Vic and Forest nodded.
“Plus, my wife is totally cool with me having girlfriends.
She’s sort of a nerd and thinks I’m way out of her class, so she’s happy with us having an open relationship,” Mick ad-libbed.
“I can’t imagine you with a nerd. What does she look like?” Vic asked.
Mick reached into his computer bag and pulled out his laptop. He turned it around a few keystrokes later so the guys could see. To this point, none of his fellow actors knew that Adrienne was going to play his wife.
Forest actually shot coffee out of his nose.
“For fuck’s sake, that woman is insane if she thinks you’re out of her league,” Vic said.
David gave them a little shrug, like he didn’t get it either.
“And cut!”
“Do me a favor and send that clip to Adrienne to prep her for next week,” David said to Moira, their production assistant.
“Are you sure?”
“Oh, yeah. And don’t tell Adrienne I had you send it,”
David prompted.
He would have Tyler secretly capture Adrienne’s reaction when she saw that he’d said she was a nerd and he was the hot one of the couple. It would rank right up there with his sending the fake pregnancy pics and claiming she was having an alien baby.
◊◊◊
Alex was glad when David walked in on him and Chloe having an argument. He felt like warmed-over shit.
Everything involving Chloe had been fucked up last night, and the pure scope of the fuckery made him certain she would never want to see him again.
“Tell me to walk away,” Chloe said.
Alex cleared his throat, closed his eyes, and gathered all his self-control.
“Stop,” he whispered, so faintly it sounded like a prayer.
“Walk away.”
Alex wasn’t sure what was worse—the thought that Chloe might ignore his words or the idea that she might actually heed them.
“What the hell is going on?” David asked.
“Last night, we went to a party when we got back. Wren was there, and I ended up sleeping with her, and Chloe found us, and …” Alex trailed off.
“So, I found Lars,” Chloe said.
“And?” David asked.
“That’s it,” Alex said.
“Bullshit! You’ve both been with other people before.
Why is this a big deal?” David asked.
“Because he has feelings for Wren,” Chloe said and clenched her mouth tighter.
“That would be a huge mistake. I mean humongous,”
David said and looked at Alex. “Is there anything bigger than humongous? Because if there is, it’s that.”
“What do you mean?” Alex asked.
David held up his finger and got out his phone. He put it on speaker when Wren said, “Hello.”
“Hey, it’s David. Crystal said … uhm … that she’s having woman troubles, and if I was in need ….”
“Oh, I get it. I’d be glad to help,” Wren said, clearly excited.
The look on Alex’s face said it all. Chloe got up and walked out.
“You know what? This is probably a bad idea,” David said and hung up.
He would have to call Crystal quickly or be in the same boat as Alex.
David stared at Alex.
“What?” Alex finally asked.
“Dumbass. What was it you said about me fucking myself? Go get her.”
“Oh. OH!” Alex said as he jumped up.
Right now, Alex and Chloe would fit right in with his soap opera drama. Alex needed to get his head out of his ass and go make nice.
◊◊◊
Chapter 29
David received the call on his way to see his kids last night. Nurse Betty told him that Lisa, Sadie’s sister, had lost her battle with cancer. He had a quiet word with his mom, who insisted on going with him this morning.
Mondays were one of the days he usually picked up Sadie to visit Lisa, and then he would take her to school.
When he went out to his mom’s car, he saw Duke was riding shotgun, so he got into the back. His buddy gave up his coveted seat to join David in the back to say hello.
“Did you talk Mom into a car ride?” David asked as he rubbed Duke’s chest and ears.
“I thought Sadie might need a distraction,” Carol said as he pulled from the curb. “How are you doing?”
“Sad, but the hospital staff warned me this was likely.
Lisa fell asleep the last time I took Sadie to see her. She was worn out from the fight.”
“Losing one is the worst part of volunteering. But the best feeling in the world is when they get to go home,”
Carol said and then asked, “Do you plan to continue?”
David shook his head ‘no.’
“Not right now.”
They were quiet until they reached Sadie and her mom’s home. When they knocked on the door, Sadie answered.
When she saw it was David, she burst into tears and rushed into his arms. Poor Duke hated to see anyone sad, so he nudged her with his nose, but Sadie needed a good cry.
While his mom talked to Sadie’s mother, David sat on the couch so he could put his arm around his friend.
“They said my sister died in her sleep. I’ve been … I’ve been afraid to sleep …” Sadie whimpered.
Until that moment, he thought he had it all together.
Seeing Sadie in so much pain broke his heart, and he could see she was exhausted.
“It’s okay. I’m here now.”
Sadie laid her head against his chest and closed her eyes. A moment later, she fell asleep.
A few minutes later, both moms found them.
“She hasn’t slept because she was afraid to. She told me Lisa passed in her sleep,” David explained.
Carol put her arm around Janis, Sadie’s mom. “It’ll be okay. Kids sometimes think silly things at times like this.
She just needs some sleep, and she’ll be fine.”
Janis showed David where Sadie’s bedroom was. He carried her in and put her into bed. Duke slipped up on the bed next to her and lay down. When David was sure Sadie was really asleep, he returned to the living room, where he found his mom alone.
“Janis had to go to the hospital and needs to make arrangements, so I said I would stay and watch Sadie.”
“Duke is in with her. I don’t think he plans to leave her side anytime soon.”
“That’s why I brought him,” Carol said.
David had to leave. He decided to walk so he could have some time to himself.
◊◊◊
With the day’s events, David had forgotten he had a lunch appointment with Dr. Carter, his academic advisor.
His calendar app warned him an hour before they were to meet. He thought about begging off, but Dr. Carter had been working on his plan to get his MBA sooner rather than later, and that wasn’t something he wanted to defer.
He found her office door open, so he knocked on the doorframe to get her attention.
“David. Come in,” Dr. Carter greeted him.
It was apparent that she’d been intent on something on her computer, and he’d broken her concentration. It gave him a chance to look around. The room was clean and
precise, like you would expect a museum gallery to look.
On the walls were the expected diplomas meant to provide third-party validation that she knew what she was doing.
Everything felt staged to give her credibility.
David closed the door and took his seat.
“Tell me again what you want,” Dr. Carter said as if to gather her thoughts.
“I’d like to get my MBA as soon as possible.”
“Why is that?”
“It will give me options. I can either get my doctorate, take the LSATs and get my law degree, or move on to the NFL,” David said.