“Martinez,” he said wearily.
“Hi, Carlos, it’s me.” I figured if I kept repeating his name, I would get used to saying it.
“HI, Scarlett. What’s up?” His voice perked up, and I felt guilty for bagging on him, but it was an emergency. “I’m looking forward to tonight. We’re on for eight, right?”
“Actually, that’s why I called.” I hurriedly explained the situation with Julia, Peter and Banana, then asked if I could take a rain check. I held my breath because I didn’t know how he would react—especially to the part about Peter being gay.
“That’s terrible,” Martinez said softly. “Of course you can take a rain check. Your poor friend. And that poor little girl!” I had forgotten that Martinez had met Banana, and it warmed me to him even more that he’d remembered. I could hear him riffling through some papers. “Um, I can probably switch with someone. Go in tonight and take tomorrow night off. How about that?”
“That would be perfect,” I said, thankful all over again that I didn’t have a nine-to-five, Monday through Friday job. The flexibility was one thing I loved best about this theater gig I had going. Sure, it was tough and we barely had our heads above water, but it was utterly worth it. Martinez and I made small talk before hanging up. He didn’t even mention my withholding evidence from him, which demonstrated that he was a man of his word. He’d forgiven me, so he saw no reason to rehash the point.
“Ok, gang. Let’s go!” I clapped my hand as I went back to the living room. Matt and Banana had resumed watching their DVD, and Matt put up five fingers. I assumed there was five more minutes in the episode and went to grab a pop from the fridge. I normally didn’t drink pop, but I felt I deserved one. It was diet, anyway, so I didn’t have to worry about the sugar or the calories.
“We’re done,” Matt said, holding onto Banana’s hand.
I flicked on the television, but I couldn’t concentrate. I knew no matter what he’d said that I’d fucked up. Even though he hadn’t screamed at me, I could feel the wall between us. Why the hell he was giving me another chance, I didn’t know. I was grateful, of course, but I wondered if he would ever trust me again. Hell, I wouldn’t trust me if I were him, so why should he? It just fucking sucked because I haven’t been so attracted to someone in such a long time. Maybe I subconsciously wanted to fuck things up because I didn’t feel I deserved someone as wonderful as Martinez.