August 2016
New York, New York

The moment he saw those big brown eyes looking up at him, he knew he was in trouble. Big trouble.

That evening

Dawson Leery had never felt like more of a sellout in his career. Every day, he started to regret agreeing to this more and more.

You'll be three-fourths of the way to an EGOT, Harvey Weinstein had promised him, and if you write a song for the album, we might even get you that Grammy.

The allure of joining that elusive list of people who had won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony, along with the financial incentives, was enough to get Dawson to forget about his artistic integrity, to turn one of his horror movies into a cheery musical. The scene in front of him made him question everything.

An ensemble of actors and actresses dressed in bikinis and speedos with scuba masks and mock tanks on their backs were dancing around as they sang the upbeat title song from the show, Dawson's one musical contribution, solely for the purpose of being credited on the album.

Deeper creatures, deeper creatures,
The deeper you go,
The bigger the creatures.
Stay out of the deep,
Or you might find what you fear,
Deeper creatures, deeper creatures.

Weinstein had insisted that the actresses wear bikinis instead of more appropriate wetsuits, which, of course, meant that the actors needed to wear speedos to maintain the aesthetic. The choreographer seemed to be at his wits' end. It was clear that other attributes had been prioritized in casting above raw talent.

An extremely talented stage manager was handling the actual technical direction. She was smart and beautiful, and Dawson mused that if he were single, he'd have been interested in a relationship with her outside the professional realm. As it was, their relationship was strictly professional, and she knew far more about theater than he did.

He was glad to sit in the front of the orchestra and provide his "artistic direction" while she handled the actual stage movements, something about which he knew nothing. He was even less interested than usual this evening. Joey Potter, a woman he once considered his soulmate, had texted him for the first time in months. She had gotten into a fight with her husband, his best friend, and she wanted to know if she could meet him after he was done tonight. She was scarce on details, but it seemed like the fight had been really bad.

"Sally, can you come over here," Dawson called to his stage manager. She yelled cut and came to join him.

"Sorry, Dawson, I think this is the best we can get out of them," she offered in the way of an apology.

"It's fine," he said entirely disinterested. "Sex sells, and this will be sold out for months. Do you think you can handle the rest of the rehearsal? I need to go meet with someone."

"Let's just call it a wrap. I doubt we'll make any more progress tonight. We can work on a new scene in the morning."

"Okay, see you tomorrow," Dawson said as he got up and left the theater.

"That's a wrap! Meet back at 11 AM tomorrow," Sally called out to the cast, who were more than relieved to be going home.

When he got home, Joey was waiting on his couch. Her eyes were bloodshot, and it was clear that she didn't have any more tears left to shed.

"Sorry, had trouble wrapping things up at the theater."

"And I thought I was going to be the one who was late, took forever to get the kids to bed," Joey said, forcing a smirk out of the corner of her lip.

"These actors are worse than toddlers," Dawson sighed.

"Wanna switch?" This time her smile was genuine.

Dawson ignored her question.

"So, are we going to talk about the real issue, or just keep up the small talk?"

"Pacey thinks I cheated on him," she said in a level tone, entirely devoid of emotion.

"Well, did you?"

"How could you even ask that!"

"It's a simple question, did you?"

"No, Dawson, I didn't cheat on my husband."

Dawson stared deeply into her eyes as she answered him. She seemed to recoil under his gaze. He used to be able to read her mind just by looking at her face. Now, he came up blank. As their years of marriage to the Witter siblings went on, Dawson and Joey had started to feel less and less like soulmates by the year.

"Then, why does he think you did?"

"It's a long story."

"I've got time. Do you need something to drink?"

"Can you warm up some milk? With bourbon."

"Sure."

He went to the kitchen and made her the drink she requested. As the milk simmered, he took a beer from the fridge for himself. He brought back both drinks and sat down next to her on the couch.

"Where's Gretchen?" Joey asked, seemingly noticing her absence for the first time.

"She had to go back to California. Midge is starting preschool on Monday," Dawson answered, referencing his daughter, who had been named in honor of his late father.

"Can we just watch a movie?" Joey asked ignoring his explanation.

"No, not until you tell me why my best friend thinks his wife is cheating on him."

