Chapter 9
Nine
Delilah sat motionless in the driver’s seat, her hand still curled loosely around the key in the ignition. The engine wasn’t on. She couldn’t bear noise yet.
She pressed her forehead against the steering wheel and exhaled long and slow. Then she reached blindly for her phone, found her agent’s name, and hit call.
‘Delilah?’ Ashley said. ‘You should still be in the session—’
‘I was awful,’ Delilah said flatly. ‘I didn’t hit a single ball. Not even one.’
‘It’s a first lesson—’
‘I looked ridiculous. There were children there. Literal children. Laughing at me. I can’t—’ She clenched her jaw. ‘I can’t do this, Ashley. I’m pulling out.’
There was a beat of silence on the other end. Then: ‘Delilah, no. Don’t do this. It’s one lesson. This role is yours—’
‘I’m not her,’ Delilah said. She stared out at the mostly empty car park, the flat glare of the afternoon sun bleaching everything grey.
‘I’m not graceful, I’m not athletic, and I’m not going to humiliate myself in front of a film crew while I flail around in a pleated skirt.
Tell them to recast it. I’m going to call Royal Caribbean Cruises.
Maybe they’ll let me be one of those people in the costumes. I can cry inside a giant duck.’
‘What?’ Ashley said after a confused pause.
The passenger door opened.
Delilah jumped so violently that she nearly dropped the phone. Cassie slid in beside her like it was the most natural thing in the world, folding her long legs into the cramped space with barely a glance at her.
‘Ashley,’ Delilah said faintly, ‘I have to call you back.’
She hung up without waiting for a reply. Cassie reached across and buckled her seatbelt, then settled back with a soft, satisfied sigh.
‘What are you doing?’ Delilah managed.
Cassie turned her head, her expression maddeningly unreadable. ‘Thought I’d catch a lift.’
Delilah stared at her. She couldn’t think of a single thing to say.
Cassie didn’t look away. ‘We going, then?’