The Artistic Director

Hi, my name is Ben.

NATHAN: Five years. Can you believe it?

This is my husband.

ME: I really can't.

I'm f**king miserable.

NATHAN: I ordered some wine so we can toast our anniversary--
ME: Order more.
NATHAN: What?
ME: Nothing.
NATHAN: Oh, well. I also wanted to celebrate your theater company reaching its five year milestone.

Oh yeah, I also run the most successful theater in Rhode Island.

AND I'm f**king miserable.

Nathan and I were enjoying ourselves at a restaurant downtown when a police car when racing by the window we were sitting at.

NATHAN: Have you picked next season yet?
ME: Yeah, we're going to do some premiere of something and some other premiere and As You Like It.
NATHAN: Why As You Like It?
ME: Why not?

Admittedly, my passion has diminished over the years. For theater. For love. For life.

NATHAN: ...Forget about that awful book Jeremy wrote.
ME: What?
NATHAN: The book Jeremy wrote. Did you read it yet? It's awful.
ME: You're just reading it now? It came out three years ago.

Jeremy, my old nemesis slash lover slash soulmate slash nemesis wrote a tell-all-semi-fictional book about Providence, and more than a few people wanted to kill him for it. Luckily for him, he disappeared two years before it was even published. Nobody knows where he is.

In the book, there's a character named Benton who Jeremy marries at the end of the book.

ME: I kind of liked the book.
NATHAN: Really? Even though it ended with him marrying Billy?
ME: He didn't marry Billy in the book, he married--

Uh oh.

NATHAN: Married who?
ME: Well, whoever the Benton character was based on. You know, Ben...ton.
NATHAN: It was the soulmate of the protagonist. It was Billy.
ME: Or, you know, someone else.

Three more police cars went by our window with their sirens on.

ME: What's going on?

The waitress appeared at our table looking really upset.

WAITRESS: Um, I'm sorry, but I have to leave. My roommate's at a bar and I guess there's been a shooting there or something.
NATHAN: What bar?
WAITRESS: Prisms.

The gay bar?

NATHAN: Wasn't tonight the Miracle Ball?
ME: Every gay guy in town could be at that club right now.
NATHAN: Wow...

This is--

NATHAN: ...Good thing we're not there, huh? Cheers.

He lifted his glass to us and our relationship.

Believe it or not, at that moment, I wished that I was at Prisms.

Then my phone rang.

NATHAN: Who is it?

When the name came up, I tried to hide the look of shock on my face.

ME: Uh...

But it didn't work.

NATHAN: Ben, what's wrong?

Jeremy was calling me.