Coda 03 -The Letter Z

away.
’Course, Matt and Jared aren’t much better. They’re both lookin’ at the ceiling like they might find the winnin’ lotto numbers painted up there. Zach’s just smilin’ at me, and I can tell I made him happy doin’ it. And that’s more important to me than any of the rest.
We order dinner, and then there’s an awkward moment, when everybody just waits for somebody else to say somethin’. ’Course it ends up bein’ Jonathan who speaks first. And ’course it’s Zach he says it to.
“Do you still live in Denver?”
“We just moved to Coda, at the end of last summer.”
“Coda? Where is that?”
“In the mountains, not far from Rocky Mountain National Park.”
“What made you move there?”
Zach smiles at me and says, “It was a business decision.”
“Really? What do you do now? I assume you don’t still work at that video store.”
There’s a pause, and Zach gives Jonathan a look that I know means “fuck you” and says, “I own ‘that video store’.”
Jonathan looks surprised at that for a second, but he recovers fast. Unfortunately, he turns to me next.
“What about you, Angelo? What do you do?”
Shit. If I could climb under the fuckin’ table I would, but I can’t. I’m debatin’ right now whether gettin’ shit-faced over dinner is a really bad
    idea, or a really good one. I’d say the latter, if the drinks weren’t twelve bucks a piece. Jonathan’s still lookin’ at me, and I make myself say, “Work for Zach.”
“Oh.” It’s not even a word, but the way he says it makes me feel
    about two feet tall. Like I just said I’m a felon who got out early on account of my good fuckin’ behavior. He glances meaningfully at Zach, and I know he’s thinkin’ he just scored a point. I’m thinkin’ maybe he’s not wrong.
    “Where are you from, Jonathan?” Jared asks, and I’d kiss him for it if I didn’t think Matt would pound my face in two seconds later.
“Technically, I live in Phoenix. But I split my time between there and Vegas and L.A. We have enough clients in Vegas; I ended up buying a condo here. It works out well.” He looks around at us all and asks, “Are you planning to see any shows while you’re here.”
“We hadn’t decided,” Jared tells him. “Is there one you recommend?”
“Most of the Cirque shows are worth seeing.” Then he looks at Zach with a smile and says, “I guess I won’t bother recommending Phantom .”
    “Why not?” I ask, and then wish I kept my mouth shut, ’cause it means Jonathan looks at me.
He gives me sort of a fake apologetic smile and says, “Zach hated that show when we saw it. He couldn’t figure out why everybody was laughing during Notes .”
“I didn’t hate it,” Zach says.
“You didn’t get it, right?” I ask him, and he smiles at me.
“Sure I did,” he says, but I tell he’s just playin’ along with me. “There’s a guy in a mask, and he lives in an opera house.”
“That’s it?” I ask him.
“Isn’t it?”
    “No, man. It’s ’bout makin’ a deal with the devil, and havin’ to choose between love and your dream. The Phantom loved Christine, and he thought she loved her career enough that if he made her a star, she would love him back. But in the end, she can’t. Seems like mostly just ’cause the Phantom was ugly, which makes Christine a shallow bitch, if you ask me. But in the end, the Phantom loves her so much he lets her go.” I suddenly realize everybody’s listenin’ to me, not just Zach, and I stop short. I know my cheeks are turnin’ red. Zach and Matt are both smilin’ at me, and Jared seems halfway interested. But Jonathan is lookin’ at me, too, and somehow, just the expression on his face is enough to make me wish yet again I kept my mouth shut. I bet it’s the same look teachers give their students when they know they’ve only read the Cliff’s Notes instead of the whole book.
    “I take it you’ve seen it,” he says, like he’s doing me a favor. And I have to say, “Only the movie.”
“I’m sure it’s just as good,” Jonathan says in a way that makes it
    perfectly clear he thinks no such thing.
“You still go to the theater a lot?” Zach asks him.
“I have season tickets.” He smiles again at Zach. “I think of you
    every time I see West Side Story .” I can tell he thinks that will mean somethin’, but Zach just looks confused.
“Is that the one that starts out in a Vietnamese whore house?”
“No,” Jonathan says, with obvious