They’ve been roommates for about a month now. The old bud has retrieved some of his things from storage: a mirror for above the fireplace mantel, pillows and throws, dining room chairs, large colorful abstracts painted by a friend. The wife and her bud spend some time moving the paintings around to find their right places. It’s not a huge makeover, but this apartment lacked for art and anything more than bare-bones furniture, and it now looks like a place where people actually live. Her movie has been going around the festival circuit this year and is about to be screened again, this time at a small festival in the city.
What do you think about the idea of having a few people over before the screening? she asks. A few of our friends, a few people from the cast and crew.
I think it’s a great idea.
He spends the afternoon vacuuming and cleaning the high windows in the living room that are nearly black with soot from the bus stop in front of the building. They get another good music mix going. There is more singing and dancing.
The kid comes over early to do the wife’s makeup. The kid is way into makeup. The kid is into ice climbing and writing and makeup. The kid sets the wife up on a barstool in the kitchen, where there’s the most light. She takes her time. The wife looks in the mirror. One more thing the kid is good at. It’s pretty and subtle, way more subtle than the wife expects it to be even though it takes her some time. The wife doesn’t realize until she sees the photos later how good it looks. Her friends and family show up for the party. It goes well. That went well! her bud says. They take the party over to the screening. The response to the movie is good. Again. There’s an awards ceremony afterward. It’s a tiny indie festival, she didn’t even realize there were awards. The director of the tiny indie festival comes out after the screening to hand out the awards. He says the title of their movie. He hands the award to the director and to her. Their movie wins best feature. Best feature. Red carpet photos. These are words she says in sentences this year.
Sometime around midnight, the wife, her bud, the kid, and her boyfriend head to a diner. It has those giant phone book–sized menus, with glossy photos of menu options. They’re all a little punchy because it’s been a big day and they’re hungry. Housebud points to something on the menu when the waiter comes. Something about this is hilarious to the wife and the kid, though it cannot be explained, and they nearly slide under the table laughing until their stomachs hurt. The kid’s boyfriend and her bud look at each other, wondering what’s so funny. I dunno, her bud says, but I’m pretty sure it was at my expense.