One Look: A grumpy, single dad small town romance(80)
When I stared at her, she dropped a hand to her flat stomach. “He offered to marry me, but I don’t think I’m going to say yes.”
I swallowed, unsure of this new ground we were covering. “Okay.”
Tension hung thick in the air.
“You deserve her, you know. Penny.” A sad smile crossed her face as she opened the car door. “She worships the ground you walk on. Maybe one of us should show her what a happy, functional relationship should look like.”
I waved a weak goodbye and stomped toward the house. I hated to know she was right.
34
LARK
“You’re doing great! The director loved the direction you took the character.” The director of photography was running through the day’s notes as someone was touching up my makeup. “Also, when you turn to shoo the cat away, turn your shoulders, not just your neck. Those pesky neck wrinkles are hard to edit out in post.”
My hand immediately went to my neck. Neck wrinkles? Isn’t that normal? “Okay, I got it.”
She put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed before turning and calling over her shoulder. “You’re doing great!”
I sat back and looked to the ceiling as I let the makeup artist blot fresh powder beneath my eyes.
This is everything I have wanted. Why do I still feel so sad?
So far the shoot for the television series had been a dream. The director was friendly and kind, and the cast and crew were tight and spent lots of time together outside the shooting schedule. Chase Singleton was not at all the self-absorbed playboy he was painted in the media, at least as far as I could tell, and Eliza Stone, one of the principal female actors, was professional, if not a bit frosty. It was a new chapter and a stark difference from my previous experience in LA, when I’d witnessed back-stabbing, snark, and outright lies to get ahead.
It was different and fresh somehow.
Yet my mind and my heart were still stuck in Outtatowner, Michigan, with a particular grouchy single dad and his precocious little girl. I even missed the chaos of organizing the lives of three stinky college boys.
I looked at my phone again and reread our text thread, heightening the ever-present hollow feeling in my chest.
I sighed and slipped my phone back into my bag. I needed to stop comparing LA to Michigan. There were so few similarities, and somehow California always came out lacking.
I just needed to give it time. The gig was the break I had wanted, and filming would wrap in a few weeks, if all continued to go according to plan.
And then I’d be home.
The impact of that thought hit me like a freight train.
Home.
I’d spent so much of my adult life wandering, trying out different cities to see which fit best, to see who I could become. I’d always been searching for a different version of myself.
Turns out the best version of myself was me. The sometimes impractical, overly sentimental woman who got stuck on the side of a sand dune and secretly high-fived college kids for punching an asshole in the face. I was optimistic and tenderhearted and real.
When filming finally wrapped for the day, the entire cast met for dinner and drinks at an exclusive club I’d only ever seen on my Instagram feed. As soon as we’d arrived, we were ushered into a special roped-off section that overlooked the bar area and had its own hostess. The booth was lush, a large semicircle obscured with dark lighting and a black velvet curtain that could be pulled closed to provide additional privacy.
Ours was tied open in order to see and be seen.
Early in the night I tried to reach Wyatt and Penny, but it was late there, and he hadn’t answered. I had missed a text from him—and I assumed Penny, based on the string of emoji and cat GIFs—saying good night. The sinking feeling was back, and I started to type a quick reply.
“Seems like things are going great for you on set.” Chase Singleton slid into the large booth next to me.
“Yes! It’s been a lot of fun. I feel like I’ve learned so much already.” I slipped the phone back into my purse, and Chase swirled his drink in front of himself.
His lips pursed. “Is this your first day player?”
I nodded and swallowed. I had assumed it was painfully obvious that I had never done anything other than be a background extra for film.
“Well, you’re a natural, then.” He took a sip of the dark liquid and hissed a breath through his teeth. “I overheard the directors talking. There may be a reunion in the future for Jack and Delilah. I could put in a good word for you.”
He winked and my stomach hollowed.
I was the ex-girlfriend Delilah to Chase’s hunky leading man Jack. I took a long sip of my pineapple and Malibu through the straw and tried to come up with a response that wouldn’t broadcast my sudden reservations.
Eliza slid into the booth with us just as some fans started not so discreetly snapping selfies with our booth in the background. Eliza posed and pursed her lips and looked flawlessly fabulous. I straightened my shoulders and tried to look interested in the conversation Chase continued to have with me despite the fact I hadn’t heard a single word he’d said.
“ . . . even Eliza thinks Lark is perfect, and she hates everyone.”
My head snapped up at my name, and Eliza shot him a prim smile. “I don’t hate everyone, but yes, Lark, you’re doing a great job. It’s nice not to have to drag out shooting for missed marks and flubbed lines.”