talk with him about hygiene expectations at the office.”
“Well,” Danica said, smoothing her hands over her jeans. “That’s not going to work.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s dead,” she said.
The audience erupted in laughter, and Monique touched Danica’s shoulder, tagging her out of the scene. Monique slid into the chair, a tense expression on her face. “I can’t be fired. This is only my second warning. I’m supposed to get three.”
“Doris, we’ve talked about this. You can’t keep killing coworkers. The smell is bothering Susan,” Barry said.
Danica jumped back into the scene and made a hissing sound, motioning like she was spraying air freshener, her face contorting into a disgusted expression.
Monique huffed. “But you can’t get your own serial-killer trading card unless you kill more than one person, Derrick. I’m almost there. Why are you gonna hold me back like that? You know how few female serial killers are out there? I’m blazing a path here. You’re really standing in the way of my dreams.”
The audience laughed, but a sudden movement on the left side of the audience caught Jasper’s eye. He lost track of the scene for a moment when curly blond hair flashed in the beam of one of the lights. Jasper held his hand up to shield his eyes, and he caught sight of a familiar face. Oh shit.
Hollyn.
Hollyn who he’d just used in his monologue and who Danica was still imitating. Shit shit shit.
Jasper watched with dread as Hollyn got up from her seat and slipped into the darkness as the audience laughed at something else. He was onstage and could jump into a scene at any second. He needed to be paying attention to what was happening. But a queasiness settled in his gut, and he couldn’t concentrate.
Dammit.
He shifted over to the back line and next to Antonio. Jasper leaned over and whispered. “I’ve got to go. Emergency.”
Antonio turned his head toward him, clearly confused. He mouthed. Bathroom?
Jasper shook his head and got close to Antonio’s ear again. “Can you take the next monologue?”
Antonio still looked confused but nodded.
Jasper stepped sideways into the dark and slipped offstage. He’d never abandoned the group onstage before and hated to do it, but there was no way he was going to be able to concentrate or give his best to the show after seeing the look on Hollyn’s face. He hurried along the side wall in the shadows and toward the door, trying not to draw attention to himself, and exited the building.
The night air was still thick with humidity but had cooled. His skin felt too hot in comparison and his side still hurt. He looked down the sidewalk both ways and spotted Hollyn about two blocks down, walking with a quick stride.
“Hey!” He called out but she didn’t turn.
And what woman would on a city street at night. Hello, psycho. With one look back at the bar, he set off for his second jog of the night. Hopefully, she wouldn’t mace him.
Not that he didn’t deserve it.
Chapter Six
Hollyn’s feet ached from walking so swiftly. Thump, thump, thump. Her footfalls against the pavement matched her racing heartbeat. She didn’t know whether to cry or scream or punch something. She’d like to punch him. How dare he? How dare Jasper make fun of her and her coworkers as some schtick to get laughs?
The sick feeling that had washed over her when she’d realized he was talking about her had made her go cold all over, dragging her back to a place in time she never wanted to revisit. Then the blond woman had started to mimic Hollyn’s facial tics, and anger had rushed in, replacing the sick feeling with rage. She’d spent all afternoon smiling over her texting with Jasper, and now she realized it was all bullshit. He hadn’t been flirting with her. He’d been gathering material.
She wanted to punch his handsome face. Or better, give his stupid show the most scathing review Miz Poppy had ever penned.
Asshole.
A man shouted from somewhere in the distance behind her. She didn’t turn around. She’d learned early on to ignore catcalls on the city street, especially at night. Eyes forward, hand on cell phone and purse. She’d parked her car farther away because she’d planned to make one more stop at a club down the street tonight, but now she couldn’t. She wouldn’t be able to concentrate enough to review anything else. She needed to get home or she’d end up marching back to that bar and throwing a drink on Jasper mid-performance.