EPILOGUE #2
Juliet and Gwen already lived together and were in the process of buying a house.
Dana was pretty sure one of them was about to propose, too.
She’d heard through the friend grapevine that they’d both planned on doing it and had acquired rings.
Elisa and Myra were living together in Elisa’s house, which Myra was always redoing or adding on to, but they hardly talked about themselves when everyone got together.
It was usually the kids who took top billing.
Archie, Elisa’s son, had transferred to a better soccer school and was dating a girl whom Elisa said he was very happy with and whom Elisa liked as well.
Adele, Elisa’s daughter and Archie’s twin sister, was already engaged to her fiancée, Wendy.
That had come as a shock to Elisa and Myra, but they seemed to be okay with it.
The girls weren’t getting married until after they graduated from college and got jobs, so that seemed like a good compromise for everyone.
“Sorry, it took us a minute to get down that damn carpet. They keep trying to grab my girlfriend,” Ava said as she walked over to the group.
“Where is your girlfriend?” Dana asked.
“She went to the bar to get us drinks,” Ava replied. “We spend most of our time avoiding events like this, so when we go, it’s always an adjustment for me. I just want to stand behind her and hold her purse while they take pictures of her, but she doesn’t carry a purse.”
“Well, she is very pretty,” Dana teased.
Samara lifted an eyebrow.
“She is, yes.” Ava smiled.
Dana turned to see that she was smiling over at Stephania, her supermodel girlfriend, who winked back at Ava as she waited in line.
“I’m just happy to be back in New Orleans. We’ve been trying to buy a damn house here so that we can go back and forth, and I don’t want to keep renting my small apartment, but she’s so busy that getting her here for a significant period of time is difficult.”
“Are you complaining about the fact that you work remotely now, so you can live in LA, New York, Miami, New Orleans, or anywhere else in the world that you want?” Dana teased.
“No, but we agreed to live in LA part-time and here part-time. I’m just ready to have a house here that’s ours.”
“I think that makes sense,” Samara replied. “We were thinking of buying something here next year.”
“You are?” Lainey asked.
“Don’t worry; we’re still keeping Samara’s place in LA. It would just be so we don’t have to stay with you guys or get a hotel room when we visit,” Dana shared.
“So, just visiting?” Paige asked.
“Yes,” she said, laughing a little.
“And it’s your place, too, now,” Samara added. “It’s not my house anymore.”
Dana had struggled initially with being so far away from her family.
The worry was very real, and just trying to turn it off wouldn’t have helped, so she had gone to Samara’s therapist at first just to see if that would help.
When it had, she’d found one of her own, and now, she went weekly and had exercises that she did on her own to try to sort through some of the more irrational worries she had, focusing on what she could control.
It was a process, and she still had days when she’d be driving to an audition, and she’d think that Lainey was on her way to a match, and she’d worry that something might happen again, but she had her coping mechanism now, which her sister and family tolerated.
That now included Samara, too, so whenever she was worried about her girlfriend when they were apart, she’d send a quick text.
Dana Sterling: Okay?
That was all it took, and Samara would respond.
Samara Barber: Okay. I love you. You?
Dana Sterling: Okay. I love you, too.
It was their own way of telling each other that they were okay, and it always made Dana smile when she thought about how they just understood one another in this strange way.
“Hey, I’ve got my drink, but can I bring this into the theater? No, right? I need to finish it out here,” Jill said to Dana.
“You can bring it in,” Samara answered for her.
“Oh, really?” Jill asked. “Babe, we can bring them in.”
“Yeah?” Willa asked, walking up to Jill.
“I guess it’s a party kind of thing,” Jill said and added, “So, we set a date.”
“You did?” Enid asked as their group continued to get larger, taking up practically the entire lobby. “You didn’t tell me that.”
“We just set it last night, so I’m telling you all right now. Wait. Where’s Mel or Bridge?” Jill asked, looking around.
“Don’t know,” Enid said. “Spill.” She lightly punched Jill on the shoulder.
“Okay. Rude,” Jill replied. “And we are getting married on July 6th. Asher is going to plan it for us, and then, we’re going on a long honeymoon.
We’ve saved up. Mel is going to give me the time off, and it’s summer for Willa.
We don’t know where exactly just yet, but it’s between two weeks on a beach somewhere or two weeks in Europe.
