An Unlikely Alliance

"A great voice, a good man doth not make," I said, laughing. "Or something like that."

"Which reminds me. Are you auditioning for the musical next week?"

"Sure. It sounds like fun."

"You'll get the part. You're the only one around here who can sing that stuff."

"You never know." I usually had the lead in musicals, but someone new could always be there.

"Mr. Wonderful will be here soon, so I'll take off," Casey said with one last primping of my hair. "Good luck."

"Thanks for that and for everything you've done here."

I was twenty-nine, sitting alone in my apartment, waiting for a blind date. I decided I should probably write a book.

My bell rang. Security on the intercom.

"Julie, there's a Mathew Sparks here to see you."

"Thanks, Wade. Send him up, please."

Nervous waiting, then a knock on my door.

I opened it.

"Hello, Julie, and that hair is excruciatingly beautiful."

"Hello, Mathew," I replied, not wanting to cause him any pain. "Thank you," I added after his unusual compliment.

"Casey told me some things about you, but I'm anxious to learn more."

I felt like he had the cart before the horse since we hadn't met until this evening. Was meeting and the initial learning equivalent to learning more? I guessed I'd find out.

I smiled at Mathew, not willing yet to tell him I wanted to learn more about him.

"You certainly do look beautiful," he said, a very exaggerated smile coming my way. "So, if you're ready, we can go."

Off we went, Mathew doing his best to guide me along, fighting my efforts to do it by myself.

The five-floor elevator ride was awkward as he just looked at me, smiling and saying nothing. I relented a little and allowed him to take my arm and guide me to his car. Maybe after dinner, I'd be willing to take his arm.

We were on our way.

"Your car is very comfortable," I ventured.

"I decided, what the heck, I might as well enjoy myself, so I bought this Lexus."

I gazed out the windshield, my brows furrowed. "How do you like it?"

"It runs good, but I only know how to work about half of the gadgets."

I shivered when he said, "good." I didn't consider myself a grammar nazi, but my contract work required proper grammar. I hoped I wouldn't have to endure that all evening.

"Casey said you work in real estate. What do you do?"

"I work with contracts most of the time, and I also show and sell homes also.

"I've been thinking of buying a house, but I want to deal with for sale by owner stuff. Avoid those real estate fees, you know."

I wondered if he ever thought about what he was saying. I was beginning to hope that the food was exceptionally good. Anything to make this blind date tolerable.

We parked at Richardson's, and Mathew hurried around and opened my door. I was able to climb out around his extended hand, but when he offered his arm, there was no way I could justify not taking it.

Once inside, he went to the maitre d, who shrugged and pointed toward the back of the restaurant. Mathew smiled and nodded.

I was sure he hadn't made a reservation and began to wonder if he'd been here before. I sighed, trying to decide how to get back at Casey.

We were seated, and menus were presented. I had to take a deep breath when I saw some of the prices. I wondered if Mathew had checked prices ahead of time. Maybe he had because he didn't appear shocked.

I half-expected him to try to order for me, but he did pass that test. We each ordered, and I had nothing to complain about with the meal--it was absolutely delicious. I overate so badly I had to skip dessert.

Mathew took care of the bill and thanked the maitre d when we left. Maybe that was appropriate at Richardson's. Once back in the car, Mathew turned to me.

"Your place or mine?" he asked, smiling at me.

"Beg pardon?"

"We're adults. We might as well finish off the evening in style."

Style? Is that what he called it? Those few words had my blood beginning to boil.

"The answer is simple, Mathew. Listen carefully. You will take me to my building and stop by the front door. I will get out and go inside, and you will drive away. When you get to your place, remove my number from your contacts. I was careful not to say please.

He looked at me with a what, you're not dying to have sex with me look, and I almost burst out laughing. There wasn't anything about him that brought thoughts like that to my mind. He wasn't bad looking, but that was about all he had going for him.

A fifteen-minute ride in icy silence followed, and I half-expected him to ask me to pay my part of the dinner. He didn't, earning his second point.

"Thank you for the dinner, Mathew," I said as I climbed out of his Lexus.

"Welcome," I heard in return.

He drove away, never to be seen again, at least by me, unless I went to Casey's play, of course.

