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Without him paying attention, his ball clattered past the bumpers and the machine made a series of unhappy noises. “I hope so.”
I smiled back at him. “Me too.”
We spent the rest of his bag of quarters on skeeball and other classic arcade games. When we got down to one quarter, he carried it over to the claw machine.
“I always saved my last quarter for this,” he said as he began maneuvering the joystick. “One last chance to get a prize.”
“Oh, aim for that!” I pointed at a costume jewelry necklace encased in a plastic ball. “Win me the necklace!”
“Coming right up.” He positioned the crane above it, but then paused and considered it. He spent at least 30 seconds making tiny adjustments, leaning around to the left and right of the machine to see it from different angles. Finally he hit the plunger, and the crane dropped.
The three claws wrapped around the ball, lifted it into the air, and carried it to the drop box.
“Fuck yeah!” I screamed, which drew several looks. I didn’t care. I hopped up and down excitedly as Andy retrieved the necklace from the machine and opened it. The fake emerald in the middle was rectangular and the size of a cough drop, with tiny fake diamonds all around it. The whole thing was gaudy and stupid. I loved it.
“Turn around,” Andy said. When I did, he draped the necklace over my head, allowing the gem to rest in between my cleavage. I pulled up my hair so he could fasten the clasp in the back.
“It looks perfect,” Andy said. “For a piece of plastic, I mean.”
I grinned like I’d won the lottery. “This date just got notched up to an A.”
We went outside and Andy began to call for a cab. “Let’s walk,” I suggested. “It’s a beautiful night to be outside.”
“It’s a mile and a half back to the house,” Andy said.
He meant it as a reason not to go, but I chose not to hear it that way. “Exactly. Not too far at all! Besides, I want to show off my new bling.” I opened my jacket to reveal the necklace.
“I suppose it is a nice night.”
We walked north along the street, side-by-side. The city was bustling even at this late hour, and I sighed and took in the wonderful sounds. I rarely got to enjoy living in the greatest city in the world. I was always rushing from one job to the next, or back to my apartment. It was nice to actually slow down and savor where I was.
“I can’t remember the last time I went to an arcade,” I mused as we walked along. “Probably when I was a teenager.”
“They’re a dying industry, but us hipsters are making them trendy again.”
“The one industry us millennials aren’t killing off,” I chuckled. “That and avocados.”
“You know? This is nice,” Andy said. “Tonight has helped me keep my mind off the theater.”
“Except for the fact that you just brought it up.”
“Well, aside from that, yeah,” he admitted. “But it was nice to not spend the evening worrying. That’s all I’ve done lately. The issues…”
He trailed off. Despite him saying it was good to get his mind off of it, I got the impression he wanted to talk about it now.
“Do you really think someone would sabotage the theater?” I asked gently.
He walked for a little while, hands in his coat pockets. “I’ve considered all other options, and that seems like the most likely scenario. I trust Ryan completely. He wouldn’t make mistakes. And the missing socket wrench is a giant red flag.”
“Couldn’t someone have stolen it?” I suggested. “Director Atkins forgets to lock the theater half the time.”
“Then why steal just that tool and nothing else?”
“Good point.”
We stopped at a street and waited for the light to change while cars streamed by. I didn’t feel comfortable chatting about this subject while other people were idling around us. When we finally crossed the street we resumed the discussion.
“I wonder who would want to sabotage Tatiana,” I mused. “Aside from an ambitious, talented understudy from Iowa, that is.”
