I strategically squeezed myself next to Oliver, practically sitting in his lap, across from Ros and Jess and Phoebe, while Audrey and Touchstone took the head of the table. My elbow bumped Oliver’s every time I moved. No one wanted to eat, but we felt obligated to stay at the table, munching on Phoebe’s green beans with our fingers.

“How’s Abominable going?” said Audrey.

Oliver, Phoebe, and I groaned.

“It’s now called Snow Walker,” Oliver said. “And it’s going to be fine. The lead actor has stopped bickering with the director long enough to learn his lines, so we’re in a much better place than we were a few weeks ago.”

“I heard they’re getting back together,” said Audrey.

“It does seem like that’s happening,” Oliver said. “But whatever’s going on with her, it seems her vision is finally coming together. She decided to stop taking the play so seriously and have more fun with it.”

“Have you learned all your lines?” I asked.

“Ook, ook,” Oliver said, and everyone at the table laughed, me the hardest and longest of anyone, and I lay my hand on his forearm to indicate just how funny I found him. Touchstone rolled his eyes at me dramatically. “See? The whole thing works much better as a comedy than it does a really serious play. There are still moments of emotional resonance, but overall it’s much lighter. It’s not the disaster I thought it was going to be.”

“No,” said Phoebe. “Now it’s just the costume that’s the disaster.”

I was legitimately shocked to hear the doubt in Phoebe’s voice.

“What are you talking about?” I said. “It’s going so well. Every time I see you, you’re over there sketching or coming up with a new prototype.”

“I mean, Phoebe’s a genius,” said Audrey. “We know this.”

“Yeah, well, it’d be great if some of that genius decided to show up,” said Phoebe.

“Wait,” I said. “Do you really think it’s going badly?”

“I’m just… I really shouldn’t be saying this in front of the actor, so just promise me you won’t remember this, okay, Oliver?”

I cupped my hands over his ears in what felt like a very ingeniously flirty move. Again, Touchstone shook his head at me, like he couldn’t believe my outlandish behavior. Ros, unfortunately, failed to notice; they were picking at their risotto, like they’d rather be anywhere else in the whole entire world.

“Um, Celia? You can stop,” Oliver said.

“Sorry!” I said, and let my hands trail along his shoulder. This time Ros saw, and I swear a flicker of disbelief crossed over their face.