Joey played with her hair nervously, taken aback by Dawson's bluntness.

"Because I spent the night at Eddie's."

"Eddie? The guy you dated after we-"

"-after we slept together, yes."

"Why would you have spent the night with him?"

"I was helping him edit his book, and I lost track of the time. Next thing I knew, I had fallen asleep, and it was morning." The answer seemed carefully rehearsed, and Dawson wasn't entirely convinced.

"And is that what you told Pacey?"

"Yes, but you know Pace. He'll get jealous of a mannequin if I look at it for too long."

Dawson couldn't help but laugh at her joke. He knew she was right.

"Jealousy is healthy in a relationship," Dawson offered.

"Doesn't seem like we're in a healthy place right now, does it?"

For the first time, Joey looked vulnerable, and Dawson finally believed her.

"No, I guess not. What do you want to watch?"

"Did you see Birdman yet?" Joey asked.

"Yeah, kinda mandatory viewing for a theater director," Dawson laughed, "but we can watch it again if you want."

"Okay, been meaning to watch it ever since it won the Oscar, but haven't had a chance yet."

Dawson turned off the lights and navigated through his streaming options to find the movie. As soon as he sat back down on the couch, Joey immediately snuggled up to him and leaned her head against his shoulder. He wanted to tell her to move away, but he didn't have the willpower to do so. They both enjoyed the movie, and it was starting to get late by the time it was done.

"I'll make up the guest room for you," Dawson said after he turned the lights back on.

"I want to sleep in your room," Joey protested like a petulant child, flipping her hair behind her ear.

"Jo, no, we're both mar-"

The moment he saw those big brown eyes looking up at him, he knew he was in trouble. Big trouble.

That afternoon

Michelle was happy with her job. Despite the fact that her employers were constantly fighting, they seemed to love each other unconditionally. They spent as much time as they could with the kids, despite the demands of their busy jobs, and they never directed their anger at her, even if she messed something up. It was all that a nanny could want, that and the good pay.

Everything seemed different today. This was no ordinary fight, and she found herself square in the middle of it. Joey had come home at 7 AM that morning, and her first words had been for her to not tell Pacey. It wasn't her place to question why her mistress had been out so late, but nothing about their current fight made sense.

"You must have been dreaming!" Joey exclaimed, trying to avoid looking directly at Michelle.

"Dreaming, yeah, okay."

"I'm telling you, I got home around 3 AM, you were already asleep. We were almost done with the editing, and I wanted to finish it last night. I know how much you hated when I went over there, so I was hoping it could be the last night."

"Liar."

Michelle was shocked by Pacey's bluntness. She hadn't told Pacey, but Joey was looking at her in accusation.

"Michelle, settle this for us," Pacey demanded. "What time did Joey get home?"

"Sir, please don't get me involved," she said meekly. Her employers were more than happy to continue the fight without her involved.

Joey started crying. Pacey didn't care.

"Okay, I got home at 7 AM. I fell asleep while we were editing the book, but I swear, I didn't cheat on you."

"Why should I believe you?"

"Because you're my husband, and I love you," she said in between the tears.

"That's not enough. I should have known, you haven't wanted to have sex in months. I bet this isn't even the first guy."

"What are you talking about Pacey?! When was the last you even tried to touch me?"

"A man gets tired of being rejected so many times. I get it, I always knew the passion would eventually flame out."

"Don't say that, Pace. We have two kids and demanding jobs, but you excite me as much as you always have." Joey walked up to him and tried to kiss him, but he dodged away from her.

"Don't try that now. I can't believe a single word out of your mouth anymore. If you lied to me about what time you got home, you're probably lying about cheating on me, and everything else."

"I'm not! I swear!"

"Anything else, Jo, anything else I could forgive, but not cheating. Not cheating," Pacey started towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To the restaurant. At least my kitchen staff doesn't lie to me when they screw something up."

"When are you getting back? I'll wait up. I'm sorry." Michelle could hear the desperation in Joey's voice.

"I'm not. I'll stay with one of my real friends." He left without another word.

Joey broke down crying as soon the door closed behind him, and Michelle walked over to her, trying to soothe her.