It was only nine o'clock, so I called Casey, hoping I didn't catch her in the midst of something, well, of an intimate nature.

"Why the hell are you calling me at nine?" she fairly shouted into my ear.

"I love you too, best friend."

"I mean, aren't you with Mathew?"

"He just dropped me off after suggesting that all adults our age should have sex after dinner."

"He didn't!"

"Oh, but he did, giving me a choice of my place or his."

There was a moment's silence

"Sorry, Julie."

I laughed. "It's not your fault. We just didn't seem to, well, fit very well."

"I promise not to do that again for at least another year or two." Casey's turn to laugh.

"At least I got a cool hairdo out of it."

"You'd better sleep sitting in a chair if you want to keep it."

"Not gonna happen. Listen, though, be nice to Mathew when you see him at rehearsal."

"I will, and I'll ignore guys' remarks about redheads in the future."

We ended the call.

I went to the mirror and checked my hair which still looked nearly perfect. I took several photos, hoping that maybe, sometime in the future, I could duplicate it for myself.

I spent Sunday practicing music in preparation for the auditions on Monday night.

There was a dinner theater close to us that didn't always have theater but did always have dinner. In-between productions, they had movies that were generally musicals, some very old, and some of the more modern ones as well.

The music director had always wanted to do "Phantom of the Opera," but it was far too large a production to handle. He had finally determined he'd do some of the music with narration between the songs to fill in the gaps in the story. He'd written the narration himself and was excited to get started.

I was auditioning for the part of Christine and was curious about who might be singing the part of The Phantom. I knew several of the guys who'd been in previous shows, but singing The Phantom's music would be a stretch for them.

Monday night came, and there was only one other trying out for Christine. It was a high school senior who had a beautiful but somewhat delicate voice. After I'd been selected for the part, we talked.

"I knew if you were here, you'd get the part. I just wanted the experience of auditioning," she said.

"Listen, you have a beautiful voice. Do you play the guitar?"

"I've fiddled with it a little. My boyfriend is really good."

"Get him to help you, and you can make money while you're in college by singing for special occasions. You know, parties, birthdays, stuff like that."

"He's tried to get me interested, so we could sing together. What you've said sounds like a great idea. I'm on it."

She gave me a hug and left with a huge smile on her face.

I heard the door open behind me, the one from where the men were auditioning.

"Julie, meet your Phantom."

I turned around quickly, excited to see who I'd be singing with.

"You," I said, nearly spitting out the word.

"F-ing small world, isn't it," he replied, glaring at me.

A slightly disoriented director said, "Do you two know each other?"

I looked at him. "This is who will be singing the Phantom's part?"

"And you must be the enchanting Christine," he replied, sarcasm fairly dripping from each word.

"Yes," I snarled. "We've come across each other in the past."

"Indeed," he said, shaking his head.

"Will there be a problem with you two singing together? I don't need problems."

Through a smug smile, I said, "I can sing with anyone." He wasn't about to drive me away from this part.

"Likewise, I can sing my part, even with you."

"No one has used a name yet."

"We never got familiar enough to need names." But we would be now, I was sure.

"Grant Jennings, meet Julie Williamson."

We stared at each other without responding.

How could this be happening? It didn't fit the laws of probability. But it seemed to be a fact, and I had to live with it...or run away. I wasn't about to let him control my behavior. I was going to sing the songs no matter who was singing with me. Looking at Grant, I could tell he felt the same.

I glanced at the director, who was obviously excited and anxious to get started. I could sense what was coming.

"I assume you two have been looking up music and practicing a little." A huge smile lit up his face.

I nodded, as did Grant.

"I have the accompaniment disc, and I'd like to hear what you two sound like together. Think we can do that?"

I instinctively glanced at Grant and saw him looking at me. I guess it depended on the song.

"'All I Ask of You?'" Grant suggested.

I was a little surprised as I'd expected him to pick one that was mostly him singing. This one had about equal parts for both Raoul and Christine.

"Just take it easy, you two. You aren't warmed up. Oh, here are two sheets of lyrics if you need them.

It appeared that we both did.

The music began...and then Grant began.

