He sighed, likely realizing I wouldn’t leave him alone until he played along. “And why are we jumping for joy, exactly?”
“I got the part! I’m Evangeline!” I exclaimed.
He stared blankly at me, still half asleep.
I smacked his arm. “It’s the lead inWretched.”
“Great. Now get out.” He laid back down and rolled over.
“Aw come on! You didn’t even jump once,” I whined.
“I know you didn’t really expect me to jump up and down when you came in here and woke me up out of a dead sleep. You know how much of an asshole I am when people wake me up.”
Ididknow that, but I’d hoped he could suck it up and fake it for me.
“Well, I thought you’d consider faking excitement just this once. Cause it’s a big deal and all.” I stuck out my bottom lip in a pout.
“I promise I’ll celebrate with you tonight. I’ll even leap for joy with you. But right now, I need sleep, so get the fuck out.”
“Okay, fine.” I turned on my heel and started to walk out the door, a little disappointed by his reaction. He would probably apologize for it later.
“Hey, Eve,” he called before I could close his door.
I paused in the doorway.
“Congratulations. I want to hear all about it later.”
I smiled at his effort in his sleep-deprived state.
“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll describe it to you with an obnoxious amount of detail.”
“Can’t wait,” he muttered as I shut the door behind me with a click.
I grabbed my phone from my bag and sat on a stool at our small kitchen island. Brian had failed me. I needed to call in reinforcements.
I swiped to my recent calls and quickly found Olivia’s number. I hoped she wasn’t working on a photo shoot.
She answered on the third ring. “Hey, Eve.”
“How’s my best friend in the whole world?” I asked, a little too sweetly.
“I’m good... why?” she asked, suspicious.
“Please tell me you’re not too busy to do lunch with me at Maxwell’s. Please? Please. Please. Please.”
“Calm down, peppy. I can meet you there in an hour.”
“Yay!” I squealed, hurrying to my room to change out of my running clothes.
“Are you going to tell me the occasion for this little day date?” she asked.
“I’ll tell you when I see you. It will be better that way.”
She giggled over the line. “So mysterious,” she teased. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
“Thank you, best friend!” I said in a singsong voice before hanging up.
I slid out of the booth as Olivia walked through the glass door. The sun streaked through her hair, making the blonde curls at the crown of her head look gold, giving the appearance that she was glowing. She caught sight of me and strolled across the wood floor to our table.
