CHAPTER 22
“Dana, hey,” Jill said.
“Oh, hi,” Dana replied as she walked into the café with Samara in disguise. “Uh... This is my friend Jill. Jill, this is…” Dana looked over at Samara, silently begging her to help her out here.
“Friend?” Samara asked.
“Babe, got a table!”
Jill and Dana both followed that voice, and Willa, Jill’s fiancée, waved at them from about ten feet away.
“Are you staying or just getting stuff to-go?” Jill asked.
“Um…”
“We’re staying,” Samara replied. “Samara,” she introduced herself and held out her hand for Jill to take.
“Samara?” Jill looked harder. “Oh, shit. You’re–”
“Jill, keep it down,” Dana told her.
“You’re…”
“Yeah, that’s me. Incognito tonight, though, so can we maybe just call me Mara so that no one puts two and two together?”
“Yeah, sure,” Jill said. “I heard about the movie. Congrats, Dana. Want to join us? We’re having a date night, but we just dropped my sister off with my mom, so now, we can talk about the wedding without fifty questions about being a flower girl.”
“Sorry?”
“Jill and Willa are engaged,” Dana explained, nodding toward Willa, who was looking at the three of them in confusion. “And Jill has a kid sister who will be in the wedding,” she added before they walked over to the table where Willa kissed Jill.
“This is Mara, Dana’s friend,” Jill said. “Mara, this is my fiancée, Willa.”
“Nice to meet you,” Samara replied and held out her hand for Willa to take.
“Uh… Mara?” Willa asked, clearly recognizing Samara.
“She’s incognito,” Jill explained.
“Oh. Got it. Have you two ordered? The line isn’t too long yet.”
“Not yet. I’ll go wait in line, though,” Dana said. “Want to sit down?”
“Can I come with you?” Samara asked.
“Sure,” Dana replied. “We’ll be right back.”
She then took Samara’s hand without thinking and entwined their fingers before she realized what she’d done and let it go.
“Why’d you let go?”
“Sorry,” she said. “I just meant to keep you next to me because this place gets crowded. I didn’t mean to, like, really hold your hand.”
“Oh. I didn’t take it that way. I got it.”
“Okay. Good,” Dana said. “So, Mara?”
“I usually go by my real nickname, which is Sam, but I went with my other nickname, that only my parents and sister use, for tonight.”
“Who actually calls you Sam? I’ve never even thought to call you Sam myself,” she said as she joined the line. “You don’t seem like the kind of woman who likes nicknames.”
“No one, really. But Kyla, my assistant, does when she’s annoyed with me or just too lazy to say my full name. A few other people I’ve worked with over the years used it, too, but not many.”
“So, you do prefer your full name?”
Samara shrugged and replied, “I do. Mara is fine, though. Sam is okay, too, but Mara works for me. I grew up with that, so I’m used to it.”
“How did you get that name? It’s pretty,” Dana said.
“Well, I don’t think it would surprise you to know that it’s a combination of Sam and Mara.
” Samara chuckled a little. “Samuel was my grandfather. My grandmother was Margaret, but she went by Mar or Mara instead of Maggie or Marge or something else. My parents just put the names together. My sister is Jaclyn because my other grandfather went by Jack, and my other grandmother’s middle name was Lynn. ”
“Your parents went old-school. I like it.”
“Where did yours come from?” Samara asked as they moved up in line.
“My mom just liked it. And Lainey is really Elaine. She’s named after some politician my dad liked. Weird; I know.” Dana laughed a little. “My mom got to pick my name, though, and she chose Dana. She saw it in a baby name book, I guess.”
“It’s nice. It suits you,” Samara said.
“Are you sure you don’t want coffee? We’re up next.”
“Can I have a sip of yours just to see if I like it?”
“Sure,” she replied with a smile.
They ordered, and Dana resisted the impulse to get two orders of beignets.
She handed Samara the coffee while she paid and waited to see if she liked it.
Samara smelled the liquid through the little hole in the lid before she took a sip, which Dana thought was crazy because it was hot coffee, but Samara looked at her and smiled.
“Can I actually get another coffee, please?” Dana asked at the counter before they returned to the table and sat down across from Jill and Willa.
“So, Mara, you’re working with Dana on the movie, right?” Willa asked before she bit into a beignet.
“I’m working with her, more like,” Dana said and pulled a beignet out of the paper bag she’d been given.
She got them to-go in case someone recognized Samara, and they needed to run.
“She’s a great co-star. Best I’ve ever worked with,” Samara said.
“Yeah, right,” Dana replied, laughing.
“I’m serious,” Samara said.
“You’ve worked with everyone,” Dana pointed out.
Samara smiled and said, “Yeah, and they’re not you.”
