She studies me. “You’re angry.”
“I dislike being used for revenge against current or former romantic partners.” And I dislike being angry.
I enjoy being happy.
I make a point of being happy.
“Youdidget her thrown in jail. And youareusing her life as inspiration for your script.”
I suddenly don’t feel guilty about that anymore.
Not in the slightest.
How lovely.
“You’re not going to talk to her, are you?” Lana says.
“Thank you for the information. You should go and enjoy some time with the boys. They’re likely to be well-behaved now that you’ve offered them four chickens and a field’s worth of mashed potatoes.”
“Simon…”
“If you’ll excuse me, I need to prepare for a role.”
“If I needed you to show up in court just to intimidate opposing counsel who’d been a dickwad to me but thought you were the greatest actor on the planet, would you?”
“Did you date opposing counsel?”
“Pretend I did.”
“This is nothing like that?—”
“Isn’t it? It’s interesting that they broke up and now they’re both in the food industry, even though I know he’s still in realestate and I heard she was working as his admin assistant for most of their relationship. Makes you wonder if there’s more to the story, doesn’t it?”
“She’s deceived me, likely for her own benefit and for my downfall. Why are you taking her side?”
She grins. “Because she’s a woman, which is always enough for me. But if you need more, because I also know her ex, and I don’t care how many hours he puts in planting flowers and how much money he donates to local causes, I just have this feeling that he’s still a twatwaffle underneath it all.”
I continue frowning.
She ticks more reasons off on her fingers. “And because I know you. And because you’d be a lot happier if you went to therapy to deal with what your parents did to you. And because if you’re using a real person as inspiration for your next show without telling her, you’re going to be begging me for legal help sooner or later, and I want you to remember this moment—right now, when I tell you that you deserve to suffer before you ever do all of the things that I’m telling you that you both should and shouldn’t do. It’s like a pre-I told you so.”
“I’m hardly an amateur. I’ll change enough details.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
I stifle a sigh.
It’s frustrating being frustrated.
I prefer to be happy.
Even if only out of spite, which is why I originally set out to be happy many, many years ago. But being happy is habit now.
And speaking of spite—I suddenly have bigger plans for this date with Beatrice Best.
6
IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO BACK OUT
