~ Saturday, October, 24th - 6:11 PM ~
André decided to wait until later that evening to finally confront Jade.
He reasoned that by then, Beck would be volunteering at the community theater, as he does every weekend.
Admitting his feelings to Jade would be A LOT easier without her boyfriend having a front-row seat.
Driving down a busy street, André glanced at his phone to see if there were any missed calls.
"Nothing. Dammit," he muttered, as he turned right at the green light.
André attempted to call and text Jade earlier, but his calls were routed to her voicemail and his text went unanswered.
He then decided to stop by her house to see if she was home, but there was no one there.
So, at this moment, his best bet was to begin his search in the one location where Jade was at least once a day.
Pulling into Jet Brew's parking lot, André took a deep breath.
At this point, he was entirely focused.
He knew what he had to do.
He knew that he had to take the risk.
And he knew that he had to tell Jade the truth.
He only prayed that her reaction would not destroy his friendship with Beck.
As he got out of his car, André took a moment to scan the people who sat on the cafe patio.
Not one sign of Jade.
But before he could go inside, a voice startled him.
"Hey, André."
It was none other than Beck walking over from the other side of the parking lot and sipping on a cup of coffee.
André had to play this off well in order to keep Beck oblivious to what was happening.
"'Sup, Beck!" André chuckled nervously, "A-aren't you suppose to be at the theater?"
"Nah, not tonight. One of the pipes sprung a leak and a part of the auditorium was flooded." Beck answered, as they both leaned against the entrance railing, "I'm only here to grab some coffee before I go back and help with the cleanup."
"Ugh, that sucks," said André as he slowly calmed down.
"Yup," Beck replied, taking another sip.
For a second, it got quiet between the two friends.
"So... what'cha doing?" asked Beck with a puzzled expression, "Never took you for a coffee lover."
"I'm not. But I am looking for one."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. Jade, have you seen her? She hasn't returned my calls or texts."
"That's no surprise."
"What do you mean?"
"She's at BloodHaus, it's this horror/sci-fi film festival that's happening downtown. I dropped her off about an hour ago, so she probably turned off her phone to avoid being bothered." answered Beck, as they moved aside for some passing customers, "What do you need her for?"
"Oh, um... I need her to hear a new mix of the song she helped me with," André responded, caught off guard.
"So, do you have it on a flash drive? Because I could bring it to her."
"Uh... well, I couldn't find a flash drive with enough space for the song, so I had to upload it to my phone."
"Well, can I hear it?"
André was getting tired of making up lies to tell.
He just wanted to confront Jade and get everything out in the open.
Why was Beck making this so difficult?
"I really wanted Jade to hear it first so she could contribute some new ideas. When the song is finished, everyone else can hear it." André sighed, continuing to calm himself.
"Oh... well, I can give you the address to the theater," Beck replied as he began texting on his phone.
Receiving a ping on his phone, André said, "Thanks, uh... I'll talk to you later."
"Sure…" Beck replied as he walked over to his car.
Oof, that was so awkward.
~ 6:48 PM ~
Over thirty minutes after leaving Jet Brew, André finally arrived at the theater.
It was difficult to distinguish Jade from the rest of the similarly dressed people as he walked through the crowded lobby.
As he made his way up to the second floor, he passed numerous vendor booths selling different kinds of horror/sci-fi merchandise and memorabilia.
It wasn't until André came the fifth one, that he heard a familiar voice ring through the crowd.
"What do you mean you're sold out?"
"You heard me. We're out of posters."
"That's bullshit! The two guys in front of me asked if there were any more for their friends, and you said there was plenty."
"That's your word against mine."
"I can't believe this."
André saw the opportunity to intervene and took it.
"Excuse me, but what's going on here?"
"I've told her numerous times that we're out of the Hellscape Daydream collectible posters." said the vendor, who looked irritated, "But this crazy bitch won't take no for an answer."
"I'll show you what a bitch I am!" yelled Jade, as she tried to jump over the table.
Blocking her from the vendor, André asked, "Jade, are you sure that this guy is lying?"
"I'm positive."
"Okay."
Turning to look at the vendor, André asked, "Let me guess: You're planning on stealing the remaining posters and then selling them on AuctionBid for a higher price, aren't you? Because I'm sure you wouldn't mind if we got security to check out your booth."
The vendor stared at him for a moment and then gradually caved to his subtle threat.
"Okay, alright! I was lying! I was about to go on break and smuggle the last few into my car. It wouldn't be until a couple of hours before we got some more brought in." the vendor confessed, now sweating profusely, "B-but you don't understand. People online will be willing to play out the wazoo for just one of these."
"You son of a-," hissed Jade as she tried to get around André.
"Now was telling the truth so hard?" asked André, cutting Jade off and continuing to hold her back.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I won't do it again." responded the vendor, who looked frightened, "J-just please don't tell my boss. Please!"
"Deal, now give her the poster," André ordered, as the vendor grabbed one of the posters he had hidden underneath one of the tables and handed it to Jade.
André never thought of himself as intimidating, but at the moment he felt empowered.
After the intense situation was de-escalated, he now faced the horrific challenge that awaited him.
"Hey, I really appreciate what you did." thanked Jade, as she held the rolled-up poster, "How did you know he was planning to sell these online?"
"My uncle Victor once hired me to work backstage at this music festival, and I witnessed several vendors stealing merchandise. When Vic discovered what was going on, the vendors were arrested, and it was discovered that they were price gouging the items online." André stated as the two walked over to the balcony that overlooked the first-floor lobby, "So I figured that vendor was probably doing the same shit, too."
Impressed, Jade said, "Well, thanks again. I've had my eye on this poster for quite some time."
"It was nothing. I was just being a good friend."
"Good friend, huh?" questioned Jade, now turning her attention to her friend, "So what exactly are you doing here?"
Caught off-guard, André scrambled for a reason, "Oh, um... I love horror films too. Blood, gore, can't get enough of it."
"No, seriously. Why are you here?"
Taking a deep breath, André decided to just come clean.
"I came here because I had to tell you something."
"Sure, what is it?"
André found it hard to form words.
Not surprising, to say the least.
Jade was standing there with that curious look on her face.
That really cute, curious look.
"André? Is something wrong?"
…
The tension was increasing.
Words were rushing around in his head.
Out of the millions that were there, three simple yet complex words blurted out.
"I love you."