Chapter 17
Shannon stared at the brief text on her phone. Ava would like her to call when it was convenient. That was it. Five words.
No biggie, except there was no reason for Ava to want a phone call—at least not one Shannon could think of.
As she reread the text, she wondered if Ava was going to get creepy or clingy. After all, they didn’t exactly have a relationship.
Although when she thought about Ava, she pictured a strong, determined woman who certainly had an amazing life. She didn’t
seem to be the creepy, clingy type.
With that in mind, Shannon tapped on the number on the phone and listened to the phone ring twice before Ava answered.
“Shannon, thank you for getting back to me. How are you?”
“Um, fine.”
The response came out more as a question than a statement.
“Excellent. I’ve been thinking about our conversation the other day and the way your face lit up when you mentioned your love
of photography.”
“It did?”
How could it? She didn’t love photography.
For her, it was a means to an end. A way to document the good work Aaron did.
It gave her content for his website and social media.
Sure, in high school she’d taken a couple of photography classes, but that hardly qualified as loving it.
Maybe the face-lighting-up thing had been because she’d been thinking about Aaron, but she wasn’t sure she should say that.
“Have you given much thought to cinematography?”
To what? She blinked a couple of times. “No, I haven’t.”
She wasn’t even sure what that was. Yes, movies had a cinematographer who did things with . . . what? Framing the shot? The
lighting?
“As you know, cinematography is how a movie or TV show is filmed,” Ava said, her voice filled with enthusiasm. “The cinematographer
decides on camera angles, the lenses used, the depth of color and types of lighting. She works closely with the director to
create each scene. Every visual in the film is the cinematographer’s responsibility. The husband of a friend teaches an introductory
course. It’s over a weekend so wouldn’t take away from your regular life. He has one coming up, and when he mentioned it,
I immediately thought of you.”
Shannon didn’t know what to say. “That’s very kind of you,” she began, only to have Ava cut her off.
“I knew you’d be excited. Now, the class is technically for high school students, but I knew it would be an excellent jumping-off
point for you. He said he had room, if you’re interested. It would give you information, and I thought it might help you figure
out how to turn your hobby into a career.”
Cinematography? As a job? Her first thought was to offer a big fat no. She wasn’t interested in the movie industry, and she’d
never done much with videos. She wasn’t one of those talented types who could turn a morning jog into an Instagram post that
got two million likes.
But before she could say any of that, she thought about Aaron’s website and Facebook page. Some video content might get him
more customers by showing them how great he was. She’d always done Before and After photos but never videos. Learning a few
tricks might make her more comfortable using that format.
“That sounds like fun,” she said. “Thank you for thinking of me, Ava.”
“Oh, I’m so glad you’re interested. Excellent. I’ll let Mateo know. Give me your email address so he can get you the material
for the class. I believe there’s a list of films to watch in advance of the seminar.”
Shannon did as requested, then thanked Ava again and hung up. She hated to give up a weekend with Aaron, but hopefully she
would learn enough that it would be worth it. Maybe she could even use the video skills here at work, although that wasn’t
anywhere near as fun as helping Aaron. And seriously, at some point she had to figure out her life because if she didn’t,
she would spend the next forty years working here, and that wasn’t anything she wanted to be thinking about.
Victoria watched as Shannon set the stacks of colored flyers on Victoria’s dining room table. There were a few hundred copies
of four different pages. Shannon looked at her and shrugged.
“You said you wanted to help.”
“I do. I haven’t had a good stapling project in ages.”
“It’s less fun than you remember, but when the printer called and said the collating machine was broken, I knew we’d have
to go old-school.”
Victoria had impulsively texted Shannon, asking her to come by for lunch. Shannon had said she couldn’t get away because of
an unexpected project. As Victoria was feeling restless and on edge, she’d offered her meager office skills. Fortunately stacking
papers and stapling them together was something she could absolutely do.
She picked up the first page, which showed a beautiful terrace overlooking the Pacific. Two chairs faced the view with a small table between them. There was a bottle of wine, glasses and an artfully arranged throw. Underneath were the words An Unexpected Find at 17.8 Million.
“LA is all about the money,” she said.
“And the views. Full-on unobstructed ocean is tough, and with the market being the way it is, this one will go fast.” Shannon
made sure the flyers were in the correct order so they only had to collect one from each pile and staple them together. Easy-peasy.
