“Amy!”
I sigh and stop in my tracks. Jarvis catches up to me and smiles when I look over at him.
“So… I just wanted to make sure that you’re still coming tonight.”
I’m not looking forward to going and I even spent the last two days trying to think of a way to convince Rose it would be stupid and we shouldn’t go. She’s still been kind of down, and I don’t blame her, so I’m going to suck it up and we’ll go.
“I am.”
“Good… good.”
I’m not sure why he’s so insistent that I go to his party. It’s not like we’re good friends and for a while there we never got along. Perhaps he’s wanting to make sure that I’m aware of how much he’s changed his ways since we first met. I’m just not sure how a party would accomplish that.
“Do you mind if I bring my friend?”
“Who?”
“Eh… you wouldn’t know her.”
“Is she from before you were an actress?”
“No,” I say, shaking my head, “I met her when I was in Chicago for my last film. She got a small role and decided to move to L.A. shortly after that.”
He nods and smiles.
“Cool. Yeah… you should totally bring her.”
“What time does the party start?”
“Most everyone is coming around eight… but show up whenever.”
“Alright… see you later.”
I turn and walk to my car. It’s only five, so it’ll give me time to go home and get cleaned up first… which is a relief. It was our first week back on set… plus I was tired from traveling, but it still felt like a bunch of days rolled into one that would never stop. Even though it’s just a single day off, it’s going to feel heavenly.
As I drive back to Dex’s house, I keep thinking about my mom. It’s weird because it wasn’t that long ago I was furious with her behavior. I had reached the point where I truly thought I didn’t care if I ever saw her again, but now… now I feel bad that it even crossed my mind.
I guess maybe I should go see her tomorrow. It would be nice to sleep in and then head over there during the early afternoon. That would give me some time to recover and still get home early enough since I have to be back on set the next day.
Neither Gina nor Dex are at the house when I get home. I slowly walk up the stairs, my legs burning with each step.
“Rose?” I say, calling out as I reach the landing.
There’s no response. Did she go somewhere with Gina? Rose could have also gone for a walk, or something. I wouldn’t blame her. She’s still feeling pretty bummed out and hasn’t had any more auditions. I hope that she hasn’t started to question her decision to move here because I still have complete faith that she’ll be a successful actress.
I walk into my room, take my phone out of my purse and walk over to the window as I pull up Rose’s number. I start to write out a text, but then I look out the window and see her out back. Rose is sitting next to the pool and holding something in her hands that looks an awful lot like a script. A smile forms on my face. I head downstairs and walk outside.
Rose looks up from the script as I walk toward the pool. She sets it down and smiles at me.
“Hey.”
“Hi… how’s it going?” I ask.
“Good... you?”
“Pretty good. Did you get a new script?”
“Yeah, I did,” Rose says, glancing at it. “It got sent over a couple of hours ago, so I thought I’d sit out here and read it.”
I sit down on the chair next to her.
“Awesome… that’s really cool.”
“Yeah, I mean… it’s nothing as exciting or fun as what you or Spencer are doing right now, but it’s something.”
“What is it?”
“It’s about a high school girl who is out partying with her boyfriend. He’s drinking and driving and they get into an accident. She’s banged up, but kind of OK. He… he’s totally paralyzed.”
“Yikes… that’s super heavy.”
“I know.”
“Is it the lead role you’re auditioning for?”
Rose shakes her head and looks down.
“No… unfortunately. It’s just for one of her friends. Nothing that exciting.”
“That’s still not bad… it’s something.”
She looks up at me and smiles faintly.
“You’re right. I guess it’s better than nothing.”
I smile back, trying to imbue a sense of joy into her.
“You know,” I say, “we don’t have to go to the party… we can stay here and you can get through the rest of the script.”
“No… it’s fine.”
“I really don’t mind.”
“I still want to go,” Rose says.
I was kind of hoping she would change her mind and take my suggestion, but I can tell she’s still in a funk. It would be different if she had landed a role and not just gotten an audition lined up.
“What time is the party?”
“Jarvis said that people are going to get there around eight,” I say.
Rose picks up her phone and checks the time.
“I have nothing to wear,” she says, bluntly.
“Do you want to borrow something from me or do you want to go buy something?”
“Whatever.”
“We can go shopping if you want.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course.”
“You don’t mind?”
“No… not at all.”
Rose smiles and jumps up from the chair.
“When should we leave?”
“Let me just take a quick shower,” I say, standing up, “then we can go.”
“OK… I’ll go change.”
The prospect of the party, especially after going to get a new outfit, has seemed to make her happy… which is going to make it all worth it. She disappears into her room just as I reach the top of the stairs.
My phone vibrates in my hand as I turn toward my own room. I look down and see a text from Spencer.
