CHAPTER 18
“Hey, what are you up to?” Bryce asked.
“At eleven o’clock at night?” she asked back with a lifted eyebrow. “After a long day of work?”
“Yeah,” Bryce said.
Dana laughed and replied, “Going home to bed. I didn’t get a ton of sleep last night.”
“No? Did you have a good night?”
“Not that kind of good night, no. I wish, though,” she said.
“Yeah? Been a while?”
“You could say that. I was just up late, wired from my first day doing what I’ve always wanted to do, and now, I’m dealing with the consequences of that decision. Sometimes, being an adult sucks.”
“True.” Bryce chuckled.
“What are your plans?”
“Home with my girl. I was going to see if she wanted to grab drinks or something, but she’s tired from work, too, so I think I’ll head home and climb into bed with her.”
“That sounds nice,” Dana said. “I want what you two have; someone to fall asleep next to every night.”
“It’s pretty great, yeah. I still can’t believe I found her. It’s like you’re just walking through life, and everything’s fine, nothing’s really bad in your life, but one day, you walk into a bar, and there’s the person you’re going to spend the rest of your life with. It all changes then.”
“But you had to be without her right after you figured that out. That had to suck,” Dana said.
“I think my friends back in Tennessee would tell you I basically moped around for a year and never shut up about Sophie.”
“How did you know, though?” Dana asked. “That’s the part I don’t get. You only spent a few hours with her, and you just knew?”
“It took less time than that,” Bryce replied, stopping at Dana’s trailer. “And I have no idea.” She smiled. “I just saw Soph, and something clicked inside me. It told me to pay attention, so I did.”
Dana saw Samara walking toward her own trailer, and when Samara noticed Dana talking to Bryce, she gave her a small smile and a wave before disappearing inside.
“Yeah,” Dana said.
“Yeah, what?” Bryce asked with a laugh. “You okay?”
“All good. I’m just going to say goodnight to Samara and head home.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” Bryce replied and walked over to the production office, leaving Dana standing outside.
Dana didn’t waste any time. She walked up to Samara’s trailer door and knocked.
“Come in,” Samara told her.
Dana opened the door and said, “Unlocked, too, now? What’s gotten into you?”
Samara laughed and replied, “I figured you’d stop by to say goodnight before you left. I’m in my bedroom. Be right out.”
“Okay. I can just go. I–”
“What are you doing tonight?” Samara interrupted.
“What’s with you and Bryce? It’s after eleven.”
“How old are you?” Samara laughed.
“Not twenty-five anymore,” she joked, leaning against the counter.
Samara laughed again and asked, “Want to go out?”
“Out where?”
“The Quarter.”
“Why would I want that?”
“We didn’t exactly get to hang out long earlier. We could get a drink.”
“In what universe can I get a drink with you with no one bugging us? Danny went home already.”
The bedroom door opened then, and Samara stood there wearing skinny jeans, a black V-neck T-shirt, a dark wig that resembled Uma Thurman’s hair from Pulp Fiction, and a pair of dark-rimmed glasses that made her look like a librarian. All that was really working for her, though.
“What are you–”
“Disguise,” Samara interrupted. “I have a hat, too. Hold on.”
Samara turned around, and Dana didn’t see what she was doing, but Samara came back into view wearing a gray-and-black fedora.
“Oh, wow,” she said. “That’s a look.”
“It’s the best I can do on short notice. I got the wig from hair, the glasses and the hat from wardrobe, and the clothes are mine, but I’m thinking about going with flats since we’ll be walking. Should I do heels, and we drive?”
“We? I didn’t say for sure that I’d be going,” she teased.
“Please,” Samara said with a puppy-dog expression that had Dana nearly melting.
“Fine. But only one drink. I’m tired, Samara. I’m, like, about-to-fall-over-and-pass-out tired.”
“One drink,” Samara promised. “Walk or drive?”
“Drive. And I’m sleeping in the car on the way there.”
“For the five-minute drive?”
“I can power-nap,” she replied. “Let me get my wallet and phone from my trailer. Meet me outside?”
Samara nodded with a smile, and Dana couldn’t believe she’d just agreed to do this.
Then again, yes, she could. Samara was beautiful and unlike any woman she had ever met.
Samara was also only here for the next couple of months and was, apparently, bisexual, which changed things as far as Dana was concerned.
Dana quickly grabbed her things from her trailer and headed back out, where Samara was waiting, staring at her phone.
“The car is ready.”
“Let’s go, I guess,” she said.
They walked to where the black SUV was parked. The driver opened the door for Samara, and she climbed in before Dana, who got in after her and was surprised to see a bucket seat there, which meant she was sitting right next to Samara.
