Chapter Eleven
Chase found this bar in Palm Springs a few years ago when he was in town for a press junket for a movie he did.
The movie bombed, but The Platinum Bar became a part of his visits in the city.
He liked the high-backed booths that gave him privacy to enjoy his drink without people bugging him, and the staff had a reputation of treating celebrities well without going overboard.
He also liked bringing Nana here during a convention. It wasn't a high-end bar, but she would still show up for their "date" in a pair of black pants and a nice shirt that was usually a little grandmotherly. It reminded him of his own grandmothers who both died when he was a teenager.
The first time he had a drink with her was an accident.
They both ended up at the same place, and he noticed her eyes go wide when he sat down next to him at the bar.
He had chosen that seat because he thought she was just a nice old lady and didn't realize she was a fan.
Nana started by asking him a question or two about the Project Lyonheart movies, but the conversation turned to their shared origins in the Midwest, their favorite old movies, and the best songs from the eighties.
And that's how it became a normal thing they would do at conventions.
On their nights out, Nana would occasionally bring up her granddaughter — "Conventions aren't her thing, but maybe I'll get to her come one day!
" Chase would mention a friend of his from home scoring tickets to a Packers game and they would talk about football and Nana would ask about his parents.
He did a few conventions in California every year since they were easy to get to.
He would usually see Nana at a few of them.
This convention in Palm Springs was always a highlight for him because it was smaller than some of the big conventions and felt like he had a closer connection to the fans.
He also made sure to carve out some time on Friday night to have a drink with Nana even if it was only a martini or two.
It was just their thing to sit in a booth in the back of The Platinum Bar together for a few hours.
Nana was the only fan Chase had this tradition with and he always liked seeing her. Maybe that's why tonight felt different. Tonight at The Platinum Bar without Nana was when he realized he missed her the most.
And yet he was still enjoying his time in this booth at this bar because Emma was sitting across from him with a smile on her face as their martinis arrived.
He raised his glass in a grand gesture and smiled at Emma. "To Nana."
Emma gave him a tight smile as she held up her cosmopolitan. "To Nana," she said quietly before taking a drink.
"You know, your grandmother would be a little disappointed in you," Chase said before sipping his martini.
Emma cocked her head to the side. "Why is that?"
"She insisted that the only real martini was a classic martini, or a dirty martini in a pinch. These other things like cosmos and espresso martinis and whatever? Not real martinis."
Emma laughed and looked down at her glass. "Very true. She had specific opinions about martinis and old fashioneds."
"What was her opinion about old fashioneds?"
"No orange peel, no extra cherries or fruit or whatever. 'An old fashioned should be old fashioned, not new fashioned,' she would say."
"That definitely sounds like her," Chase said with a smile.
Emma looked out to take in the decor and the people sitting on the stools at the bar nearby. "She would've liked this."
"She did like this." Emma's head turned back to Chase and he gave her a tight smile. "We always came to this bar when she was in Palm Springs. Very Rat Pack, you know? And she said they made the best drinks here."
"I wonder what she would think of us sitting her together now."
"She would probably be proud of the scheming she did to get us together." Chase cringed, realizing what he had said. "Not together like that, of course, but you know what I mean."
Emma gave him a scathing look. "Are you kidding? We got stuck in a room with one bed. Wherever she is, Nana is very proud of her work on that one."
"Really?"
Chase didn't mean to sound so surprised, but that wasn't the Nana he knew. She liked drinks and conversation. "Scheming" was not a word he would use to describe her.
"My grandmother was an ambitious wingman," Emma said with a mischievous smile on her face. "I can't tell you how many times she came home from the grocery store with a guy's number. I'm honestly surprised she never tried to set me up on a date with you."
"Um, hello," Chase said sarcastically. "What do you call this?"
"A drink with a friend to remember my grandmother?"
"And dinner with the gold-leaf burger?"
"It's just part of the deal," she said quietly.
Maybe Chase was being too hopeful, but Emma didn't sound convincing when she said that.
There was something else there that he couldn't quite pin down.
Was she still bitter about her grandmother's challenge?
Still upset that she was stuck spending money on a rich actor who was already flush with cash?
Or did Chase wish it was something else? Because these past few weeks with Emma had been different. He couldn't remember the last time he spent this much time with a woman who wasn't a co-worker or a girlfriend.
She was just Emma and he was just helping her out. Nothing more. But there were times when he would see her and wish there was something more.
Of course, he couldn't tell her that. After all, this relationship in its own way was strictly professional until they spent the cash and Emma got her inheritance. That was the deal he had agreed to in that stupid lawyer's office.
Of course, he would've loved to talk to Nana about all of this, about what she was thinking when she set this all up, but she wasn't here anymore.
"Can I admit something to you?" Emma gave an intriguing look. "It feels weird not drinking this martini with your grandmother."
Emma looked wistfully down at her drink. "I wonder sometimes if this would be different if she hadn't died so quickly with something so stupid like the flu. I just... I never expected it to be like that."
"Different how?"
"Maybe she could've given me a head's up about what was in her will or explained why she did it this way. But her illness and then the funeral and the inheritance and... It's just been a lot of things in a short amount of time and it's been tough to wrap my brain around."
Chase instinctively reached out and put his hand over Emma's.
His heart broke for her and her grandmother.
He was a stranger to Emma before that will was read, but he wished he could've at least been there for her before that.
By the time he found out that Nana had passed away, the funeral was already over.
He thought he maybe would've wanted to been there for Emma, even if he hadn't met her before, especially if he had known all of these things were going to come up with her inheritance.
"I'm sorry I wasn't able to go to the funeral," he told her. "I hope you weren't alone."
Emma gave him a sad smile but a smile none the less.
"I wasn't. Nana had plenty of friends that showed up, especially after living in the area for so long.
She had her garden club friends and almost our whole block went.
There were also some of her convention friends from the area that came, which was really nice. You would like them."
"Probably because they like me."
He flashed that Hollywood smile at her to ease the tension and it worked like a charm. Emma's smile grew and he could see her cheeks flush, and not just because of her drink.
"Anyways, I hope she was happy with the way we celebrated her."
"I'm sure she was."
Emma gave him an awkward smile and pulled her hand away to reach for her drink, leaving Chase's skin cold.
He wished she would've held on to him, but that fleeting moment was gone.
He had to remind himself that this wasn't a date, just two people remembering someone they cared about.
To Chase, Nana was a friendly face. But to Emma, it was her grandmother and there were feelings Emma had for her that Chase would never understand.
Instead, they sat quietly for a bit taking sips from their martinis as Frank Sinatra's voice came out of the speakers into the bar to fill the void.
"So." Emma cleared her throat and put on a big smile again. "Tell me about tomorrow."
"You know how a bunch of fans fawned all over me earlier? It's going to be more of that."
He watched Emma roll her eyes before she lifted her martini to her lips and quickly downed the rest of it. "Can I get another one of these?" she asked quickly.
"You're paying, right?"
"That's what Nana wanted."
He gave her a sly smile. "Just checking."