Exit, Stage Awkward

The incessant pounding on the door aroused both Byron and Maxine from their contented slumber.  Though the loft was still dim, sunlight crept through the draperies. Opening one eye, Maxine saw that it was about eleven in the morning according to the clock on the wall.  She was sweating, experiencing an awareness of her body she had never felt before.

Byron held her against his chest and gazed at her. He cradled her face with one gentle hand, softly stroking her cheeks.  She cuddled against Byron, trying to shut out the annoying racket. "Make it go away," she muttered.

"I'll shoot whoever it is, Maxine, " he grumbled, pulling her closer to him, sheltering her in his arms.

"Come on, Byron!  I know you're in there!"

Maxine snapped awake as she felt Byron freeze beneath her.  There was no mistaking that shrill voice outside the door. "It's Samantha," Maxine said nervously, wondering who she was informing.

Byron, who had looked so deliriously happy all that past night, making love over and over again, who awoke in delight, was suddenly solemn.  "Well, if I let her in, it might solve the problem of how to break off the engagement," he said bitterly.

Samantha continued to bang on the door.  "Open up, Byron! What the hell are you doing in there?"

"Byron don't!" Maxine pleaded.  "Don't let her in! I don't want her to find out like this--it's too harsh!"

Byron nodded, reluctantly letting go of Maxine. He jumped from the bed, wrapping a sheet around his middle.  "I'll get rid of her," he said soothingly. "Just hold on. I'll be right back."

Maxine nodded assent, yet in her mind, the weight of the situation suddenly bore down upon her with incredible velocity.  She was in Byron Thorn's bed, she had slept with Byron Thorn, the movie star, and now his super model fiancee was banging down the door.  And suddenly, even after everything she and Byron had done together, Maxine felt frightened and totally out of place in this scenario. Reality, she believed, was about to violently squeeze her out of this picture.

Byron had opened the door a crack, speaking to Samantha over the chain that he kept fastened.  Maxine heard bits of their conversation.

"You were supposed to meet me this morning. My plane came in and you weren't there!"

"Samantha, I'm dead tired.  This shoot's intense. I need all the sleep I can manage to get."

"Yet another excuse.  I'm getting tired of your stories. And why the hell aren't you letting me in?"

"Because I'm planning on going back to bed."

"Without me?"

Maxine cringed, her breath sucked away from her.  Fortunately, her mind was awake, alert, and working. Quietly, Maxine crept out of the comfortable bed.  Samantha's high, irritating voice kicked Maxine out of her fantasy lover's world.

Then Samantha was yelling, "I'm going to break this door down if you don't let me in, Byron Thorn!" 

Maxine took that as her cue to bolt. She quickly found her clothing, pulling it back onto her tingling body.

"Break it down, Samantha, and you'll have security on your ass, I swear."

Frantic, Maxine spun around, searching and searching some more.  How was she going to get herself out of this mess? Then, as Samantha's voice grew even angrier, spitting more threats, Maxine spotted the fire escape beyond the window.

"Samantha, why are you yelling?  Do you want everyone to think you're a shrew?  Are you trying to prove the tabloids right?"

It would require a good leap out the window to reach the fire escape, Maxine estimated, and then whatever endurance to make the drop at the bottom.  Moving quickly, Maxine threw her backpack over her shoulder, pushed the drapes aside, and quietly unlocked the wide window. She slowly opened the window, fearing any squeaks or creaks.  Then, carefully navigating the slight distance, she threw one leg over the window sill, and then the other.

Stretching, one booted foot touched the metal gratings. Then, in a push, she brought the other foot over, and she was crouching on the escape landing.  Fortunately, luckily, no one was around. What a headline that would make, she thought sourly--furtive college girl sneaks out of superstar's apartment!

Maxine cautiously negotiated the slippery metal of the fire escape as she descended.  An eight-foot drop awaited her at the end. She grabbed onto the last rung with her strong hands, and slowly let her body roll off the fire escape and drop beneath her.  Now, only two feet above the ground, she could let go. Maxine landed gracefully, and immediately started running away, away from Byron, away from Samantha, away from her night in paradise, back to the student dorm, back to her friends, back to where she really belonged. 

She pounded the ground, turning her angst into energy. With a twisted giggle, she remembered playing tag as a kid--she remembered how once she got to base, no one could tag her.  She'd just reached base in this nasty game of tag. Maxine staggered to her room, fiercely hoping that her roomates would not be home, and that she had not been missed.  Snickering, Maxine knew that none of this was terribly likely.

When Maxine let herself into the room, Maria and Laura were pacing about, wide eyed, having been up most of the night popping stimulants and drinking coffee.  Jenn and Nikki were there, too, looking very wired.

"Crap" Maxine grumbled, dropping her backpack onto the floor.. 

"Where the hell have you been, Max?" Maria asked, a little annoyed but mostly relieved.                             

Maxine cursed to herself.  All she needed right now was an interrogation.  "I can't talk about it."

Methodically, Maxine set about changing her clothes.  As Maxine undressed, she thought that she would never wear that outfit again.  That was the outfit she had been wearing when accosted by Byron Thorn, that was the outfit Byron Thorn had removed to make love to her.  Perhaps she would even burn all of it. And she was annoyed, too, because that had been her favorite sweater.

She changed into tattered blue jeans, black sweater and black boots as her roomates attacked her with questions.  Was she alright? Did she get hurt? Where did she go? Why hadn't she called? But Maxine remained utterly closed. "I'm not kidding when I say I can't talk about it, guys. And I talk to you about everything, so you know this is deep.  I am okay, I wasn't assaulted or anything, and my car is perfectly in tact."

Internally, Maxine was busy psyching herself to get over her night with Byron. She didn't want to waste energy explaining details of a night she would have to forget.  But the girls were relentless. "Come on, you have to tell us what happened," Laura said, touching Maxine's shoulder.  "You can't expect to be able to disappear and then have us not worry."

"I was stupid, okay?" she said angrily, kicking the wall.  "I did something dumb--not irreperably dumb, but dumb. And now I have to put it behind me."

"How were you stupid?" Jenn asked.  "What do you mean?"

Exhausted, she caved in.  In no uncertain terms, Maxine spelled out exactly what had transpired since they had last seen her the previous evening, from Byron's declaration of affection at the studio until she had popped out the window when his fiancee had come by unexpectedly. 

When she had finished, they stared at her, agape. "Byron?" they exclaimed together.

"Yes, Byron."

"You slept with Byron?"

Maria shook her head, not quite believing.  "But he's a star! Why would he sleep with you?"

"Thanks a lot."

"He's in love with you?" Laura said.  "That's dreamy!"

"Oh come off it," Maxine snapped.  "He was just saying that. In the moment."  Maxine kept telling herself that, anyway. She couldn't afford to believe he'd been sincere, could she?

"I thought Byron was engaged," Maria murmured.  "I thought his fiancee was drop-dead gorgeous."

"He is, she is, let's drop it." 

In her mind, Maxine replayed her quick escape from Byron's loft via the fire escape.  How many exits like that one was she willing to make? She wasn't about to chase after a hopeless situation, and make even more of an ass of herself than she had already.  Hopefully, she could maintain the friendship she'd had with Byron after this. Maxine was a little humiliated, but at least the night had been fun. And that would have to be enough.

Emilie J. Conroy

ejconroy778@gmail.com