Brian made his way over to the couch in his apartment, taking care not to trip over the new rug and send both he and his popcorn sprawling. He held the bowl of popcorn level to his head in his right, extended hand, and walked across the room and took a seat next to Walker, who wasted no time at all stealing a handful of the snack before Brian was even situated comfortably. Brian scowled playfully at him and he smiled, his mouth still full of food, mockingly back. "So what'd I miss?" he asked.
"Nothing much," said Dylan. "They've just announced she's gonna be on."
"The audience?"
"Went bonkers," said Lauren. "And with good reason, considering her status now."
"I still can't believe it," said Jaime, shaking her head. "Our Mere, on Downpour."
Julia shrugged and smiled proudly. "Knew she'd go far," she said. "Just gotta wait for the rest of us to catch up, ey Nick?" she prodded the Lang she addressed with her elbow.
"Absolutely," Nick agreed.
The television buzzed and the host man, unknown to Brian but apparently to some of the others, said, "And now, ladies and gentlemen, Meredith Stepien!"
The audience went as bonkers as Lauren had said it had before. And then Meredith stepped out from behind a large blue tapestry and smiled becomingly, waving at the crowd. As she walked toward the chair, Brian noticed she wasn't wearing anything too excessively flashy - a knee-length, ruffled green skirt, and a white tank-top covered by an aqua sweater-jacket, which matched her sandals. Simple, but beautiful, as always. Her chocolate eyes swiveled over the crowd in a friendly manner and her brown locks shone under the lights. She took her seat across from the man. Then Brian noticed he was the only one in the room who hadn't applauded her entrance on the show; he was too busy smiling, and swatting Walker's hand away from his popcorn.
As the audience slowly died down and greetings were exchanged, the man asked her, "So, Meredith, I understand you're working on a new project."
Meredith grinned cheekily and shook her head. "No project in particular," she told him. "Just a few tweaks of things on the show."
"What kind of tweaks?" he asked, choosing to pursue that line of conversation.
"Oh, no big things," she said, waving it off. "Just a couple of people, costumes, lines here and there. Well, I'm trying."
"They let you have such reign?" he asked her, raising her eyebrows.
Meredith laughed. "Well, I'm also one of the writers, so yes, they do."
"What kind of people, or costumes?"
She never seemed to stop smiling, and it never lost its sincerity. "Just a few of my closest, most talented friends," she said. "And they just let me sometimes choose the 'genre' for the costumes, but wardrobe is really a lot better when it comes to letting the professionals deal with it. They know what the viewers want from the show."
"Speaking of the show," he said, leaning forward slightly, "What new plot twists are there? Any spoilers?"
Meredith out-right guffawed. "No spoilers!" she announced, and the crowd groaned. "You can't expect me to give everything out! Don't you people like surprises anymore?"
"So, no new characters, or anything?" he pressed.
"A fair few," she admitted. "A couple new characters, if I can get the people for them. And a few people leave…"
"Leave?" he asked, nearly jumping on her every word. There were a few murmurs around Brian, and he knew they were all thinking the same thing: Who was leaving the show? "Who does?"
"Two characters," she said. "That's all you're getting. And I'm sorry they had to go, but it was crucial to the story and plot."
The interviewer sighed, like the crowd, and leaned back, relaxed again. "Any other new projects?" he asked her.
"Well, I've heard rumors that Broadway wants me again, but I'm inclined to think them false," she said.
"Why is that?"
She shrugged. "They'd have given me warning, wouldn't they have? They did the last time."
He nodded, as if contemplating this, but they knew he was thinking of ways to dig up information. And then he smiled the friendly-host smile at her, and said, "You speak of the last time, when you were on Broadway in The Author's Sister. what was that like?"
Her face, filled with pure happiness, flickered into a thoughtful and indecisive expression. "Amazing," she said. "Just amazing. The cast was great, the writing was great, everyone was so talented and kind - it was the kind of thing I'd always dreamed about. The show itself was fun, very fun."