"What am I going to do, Michelle?" Joey asked once the tears slowed down.

"I don't know, Joey. Why didn't you just tell him what time you came home in the first place?"

"Right, tell my husband I fell asleep at an ex-boyfriend's hotel room, that I didn't come home until 7 AM. Do you really think he would have believed that I wasn't cheating on him if I told him that? I thought this would be the easy way out."

Michelle could see Joey's logic, and she didn't have an answer.

"Exactly," Joey said in response to her silence.

"I'm sure he'll come around, he always does."

"I don't know, this was different," she didn't seem interested in the conversation as she sent a text message on her phone.

They heard crying from the nursery, signifying that the kids had woken up from their naps. Joey's phone chirped as they started to walk towards the nursery.

"Will you be okay here with the kids tonight? I'm going to stay at Dawson's tonight, I'll go after we put the kids to sleep."

"Sure, whatever you need to do." Michelle didn't have the heart to tell Joey that sleeping over at the apartment of another ex-boyfriend was probably the worst thing she could do tonight.

That morning

Pacey was awoken from his deep slumber as he felt Joey get into bed next to him. With the blackout shades, he couldn't tell what time it was.

"Jo, is that you?" He said groggily.

"Yes, go back to sleep, Pace."

"What time is it?"

"It's late, almost 3 AM, we were trying to finish the book and lost track of time, sorry I didn't text you."

"It's okay, I fell asleep early, early for me at least."

Joey fell asleep almost as soon as she got in bed. Pacey looked at his watch. It said 7 AM. He thought about confronting the inconsistency, but he fell back asleep before he could say anything.

The night before

Joey was so proud of Eddie. He had written a cross between memoirs and a travelogue with fictionalized elements mixed in. She described it as On the Road meets Gulliver's Travels. It had real potential, and she loved his title. From Worcester to Warsaw just flew off the tongue. She really hoped that they could finish it tonight.

Joey had arranged for Eddie to meet with Mr. Donovan next week, a meeting he had gladly accepted.

Anything that gets the Joey Potter seal of approval is something I want to publish, he had told her warmly when she asked to arrange the meeting. Her The Princess Wishes series was the single biggest source of income for Donovan Publishing. All she had to do was churn out a new edition every year or so, and it was an instant bestseller. She wondered at what point she had sold out. She decided that it must have happened gradually, rather than suddenly.

From Worcester to Warsaw was real literature. She missed writing books like that. This was the reason she wanted to become a writer, not to make millions of dollars selling fairy tales that became more insipid with each edition.

"Have you spoken to Harley lately?" Eddie asked suddenly.

"Harley Hetson?"

"Yeah."

"She just got engaged. Don't understand why you never reached out to her. She'd ask about you every time I saw her, it seemed."

"I don't know, I guess it got too weird. She knew I was only into her because she reminded me of you, and she played into it."

Eddie looked at her longingly as he spoke, and Joey knew she should feel uncomfortable, but she didn't. In fact, she started to return the gaze before catching herself and suddenly looking away.

"Let's just get back to the manuscript, Tiger," Eddie said, clearly noticing her look.

The use of his nickname for her and the tone with which he used it sent her heart racing. She loved Pacey with all of her heart, but things had become stale between them ever since their second kid was born. She tried to remember the last time he had touched her, and it had been a while. The fact that she had to think about it was proof of how their diminished their sex life had become.

"Okay," she said thumbing through the last chapters, "no reason we can't finish this tonight…"

They both seemed wistful about the idea that they would not be meeting nightly anymore after she was done editing the manuscript. Pacey complained every time she left, but it wasn't like they were going to do anything together. He was spending more and more time at the restaurant. Pacey and Eddie actually got along pretty well, Joey considered, but he was always quick to get jealous.

She worked through the last few chapters, but she could barely keep her eyes open by the time she reached the final chapter.

"What time is it?" Joey asked.

"It's almost 2, we can finish this tomorrow. I'll take you home, it's way too late for you to go out alone at this hour."

She knew firsthand the legitimacy of his concern, but she was determined to finish the manuscript, and she knew Pacey would rather her not have to come back here an extra night.

"I think we can finish it tonight," she said groggily. She was wrong.