Dana rolled her eyes and put her arm over the back of Samara’s metal chair.
“She’s being nice because we’re working on the movie now. She’ll say the same thing to her next co-star.”
“No, I won’t,” Samara said seriously.
Jill and Willa watched their back-and-forth for a moment before Jill leaned in and whispered something to Willa, who lifted her eyebrow at Dana.
“So, you two are engaged?” Samara asked.
“Yeah, as of about three days ago,” Jill said with a smile and showed off her ring.
“Uh… I’m a teacher, so I couldn’t afford a big diamond,” Willa said.
“As if I needed a big diamond,” Jill noted.
“It’s beautiful,” Samara replied, looking down at it.
“I’m sure you’ve seen the biggest diamond in–”
“It’s beautiful,” Samara repeated, interrupting Willa. “I have never been a fan of the giant rings that I can barely lift my hand when I wear them. I have to for events sometimes, but I think the ring should be what the wearer wants, especially if she’s wearing it for the rest of her life.”
“I agree,” Jill replied. “Now, I have to get her one. I was going to ask her to marry me before she beat me to it, so I had one picked out. I saw it in the store, loved it, and went back to pick it up after I finished a tour. Oh, I’m a tour guide, and I also manage the place.
Anyway, I went back to get it, but it was gone.
I asked if they had another one, but they didn’t, so I’m back on the hunt for one.
” She looked at Willa. “We’re going to find it together now. ”
Willa smiled at her and said, “I don’t even need a ring. You know that, right?”
“Yeah, right. Like I’m not getting you a ring to symbolize my eternal love.”
Dana took a drink of her way-too-hot coffee at the same time Samara leaned into her a little, and it nearly made her choke because the next thing Samara did was place her hand on Dana’s thigh. Dana looked down but didn’t move because she didn’t want Samara to pull that hand away.
“So, do you like New Orleans?” Willa asked Samara.
“I do. It’s a very… welcoming city.”
Dana cleared her throat and ate a beignet.
“And how long are you here?” Willa asked.
“We break for the holiday, but then, we’re back. In total, it’s about two months.”
“Then, back to LA?”
“Vancouver,” Samara said. “I have a short break, but I film there next.”
“You do?” Dana asked.
“Yeah, I signed everything yesterday,” Samara replied. “It’s two months there on location and back to LA for some stage stuff.”
“What’s the movie?” Jill asked.
“Untitled right now, but it’s an action thing. Big explosions and car chases. I play a scientist who falls for the cop. Standard stuff. I would’ve said no, honestly, but I signed a three-picture deal with the studio five years ago. This is my last movie with them, and then, I’m, thankfully, done.”
“With action movies?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. I guess if a good script or character actually comes my way, I’ll do one, but I’m looking forward to doing more indie stuff like this movie or just something with real meat on the bone, you know?
I want to really challenge myself to be the best actor I can be, not just keep taking the big-budget stuff. ”
“Dana?”
“Yeah?” she said, looking up at Jill.
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“What’s next for you?”
“Oh, back to catering.”
“Really? Why? This is a big deal, right?”
“It is, yeah,” Samara said. “And I’m working on her.” She squeezed Dana’s thigh. “Dana here doesn’t seem to believe anyone when they tell her that she’s talented.”
“I believe people,” she argued.
“Really? Just a minute ago, I called you my best co-star, and you didn’t believe that.”
“You’ve worked with Meryl fucking Streep.”
“We had two scenes together, and she had three lines in those scenes.”
“Still,” Dana said.
“She wasn’t a co-star. She had a cameo,” Samara argued.
“Because she’s so talented and so sought-after, she does cameos.”
“Mara, you didn’t want any beignets?” Willa asked then, changing the subject.
“No, I’m vegan,” Samara said. “But the coffee is good.” She picked up her cup with her free hand and took a drink, as if to demonstrate that fact. “And I just realized you said you were on a date night.” She looked at Dana. “We’re interrupting, aren’t we?”
“We were just going to talk wedding stuff,” Jill replied. “Things like time of the year or band versus DJ.”
“Oh, go DJ,” Samara suggested. “Much better.”
“Yeah?”
“I’ve been to, like, ten weddings this year. I swear, everyone I’ve ever worked with got married. Most of them went with a DJ. A few had bands, but people had more fun with a DJ. Bigger song selection.”
“So, you’d have a DJ for your wedding?” Willa asked.
“Definitely,” Samara replied. “But I know a few people who might disagree with that.”
“Why?” Dana asked.
Samara smiled at her and said, “I know a lot of people who would want to perform.”
“You know famous people,” Jill stated with a nod.
“Some,” Samara said, downplaying her connections.
“I like the DJ idea, babe,” Willa said.
“DJ it is, then,” Jill replied.
