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Chapter 1
“Any auditions coming up?”
Samantha hesitated before answering. Tamika Freemon, who only answered to the name Meka, was the closest Samantha had to a friend. Even though they both enjoyed working at The Book Nook, Meka was always encouraging Samantha to keep trying.
“There’s an open call Friday afternoon, but I don’t think I’ll make it,” she answered finally.
Meka looked up from the computer. “Why not? You can’t get the part if you don’t try.”
“I know. Brandon has some firefighter’s union benefit dinner that night and there’s no way I can do both,” she explained as she arranged some books on the shelf.
“Talk to him. Open calls only happen but so often. If he had something important to do on a night you had plans, you know what he would do.”
That was something for Samantha to think abut. She had no doubt Brandon would choose what was important to him over any plans she made. It would undoubtedly cause an argument, but Meka was right. She had to at least try. Without having an agent, she couldn’t afford to miss any opportunities.
“Yeah, I’ll talk to him when I get home. Or maybe tomorrow morning. Tomorrow during dinner at the latest…”
Meka snorted. “Keep going and you’ll drag it out until the night of. I don’t know him well, but I’m sure it won’t go over if you just don’t show up. Seriously, though. He won’t take your dreams seriously if you don’t.”
She smiled to herself as she continued to stock shelves. Meka was the only person to encourage her, no matter what. No obstacle was too great as far as Meka was concerned. Samantha wished she didn’t have such an aversion to conflict. She hated to argue. Hated when Brandon was upset with her. It was much easier to just go with the flow.
“You’re right. I’ll talk to him when I get home, which means we need to get a move on if that’s going to be any time soon.”
She redirected her focus to stocking the shelves and organizing the table of featured local authors. Figuring out a way to talk her husband into letting her go to the audition was something that could wait for her walk home. The bookstore was her happy place, and she tried not to bring any negativity into that safe space.
Before long she was standing by the door waiting for Meka to lock up behind them. They walked home in opposite directions, but always stayed together until the building had been secured and they were ready to leave. Samantha preferred to walk home instead of taking the subway when the weather was nice. Walking home gave her a few moments that were just for her. No one expected anything of her. No customers were waiting for her help. She didn’t have to plan dinner or make sure the laundry had been put away. It was the time for her thoughts.
The darkness didn’t bother her. Not every part of Brooklyn was as dangerous as the movies liked to portray. She’d been living in her neighborhood since she turned eighteen and set off on her own. The only difference was her modest studio apartment had been upgraded to the two-bedroom walk-up she shared with her husband.
“You’re late, Sam.” Her husband’s voice broke the silence as soon as she opened the door.
She glanced at her watch. “Sorry. We had so many new books to shelf, it took forever. Did you eat? I made up some chili and put it on low in the crock pot before I left.”
“I made a sandwich,” Brandon responded.
Samantha pushed aside the sinking feeling as she locked the door and made her way over to her husband. He still wore his white t-shirt and department-issued pants which told her he probably hadn’t been home long. It was obvious he was in a mood, so she didn’t push the subject. Walking through the living room and into the kitchen, she fixed herself a bowl of chili before putting the rest away.
After putting her long braids into a bun on top of her head, she switched the crockpot off and then filled a small bowl with chili.
“So how was your day?” she asked from her seat at the table.
“Fine,” he answered without looking at her.
“We were pretty busy this afternoon,” she mentioned between mouthfuls of food. “With the steady stream of customers, we weren’t really able to stock the new arrivals until after closing. Made for a quick day though.”
“Nice,” Brandon responded before pointing the remote at the TV and increasing the volume.
Samantha took that as her cue to shut up. She needed to tread lightly and stay on his good side if she had any hope of him agreeing to let her go to the audition instead of the benefit with him. The dark circles below his gray eyes stood out in the dim light that flickered around the room.
The busy shifts were probably beginning to wear on him. FDNY typically had a high call volume in general, but his firehouse wasn’t as busy as a lot of the other ones. He had recently been getting home exhausted after unusually busy shifts, and apparently, it had not calmed down.
After finishing her dinner in silence, she went back to the kitchen to clean up. Crumbs littered the countertop and the dirty plate he’d used for his sandwich sat in the sink instead of the dishwasher. She emerged from the kitchen once again after cleaning off the counter and loading the dishwasher. One less thing for him to get upset about was one less thing for her to worry about.
She gave his shoulder a quick pat as she walked by. “I’m heading to bed. Don’t stay up too late, you look like you need some sleep too.”
She yelped in surprise when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her close. “Pretty sure I’m old enough to stay up as late as I want.”
Caught off guard, she stared at him until he pulled her closer and placed a quick kiss on her mouth.