Willa wants a touristy thing. I do touristy for a living and want to relax. ”
“Do both,” India suggested. “South of France is beautiful.”
“She’s going to take me there some day,” Maisie added.
“Whenever you want,” India said, smiling softly at her.
“That’s great, you two,” Samara said and moved into Dana’s body.
Dana wrapped her arms around her from behind and said, “Okay?”
“I’m ready to sit down, but yeah,” Samara replied. “It’s just a lot. You?”
“Me too,” she said. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“Hey, do you guys want to go in?” Dana asked. “I think we’re ready to sit down. It’s been a long day.”
“Sure. Let’s go,” Jill said. “Where’s Caroline?”
“She’s in the bathroom,” Enid replied. “I’ll wait for her. You go ahead.”
Caroline and Enid had moved in together, but marriage either wasn’t their thing or was very far off because neither of them ever talked about taking that step, from what Dana had heard.
Enid was the manager of the second NOLA Guides location, handling the plans for the third one that they were currently building.
Caroline worked part-time at an art gallery in New Orleans and also sold her art on the street, which she seemed to really like.
They walked into the theater through the open doors, and Dana instantly saw Bryce and Sophie, who were standing near the entrance, talking to some people.
They’d gotten married this past year in New Orleans with little fanfare because neither of them had wanted a big wedding, and Dana and Samara had been there to witness the occasion.
Sophie seemed to really love LA now, and Dana loved that she had a couple of friends who lived close.
It helped her feel like a little bit of New Orleans was with her in LA.
She also saw Ava and Stephania there from time to time, but not as often as Sophie and Bryce.
Asher and Linden were standing toward the middle of the rows of seats with Logan and Rory.
Asher was laughing at something and leaning into her wife’s side.
That had happened this past year, too, but Dana hadn’t been invited.
She had seen pictures, though, and those two knew how to throw a wedding.
Their wedding planning business was doing really well, apparently, but Dana was sure it didn’t hurt that all of their friends had been getting married one after the other and using their services.
She planned on using them one day as well if she asked Samara to marry her and Samara actually agreed to a New Orleans’ wedding.
Rory and Logan were still engaged and hadn’t set a date yet.
Dana and Logan had grown somewhat close and texted each other often whenever Dana was in LA.
Rory was now a social worker, which had been her dream, and Logan was working in a plumbing, HVAC, and electrical shop.
She had told Dana that in a few years, her goal was to own her own shop and that she was well on her way to paying her parents back for the money she’d taken when she’d been gambling.
They seemed happy, too, which made Dana happy for them.
“Babe?” Samara asked.
“Huh?”
“Sit down with me?”
“Oh, sure,” Dana said.
They walked to where their friends had started to sit and joined them, with Samara entering the row first. Coming out hadn’t been completely smooth sailing for Samara, but most people had sent positive comments and messages when she had posted her coming out on social media a year ago.
After Vancouver, she’d had a couple of people pull offers or scripts away because they hadn’t wanted to deal with it – at least, not initially – and Samara had been bothered by it, but then, she’d get another offer, and she would feel okay again.
She’d filmed a few recurring guest spots on TV this past year and no other movies, but it had been her decision to cut down and make only one or two movies a year from now on, alternating with not making one the following year so that she wouldn’t exhaust the audience.
Dana had only filmed one movie as a supporting character, but she had two more lined up for the upcoming year, and in one of them, she would be playing the lead.
It was an indie film with a small budget, but she knew she had to start somewhere.
With Samara taking a break, she’d be able to go on location with Dana, and Dana had decided that if she ever had that many offers herself where people wanted her in two movies a year, she’d take a year off, too.
They’d arrange it so that when Samara was working, Dana would be there with her and vice versa.
“Hey, congrats, you two,” Kyle said, leaning over Melinda, whom Samara was sitting next to.
“Thank you,” Samara replied.
“You’ve got to be excited. This is amazing,” Melinda added.
“It’s crazy that it’s finally premiering,” Dana said, wrapping an arm around Samara’s shoulders. “I feel like we made this ten years ago.”
“Does that mean you feel like we’ve been together for ten years?” Samara asked.
“Sometimes, yeah.”
Samara poked her in the stomach as she laughed.
Melinda and Kyle were both still doing well.
