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“Charlie?” I heard a few seconds later. “Are you here, love?”

“Yeah, what’s up?” I said, coming out of the bedroom. Lisa followed me.

Orlando looked like he’d just seen Santa or something, the way his eyes were shining. I couldn’t help but smile as I looked at him. “I need you to come with me.”

“Okay,” I said slowly, grabbing my purse from the sofa, where I’d thrown it. “Orlando, what’s going on?”

“Don’t ask any questions, darling,” he said, ushering me out of the apartment. “Lisa, you can come with us, if you’d like,” he said over his shoulder to her.

“Lock the door,” I called as I was led down the stairs by Elijah, who’d been waiting in the hallway. The four of us went to the black car that was waiting by the curb in front of the building, and piled in.

“Seriously, where are we going?” I said again as the car pulled away from the curb.

“You’re going to find out my surprise,” Orlando said, squeezing my hand. “Please, just be patient.”

I couldn’t help but fidget during the ten-minute drive. It didn’t help that no one was talking. When the car finally stopped, I jumped out, to find we were in a semi-residential neighborhood.

“Hard to believe we’re still in New York City,” I said, looking around. We were definitely in the Upper West Side, and though it wasn’t far from where I lived, I’d never been there. The apartment buildings surrounding us were huge, and the cars were a lot nicer than the old beaters I was used to seeing in my neighborhood. Even the people passing on the sidewalks had a classier air than I was used to. It was a completely different world, and it was only ten minutes from home.

“Wow, this is nice,” Lisa said, getting out of the car behind me. “Why do I suddenly feel underdressed?” She chuckled.

“What are we doing here?” I said as Orlando took my hand and pulled me toward the giant brownstone building we were standing in front of. My jeans and pink t-shirt seemed so inappropriate, and I really didn’t want to go inside.

“Trust me,” he said, his voice low. Elijah and Lisa followed us into the lobby of the building.

“Is this a hotel?” I heard Lisa whisper to Elijah. He laughed.

“No, not exactly,” he said.

“Hello, Mr. Bloom,” the concierge at the front desk said as we approached. The lobby was large and elegant, done in rich colours and dark mahogany wood. “Everything is all set upstairs for you.”

“Wonderful, thank you,” Orlando said, taking a set of keys from the man. “Gregory, this is Ms. Madison,” he introduced me. “I’m sure you’ll be seeing lots more of her.” He smiled warmly at me.

“A pleasure, miss,” Gregory said, kissing my hand. I felt like I’d stepped into a time warp, and fought the urge to curtsey.

“Same here,” I said, not knowing what else to say. Why did I care who the concierge of this building was? I shot a puzzled glance at Orlando, but he was too busy looking over some papers Gregory handed him.

“Everything looks good,” he said, flipping through the papers. “We’re going to go upstairs, and I’ll deal with this afterwards.”

“Very good, sir,” Gregory said, nodding.

“Okay, love,” Orlando said, turning to me. “To the lift.”

We went to the elevators, and Orlando pressed the button for the fourteenth floor. Try as I might, I couldn’t put together what was happening, why I’d been brought here. Elijah had a goofy grin on his face, and Orlando looked positively giddy. I was glad Lisa looked as clueless as I felt. I didn’t dare ask again what was going on, though. I figured I’d know soon enough, even if the wait killed me.

When the elevator opened, we followed Orlando down a brightly lit hallway, to the third door on the left, at the very end of the hall. He took the keys and opened the door, pushing me in gently in front of him. He switched on the light.

“Surprise,” he said, coming up behind me as I stood in the entrance way of a very large apartment.

“What?” I couldn’t get my brain to function as I took in the room. It was three times the size of my apartment, and the living room was painted the most beautiful pale maroon colour, with a rich mocha trim, and plush beige carpeting. We were standing on the dark hardwood in the entrance way, that matched the trim in the living room. The room was fully furnished, with a wine-coloured sofa and love seat arranged perpendicular to each other in the middle of the room. A matching chair stood at the opposite end of the sofa to the love seat. A coffee table that matched the trim, along with two end tables, completed the look. A big screen TV hung on the wall opposite the sofa, and a large computer desk, complete with a very comfortable looking chair, stood in one corner. I fell in love with the room immediately.