"What made it fun?"
"The people, the plot - mostly the audience." She grinned. "You had some coming in that broke down sobbing at the least sad things possible, and some that roared with laughter when a terrible pun was made. The audiences varied so greatly every night, and observing them was a lot of fun. And, the fact that it was, in fact, an audience and full house every night was awesome. Just to let you all know, every audience and every single member of it is appreciated," she announced, looking out at the crowd fondly.
They cheered unnecessarily, and the people around Brian all nodded their approval of her assessment. His eyes stayed glued to the screen.
"I understand," said the host, silencing the crowd, "that one of your old friends was in the show with you?"
"Oh, yes!" she bobbed her head enthusiastically. "Darren Criss, one of my best friends! He was amazing, as always."
"What part did he play?"
"My character's brother's friend's fiancee," she said.
The interviewer raised his eyebrows. "Really? What was it like, seeing him after all that time?"
Meredith's eyebrows furrowed, as opposed to his. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you hadn't seen him for a while, and then you're in a show together -"
"Hadn't seen him in a while?" Meredith laughed. "Please, I saw him two weeks prior! I see all of my friends as often as I can, over video chat or in person, whatever we can fit into the schedules."
"So, no matter what or where or how or when, your friends and you stay in touch?"
Meredith chuckled. "My friends are my family, and family is my one top priority. You wouldn't just stop talking to your mom, would you, upon moving away? No, you love them so you see them as much as you can."
Brian was sure he wasn't the only one smirking in the room.
"So you still love them?"
"Still?" Meredith scoffed. "I always will. Like I said, they're my family."
"Are you going to see them soon?"
"Hopefully." Her eyes glinted mischievously.
"You don't have plans?"
"If things go my way, I will," she said, cryptically. Brian looked around and met the other confused stares. "And if not, I'll see them anyway. I'm way overdue for a visit."
"When was the last time you saw them?" he asked, almost like he was losing curiosity. Brian recognized the reverse psychology. Luckily, so did Meredith.
"About…" she paused for a moment, thinking. "Four months ago?" She winced. "In person, that is. I still chat with them, of course, but I really need to see them soon."
There were nods and shouts of agreement. "We miss you!" screamed Denise at the television uselessly.
"So, what plans might bring them to you soon?" he inquired, failing the studied-casual approach of sitting back.
"Just a few tweaks."
Her original statement rung out: "No project in particular," she told him. "Just a few tweaks of things on the show." Brian caught Dylan's eye, and they both grinned foolishly, wondering what she was planning or trying to do.
"Alright," he said, obviously not catching her reference. "Missing some more than others?"
"I miss some qualities in some more than others," she responded fairly. "For example, I miss Lauren's defecation jokes, and Jaime's comforts when I needed them."
Lauren and Jaime both whooped, and high-fived to the giggles of the room..
"Any boy qualities you're missing?"
"Naturally," she replied. "Dylan's constant humorous cussing, Walker's sarcasm, Brian's general personality, etcetera."
"You had specific things about the two first boys," said the man, smirking, thinking he'd won something evidently. "The last, I'm assuming, is Brian Holden, and you just basically said you miss everything about him."
The entire room had grown stone-cold, but Meredith seemed unphased. "I miss everything about all of my friends," she said. "It's just almost all of them have a certain trait or characteristic that shapes their personality a bit and gives them an easy point to define missing. Brian's personality is well-rounded enough to make him general to miss. Jaime and Julia are like that, too."
The room hadn't moved.
"You had something specific for Jaime," he pointed out.
A few people shifted uncomfortably around the statues seated like real people on the furniture.
"That's because the last time I saw her, she comforted me when I needed comforting," she told him, her smile fading away at his edged questions. "That was the specific thing, her comforts."
"Alright," he said, holding his hands up to signify surrender. "What have you to say on the rumors that you and Brian Holden are dating?"
Meredith giggled, but it had lost all authenticity. "We're not dating," she said. "Years ago, once, and I doubt that we ever will again."