“Is the temperature okay, Ma’am?” the driver asked.
“Yes, thank you,” Samara replied.
“Where would you like to go?” he asked.
Samara looked at Dana.
“What?”
“Where are we going?”
“Wherever you want to go.”
“You’re the local,” Samara noted.
“Lavender line?” she asked more than said.
“Is that a bar?”
“No, it’s part of St. Ann Street that crosses with Bourbon and includes Lafitte’s, which is the oldest gay bar in the country. Continuously operated gay bar, at least,” Dana said.
“Oh,” Samara replied.
“It’s okay if you want to go somewhere else. It was just a thought.”
“No, it’s okay. I’ve been to gay bars before,” Samara replied.
“You have?”
“I live in LA and work in Hollywood. Of course, I have.”
“Well, okay,” Dana said and told the driver where she wanted him to go.
They’d have to walk a bit since the Quarter was pedestrian-only this time of night, but the driver got them as close as he could park. Dana helped Samara out of the car and took her hand, pulling her through the already thick crowd.
“It’s busy tonight,” Samara noted into her ear when they paused on the sidewalk.
Dana shivered a little at the closeness and replied, “It’s New Orleans at midnight. It’s pretty much always like this. Come on. I’m taking us somewhere it should be a little less packed.”
With their hands linked, Dana led them into one of the bars she expected to be less crowded, but she was surprised to find it busier than usual.
At least, there was a group of people leaving a table with three chairs.
She snagged it quickly, telling Samara to sit there and that she’d be right back with their drinks.
“You don’t even know what I want,” Samara said.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“Whatever you’re having, I guess,” Samara replied.
Dana rolled her eyes and said, “I’ll be right back. Save that chair. People will steal it if you don’t physically hold on to it, and sometimes, even when you do.”
Then, she walked to the bar and waited in the short line to place her order, turning back around to check on Samara a few times. Once she had their drinks, she turned again and found a tall, lanky woman talking to Samara. Dana sucked in air through her teeth and walked back to the table.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hi,” Samara replied, giving her ‘save me’ eyes.
“Oh, you’re here with someone,” the woman said.
“She is, yeah. I’m her girlfriend. You are?”
“I was just leaving,” the woman replied.
“Okay. Bye. Have a nice night,” Dana told her, and when the woman walked away, she added, “I can’t even take you out in a disguise without you attracting attention, huh?
” she joked and set the plastic cup in front of Samara before she sat down and wrapped her arm over the back of Samara’s chair. “Just in case.”
“I swear, I didn’t do anything. She just walked up to me.”
“You’re still hot, even with all that crap on,” Dana said.
“Gee, thanks,” Samara replied and took a drink. “This is, like, all alcohol.”
“It’s New Orleans,” Dana replied, laughing. “Well, it’s a good bar in New Orleans. Not all of them are generous, but I know a couple of the bartenders here, so they tend to be nice to me.”
“You know them how, exactly?”
“They worked some of the parties I’ve catered.”
“So, not…”
“I haven’t slept with them, no,” she said.
“Oh,” Samara replied.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Dana asked.
“Who you’ve slept with?” Samara asked back before she turned away.
“No.” Dana laughed and took a sip of her own drink, chewing on a piece of ice for a second. “What you told me earlier.”
“Not really. I mean, I don’t need to unless you want to.”
“Up to you,” Dana replied.
“When did you know?” Samara asked, turning to her.
“Since high school, I guess, but I thought I might be gay for a minute when I had a massive crush on a girl in my class.”
“Yeah? What happened?”
“We…” Dana faded out, looking down at her cup.
“Oh,” Samara uttered. “You slept with her.”
“Yeah. She was my first, technically. It didn’t last, and then, I liked a guy my senior year, so it was confusing for a while, but I came out officially in college.
Lainey is two years older, and she came out first, so when I saw how my parents handled her being gay, I figured they might not have a problem with me being bi, and they didn’t. ”
“That’s great,” Samara replied.
“Yeah, it makes it a lot easier, that’s for sure. I’ve had a few boyfriends and a few girlfriends, but no one important for a while. What about you?”
“Just boyfriends for me so far.”
“Because of the job?”
“I guess. I don’t know. I figured it out and didn’t know how to go about it.
I can’t just go to a bar like this in LA and hit on a woman without it being a big thing, and I didn’t think if I went to a bar and a women hit on me, it would be because she wanted anything more than a one-night stand she could brag to people about or sell photos or, heaven forbid, video the next day. ”
“Yeah, I get that. Complicated,” Dana said and took a long drink.
“You could say that,” Samara replied and finished hers.