“What do you think, love?” Orlando asked, close to my ear. He wrapped his arms around my middle from behind and I leaned back against him, trying to take it all in.

“Who’s apartment is this?” I dared to ask, a sinking feeling forming in my stomach. I was starting to put two and two together, and I wasn’t sure what I thought of the result. “Orlando, are you moving out?”

“Darling, this is your surprise,” he said into my ear. I turned to face him.

“This is for me?” I said, amazed the words came out at all. I knew what the rent on my small apartment would have been, and it was in a regular neighborhood, with not nearly as much space. Something as spectacular as what we were now standing in would be astronomical, and I knew the Wicked producers wouldn’t pay for something so extravagant. I smiled sadly.

“What’s wrong, love?” Orlando said, noticing the look on my face.

“I don’t know what you want me to say to this,” I said quietly, pulling him away from Elijah and Lisa. If I was going to reject his surprise, I didn’t want to do it in front of our friends.

“Well, what are you thinking?”

I sighed and looked around. I already loved it, and all I’d seen was the living room. “I’m thinking it’s an absolutely stunning apartment,” I said honestly. “But I can’t live here.”

“Why not?”

“Even with Lisa as a roommate, we’d never make rent,” I said, keeping my voice low. I suddenly hated how he kept trying to do nice things, like buying me expensive dresses and getting me a fancy apartment, when he knew I couldn’t afford them. It made me feel about two inches tall.

“Charlie, you’re missing the point,” he said, chuckling as he hugged me to him. “This would be our home. You wouldn’t have to pay rent, I’d take care of it.”

“Are you asking me to move in with you permanently?” I looked up into his beautiful brown eyes, and was shocked at the love I saw there.

“I believe I am, love,” he said, smoothing my hair behind my ear, his knuckles brushing my cheek softly as he did so. Shivers raced through me. “What do you say?”

I didn’t say anything for a minute, I just looked at him, at the hope on his face, the face I loved so much. I wanted to leap into his arms and scream “yes” at the top of my lungs, but I knew I couldn’t do that, not until the decision about what I was doing with my career had been made. Plus, I knew he wouldn’t stay in New York until I left Wicked if I did decide to stay with the show for another year or two. I didn’t want him to sign a lease on such a fabulous apartment, when everything was so uncertain.

“Charlie?” Orlando cupped my face in his hands to break my trance and force me to look at him. “Talk to me. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“There are some things we need to talk about before I make this decision,” I said, pulling back from him.

“Like what?” he said, his tone dead. I could tell he was bracing himself for me to say no.

“First things first,” I said, turning to Elijah and Lisa. “Um, could we have some time?” I said gently. Lisa nodded in understanding.

“We’ll go get some coffee or something,” she said, and they left.

I went to the sofa and sat down, marveling at how comfortable it was. Orlando sat in the chair, facing me. It was like a dark cloud had settled over the beautiful room.

“Before we start talking about this, you need to know that I’m not saying no,” I said, leaning toward him. “So get that out of your head.”

“Then what are you saying?”

“I had some offers today that we need to talk about before we sign a lease on an apartment like this,” I said. “And there are a couple of other issues we need to clear up, too.”

“What were you offered?” he asked, sitting back in his chair and crossing his ankle over his knee, the way he did when he was interviewed on TV. It meant that he was guarded and wouldn’t let me know exactly what he was thinking and feeling, he would only give me the happy Orlando that he thought should greet my news. I hated that Orlando.

“Among other things, the Wicked National Tour,” I said, figuring I could deal with his body language after I’d said all I wanted to say. “And Mamma Mia! in Toronto.” He shifted slightly. “And Aida, in London.”

He didn’t want me to see it, but he tensed when I said the last one. But his face never changed. I silently cursed the fact that he was so in control of his emotions, because it would have been nice to know whether he was angry, or worried, or both.

“I’m guessing those are just the ones you’re interested in,” he said carefully.

