The Do-Over(32)

A sip of wine was halfway down my throat and I began to choke, “That’s a great visual. The man has already had head from me and now he’s going to have my head.”

Patting my back, Laynie surmised, “I’m sure if he said something to Wes, you’d know about it.”

“Oh, I agree and then look at what a hypocrite I am, judging him on his young girlfriend when I’ve had sex with his best friend.”

“They’re best friends?” Jill asked. “Are you sure they’re not just business colleagues?”

Shaking my head, and grabbing a handful of the now almond-less nut mixture, “From what Kelly has told me, they’ve known each other since they are like eight years old. Wes is very loyal to him and Julien is where he is only because of Wes. I think Wes has bailed him out of a few situations in his life.”

“Bros before hoes,” Laynie muttered.

“Exactly,” we all concurred.

“Can we get another bottle of the Syrah and more nuts,” I asked our waitress.

“Sorry I stole all the almonds. So why do you think he hasn’t said anything to Wes?”

“The only thing I can think is that it’s a control thing with him. He’s lording it over me. Holding me hostage with it.” The whole thing was weighing on me heavily. “Do I tell Wes?” I looked at my two friends sorely needing advice on this one.

Jill was vigorously shaking her head no and I looked at Laynie.

“Not until he’s pulling a condom out of its wrapper.” My best friend’s pointed look clearly said, keep your mouth shut.



After weeks of auditions and script tweaks, we were down to final casting on two of the PSA videos with three actresses and two actors doing readings. Wes had joined Kelly and Renata to make the decision and Chris was sitting in with the team, in Wes’ presence.

I stopped in to say hello to everyone, since this portion of the process didn’t include me. Kim had coffee and danish set-up for everyone and I grabbed a cup.

“Where have you been hiding?” Renata asked.

“Just waiting for you guys to finish casting and then you’ll be seeing plenty of me.”

I caught Wes’ eye and smiled. Why did it feel as if there was no one else in the room whenever he was around? I felt a closeness to this man, yet the distance was evident. Our relationship was purely business, yet it felt like he and I were the only two that shared some colossal secret. Or maybe it was only me, as I really didn’t have any idea what he was feeling and the secret I was hiding was massive.

Donna slipped into the room, “Tara, I have Frank on the phone.”

It was odd that Frank would call into the main number. “Tell him I’ll call him back.” I tried to keep my voice low.

“Umm, he was pretty insistent he needed to speak to you.” And then she whispered, “It came in through an international number.”

“What?” My voice was louder and sharper than I’d expected it to come out.

Shaking my head, I fled from the room. This was not going to be good. Not at all. It was Thursday morning and two days away was the Annual Father/Daughter Spring Dance. If he was overseas anywhere I was going to get on a plane and kill the man with my bare hands.

“I’ll put it through to your office.” Donna headed back to the front desk.

Visions of castration were becoming clearer as my anger increased with every step toward my office. Closing the door, I picked up my phone.

“Frank?”

The line was scratchy. “Hey Tar, I’ve got some bad news.”

“Where are you?”

“You see that’s the problem. I’m in Paris and won’t be able to make it back until Sunday.”

“Yeah, that is a problem, Frank, since you’ve got a date with your daughter on Saturday night.”

“I know. I feel terrible.”

“No Frank, if you felt terrible, you’d get your ass on a plane tomorrow and come home.”

“Look, Tara, my hands were really tied.”

“This had better be a good one, like the only surgeon who could reattach your balls is there.”

“Ha-ha, good one. You were always funny.”

“Spit it out.” My anger was flaring.

“It’s Crystal’s parents’ 25th anniversary and she booked this whole anniversary trip for them.”

“You have got to be f*cking kidding me. How long have you known about this? You both knew this was the weekend of Scarlett’s dance. How many times are you going to break your daughter’s heart?” Hearing my door, I looked up and Wes was slipping into my office as I got the last sentence out.

“I’ll get her something really great. An outfit from a top French designer that her friends would kill for.”

“She doesn’t want an outfit or any other gifts, Frank. She wants her father with her at that dance. Especially after what you pulled on her with the holiday dance. What message are you giving her? Not to trust men that tell you they love you? You’re breaking her heart. As you’ve already seen, you will have multiple marriages in your life, but only one daughter named Scarlett.”

Wes opened the mini-fridge in my office and pulled out a bottle of Evian. Unscrewing the cap, he handed it to me. My hands were shaking with anger and it splashed all over my desk.