CHAPTER 12 #2
Bryce nodded to the woman standing next to her now.
“Oh, hi,” Samara said.
“And that’s my fiancée, Rory, who doesn’t work here but is helping Candace get us all drinks,” Logan said, motioning to Rory, who was working behind the bar.
“Hi! I’m Rory!” Rory waved.
“Samara,” Samara replied.
Then, she looked around, and Dana wondered what she was thinking. If Dana had to guess, she’d put money on the fact that Samara was thinking about how every woman was here with another woman whom they were either dating or engaged to, with the exception of Dana, who hung out with a lot of lesbians.
“Let’s move,” Lainey said.
They all got out of the booth and walked over to where Bryce and Logan had pushed three tables together, giving them enough space for everyone.
Of course, Bryce sat next to Sophie, Lainey sat by Paige, Maisie and India sat down on the other side of the table next to each other, and lastly, Rory and Logan sat down, too, after Rory placed the drinks they had ordered in front of everyone.
That left two seats on either side of the table, so Dana took one and Samara sat down across from her.
“Congratulations again,” Samara said quietly.
“Thanks,” Dana replied.
“My agent called to tell me that everything looks good, by the way. He said he’d call you tomorrow to tell you that you’re good to sign.”
“Really?”
Samara nodded.
“That’s amazing. Thank you,” Dana replied.
“Okay, no chocolate in sight,” Candace said, delivering a drink to Dana in a martini glass that had a lime and a cucumber on the edge, with salt on the rim. “Try it. Then, I can tell you what’s in it.”
“That seems risky,” Dana replied, but she picked up the glass and gave it a sniff. “Vodka?”
“Yes.”
Dana took a sip, and it might have been the best drink she’d ever tasted.
“Damn! That’s good. How do you do that?”
“Do what?” Samara asked.
“Candace is one of the best mixologists in the world,” Rory said.
“Really?” Samara asked and then looked at Dana. “Can I try that?”
“You want to try my drink?”
“I assume it’s vegan?” Samara asked Candace.
“What? Yeah, of course. No eggs in this one.”
“Then, yes,” Samara replied before she winked at Dana and took the glass from her.
Her blue eyes practically shone at Dana over the glass as she sipped, and Dana licked her lips.
“That’s delicious,” Samara said. “Wow.”
“Thank you,” Candace replied.
“Can I have one of those?”
“Sure,” Candace said. “I’ll be right back.”
“Hey, we still haven’t ordered,” Bryce said, pointing at Sophie.
“I’ll get it,” Logan said, standing up before Rory could. “You sit and enjoy your Shirley Temple.”
Logan squeezed the back of Rory’s neck and walked off.
“How’s engaged life, Rory?” Sophie asked.
“Amazing. She’s amazing,” Rory replied. “I still can’t believe we’re getting married.”
“So, how was the rest of your day?” Dana asked Samara, searching for something to say to her while the rest of them started talking about Logan’s proposal.
“Good,” Samara replied.
“Good,” Dana said, nodding as if either of them had actually said something worth nodding to.
“So, did you quit the catering thing?”
“The catering thing? You mean my job?” Dana asked.
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“How did you mean it, then?”
“I only meant that you have a new job now, Dana. That’s all.”
“Not yet, though. And I still have to pay my bills. Why is everyone acting like a bunch of magical money was just deposited into my checking account? I still have to sign on the dotted line. Then, I don’t even know what happens because I’ve never done this before.”
“So, you didn’t quit yet; got it,” Samara replied, trying to make light.
“I’m going to ask for leave of absence.”
Samara’s eyebrows creased, and she asked, “Why?”
“So that I have a job when this whole thing is done in two months,” she said and took a sip of her drink.
“But you’ll still have the possibility of reshoots, ADR, press commitments, and the premiere,” Samara told her.
“ADR?”
“Audio. We’ll have bad sound at some point on location, so we’ll need to loop it.”
“Oh. Right,” she said, nodding as if she had thought of that already. “Forgot that part.”
“That’s not going to happen in the next two months,” Samara noted.
“Then, I’ll ask for some more time off. How long does looping take? I did a couple of student films, but nothing that required looping, and I don’t consider that real experience because there was no budget, they were only ten minutes long, and it took two days to shoot.”
“Why are you doing this to yourself?” Samara asked.
“Doing what?”
“Not going for it.”
“I am going for it. I’m taking the damn part, Samara.”
“After that. Why aren’t you–”
“Here you go,” Candace said, interrupting them as she dropped off Samara’s drink.
“Perfect timing, Candace. Have a drink, Samara. A long drink,” Dana told her.
Samara glared at her over the glass this time and said, “Thank you, Candace. It’s great.”
“You’re welcome. Are you all going to eat, too?”
“Oh, God…” Dana said. “Please tell me that someone brought you your dinner tonight, and you aren’t eating here.”
“No, I didn’t order anything for dinner tonight because I knew I was coming here,” Samara replied and looked back up at Candace. “What are your vegan options?”