“They’re fantastic opportunities,” I said, maintaining the same dead voice he had. “Each has ups and downs, like every job out there. But if I choose any of them, it means I won’t be living in New York anymore, which means that this apartment will be a waste. This is why we needed to talk about it and make some decisions first.”

He relaxed a bit, but still kept his guard up. He gave me a fake smile. “I’m glad you get to take your pick, love,” he said, but there was no sincerity in it. “Which offer are you most serious about?”

“To be honest with you, I’m really looking at London,” I said, staring him directly in the eyes, challenging him in some way to take issue with it. “It’s the most appealing offer right now.”

“And why’s that?” He couldn’t keep the sarcastic edge from his voice.

I refused to give in. “The money is fantastic, first of all,” I said, sitting back against the sofa and mirroring his position. “And I love the show. And, most importantly, it’s in England.”

“Where Adam is?” he snapped, jumping up out of his chair. The calm was gone, and there was only a seething rage in its place. He paced in front of me. “Damn it, Charlie, I thought we were passed this.”

“Are you fucking stupid?” I couldn’t help but burst out as I got up myself. “For fuck sakes, Orlando, we’re not dealing with your insecurities right now. He has nothing to do with this. That’s done, it’s over, it means nothing now. If you’d get over yourself for one second you’d think about what else is in England.”

He stopped pacing and stared at me, understanding dawning on his face. “Shit,” he said, shaking his head. “I jumped to the wrong conclusion there, didn’t I?”

“A little bit,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “Are you going to get pissy like that every time he comes up? Because that’s going to get old really fast.”

“I try not to let it get to me,” he said, shaking his head sadly. “But I can’t help it.” He took a deep breath.

“If you’d stopped to think about it, you’d realize that by the end of the year, you’ll be done Pirates, and most likely going back to England,” I said, dropping the whole Adam issue for the time being. “If I take the London show, it’ll be because of that. Wicked and Mamma Mia! are both bigger parts for me, and I care more about that than about money, but if I have the chance to be with you in London, then I’ll take it.” I paused. “Providing you can handle me doing another show with Adam.”

“I don’t like that idea,” he said as we sat down again. “And I won’t always be in London. I’ve got that movie with Kate lined up after Pirates, and that’s filming somewhere in the US. I still don’t have a schedule for that, and the final Pirates schedule hasn’t been finalized yet, either, so who knows where I’m going to be?”

“What are you telling me?”

“I don’t think you should take London just because of me.”

I stared at him, shocked. “Okay, so what do you think I should do?”

“What’s so wrong with staying here?” he said.

I shrugged. “I don’t know,” I said. “My agent thinks I need to take advantage of the opportunities I’ve been given while I can. My career is hot right now, thanks to my Tony, but in six months or a year, I’ll be old news, and I’ll have to fight through the audition process, like everyone else. These roles are some of the best going for my type, and while I love being here, doing Wicked, I can’t help but wonder what it will be like to do something else.”

“I can’t help but feel like I’ve gone to all this trouble for nothing, then,” Orlando said, looking around the apartment.

“What do you mean?”

“When I found this place, it was white-walled and bare,” he said. “I picked every colour, painted every wall, chose every piece of furniture, according to what I knew you’d like. Elijah and I spent countless hours in here making sure everything was absolutely perfect, and now there’s a chance you won’t even be living here.”

I suddenly felt really selfish. I’d had no idea he’d gone to such extremes to make me happy. The living room really was perfect for us, with the beautiful fire place against the back wall, that I was just now noticing. He’d arranged a beautiful maroon rug in front of it, with throw pillows for those cold winter nights when we could curl up together with a glass of wine. I could see it in my head, and I wanted it, more than any show.

“My contract is up for renewal next week,” I said, going to him and slipping my arms around his neck. “I’ll renew for six months, and then we’ll re-evaluate, okay?”

“I should be done my movies by then,” he said, pressing himself to me. He leaned down and kissed me lightly. “You had me worried there for a minute.”

I smiled. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I wasn’t thinking about us, just about what was best for me. I seem to do that a lot.”

He chuckled and kissed my nose. “We both have our faults, love, don’t worry.”