Hey, baby. Just checking in to see how you’re doing. Had a bit of a late night on set and just got back to my hotel room. Not sure if you’re shooting today. Talk to you soon. Love you.
It’s nice to hear from him since it really feels like we haven’t been able to catch up lately… and I think we’ve only had one actual phone conversation since I saw him. I write a response and hit send.
Hey. It sounds like you must have had a really long day, sorry. I was shooting today, but we got done on the early side and I’m home right now. I actually have tomorrow off, which is really nice. It would have been nice to have an early night, but Jarvis invited me to his birthday party… which I mentioned to Rose, so now she wants to go. I’d rather not, but I told her we could when I was trying to cheer her up.
I turn on my shower and set my phone down on the bathroom sink.
There’s a text from Spencer by the time I’m done with what felt like the fastest shower in history. I kind of feel like I wasn’t even able to get all the dirt off my skin. Gross.
Just try to have fun. I’m sure it’s not going to be terrible or anything. Be careful if you’re driving.
I write out a response, hit send and head over to the closet.
I’m not going to drink… you know me. Yeah, you’re right… it’s not going to be the worst night ever. I just hope that Jarvis doesn’t go crazy because we’re back on set the day after tomorrow.
Dressing up for the party did cross my mind, especially since we’re going shopping to get something for Rose to wear, but I decide against it. I put on jeans, a T-shirt and some black flats—boring, yes, but comfy after a long day.
I glance into Rose’s room, but it looks empty. She must be downstairs already. I head down and she is standing at the front door, purse in hand, with a room-warming smile on her face.
“Ready?” I ask.
“Totally.”
“I’m not even sure where we should go.”
“I heard about this new place… L&R… it’s supposed to be amazing.”
“Huh,” I say, as we walk outside and head for my car. “I haven’t heard of it.”
“It just opened.”
“Where is it?”
We get in my car and I start the engine. Rose seems noticeably more cheerful today, but I’m not sure if it’s because of the party or because she has an auditioned lined up. It could be a combination of both… I’m just glad that she seems happier and I hope it continues.
I follow her vague directions and we manage to find the store after a few minutes of driving up and down the block where Rose was certain it’s located.
“Any idea what you’re looking for?” I ask.
“No… not really. Are you going to buy anything?”
“Eh… probably not.”
“Oh… we didn’t have to come shopping just for me.”
“It’s totally fine, I swear. I could always buy more clothes, but I’m thinking about moving back to the other house soon and that would mean just more stuff to cart around.”
“That makes sense. When were you thinking of going back there?”
“I’m not sure… maybe in the next week or so. It’s still going to be weird, living there… without Spencer.”
I open the door of L&R and follow Rose inside. My phone starts to ring before we can take two steps inside the store. I take it out of my purse, quickly silence the ring and then check to see who is calling. It’s Brian, my agent.
“Hey,” I say, “I need to take this. Do you mind?”
“Of course not.”
I smile at Rose and step back outside as I swipe my finger across the screen to answer the call.
“Brian?”
“Amy… how are you?”
“I’m doing OK. What’s up?”
“I was wondering if you had time this week to meet… so we could go over a few things.”
I sigh as I think about the packed schedule I have this coming week. We’re shooting six days in a row and I’m sure more than a few of those will end up running into the early evening. I like Brian… I just don’t really feel like going to a business meeting after a tiring day.
“I’m shooting all week. Can it wait?”
“I… hmm… I guess. What about dinner?”
“Dinner?”
“Yeah. You have to eat. How would you feel about meeting for dinner mid-week?”
“I guess that could work. Nowhere fancy, though… I’m usually dirty and tired by the time I get done on set.”
“Fine… no worries. I’ll set something up and text you the place.”
“OK.”
“Is any day better or worse for you?”
“Not really… they are all kind of the same.”
“I’ll see you in a few days.”
“Sounds good.”
I lower my phone and end the call. Rose is already walking toward me with a bag in hand as I open the door and step inside. She’s wearing a black and white paisley dress and the same flats she had on when we left the house. I guess she found something she wanted right away and she decided to put her other clothes in the bag.
“That was quick,” I say.
“Yeah… this was the first thing I picked up… and I just loved it.”
“It’s super cute.”
I turn around and we head back outside. I’ve tried to wear paisley before, but it just never seems to look right on me and I’m kind of jealous of Rose right now—it looks so perfect on her.
“We have some time to kill before the party,” I say, “do you want to get something to eat or a coffee or something?”
“I could go for a coffee.”
“There’s a place just around the next block.”
Rose nods and smiles as we start walking in that direction. It’s a place I know well—it’s the same coffee shop I went to with Spencer when we first met. It’s a moment in time that I’ll never forget.