As I pondered those possibilities, where time had been lagging, now it seemed to speed up. Allan went off to join his mother and go over seating charts, and I listened to the nominees and members of the Academy entering the theater and finding their seats.
At some point Allan called Shelby over and left me to Noah-watch alone. Most of the other men in his category had already arrived, and I told myself I was ridiculous for sitting here and doing this. Somebody started putting the folding chairs away, clearing a pathway. The sound level in the auditorium got louder and louder as more people arrived.
Was Noah waiting until the last minute to make some kind of grand entrance? That thought made me question why I felt so . . . I don’t know, desperate to see him again. I was the one who’d said I wasn’t interested. So why did I care? Wouldn’t it be better for me to just spend the evening backstage and then go home to finish off my crystallized ice cream?
It was like I didn’t even know myself anymore.
The orchestra was warming up when Allan found me. “I’ve got an assignment for you.”
“Already?” Last time the first seat fillers hadn’t been sent out until about twenty minutes into the ceremony, and only then to fill in the seats of the people who had won awards.
“My mom was told someone who was scheduled to come didn’t make it, and to be honest, you’ll probably have to sit in that seat the whole night.” He took me by the elbow and walked me over to the curtain that separated us from everyone else.
“You’re going to be orchestra center, in row A, seat nineteen. Got it?” he asked, and it was only then that I realized Allan looked awfully pleased with himself. It was a weird look on him. Usually he was either stressed about work or making googly eyes at Shelby.
Row A was the first row, right next to the stage. Wow. At least I wouldn’t have to climb over anyone. I wondered if someone had been stuck in traffic. Why else would they be late to their front-row seats?
It wasn’t just seat nineteen that needed to be filled. Seat twenty was empty, too. It reminded me so strongly of the last awards show and Noah that I had to take a deep breath. I wondered if Allan’s little smirk had been because he was going to send Shelby to keep me company until the seats’ owners arrived.
A very pregnant and very pretty blonde was seated in the chair to my right. She looked vaguely familiar, although I couldn’t place her. She caught my eye as I walked to my maroon-covered seat and she said, “Hello.”
“Hi.” She was wearing what looked like a very expensive pair of silver-sequined high heels, and I wondered how she managed not to fall over, given how big her belly was. “I like your shoes.”
“Oh, thank you. But look at yours! I love them.”
I displayed my pink Converse proudly. “Thanks. So do I.” I felt vindicated. Noah Douglas was full of crap.
“Much more practical than mine.” She rested her hands on top of her stomach. “I feel like I’m pregnant every time I’m at one of these things.”
“Congratulations. Do you know what you’re having?”
She smiled at me. “A little girl. Just one this time, thankfully. Your name doesn’t happen to start with an O, does it?”
That was kind of a weird question. “No. I’m Juliet.”
She offered me her right hand, and I shook it. “I’m Zoe. Juliet? As in Romeo and?”
“Yep, Shakespeare.”
“Huh. A Shakespeare name. That was something I hadn’t considered but would make sense, given my husband’s line of work.”
I wanted to ask who her husband was, but it seemed nosy. “The only O Shakespeare name I can think of is Othello. And that doesn’t seem like a good name for a little girl. Wait! What about Ophelia? She goes a tad crazy, but she does have a pretty name.”
She let out a laugh. “I like it! You probably think I’m so strange. It’s a family tradition to give our kids names starting with O.”
Then Chase Covington walked over and kissed Zoe before taking the seat on her right side. “Chase, this is my new friend, Juliet. She suggested the name Ophelia. What do you think?”
“I like it better than Opal.” He reached over to shake my hand, and I was nearly blinded by his megawatt smile. “Nice to meet you.”
Wow, was he handsome. “Yeah. You too.”
“And you’re here with Douglas?” he asked. His tone sounded a little disapproving.
It took me a second to register what he was saying, and I turned to my left to see Noah sitting down in the chair next to me. “No. I’m just a seat filler.”
“Are you sure about that?” Zoe asked me, and she sounded like she was about to break into laughter.
“Pretty sure,” I told her, my voice suddenly sounding strange to my own ears.
“Hi,” Noah said and asked, “is this seat taken?”
At first I could only look at him. He was in a black tux, and formal wear suited him very well. How did this make him even more attractive? He was so hot I was surprised that everything around him didn’t spontaneously combust.
Once I shook off my feelings of overwhelming lust, I asked, “Are you serious?”
“What?” he asked.
“I’m sitting next to you?”
“And you think that’s my fault?”
Somehow it was. I just hadn’t worked it out yet. And if I was being honest with myself, I knew this was going to happen. Deep down, I’d known. And I’d wanted it. Even if I was protesting.
“You don’t have a date?” I asked.
“She wasn’t able to make it.”
And there it was. Evidence of scheming. Because who would miss out on being Noah Douglas’s date for the Oscars? “What happened? Did she have to go back to Egypt?”
He looked thoroughly confused. “You sound hungry. Here.” Then he reached into his jacket and pulled out a Snickers bar, handing it to me. “I heard you got recruited last-minute, so I just figured . . .”
My heartbeat skittered all over the place. I took the candy bar carefully and just held it in my lap, staring at it. It was the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for me. To be fair, no one had ever done anything romantic for me, so it was a low bar, but still.
“Thank you.” I felt like all the air had been knocked out of me, and it took me a second to add, “This was very thoughtful.”
“You’re easy to think of.”
His words slammed into me, causing a whirlwind of sensations and feelings that overwhelmed me. I wanted him to know how much his gesture meant to me. “Did you want some?” I hoped he appreciated the magnitude of my offer. I didn’t share candy with anyone.
“I’m good.” He flashed the inside of his suit jacket to show me that he had two protein bars there. “Although I don’t think we’re going to be able to eat them here. The Academy doesn’t allow it, and there’s going to be cameras everywhere.” Seated between Noah Douglas and Chase Covington? Yeah, cameras all over us was a pretty safe bet. He went on, “I know how important it is to you to follow the rules. Like how you have to stay in your seat until someone comes to take it.”
It was then that I realized no one was coming to take my seat. This had Shelby’s fingerprints all over it. “You guys lured me here under false pretenses.”