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on the floor. “I read most of that today. Blake isn’t half bad.”
    “He does write well,” she said, biting her lip.
    “But?”
    “But what?”
    “Body language.” He pointed to her lip. “Chewing of the lip indicates something is wrong. Or you’re practicing to become a cannibal.”
    “The two main characters…” She looked to see if anyone else was around. “Have no chemistry.”
    “In the script?”
    “No, the actors who won the roles. Blake and the director, Trent, picked this girl because she was beautiful. Bethany has not one lick of talent.”
    He remembered Bethany. She was a cross between a centerfold and a cheerleader. But he did have to agree. The princess in the script was not Bethany. “I agree.”
    “You do?” she asked.
    “Yes.” He smiled and took her picture.
    “I thought you would have sided with Trent and Blake.”
    “Bethany is beautiful. But misplaced beauty does not do the production any good. If Blake is as in love with his creation as he seems to be, he’ll come around. He just needs to get the lust out of his eyes.”
    Lucy smiled at him then went back to her trees.
    Antonio took a look around and wandered backstage. He roamed in and out of each room, clicking away, finally ending up in the costume room. The walls were plastered with posters of old performances and thank-you notes. The dressing rooms were filled with ghosts of performances past. The energy radiated from one room to another and onto the stage. He wondered how many stars had been born from this stage. He made a mental note to do some research.
    After two hours, his stomach began to growl and reminded him of the bag Felix had packed for him. He found it on the chair he’d sat in before he ascended the stage steps. As Antonio sifted through the bag, he noticed Felix had packed two of everything. Two sandwiches, two salads, two desserts.
    He asked Lucy if she was hungry and she said she could go for a bite. He took the bag up on the stage and sat on the floor. Lucy’s eyes seemed to get bigger and bigger as he revealed each item, which coincidentally, all were favorites of hers. The spinach salad and watercress with cranberries, the chicken breast sandwich with a hint of her favorite Asian glazed sauce, and the triple fudge brownies with chocolate chips and mini marshmallows oozing out the sides.
    “So, have you objectified any more women around town?”
    “No, I ordered a long black cape and a mask. I’m waiting for them to arrive in the mail. Then I will flit around town and ogle women.” He chuckled.
    Antonio’s phone vibrated five times while they were eating. All of his women seemed to check in that night. He got a multimedia text from Zaria. It looked like she’d taken a picture of a couch someone had put out for the trash. His mom wanted to know when he was coming back for a visit. Yesenia wanted him to yell at her husband Cesar for saying she was scared of everything. And Lauren sent one saying she saw a shirt that would look great on him, she just needed an address to send it to him. Each time he glanced quickly at the messages and replied just as fast, not wanting to jeopardize the easy conversation that flowed between them. After a few jokes and some softening, she no longer had that lascivious look on her face. As a matter of fact, the longer they talked, the more relaxed she seemed. She’d even stopped tugging on her scarf and looking at her trees.
    “Your parade of women checking up on you?”
    “Actually all family members. This is my niece Zaria.” Antonio pulled up her picture on his phone.
    “She is beautiful,” Lucy said as she studied the picture. “She has your eyes.”
    He laughed. “Actually she has my brother’s eyes. Just like I do.” He hesitantly pulled up a picture of Alejandro. Antonio noticed two things when he showed women his brother’s picture. Their tongues either immediately and embarrassingly fell out of their mouths, or they tried to play it cool.
    Lucy