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“You’re not getting out of it.”
One of Elise’s oldest and dearest friends, Haley, blared the words over the phone several hours later.
“I’m just exhausted,” Elise told her. She had donned a crappy T-shirt from college and gazed longingly at her couch in the den. “Maybe we can go out later in the week when I’ve recovered.”
“No way. Remember in college, when you failed that calc test and you wanted to grovel?”
“Um. Kind of?”
“And I wouldn’t let you, and we went out and met those actors from One Tree Hill?” Haley continued excitedly.
“Oh, gosh. Yes. I do.”
“And you made out with one of them?”
“I remember.”
“What did we learn from that experience?” Haley demanded.
“That not all actors are good kissers?”
“No! We learned that we can’t sit alone in our room, bemoaning our existence. We have to get out. Plus, Mia already made reservations at the bar in Santa Monica, and you know how mad she gets when we change plans.”
“She still doesn’t let me forget about that incident four years ago,” Elise admitted.
“Get dressed. Look hot. Who knows who we’ll run into?” Haley said. “My Uber will be there to pick you up in an hour.”
Elise grumbled and returned to her oversized closet, now a quarter of the way empty after Sean’s departure. Her head felt loose and wild after two glasses of wine on an empty stomach. A small part of her was grateful for her best friend Haley’s commitment to her mental health, but she still wanted nothing to do with being in public, making conversation, or acting like a human. She wanted to wallow in her sorrows alone.
Elise donned a bright pink lacy top and a skirt that she suspected Penny would say was “a little too short” for Elise’s age. She added some lacy heels and tossed her dark blond curls in the mirror. Still got it? She didn’t know.
When she opened the door to Haley’s Uber, however, Haley screamed, “You look hot!” which was exactly what Elise needed to hear.
She blushed and said, “Oh, whatever,” as she slipped in beside her and buckled her seat belt.
“Seriously. I wouldn’t just say that,” Haley affirmed. She tossed her dark tresses and returned her sunglasses to her nose. “Mia said she’s on her way and will meet us there. Apparently, these cocktails are to die for.”
“Good. I don’t want to remember my name,” Elise stated.
Haley shot her a dark look as the Uber cranked forward. “I won’t be like that idiot and tell you it’s ‘the industry.’ I can only say that you’re one of the best screenwriters I know. The world deserves to hear your story. If you give up after that Rhett guy...”
“Rex, actually.”
“Whatever his name is. If he makes you quit writing, then I don’t know what I’ll do,” Haley continued.
Elise flared her nostrils. “I’m just a bit disheartened. I don’t know what to do with myself. This screenplay was the thing I had latched onto, and now...” She shrugged.
The Uber dropped them off at the upscale beachside bar and restaurant. Mia, their leggy red-headed friend with dangly jewelry, scanned her phone near the front. Elise’s heart jumped at the sight of her. Haley had been right. Having her best friends around had added a touch of pep to her step.
“There she is!” Mia cried. She danced forward and wrapped Elise in a hug. “Haley said she had to drag you kicking and screaming out of that big house.”
“Whatever,” Elise said. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
A hostess arrived to take them to their seats on the balcony upstairs. From where they sat, they had a full view of the ocean and that enormous bulb of a sun, which had begun its evening descent toward the waves. Each of them ordered a Negroni and complimented one another on how classy they were. “We’ve really moved up from the wine coolers of college, haven’t we?” Haley laughed.
Elise had met Haley during their first year of creative writing at UCLA. That same year, Elise had also met Sean, her soon-to-be husband. Since then, Elise and Haley had worked together numerous times in various writing rooms and had even collaborated twice on scripts that had very nearly sold. They had met Mia in one of the writers’ rooms about ten years before, and the three of them had gotten on like gangbusters. Since then, Mia had taken a step back from screenwriting to work on her novel, which both Haley and Elise had encouraged her to do. Mia had a definite poetic side to her that didn’t necessarily translate to the screen.
After their drinks came, Elise recounted the events of the meeting to Mia, who scrunched up her nose and cursed Rex again and again. After the story finished, Mia called the server over and asked for another round of drinks, a cheese plate, and some sourdough and pretzel bread. “Oh, and olives,” Mia said, exasperated. “We’ll need more fuel if we’re going to get over the idiocy of some of these Hollywood types.”
“Aren’t we Hollywood types by now?” Haley asked, chuckling.
“Not me. I’m not from LA like you two,” Mia insisted.
“Sure. You’ve worked in like ten writers’ rooms, and you’re still an outsider.” Elise rolled her eyes.
“I’ve committed myself to be different forever. It’s part of my selling point,” Mia joked.
The snacks and drinks arrived. After the first bite, Elise realized just how hungry she was. As she tore through another piece of Edam cheese, her phone buzzed on the table. When she turned it over, she discovered that Matt had texted her yet again.
“Jeez. He won’t leave me alone,” Elise marveled.
“I have to guess you’re talking about Matt?” Haley said.
“Of course she is. He’s in love with her,” Mia said.
