Page 28 of Play Room Actor

Yaël was five years older than me and had been with the same guy since she was eighteen. She claimed to be happy, but I didn’t buy it. While I dumped my emotional life at her feet almost monthly, she handled things more like a man, withdrawing when she wasn’t feeling well.

Maybe it was partly my fault because when my manic phases started, I was only ten, and Yaël was right in the middle of puberty. She quickly learned that I needed more attention and handled her own problems alone. As much as we had fought during our youth, she’d never held anything against me for it.

“I’ll be right back.” Yaël gulped the rest of her espresso and rushed to the bathroom.

I picked up my phone, hoping to distract myself with Instagram. I was aware of how my leg was bouncing nonstop. Was I heading toward another high? That nervous tick sometimes was a sign. But it had only been a week since I’d come down from the last one.

Almost everyone I followed on Instagram were involved in theater, along with a few old school friends. While my account was public, I mostly used it to collect photos of different atmospheres and lighting setups. My last post was from the bachelor party—a photo taken at the blue-lit station near the animal hospital.

As I absentmindedly scrolled through my feed, a post from Alex suddenly appeared. I could hardly believe what I was seeing. He had filmed Dominic’s Hamlet performance at the Piadina Bar. I’d been so mesmerized by Dominic that I hadn’t even noticed Alex filming.

The video already had hundreds of likes, and the caption read: Hamlet at the Piadina Bar. Thanks @domiper8 for this amazing performance.

I hadn’t known that Dominic was on Instagram. As much as I hated Alex for having his account before me, I equally appreciated him for sharing it with all of us.

I wasn’t a stalker, but at that moment, I sure felt like one.

Dominic’s account was also public and had nearly five thousand followers. Most of the posts were photos or videos from the theater, but there were others too, like a picture from last Saturday during his shift at Red.

Hmm … So, this is what it looks like in the staff locker room.

I kept scrolling through his feed and reading the captions. He didn’t post often; sometimes there were two-week gaps between posts. Still, he kept a certain consistency. But when I saw the date of a post from early March jump to June of the previous year, I wondered what had happened there.

“What’s going on?” Yaël slid back into her seat at the table.

I went back to the video Alex had posted and slid my phone over to her.

“What’s this?” she asked, taking it to examine the clip.

“That’s him. Dominic.”

Yaël watched the video and was just as captivated as everyone else had been at the Piadina Bar.

“Wow,” she said, handing me the phone back. “He’s good. And cute. He has this teddy bear vibe.”

I sighed. “Tell me about it.”

Yaël grinned. “Talk to him. That’s how you’ll get closer.”

I kept the part about wanting to lock him in my basement to myself.

Since I’d said goodbye to him last Friday, I couldn’t relax. I kept replaying the moment when he’d looked at me with profound sadness.

Why?

He liked the kiss.

What in the world had made him so sad?

Nervously, I cracked my fingers one by one. The muscles in my bouncing leg were starting to ache, and I could feel them heating up.

Yaël tossed her brown hair over her shoulder and retrieved her wallet out of her black handbag. “It’s on me,” she said, waving at the waiter.

“You don’t have to.”

“But I want to.”

“Thanks.”