Now That I've Found You - Kristina Forest Page 0,90
promised her this.
“You’re always welcome to stay here in the city with me,” she says as we hug goodbye. She kisses my forehead. “You’ll find your happiness soon, my love. And once you do, watch out, world.”
“Thanks, Gigi.” I hug her again, tighter this time.
Once we’re on the plane and in the air, I look down at New York City, the city where I wasn’t necessarily able to start over, but where I learned that starting over is possible.
Chapter Twenty-Five
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9
My cast mates and I hold hands and bow onstage. We receive a standing ovation. Not too bad for opening night. Not too bad for my first-ever professional stage performance.
When I first came back to LA, I took a few weeks to figure out what it was that I wanted to do. For a while, I actively didn’t think about it. Then Gigi called because Mr. Gabriel wanted to know if I’d ever reached out to his niece. Not wanting to break the promise I’d made him, I called Janine. I didn’t think much would come of it, maybe just that I’d make a connection. But it turns out Janine was working on a play that sounded really cool, a love triangle between three college students. I read the script and fell in love with the character of Renee. Something about the way she begins the story so closed off and eventually opens up to love appealed to me. She’s not the lead, and she doesn’t even get the guy at the end, but that didn’t matter. Kerri and I had a meeting with Janine, and then I was cast. According to preview reviews, it seems like people like my performance. But I try not to pay too much attention to what people are writing anymore.
Kerri is waiting backstage with my family. My mom and dad, and Gigi and James, even Mr. Gabriel too.
Gigi is the first to hug me. These past few months have been good to her. She’s practically glowing. I still can’t believe she’s here, that she actually came back to LA after all these years. She and James still aren’t together—at least that’s what she says. Right now, he splits his time between New York and LA. He takes me out for lunch sometimes when he can fit it into his schedule. He’s in the middle of filming the last Aliens Attack Earth movie. He’s shelved the idea of an Every Time We Meet remake for now. I’m happy he found the time to see my show tonight.
“You did good, kid,” he says, giving me a sideways hug. “I bet you’ll get a Tony for this.”
I give him a look. “Yeah, well, don’t go making calls to anyone just yet. I know how you are.”
He holds up his hands, laughing. “I won’t. I promise.”
My mom and dad hug me next, and Mr. Gabriel gives me an enthusiastic pat on the shoulder. “I told you to call my Janine, didn’t I?”
I nod, laughing. “Yeah, she’s great.”
Kerri places a bouquet of roses into my arms.
“Oh my gosh, thank you, Kerri!” I start to wrap my arms around her, then stop, remembering that she prefers not to hug. But to my surprise, she reaches out to hug me instead.
“You’re welcome.” She smiles and straightens out her blazer when she pulls away. “You deserve them.”
Beside me, Gigi gently grabs my hand and places something small in my palm. “I meant to give this to you before your show, but we arrived late.” When I unfurl my fingers, I stare down at a small black guitar pick covered in tiny nicks.
I look up at her, speechless. “How … how did you get this?”
“Milo gave it to me.” She looks at me closely. “He said you’d know what it meant.”
“Oh.” I fall silent, staring down at the pick again. My family watches me, saying nothing.
Finally, my mom breaks the silence. “Ready to go, baby?”
I look up at their expectant faces. “Um, yeah.”
But I don’t move. I haven’t talked to Milo since that night in August when we said goodbye to each other. I’ve thought about him, though. I still think about him all the time, actually. I heard that Doves Have Pride ended up getting signed to Vivid Music Group. I even made my own Spotify account so that I could listen to the band’s new music. I love what they’re doing now, but I can’t bring myself to reach out to Milo and say so. There are so many times