“Hey, can we get out of here?” Samara whispered in her ear after she removed her hand from Dana’s thigh. “It’s getting really packed.”
Dana looked around. She had been too engaged in the conversation about Samara’s possible future wedding to notice that the place had gotten crowded.
“Hey, sorry. We’ve got to go,” she said to Jill and Willa. “Too many people.”
“Oh, sure,” Jill replied. “It was nice to meet you.”
“You too. Sorry to cut the night short, but congratulations on your engagement,” Samara said as she stood.
“Thank you,” Willa replied.
“Okay, bodyguard. Get me out of here,” Samara joked and reached for Dana’s hand this time, taking it and entwining their fingers.
Dana rolled her eyes and pulled her through the rows of metal tables and out the main entrance until they were on the sidewalk and could more easily get through the Square and back to her car.
Surprisingly, Samara didn’t let go of her hand, so they walked connected like that until they stopped at a light, waiting for it to change.
When Dana looked down at their joined hands, Samara must have noticed because she pulled her hand out of Dana’s, but then her arm just looped through Dana’s instead, and her other hand squeezed Dana’s forearm as she leaned into her.
“What are you doing?” Dana asked.
“Is it not okay?”
“I thought we agreed that the kiss was a mistake, and we’re just–”
“We didn’t agree on anything. You said that. I didn’t get a chance to say anything because you started talking about beignets.”
“We’re in public,” she noted.
“And we look like two good friends now. It’s fine,” Samara told her.
“We’re not two good friends,” Dana said.
The light changed, and they walked across the street in the direction of her car.
“Well, I don’t know what we really are, but right now, on this street, we’re just two good friends enjoying our night together.”
“I don’t usually put my hand on the thighs of my good friends,” Dana argued.
“Yeah, sorry about that,” Samara said and pulled away from her when they hit the curb.
“No, you don’t have to apologize. I liked it,” she replied.
“Okay. Then, why are we talking about it?”
“Because I kissed you last night, and you ran off on me. Then, tonight, you’re putting your hand on my thigh in front of everyone in New Orleans.”
“Everyone in New Orleans? That’s an exaggeration. And if you liked it, why are you acting like it’s a bad thing?”
“Because you’re confusing, Sam–” She stopped when she nearly said Samara’s full name. “Let’s talk about this when we’re not around people. In the car or someplace private. I don’t want to get in trouble again.”
“You’re not in trouble, Dana. I put my hand on your thigh,” Samara said.
“Can we talk about something else?” she asked, needing a break from this conversation.
“What do you want to talk about? DJ or band?”
“DJ,” she said, walking a little faster through the crowd.
“We agree on that, then. What about colors?”
“Colors of what?”
“Colors for a wedding.”
“Whose wedding?”
“Yours,” Samara said.
“Oh, my God. I don’t know.” Dana laughed.
“I’m thinking maybe a pale-green for mine. Just pale-green, pastel, maybe, and white. Simple. Understated.”
“Great. Good for you,” Dana said.
“Do you like green?”
“Yes, I like green.”
“Good,” Samara replied with a smile.
Dana took Samara’s hand when they came upon a rowdy-looking group of guys and pulled her through the crowd until they were on the street where she had parked. Samara didn’t say anything else after that, so Dana just drove them in silence to Samara’s hotel and pulled up to the lobby entrance.
“You can’t eat that.”
“Huh?” she asked.
“That sandwich. It’s shrimp,” Samara said. “It can’t be good to eat that after it’s been sitting in your car.”
“I’m sure it’s fine.”
“It’s seventy-seven degrees in here, and it’s been sitting back there for well over an hour. I wouldn’t risk it,” Samara replied.
“Can we maybe stop talking about the damn sandwich, please?” Dana asked. “And talk about what’s going on.”
“Oh, now you want to talk about what’s going on? You didn’t want to before.”
“You didn’t want to before,” Dana argued. “You kissed me back last night and then left the bar. I thought I fucked up big time because this morning, you didn’t even want to film scenes with me.”
“You wouldn’t put your lips on my neck.”
“Because you–”
Then, she couldn’t even tell what she’d been about to finish that sentence with because Samara cut her off by leaning in quickly, and her lips were on Dana’s before Dana had a chance to pull hers away. The kiss was fast and over before Dana knew it, though.
“Sorry,” Samara said, staring at her with wide eyes.
“Why?” she asked. “Did you want to kiss me?”
Samara nodded.
“Then, don’t be sorry,” she said and cupped Samara’s cheek. “Just tell me what you want.”
“To go to bed,” Samara said. “Um… alone.”
Dana nodded this time and replied, “Okay.”
“Tonight,” Samara added. “I mean alone tonight.”
Dana smiled a little and repeated, “Okay.”