No more talk of darkness

Forget those wide-eyed tears

I'm here, nothing can harm you

My words will warm and calm you

I couldn't take my eyes off him as he was "in character," looking at me like I was the love of his life. And his voice... He was definitely the right one for the part.

But now it was my turn.

Say you love me every waking moment

Turn my head with talk of summertime

If Grant could be "into the part," I could outdo him. I gazed at him with limpid eyes.

Say you need me with you now and always

Promise me that all you say is true

That's all I ask of you

He couldn't hide the expression on his face that told me he liked my singing. It was an ego thing at this time, but I wanted to show the jerk that I could sing too.

We each took our turns and, at the end, sang together. It sounded to me like we blended very well, and the director's nodding head seemed to confirm it.

While the director was stashing things away, Grant was standing not far from me, looking off in the other direction. He glanced at me, looked away nervously, then back.

"You sing very nicely," he said. "I think people will enjoy this."

Could I do it and be sincere in the process?

"l think we sound good together." Not exactly an outright compliment, but it was sincere. One step at a time.

We went our separate ways with no further interactions. Grant certainly could sing, but that didn't erase all that had happened in the past and the way he had acted. It was going to be a challenge to get through this show.

I called Casey when I got home from the audition.

"So, how'd it go," she asked immediately.

"It was good. There was only one other female, a sweet high-school student who had a very nice voice but not quite ready for Phantom. She's going to work with her guitar-playing boyfriend to learn the guitar. She has a perfect voice for that."

"Sounds like all went well."

"Not exactly. You remember that jerk I told you about the other day?"

"Yeah."

"He's the male lead. I'm going to have to sing with him."

I could hear Casey laughing.

"And act like you love him if I remember the music that well."

"Yeah, we sang together tonight--he can sure as hell sing. This may be interesting."

"Good luck with that."

I was about to hang up when Casey spoke again.

"Hey, what are you doing Wednesday night?"

"Wait a moment, and let me check my calendar."

"Bullshit. You're not doing anything. My group from church is serving a meal at the homeless shelter, and we're short of people. How about helping out?"

"I'm not sure I do homeless people, Casey."

"It's just dishing up food as they come through the line. No big deal. It might be good for you."

"Good for me?"

"Yeah. Give you a sense of doing something worthwhile and helpful to the human race."

I hated it when she said things like that. It always made me feel guilty and gave me no choice but to go along with her.

"Okay, I'll do it. You just serve up potatoes and green beans?"

"That's a little bit of an oversimplification. That's the kind of thing you do. Sometimes people need clothes, tents, blankets, heaters, stuff like that."

"It's getting more complicated, Casey."

"Yeah, it's almost rocket science."

"Just trying to find a way to squirm my way out of it," I answered with a chuckle.

"To make it easy, I'll pick you up at five."

"Sounds good. I'll be ready,"

My phone buzzed a couple of minutes before five.

out front

I locked my door, rode the elevator to the lobby, and climbed into Casey's car.

"Aren't you a little old for jeans with holes in the knees? Or are you just out of clothes?"

"Very funny, and no one knows how old I am." I knew I didn't look like I was nearly thirty.

In fifteen minutes, Casey pulled into a small but crowded parking lot.

"Lots of helpers here tonight, and that's good. Let's go in and get started."

The shelter was in a sizable building, a big room with several large tables now being set up by a group of people I guessed were volunteers. There were a couple of big pots of something cooking on a large stove that smelled very good. I could see through the doors of a couple of other rooms that had clothing in one, and I couldn't tell what was in the other.

Casey took my arm and led me toward the stove.

"Marilyn, this is my friend, Julie Williamson. She's volunteered to help out tonight."

I had to smile when Casey said, "volunteered." Technically I suppose she was right.

"I told her she'd probably be serving up potatoes or green beans."

Marilyn laughed. "Actually, the group that provided the meal has enough servers, but there are three or four families coming in for clothes and other supplies. Julie, if you could help out with that, it would be perfect."

"Um, I'm not sure I know what to do." I was actually sure I didn't know what to do.

Another laugh from Marilyn. "I wouldn't do that to you. I'm sure there's someone back there who can fill you in and get you started."