“And you won’t give him a single chance.” Haley clucked her tongue.
“It’s not that. I mean, I did go out for drinks with him a few weeks ago,” Elise said. “To talk about his recent script idea.”
“I love that he uses writing as a way to get closer to you,” Mia said. “Did you like his script?”
“Erm. I can hardly remember. He went on and on about his research and his great ideas and all the stories he’d told in the past. He said that if he didn’t sell a script properly by age forty-five, he would just move to the Alaskan wilderness. I was like, here’s the door, head north.” Elise chortled.
“Ha! One of the worst things in the world is getting caught in a conversation like that with an arrogant writer.” Haley shook her head.
“It’s like torture,” Mia agreed.
“But what did Matt text you?” Haley asked.
Elise clicked open the text and read aloud. “I just wanted to check in on you and remind you that you must keep going. Don’t let this single obstacle get you down. You’re a fantastic writer, and your ideas deserve to be on the big screen. Then he added a winky-face emoji.”
“Good grief,” Haley said. “He is hungry for you.”
Mia rolled her eyes. “As if you need some guy to remind you that you’re a good writer.”
“It’s sort of nice, I guess. Ugh. It’s not that I’m totally starved for male attention, but...” Elise shoved her phone into her purse and dropped another piece of cheese on her tongue.
“You should download an app or something,” Haley suggested. “See what’s out there. Calabasas and Santa Monica are filled with hot, divorced men. Oh! Or what if you dated someone younger?”
“I don’t know if I’m ready for that phase of my life,” Elise admitted.
“Another friend of mine dated a guy in his early thirties for a while,” Mia explained. “She said they sometimes stayed up till dawn talking. She said she was exhausted, but it regenerated her in a way. It didn’t last for long. I guess they just wanted too many different things or were in different stages, but...”
“It would certainly be good fodder for your next script,” Haley affirmed.
“Ha. I could become that kind of writer, I guess. Go out and have weird experiences and write about them,” Elise said. “Like Hunter S. Thompson, but for middle-aged women.”
The conversation continued, with Mia expressing difficulties surrounding her book writing and Haley describing her teenage daughter’s sadness following a first breakup. As the drinks flowed, Elise found herself falling deeper in love with her friends, counting her blessings that she had them, and slowly coming out of her sadness surrounding her failed script.
“You know what?” Elise said after a natural pause. “I’m so glad I didn’t sell that script to dumb Rex. I thought my agent was going to wring my neck, but honestly? If I let the whole world knock me down—from Sean to my editors, to my bosses, to some production company head with enough arrogance to power a car—
then what kind of woman am I?”
“You wouldn’t be Elise Darby. That’s for damn sure,” Mia said, lifting her glass.
Just as the three women clinked their glasses together, saluting their future, their professional prowess, and their writing, Elise’s phone buzzed from her purse. She glanced down and recognized the name Peter Glasgow, her mother’s on-again, off-again boyfriend.
She furrowed her brow and set her glass down.
“What’s up? Matt again?” Mia asked.
“No. It’s my mother’s boyfriend,” Elise said softly.
As she lifted the phone, panic wrapped itself around her heart. She found it difficult to breathe.
“That’s right. The guy who always comes crawling back after your mother dumps him.” Haley grinned widely. “She’s such a wild card, your mom. I want to take a lesson from her on how to grow older and sexier than ever.”
“Peter has never called me,” Elise offered.
Mia’s and Haley’s faces fell. The air over the table grew tense.
“At least, not that I can ever remember,” Elise said hurriedly.
She didn’t want to jump to conclusions.
“I’m going to run downstairs and call him back,” she said as the call ended. “It’s too loud up here.”
Elise drew her purse over her shoulder, turned toward the staircase, and hustled toward the front entrance. Once outside again, she huddled toward a palm tree, lifted her phone, and dialed Peter. Her heart pounded in her chest.
It was fine. Surely, it was all fine.
Peter’s phone rang only once before he picked up.
“Elise.” His voice was strained and scratchy.
Elise had never heard him speak like that.
“Peter, hi,” she said. Already, her eyes filled with tears. She stared at the last of the evening sun, that fingernail-like crescent over the water, and pleaded with time to give her something other than this.
“Elise, I’m at the hospital. Your mom, she-she collapsed after dinner. I don’t know. I don’t know what will happen. I...”
“Which hospital?” Elise demanded.
“West Hills,” Peter returned.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Elise hung up the phone and blinked skyward, where Mia and Haley hung over the side of the second-floor balcony of the restaurant and waved their hands. They looked worried. Elise felt as though she might crumple to the ground. To them, she mouthed, “I have to go. I’ll call you later.”
Mia and Haley exchanged glances, then nodded and shooed her along. In the next few seconds, Elise ordered an Uber for herself and then fell into the back seat and wrapped her arms around her knees. She suddenly felt silly in her “going out” clothes. What had she been thinking? She felt like a child.
Of course, nobody expected any night to end at the hospital.