It was Thursday afternoon, a day before Aida debuted at the Paramount. A week had passed since the intense encounter between Alec and Mila, and she was still back and forth on whether to accompany him. In a normal situation she would not consider going, but she had waited to see Aida for a while now.

It didn't help that she didn't hear back from her friends until a day or two after she'd been fired. She almost broke down and called her parents, but managed to stop herself. Mila was first generation Brazilian-American, and the first in her family to go to college. Her parents sacrificed so she could get an education and make something of herself. She was their beacon of hope, until she crashed her car into a building. There was no way she could tell them she messed up again. She couldn't diminish the little faith they had left in her.

She was especially upset with her best friend Alicia. She lived in D.C. working as a government contractor, but they managed to speak a couple times a week. Mila listened to Alicia for hours, every day, for weeks when her boyfriend broke up with her. It was disappointing she couldn't be there for her in the same way.

Her first week as an unemployed person had been miserable. She got up at 7:30 a.m. every morning and spent the day inside searching the Internet for jobs. At about 10:30 a.m. this morning, she was surprised to hear a knock on her door. It was a delivery man with a large rectangular black box and a silver envelope on top. He didn't say much, nor ask her to sign for it.

"Thanks?" she said as he walked away.

Mila had never received a personal delivery to her door before, or a box this nice. She remembered being super impressed with Evan's hand wrapped Valentine's Day gift. She had an inclination who the box was from.

There was a silver ribbon tab sticking out, and once she pulled it the box fell apart. Three rose bouquets sat in identical glass vases in the middle of her table. From left to right they were burgundy, lavender and white. She thought they were really lovely. She opened the envelope to find a burgundy card inside. It read:

Sorry for being a jerk. I hope you and Evan have a nice time at the opera.

- Alec

Two tickets for tomorrow's show sat at the bottom of the envelop. What a nice gesture, she thought. Maybe she could forgive him a smidgen.

She called Evan. He was at work, but every now and then he picked up.

"Hey babe," he said on the other end of the line. She could tell he was smiling.

"Babe!" she yelled in excitement. "One of my neighbors gave us tickets to Aida!"

"Seriously? That's amazing!" he said. "For when?"

"Tomorrow, opening night," She did a little dance of excitement in place.

"Wait," he said, his tone changing. "This isn't that Eric guy who made a pass at you is it?"

"His name is Alec, and yes. This is his way of apologizing." The phone went silent for a few seconds. She imagined he was trying to find a nice way to say hell no!

"Mila, I know you really want to go, but are you sure? You sounded shaken up when you told me about it." Most men would have said no to taking the tickets, but Evan was considerate of her feelings. "You've even been mumbling in your sleep, which you only do when you're stressed out."

"Really? What have I been saying?"

"Some gibberish about cabbage."

"I must really be stressed out," she said. "I don't even like cabbage, nor do I ever think about it."

"Look," he sighed. "As your boyfriend, I don't like this guy and don't want you accepting anything he gives you."

She decided to not mention the flowers.

"However, I know you've had a really difficult week and know how long you've been wanting to see Aida. As long as it makes you happy, I'll swallow my super manly pride and go with you."

"I love you!" she said smiling. "I knew there was a reason I keep you around."

"Happy girl, happy world, right?" He laughed.

"Evan, you may not be a total idiot."

After hanging up, she knew she had to get rid of the flowers out of respect for her boyfriend. His understanding had limits. The flowers would have been a nice gesture if they weren't so extravagant. She found some tape and boxed them back up the best she could. Underneath Alec's original note, she wrote:

Thank you for the tickets, apology accepted :-)

- Mila

She gathered the box and the note and walked to the other side of the building . She sat everything down in front of Alec's door. She didn't knock because she wanted to avoid him. At least now they could be cordial when they saw each other in the hallway, she thought. His flowers would last the rest of the day and he could find another use for them.

*****

The next day, Mila travelled downtown in an Uber to the Paramount Theatre alone. Of course Evan would get food poisoning two hours before the performance, she thought. He could barely make it away from the toilet. Mila's life these days felt like one coincidental disappointment after the other.

Once again, none of her friends were picking up, so she couldn't even invite someone last minute. Out of respect for Evan, She didn't dare invite Alec in his place. When she got to the Paramount she planned to turn her extra ticket over to the box office.

She wore a simple, long, halter pastel green dress. Her hair was back and she'd made a large headband braid, letting a couple curly pieces fall to the side. She topped off her look with some bright red matte lipstick. She felt elegant, and was disappointed Evan wouldn't be able to enjoy it.

When she stepped into the Paramount, it was stunning. The golden ceilings were elaborately decorated and felt like being inside a painting. The deep red carpeted floor gave the impression of an actual red carpet event. When she got to the box office, the female attendant looked at her funny.

"Really?" she asked, with a confused look. "You're just going to give this ticket back?"

"I don't really have a choice." she said. "My boyfriend got sick last minute and I don't have anyone else to go with."

"That's a shame, this is an excellent seat." Way to rub it in lady, she thought. "Actually miss, it's in the special owners section and unfortunately can't be sold to the general public." Mila stared at her for a second before taking the ticket back and walking away.

The theatre was sold out for this performance the entire month, and they wouldn't take her extra ticket because it was exclusive. No wonder the performing arts were dying out with younger generations. She was also surprised Alec gave her such important tickets. She found an usher to direct her to her seat. His eyes lit up in excitement when he saw her ticket.

It was an excellent seat. It was two rows from the orchestra. The house was packed, and she was by far the youngest person sitting in the section. Yet, here she was, alone and missing the black tie memo. She imagined Alec and his expensive looking ex-girlfriend fit here perfectly.

As the lights dimmed. Something in one of the owner boxes caught her eye. An eccentric looking man with a sparkly black suit and bow tie sat holding golden binoculars. It wasn't like he needed them, he was pretty close to the stage. Mila thought he looked familiar, but couldn't place him from afar. He was giddy as he leaned over to speak to a familiar face.

Alec Laurent.

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