status of his friend request to his old flame, Vanessa Nadal. It had been a whirlwind spotting her the night before after not seeing her for almost fifteen years.

Request Denied.

His heart sunk. She wouldn't even be Facebook friends with him? Everyone was Facebook friends! He felt a sting as he navigated to his news feed, only mildly interested in his updates. Sighing, he tucked his phone away as a makeup person came to touch him up.

He had to admit that his heart leapt a bit when he saw his ex-girlfriend. She was beautiful before, but now she was a full-fledged woman. He'd Googled her and found she had her own law firm, which was very impressive. Adulthood looked good on her. And she had an adorable daughter who the boys would be chasing after. He'd let her father worry about that.

Maybe that was why she'd been so stand-offish. If she was already married, she might think it was inappropriate to be Facebook friends. He sighed and tried to put it out of his mind. As usual, he had a busy day ahead.

One of his good friends from high school texted him later in the day and he had an idea. Hunter was a relatively small school with connected alumni. With a bit of digging, maybe he could get her number from a former classmate. Lin pitched the idea and his friend started texting a few other classmates. Within five minutes, he had her digits.

Before he typed in a text he stopped. Would she think of this as an invasion of privacy? Would it freak her out? And what was the big deal anyway? Maybe he should take the hint and move on.

He was a guy, so he started typing. His tongue poked at the inside of his cheek and his brows furrowed. He let out a deep breath before pressing send.

_________

Vanessa was knee-deep in paperwork when her phone buzzed. It was after 3:00 so she figured it was Lia texting with an update.

She found her phone buried under a pile and glanced at it. An unknown number. The preview said Hi Vanessa it's Lin. I hope you don't mind...

"That mother-" she stood up in anger, staring at the words on her phone.

"Mom?" Her eyes shot up to find her daughter in the doorway, looking confused. Vanessa figured she probably looked like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "What's wrong?"

She cleared her throat and put her phone in the drawer. "Nothing, baby. Just some...surprising news from a colleague."

"Oh," she said. "Um, there's this girl from school and she-"

"Yes!" Vanessa answered excitedly before her daughter even finished asking the question.

"Huh?"

"I mean - go ahead."

Lia shook her head. "Can I go to her place for a while to study for our algebra test?"

Vanessa composed herself. A potential friend? "Of course, sweetheart. Will you be back for dinner?"

"Probably not," she said. "Her mom's cooking."

A night to herself. She usually dreaded these because it reminded her she was an unmarried old maid. "Great. Remember your manners. Thank her for dinner."

"I will," she promised.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Lia mumbled under her breath, as she walked through the streets, her backpack weighing her down slightly as she tried to navigate the directions on her phone. In between sidestepping tourists and following her phone's directions closely, she couldn't stop looking over her shoulder. She didn't think anyone was following her, she had grown up in New York, afterall. But she was still terrified at the thought that her mother was going to pop up behind a tree or garbage can. She had never done anything like this before.