I get my bag off the carousel at baggage claim and head outside to look for a taxi. I’m glad my flight worked out the way it did… it was very full and it seemed like half of coach was small children. It wasn’t great to spend that kind of money, but it was totally worth it. I’ve still not had to experience coach… next time I fly I will because I don’t want to burn through the money I have. The longer I can make it last just means it’s longer until I have to get another crappy job.
There’s a few cabs waiting outside so I get in the one at the front of the line.
“Where to?”
I thought about where to go once I landed. I’m going to call Dex and see if he’s home. If he’s not around, I’ll go over to Spencer’s and if he’s not there I’ll just go back to Dex’s.
“Beverly Hills.”
“Any specific address?”
“Not yet… I have to make a call first.”
He nods and pulls away from the curb. I pull up Dex’s number, hit call and hold the phone up to my ear.
“Amy? Is everything OK?”
It’s hard to hear Dex… he’s obviously somewhere really loud.
“Yeah… everything is fine.”
“Can I call you back? I’m in a club and it’s really loud.”
“Sure.”
He hangs up and I pull up Spencer’s address in my phone and tell it to the taxi driver.
“Alpine Drive?”
“Yeah.”
He whistles and looks at me in the rearview mirror.
“Nice neighborhood. Your folks live there?”
I frown at the rather personal question from a complete stranger.
“No… a friend.”
He doesn’t say anything else for the rest of the drive. I guess he caught on to the irritated tone in my voice.
The driver stops the taxi in front of Spencer’s house, gets out and sets my bag on the curb. I take cash out of my wallet and hand it to him. He gets back in his car without saying anything, which is fine by me.
I take a deep breath as I try to think about what I’m going to tell Spencer. I definitely have feelings for him… I just don’t know how to put them into words. He’s Spencer Thomas… how’s any girl like me supposed to tell him they want to be with him? I know it’s a long shot, like a really long one, but I feel like if I don’t tell him now I’m going to live the rest of my life regretting it.
I walk up to the door and ring the bell. With each passing moment I feel like my heart is beating faster and faster. I wait, but there’s no answer. I ring the bell again… nothing. I take out my phone and pull up Spencer’s number and hit call.
“Hey.”
“Spencer… hey… it’s Amy.”
He laughs. I feel a little stupid for telling him who it was, obviously he knows.
“What’s up?”
“I… I was wondering… where are you?”
I’m a little disappointed he’s not home. It sounds like he’s in a car and I was calling just in case he didn’t hear the bell or something.
“I’m… not at home.”
My heart sinks to my gut. I feel like there’s only one reason why he wouldn’t tell me where he was… because he’s with a woman right now.
Before I can think of what to say my phone starts to beep… Dex is calling me.
“Can I call you back? Dex is beeping in.”
“Sure.”
I hang up and answer Dex’s call.
“Hey.”
“Hi, Amy. How are you?”
“I… I don’t know….”
I burst into tears. I had this vision in my mind that I was going to fly back to L.A. to surprise Spencer and he was going to tell me that he couldn’t live without me. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I’m an idiot. Of course Spencer is out with a woman right now, we just finished a long shoot and a publicity trip. He’s probably making up for lost time.
“Amy… are you OK? Did something happen?”
I take a deep breath and force myself to stop crying. I don’t want Dex to worry.
“I… I just flew into L.A. and… I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“What? Why? What happened?”
“Nothing… happened… not really. I just… I don’t know. Where are you?”
“I’m in New York… a friend was having a party so I decided to go. I’m so sorry that I can’t be there. I’ll head to the airport right now and get on the next flight.”
I smile. He’s such a good guy.
“No… I’m fine. That’s not necessary.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’ll be OK.”
“Only if you’re sure. I can call Gina and have her let you in the house. Where are you right now?”
I hesitate. I don’t really want to tell him… I’m embarrassed now that Spencer isn’t here.
“I… have you talked to Spencer?”
“No. Why?”
I take a deep breath and try not to think about my phone call with Spencer.
“I called you from a taxi and since you weren’t home I had them take me to Spencer’s, but he’s not here. I called him, but he wouldn’t tell me where he was.”
“OK… don’t move. I’m going to call him and if I can’t reach him I’ll call Gina and have her pick you up there and take you to my house.”
“Thank you, Dex.”
“Of course. Sit tight.”
I hang up and sit down on the front step of Spencer’s house. It’s a nice night, maybe a little warm for my taste, still not as hot as earlier in the summer.
My phone rings and I look down, expecting to see it’s from Dex, but Spencer’s name and number pop up.
“Hello?”
“Amy, are you at my house?”
I guess Dex must have called him and told him.
“Yes.”
“What are you doing there?”
“I… I came back to L.A. and Dex wasn’t home so I came here to see if you were around.”
He starts laughing.
“What’s so funny?” I say.
“You should go to Dex’s… it’s going to take me a few hours to get back.”
I don’t even want to ask where he is that he needs a few hours to get back.
“It’s fine, don’t hurry back. Keep… keep doing whatever it was you were doing.”
“Amy… the reason I didn’t want to tell you where I was… well, I’m in Salem.”
“What?”
My mind races as I try to think of a reason for him to be there.
“Why are you there?” I say.
“I… I wanted to talk to you and I thought it would be best to do in person.”
A car pulls up in front of Spencer’s house and I look up. It’s Gina’s car. She rolls down the window and waves.
“Gina is here.”
“Go to Dex’s… I’m heading back to the airport right now. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“But what… what was so important that you flew to Salem?”
“Please, Amy, just go to Dex’s and I’ll explain when I get there.”
“OK.”
“I’ll see you soon,” he says.
I wonder what he could possibly want to talk to me about. I wonder if he has some kind of feelings for me. If that was the case, why didn’t he say anything before? I try not to think about it… there’s no reason, he’s not going to be here for hours and I can’t get myself all worked up if it turns out to be nothing. There’s a possibility that he had some film project he wanted to talk to me about in person or something.
I stand up, grab my bag and head toward Gina’s car. This is going to be the longest few hours of my life.