“I ran into Tyler on the way down. He said you’re sick?”
I frowned. “I’m not sick.” But I winced at how badly it hurt to speak, and Morgan’s eyes widened with worry. “I’m fine,” I tried to promise her, but she shook her head, snatching my half-empty glass of water from my hands and refilling it with water.
“Sick or not, you can’t record a podcast with a voice like that.”
I nodded, taking the freshly filled glass from her. “I know. But, we have so much to do today. I can’t just—”
“You’re going to rest,” Tyler said, cutting me off as he rounded back into the kitchen with a humidifier in tow. “We’ll set you up in the theater room and you can watch movies or TV shows or read or work or whatever you want, but you need water, and moist air, and rest.”
“Tyler, I can’t just—”
“And to stop talking,” he added pointedly.
I glared at him, but before I could argue further, Morgan sighed, grabbing my hand in hers. “He’s right. Look, Oliver and I need to book our honeymoon today, anyway. And we can do the guest housing and ring insurance and meet with the officiant. Boring stuff.”
“But we were supposed to meet the planner on the Cape and go over set up.”
She waved me off. “Oliver and I can handle it. Seriously. You rest, record your podcast tomorrow, and then we can pick up business as usual. You’re not missing anything today.”
I pouted. “But I was going to get lobster bisque for lunch.”
At that, Morgan chuckled, pulling me in for a hug. “I’ll bring some back for you. Promise.” As soon as she pulled back, she pointed at her brother. “What are you doing today?”
His eyebrows shot up. “Whatever you order me to, I’d wager.”
“You’re not working?,” she asked.
“I don’t have to. I took time off for all this,” he explained, waving his hand around us like the wedding was a living thing in the air. “I’ve been working on a few things when we have down time, but I figured you’d need me at full attention.”
Morgan’s face was tender when she put her hands over her chest. “Aw, big brother. You love me.”
“More like I’m scared of you.”
I chuckled.
“Well, either way, you should hang out with Jaz today. I don’t want her stuck in our old theater room by herself all day long.”
I blanched, Tyler and I connecting gazes before we both looked at his sister. “Uh, Morgan, it’s really okay. I’ll read or watch movies or something. And you’ll be back for dinner anyway, right?”
“We’re doing dinner on the Cape,” she said with an apologetic frown. “Mom and Dad are coming with us, too. To the venue. And with it being such a long drive each way, and traffic so bad, we figured we might as well do dinner and head back after rush hour.”
“Oh,” I said, nodding. “Of course. Well, either way, I’ll be fine.”
“I don’t mind.”
I snapped my attention to Tyler, who was watching me in a curious way — like he only just realized what he’d said.
“I do have some work I could catch up on,” he finished quickly, grabbing the back of his neck. “So, we could just hang out in the same room and be silent together.”
“Sounds thrilling,” Morgan teased, patting her brother’s chest. “Maybe you could at least watch a movie together or something. But yes, that would make me feel so much better if you’re here with her. As long as you don’t mind?”
Tyler looked at me. “I don’t mind,” he said again.
I swallowed, which stung just as much as talking did, but I knew there was no sense in arguing. Morgan’s mind was already made up, and she kissed my cheek, ushering the two of us off while she went over the day’s plans with her dad.
And I followed Tyler up the stairs, humidifier in tow, with those three little words dancing in my head.
I realized very quickly that I did not like sitting still.
I should have known this about myself at this point, judging by the fact that I couldn’t remember the last time I’d spent a day sitting in front of a screen or lounging on a couch. Every minute of every day was planned and scheduled out. I was either working, running, socializing, or traveling. There was no time for television.
At first, it was kind of nice.
In fact, it was relaxing — something I wasn’t familiar with.
I started out watching 10 Things I Hate About You, one of my favorite movies as a kid. I was only four when it came out, so I didn’t watch it until years later. But I remembered that first time so vividly, when I watched Heath Ledger on the screen and felt weird things happening in my stomach. And every time I watched it now as an adult, I smiled, remembering the innocence of feeling that first celebrity crush.
Afterward, I transitioned into watching a few episodes of a home makeover show. I found myself dreaming of a future place in California, and that led me to Pinterest, which then eventually transitioned me into working, as I always did any time I was on my computer. And of course, Morgan was texting me updates all day long, and Jacob and I were playing a Scrabble-like game on an app and texting when he had a break from work. He was worried about me, but I assured him I was fine. Still, I did need to rest my voice, which meant no talking on the phone or video chatting, so we stuck to texts.
By the time evening started falling over the lake outside the theater windows, I had outlined my next four episodes of And All That Jazz, edited the two episodes I needed to schedule for the following weeks, brainstormed a new social media initiative for engagement, and established three new levels of loyalty on Patreon.
I was also beyond bored and antsy, to the point where I didn’t know how much longer I could sit in that room before I would start rocking in a corner.
The theater room was mostly dark, save for the window we’d had open all day long. It had blackout curtains for when you wanted to eliminate the glare on the giant television screen, but we hadn’t pulled them — mostly because I’d mentioned that I’d go crazy without any sunlight getting in the room. There were plush, black leather reclining chairs in lines of three, twelve total, all leading up a slight incline to the back wall.
Tyler and I sat in the second row, with a chair between us, and we hadn’t said a word to each other all day.
When I gave a long, dramatic huff and closed my laptop, scrubbing my hands over my eyes, I opened them to find a smirking Tyler staring at me.
“Tired?”
I shook my head.
“Head hurt from the screens?”
I shook my head again.
“Bored and tired of sitting still?”
My eyes widened, and I nodded emphatically, which earned me a chuckle and Tyler closing his laptop, too. He stood, abandoning his laptop in the empty chair between us and stretching his arms up to the sky, twisting his spine this way and that. My eyes wandered the length of him, smiling a little at how much he looked like a boy in that moment. He wore flannel sleep pants and a simple white t-shirt, his hair somewhat disheveled. It reminded me of winter weekends we’d spent with Morgan just lounging around the house, having movie marathons, playing games by the fire, never changing out of our pajamas.