“I’m thinking pizza,” Victoria said, waving her phone. “I know it’s not trendy, but I’m kind of in the mood.”
Shannon grinned. “So many calories. So many carbs. I’m in. What kind do you like? My pizza tastes are pretty broad. I can
do meat or not. I do lean toward extra cheese.”
“Me, too. See, I knew I liked you for a reason. How about chicken pesto with extra mozzarella?”
“Perfect.”
Victoria typed in the order and tapped the complete button. “It’ll be about forty minutes,” she said. “Enough time to finish
these.”
Shannon looked at the massive stacks of paper. “I hope you’re right.”
They started working. Victoria manned the stapler while Shannon collected the pages, banged them on the table to make sure
they were even and handed over the completed package. Victoria hit the stapler and set down the first flyer.
“One finished, what, four hundred to go?”
“Three hundred and forty-nine.”
“Is that all? We’re practically done already.”
They both smiled. Shannon reached for more pages. “I’m sorry about having lunch with your mom. You weren’t happy about that.”
Victoria waved away the comment. “I was surprised, that’s all.” A statement that was nearly the truth. “Besides, I evened the score. I stopped by to see your mom, so tit for tat.” She paused. “What a strange phrase. I wonder what the origin for it is. I’ll have to look that up sometime.”
“You saw my mom?”
“Uh-huh. I was acting out. It’s what I do. I feel no guilt about it.” She paused. “Unless you really need me to feel guilt.
Then I can try to summon some, which I mean in a warm and friendly way. I’m not trying to be a bitch.”
Shannon stared at her. “I honestly have no idea what to say to that.”
“I just need you to believe me. We’re dealing with some odd shit, if you ask me. No one else really gets it.”
Shannon nodded. “I agree. Strangely, or maybe not, I know exactly why you went to see my mom. I want to ask if you liked her,
but I already know the answer. She’s sweet and nurturing, and you were surprised by how cared-for you felt around her.”
Victoria slammed the stapler, enjoying the satisfying thunk it made as it bound the papers together. “I hadn’t thought of
my visit with her in those terms, but yeah, that’s exactly right. She’s kind of restful, unlike my mother who always has a
plan. Cindy’s more the hugs-and-cookies type.”
“With you. With me, she wants to fix my life. There’s always a suggestion, a hint, a plan.” Shannon sighed. “Which is my fault.
If I had my act together, she could stop worrying about me.”
“Do moms ever stop worrying?”
“Probably not, but she could worry less.” Shannon glanced at her. “I’m glad you liked her. It makes it okay for me to like
Ava.”
“On the surface, my mom is very likable in a twisted, I-will-control-you-forever kind of way.”
“She doesn’t control you.”
“No, but she wants to.” Victoria smiled.
“Improvement is her love language, and if you’re into that sort of thing, she’s amazing.
My dad loves how she’s always trying to get the best out of people.
When they met, he owned a really small film company, and he was struggling.
She didn’t know anything about the business, but she quickly learned and helped him build his studio into a reasonable success.
One of the big dogs took notice and wanted to buy him out.
Ava helped him negotiate himself into a pile of money and an executive position, which is where he’d wanted to go from the beginning.
” She pushed on the stapler again. “Without her, it would never have happened.”
“Your dad’s okay with that? Some guys don’t want the woman in their life being better at something than they are.”
Victoria raised her eyebrows. “Are we talking about le boyfriend?”
“What?” Shannon shook her head. “No. Aaron’s great. He loves that I’m better at some things than he is. I help with the design
work in his business and deal with the website guy. We’re a team.”
Victoria allowed herself a tenth of a second of feeling that, in a different life, she might have liked being part of a team.
What an interesting concept. But she wasn’t in a different life, and she wasn’t the team type.
“That sounds nice,” she admitted. “My parents are like that, too. They’re a unit, and my dad loves how much Mom takes care
of him. They would be lost without each other. What’s it people say? She’s his princess. I can’t remember them ever fighting or him ever being mad at her. I’m not sure he’s capable of anything but adoration where
she’s concerned.” She paused. “I’m not saying he’s blind or doesn’t believe she has flaws, but his love is always present.”
Shannon sighed. “I want that in my life, especially after, what, thirty years of marriage?”