Casey was off doing something, and Marilyn directed me to the door to the clothing room.

I was amazed when I went through the door at the number of racks of clothing of all sizes and descriptions. I heard some scraping noises but didn't see anyone.

"Is anyone here?" I called loudly.

"Hey," a voice called. "Are you here to help?"

"Marilyn sent me over."

"Great."

I saw a rack move, and someone appeared around the end.

"Grant?"

"Julie?"

A few seconds of silence...and suddenly loud laughter. It lasted for nearly a minute.

I decided it was time. I extended my hand.

Grant stepped forward, and we shook hands. Afterward, he looked at me for long seconds.

"Obviously, we're meant to be together somehow, not together together, but... Oh, shit, you know what I mean."

"I do know," I replied, and I did.

Somehow, seeing him here tonight, the fourth time we'd run into each other in just a few days, made me believe what he said.

"So you're here tonight to help?"

"Yes, and I hadn't imagined finding you here."

"That's not surprising after the way we started off."

I smiled and nodded.

"Having said that, let me apologize to you about the roof. l'd had a miserable day and went up to the roof to get away from things. Then you came along after probably the same kind of day as I'd had, and we were off to a bad start. I blamed it on your red hair when I should have just given you the roof."

"It was a bad day, and I'd never run into anyone on the roof before. I couldn't handle it, and I'm sorry I was such a bitch."

"Hey, that's long gone now. How come you're here tonight?"

"My friend, Casey, talked me into volunteering."

"You know Casey?"

"We've been best friends since we were born."

"This is all too weird."

As Grant said that, a mother, father, and three children came through the door.

"You take the two girls, and I'll take the rest." Grant pointed to the small girls' section.

I took it upon myself to approach the mother.

"What do they need?" I asked.

"They only got one a everything, so they need a lot."

"A few minutes later, the two girls were laughing and excited about their new dresses, jeans, shirts, and pants. Each also had a new pair of shoes. Not exactly new, but new to them and in good condition.

I watched Grant talking to the father, then the mother, directing them to the proper racks. He spent a long time with the boy, and there were lots of laughs and high-fives.

The family left with many thank yous.

Two more followed with much the same results.

"You hungry?" he asked when the clients had left.

"I guess so. I haven't eaten."

"They usually have plenty. Let's go check."

He took my arm and led us to the serving table, and we quickly had plates of a delicious-looking and smelling chicken casserole. We went to a small card table at the side of the room.

"So you and Casey are best friends. That's amazing."

"I know. It's that small world thing again." I couldn't keep from laughing.

"I guess so. But it does give me a chance to see your hair again."

"What?"

"Your red hair. It's gorgeous."

I was sure I was blushing. I knew that some people disliked red hair, and some people found it fascinating. For what it was worth, Grant appeared to be one of the latter.

"Grant cut it out. A few days ago, we hated each other."

"That was a few days ago. Now that you're volunteering here, I can see that you aren't who I thought you were."

I couldn't resist that one. "Who did you think I was."

His dark eyes held mine. I couldn't look away.

"A selfish and self-centered bitch."

I'd never considered myself that, but when I looked back at our first two meetings, I could see where his thoughts came from.

"I apologize again," I said as humbly as I could.

"I'm just glad we've gotten together like this and found out that neither of us is like we first thought the other was." He looked at me and smiled. "Is that true? I mean, how you think of me now?"

I laughed. "Yes. We certainly can't let one or two bad days define us, right?"

He nodded. "Plus, I can't believe that we both know Casey. And her being your best friend. See, you should have asked her about me. She might have set things straight."

I had to laugh at that. If only we'd known. But there was another question.

"Did you and Casey ever date?" That seemed normal to me.

"Depends on what you mean."

"Um, how's that?"

"Were we ever an item? No. Did we have a date? Yes. You can ask Casey about it, but we seem to get along much better when we're just friends."

"Seems strange, you know. I mean, knowing Casey the way I do."

"Well, seems strange to me too, but it is what it is."

"Our food's getting cold with all this chatter. We'd better eat."

We did just that, and the food was as good as it smelled. I probably ate too much, too.

When we were finished, Grant gave me a funny look. I wondered what he was up to.