He dug in his heels, straining casually against the man’s arm as he dropped his voice to a low murmur. “Listen, I’m kind of on a date—”
“It’ll only take five minutes. Please, Dylan.” The man’s face shone with scarcely contained panic as he gestured to the door. “You know Eric will blame me if it’s not fixed.”
Okay, I thought Cleveland was a big city. Why does everyone seem to know each other?
When he hesitated again, Lacy nudged him in the ribs. “I don’t care,” she said easily. “I can stand in line and get snacks while you figure it out.”
“...are you sure?”
“Absolutely.” Her face brightened as she turned on her heel and headed back toward the main entryway. “Maybe I’ll get some...popcorn.”
He grinned automatically, but it faded as he turned back to the door. Ask Logan ten things he knew nothing about, and how to fix a lever would be right up there on the list. But the man was looking at him expectantly, and he stepped forward with a little sigh.
“Sure...I can take a look.”
TWO MINUTES LATER, Logan was crouched on the floor of the projection room. A chair had been wedged under the door for good measure, and his hand was cupped over his phone.
“Come on, come on...” he muttered. “Pick up.”
‘Hey, it’s Dylan. Leave me a message.
Or if you happen to be of the female persuasion, you could always come by...’
Logan rolled his eyes, gripping the phone tighter in his hand. “Dylan—it’s me. I know we said no contact, but I’m kind of in a bind here. I’m locked in the projection room at the local theater, and there’s this guy outside the door asking me to fix some kind of lever.” His eyes flickered nervously around the room. “I have no idea how to do that. To be honest, I’m not even sure which part the lever is. You need to call me back as soon as you—”
There was a loud beep as the phone cut off his message.
“—get this.”
He leaned back against the wall with a sigh, bringing his knees up to his chest.
Perfect. Just perfect.
A loud knock on the door startled him, as a man’s voice filtered through the walls.
“How’s it going in there? You need any help?”
Logan scrambled to his feet, checking to make sure his barricade was holding steady.
“Uh...no! I got it, thanks!” He cast a panicked look back at the projector, wiping a drip of sweat from his forehead. “Just another minute or two, and it should be good to go.”
Okay, plan: Is there a window in this place? Maybe I can crawl out to safety.
“Dylan?” Logan’s eyes snapped shut, as Lacy’s voice joined the man’s. “Hey, you almost done? The movie’s about to start.”
“Yeah, just...just a minute!”
Her voice propelled him into action, and he turned back to the machine—pacing around it in a tight circle with a fiery determination flickering in his eyes. After deciding that the silver stick poking out of the side was most likely the lever, he gave it an investigatory shake.
...it broke off in his hand.
Oh shit.
He tried desperately to jam it back into the hole. Crossed himself and said a prayer. Cursed in about ten different languages. Nothing was working. In the end, there was nothing left to do but own up to it...and hope he was long gone by the time they found out the truth.
With a grand flourish, he pushed open the door to find Lacy and the movie attendant waiting on the other side. A debilitating wave of panic crashed through him, but he held out the lever with a confident smile, slapping it into the man’s waiting hand.
“That should do it.”