Jake chuckles.
JAKE
High praise. And I have a thing about heights.
MARGARITE
Oh, please. I saw the work you did on your last movie. There’s no way you’re afraid of heights.
JAKE
What scares you?
Victoria’s productive morning took a turn for the WTF. Margarite wasn’t scared of anything. Why did Jake have to ask such a stupid question? It was just like him.
She stared at the screen for five more minutes, groaned, then saved her work. She would let the question sit and come back and try to answer it later. In the meantime, she would do something to clear her head. As a quick jog was out of the question, she decided to take herself out for a drive and possibly a coffee.
She drove down streets, made turns, all the while not really paying attention to where she was going, then found herself unexpectedly in front of Shannon and Cindy’s place of work. She impulsively turned into the real estate office and parked and went inside.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Shannon’s not here,” the receptionist said when Victoria asked for her. “Would you like me to leave her a message?”
Before Victoria could answer, she heard a familiar voice calling her name. Cindy hurried over, her expression welcoming, her smile wide.
“I wasn’t expecting you,” she said. “What’s going on?”
“Oh, just a little writer’s block,” Victoria told her. “I was taking a drive to clear my head when I saw the office. I thought I’d stop by.”
“Shannon’s at a home inspection,” Cindy said, motioning for her to follow her into her office. “She’ll be a couple of more hours.”
“Totally fine. Like I said, this was an impulse.”
Cindy’s phone buzzed. She glanced at it and immediately tensed.
“Oh, that’s unexpected.”
Victoria watched her. “Are you all right?”
“What? Oh, the message.” Cindy tried to smile, but failed. “It’s nothing. Silliness. I just...” She pressed a hand to her chest. “My heart’s pounding. How ridiculous.” She waved her phone. “I have an appointment to try on wedding gowns. That’s what you have to do—make an appointment. Who knew? Mine is in a couple of weeks. Shannon’s going to come with me. But they just texted and said they have a cancellation if I’d like to come by now.”
Victoria waited to hear what the problem was, because she couldn’t figure out why Cindy was so weirded out by a simple text. Only Cindy didn’t seem to have anything else to say.
“You’re concerned that you...” she prompted.
“It’s my wedding dress. Picking it is huge. I’m not sure I’mready.” She sank into a chair. “We have the venue and the date, so I need to get going on the dress, but I don’t know. This feels so real.”
“Are you thinking you’re not ready to look at wedding dresses?” Victoria asked to be supportive. Which she thought was pretty big of her because, hey, it was just a dress, and what was the big-ass deal? If you were into weddings, that was what you did. The bride wore a fluffy dress, and everyone oohed and aahed. It was a thing.
“No, I want to.” Cindy sounded more doubtful than certain.
Victoria looked at her. “Is it because Shannon’s busy? Do you need her along?” She paused. “Or do you just want company? Because I could come with you.”
Cindy stared at her, wide-eyed. “I couldn’t ask you to do that.”
“You’re not asking. I’m volunteering.”
Because whileshewas antiwedding, it was more of a personal decision than any rejection of the societal norm that was weddings. She pointed to Cindy’s phone. “Text Shannon and ask if she minds if we have a look-see. Then accept the appointment, and we’ll go. In a way, having me along will be easier for you. The situation will just be a couple of girls looking at pretty dresses. Nothing more than that. You can try on a few, get some info and make your real choice later.”
She was actually kind of proud of herself for making the suggestion. Or maybe her willingness to help Cindy spoke more to how lonely—no, not lonely—but howsomethingshe’d been lately. She was trapped in her house with a broken leg, a career she wasn’t sure she wanted to get back to and a screenplay she couldn’t seem to finish.