They were trying to get pregnant. Jolie, Kyle’s sister, already was.
She’d gotten engaged earlier in the year and just a few weeks later, found out that they were expecting.
Dana had only met her once at one of the many weddings, but she’d bragged about finally doing something before her big sister, Kyle.
Kyle and Melinda seemed to be on their own path, though, taking their time to do whatever it was that they wanted, and it made perfect sense to Dana.
“Bridgette and Monica wanted to be here, but Aaron is getting married,” Melinda told them as she looked down at her watch. “Right about now, I think. They’re in New York this week.”
“She told me. That’s great,” Dana said about Monica’s son, Aaron.
She and Bridgette were married but weren’t having kids. Bridgette already considered Aaron to be her stepson, and he was technically Monica’s stepson, too, from a previous relationship, and that was enough for both of them.
Dana wasn’t sure if she and Samara would have kids one day.
They’d talked about it, obviously, but they hadn’t landed on any firm plans.
She wanted them, and she knew Samara did, too, but right now, all Dana cared about was being with the woman she loved and doing the things she loved to do.
The whole marriage and kids thing would happen later.
“We’re going to sit behind you. Is that okay?”
Dana turned to see Rory and Logan behind them.
“Yeah, sure,” she said. “How are you two?”
“Good,” Rory said. “Viv and Jodie wanted to be here, but they couldn’t get away.”
“That’s okay. I appreciate it,” Dana said.
Viv had been Caroline’s roommate in college, and Jodie was Viv’s girlfriend and Caroline’s best friend.
Dana had met them both in passing when they’d been on their way out of the city, moving to Kansas City for a teaching job for Viv.
She’d told Rory to invite them tonight, but she hadn’t really expected them to be here. They barely knew each other.
“I can’t believe it’s time,” Bryce said as she walked over to their row, shaking her head in disbelief.
“Me neither,” Sophie added. “I’m going to go sit down with Sean and Kelly. You make the rounds and stuff.”
Sophie kissed Bryce’s cheek and walked off.
“Who’s Kelly?” Samara asked.
“Oh, Sean’s girlfriend,” Bryce replied. “They’ve been together for a while now. I like her. Kelsey and Megan like her, too, so that’s good.”
“Friend approval is always good,” Dana said.
Then, she looked up and saw an old woman standing in the front row. She wasn’t facing the screen behind her but appeared to be looking at Dana or maybe Samara.
“Hey, who’s that?” Dana asked.
Samara followed her line of sight and replied, “No idea. Why?”
“Who?” Bryce asked, looking that way, too. “Oh. Her?”
“Yeah, the old woman staring at us,” Dana said.
“Oh, there’s a story,” Melinda spoke, laughing a little.
“I invited her,” Bryce replied. “You don’t know her?”
“Me? No. How would I?” Dana asked.
“She didn’t talk to you or Samara right around the time you two got together?” Kyle asked.
“No,” Samara said. “Was she supposed to?”
Dana looked back at the woman who smiled widely at her. Then, she placed her hand over her heart, pointed two fingers at her and Samara, and nodded.
“Um… What the hell was that?” Samara asked.
“I think it just means we’ll all be at your wedding one day,” Bryce replied, laughing a little.
“Wait. What?” Dana asked.
“You’ve been blessed,” Logan said from behind them. “Join the club.”
“I am so confused,” Samara said and shook her head.
“I’ve got two waters for you,” Kyla announced, holding out two bottles of water as she stood at the end of the row. “Now, I’m going to call my husband and check on the twins. I’ll see you when this is all over if you don’t need anything else.”
“We’re good, Kyla. Thank you,” Samara replied as Dana grabbed the waters from Kyla.
“Babe, sit,” Sophie said as she approached Bryce again. “It’s about to start.”
“Got to go,” Bryce told them as Sophie pulled her toward their row.
Dana glanced back at the old woman again, who looked around at all of their friends, nodded, and sat down in her own seat.
“What do you think that was about?” Samara whispered as the lights flickered on and off three times.
“No idea, but I guess we’re getting married.”
“Fine. But we’re doing it indoors because I’m not dealing with this New Orleans’ heat on my wedding day.”
Dana turned to look at her in surprise, so Samara leaned in and pressed her forehead to Dana’s.
“Okay?” she asked.
“Okay,” Dana replied. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”