Free SPOTLIGHT by Dora Dresden

gig then,” Noelle amended.
     
                “Tell us!” Abby urged.
     
                Noelle explained that several months back she had auditioned to be a dancer for a dinner theater troupe in Upstate New York. She hadn't made it for the season but the director had remembered her and recommended her for something else.
     
                “A cruise ship?”
     
                “Yes!” Noelle exclaimed. “We go on the cruise and perform shows for the travelers, one performance every night for the entire trip.”
     
                Abby hugged her friend in congratulations. She was truly thrilled for her, glad that someone close to her was getting somewhere even if she wasn't.
     
                Aaron was less excited, grumbling about the finer details of when Noelle would be leaving and who would be picking up all the shifts that would end up unmanned in her absence.
     
                Abby left them to their usual bickering and hurried home. She was left with a small window of time to get out of her greasy work uniform and be showered and dressed before William would want to leave and she wasn't willing to lose a single minute of it.
     
                Once back at her apartment, she quickly freshened up, then picked out a flouncy blue lace dress to wear. She paired it with a pair of plastic-y bright red wedge heels that brought out her patriotism, even if they did hurt her feet.
     
                Abby gave her reflection an appreciative nod in the mirror. Satisfied, she headed to the kitchen. She grabbed the apple pie she had convinced one of the cooks to let her have.
     
     
     
                As usual William was already in the hallway waiting for her. He stood at the elevator poking its button over and over and over. Abby laughed at him as she approached.
     
                “You know,” she called to him when she was near enough, “they say madness is doing the same thing twice and expecting different results.”
     
                William laughed too. “No, madness is expecting Len our lovely landlord to actually fix the elevator.”
     
                They shared a quick hug in greeting and Abby noted he was wearing a different cologne though this one was just as tantalizing. She probably still smelled like greasy foods despite the shower she'd taken.
     
                “I guess we're taking the stairs then, all eight floors down.” Abby glanced down at her impractical shoes with a sigh.
     
                They walked down the hallway, shoulders brushing but not touching. William looked good dressed in a collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up. It was that particular silvery blue he preferred to wear and reminded Abby of the tie she had sobbed all over. After she'd collected herself, she'd insisted on taking it to the dry cleaners to have it cleaned for him. William had tried to convince her it wasn't necessary but she'd insisted. It sat now on top of her laundry basket, another item on her to-do list.
     
                William assured her his friend's apartment where the BBQ was being held was not far and he suggested that they walk there. Abby agreed, despite her clunky shoes. She'd explained to him about her nervousness in New York City cabs and William understood her feelings as he always did.
     
                “I've never been in a car accident myself, not even a fender-bender,” she explained as they walked, her arm linked in his. “But whenever we take a sharp turn or break too fast I can't help thinking of Angelica. I always think, is this what she experienced right before the crash?”
     
                “And every cab driver in New York City drives like half a maniac,” William finished her thought.
     
                “Exactly. It's silly, but I try to avoid them. The subway's perfectly nice