“I love it,” I answer him, moving to hug my brother though I’m overwhelmed. The fact that Eddie cares enough to do this makes my heart sing for him even more. “Thank you both.”
It isn’t until we’re actually inside the theater that the full emotions of it hit me where I stand. I realize I haven’t been back inside this place since my mom had her problems, and I put a hand to my chest.
The music is so familiar to me, like a haunting melody, and it feels like I’ve fallen into one of my memories.
Eddie stops me as I go to sit at one of the lower seats in the theater, as I would have with my mom.
The balcony seats are private, exclusive compared to the others, and that’s where Eddie takes us both. I have never been in a box section before, never mind here with my mom, knowing how overpriced the theater often sold them for. I could have never come here without Eddie doing this for us.
I look at the announcement sheet on the table in front of our plush couch seats. The play that’s about to take place is Macbeth. My heart swells with affection.
“You didn’t have to do this,” I tell him in a slightly strangled voice, looking at Eddie as my little brother looks excited and keeps himself busy by looking over the balcony’s railing at the stage below.
“I know,” Eddie answers softly. “But I don’t really get to go to the theater for any reason, and my sisters would applaud me for experiencing some culture for once.”
I let out a laugh, and Eddie leans over, kissing my temple with a gentle press of his lips. Then, he touches our foreheads together, holding us together for a moment.
I keep a steady eye on my little brother, making sure he doesn’t get too excited and try to climb over the railing like I did when I was a kid.
“I’m sorry if it makes you uncomfortable to be here.” Eddie’s voice is quiet in my ear. “I really didn’t think about it. I didn’t know you would be sad about it.”
I can’t help but smile softly.
“No, I really do love it here. It makes me feel happy to remember it with my mom. And I want my brother to be able to feel it too.”
“It’s just a lot to be experiencing again,” Eddie offers as an explanation, nodding. He really does seem to get it. “I understand completely, Kat. I’m really sorry.”
“A little bit, yeah,” I truthfully answer him because I want him to know everything about me now. “But I want to be here, and it’s a truly thoughtful thing to do for Stevie and for me.”
“Kat, I sincerely hope you’re not just lying about this for my sake,” Eddie confesses to me with a small, nervous laugh. Seeing him out of sorts is odd, and I want to make it right. “Because we don’t have to stay if you don’t want to be here.
“I’m not. I promise it does mean a lot to me,” I make sure to answer, giving the man at my side a small and intimate smile. I reach my hand out to him, taking hold of Eddie’s fingers as he does the same. “Honestly, thank you. This means a lot to me. It’s been so long since I did anything fun. I’m always at the diner or the club, so I really needed this.”
“Kat, look at them!” Stevie excitedly points his finger at the orchestra playing the haunting melody of Macbeth’s life. “People with instruments playing songs!”
I turn my attention to my little brother, realizing that he has never experienced something like this and probably never would have if it hadn’t been for Eddie. This man is going to raise my standards one day at a time.
“Yeah, Stevie, don’t they sound cool?” I move closer to him from the back couch to take a seat beside my little brother, and I can’t help but smile when Eddie takes the seat directly next to me, sitting at my side.
I grab the papers on the table that are in a stack, trying to keep myself busy as I try to stop from sneaking little side glances at Eddie’s handsome profile. God, he’s gorgeous.
As I’m flipping through the cast announcements and the playbill, I see a familiar name in the cast lineup, among a sea of other theater actors' names. It makes my stomach flip in annoyance.
“Are you okay, Kat?” Eddie asks me softly, and I know he must see how stiff I’ve suddenly become in my seat. “Hey, we don’t have to stay here if you want to go.”
“Fine,” I answer him weakly. “Just thought I recognized a name on here.”
“Is it someone you went to high school with?” Stevie asks me curiously when I don’t give him any other answer. “You always say you don’t want to see people you know from school, right?”
“I’m sure none of them are as good of a sister as you are, Kat,” Stevie says with a grin, leaning into my seat and examining the cast list that’s in my hands. Of course, it’s easy for him to determine how much I mean to him. I wish it was that easy for me to see it in myself. “No one is as good as my sister, it’s true!”
“Thanks, Stevie,” I tell him with a soft sigh, wrapping my arm around my little brother as I smack a kiss into his hair.
“Ew!” Stevie says, wiping his hair, and I can’t help but laugh. Eddie chuckles too from where he sits at my side. It feels right to be here with the two of them.
The lights dim just a bit, giving a warning that the middle of the play is about to start up. The curtains open and close. It’s time to use the bathroom and all.
My little brother is all but thrumming with excitement as he pulls himself up to see over the box’s balcony with his chin on the polished wood, brimming with happiness as the curtains open again.