Twenty-Six
Maddie
It was the day of my wedding, and I sat in the car and watched as planes landed and took off from our state. I often imagined that I was on one of them, waiting my turn to leave this boring state, and on my way to a better life. The irony wasn’t lost on me as I waited for Nancie’s flight to arrive. Afterward, we would grab some breakfast and then rush to Gavin’s house, where I would put on the gorgeous wedding dress that I had picked, and Nancie into one of her designer gowns that she brought with her.
She still wasn’t okay with my sudden engagement at all. I was lucky that she agreed to fly back at a moment’s notice, after nearly an hour on the phone convincing her that what Gavin and I had was true love, but I knew there was still a part of her that didn’t believe me. I couldn’t blame her, really. I had barely spoken to Gavin in ten years almost, and all of a sudden, we were getting married.
A part of me knew that I could tell Nancie the truth. She wouldn’t judge me. She would have done the same thing. But I wasn’t willing to go against Gavin’s terms, despite how difficult it was to keep the lie to myself.
Nancie finally emerged from the airport, looking just as beautiful and stunning as ever, in a flowing white dress that draped along the ground behind her. She had a sunhat on, which I had to smile at considering the sky had been cloudy and downcast the past few weeks, and flip flops.
Her skin had a healthy glow to it, and she smiled with a face clear of imperfections.
“California’s been nice to you,” I said and hugged her. “You look amazing.”
“You have no idea,” she gushed as I opened the passenger door for her. “Now let’s get to breakfast so I can tell you just how great California has been.”
I laughed. It wasn’t surprising that she was totally ignoring the entire reason why she was even in town. I took her to a small diner that we both liked when we were poor and broke living in our apartment together, and she ordered a smoothie bowl with a side of honey toast while I stuck to a simple smoothie. I had a wedding dress to fit into, after all.
“Is it like the movies?” I asked. “Lights everywhere, stars shining at night, celebrities at coffee shops.”
“More than you could imagine,” she said. “I mean, sure, there are just as plenty drug dealers and homeless people, but the glamorous parts make up for it.”
“And your job?” I asked. “Is it what you expected?”
“A little harder,” she admitted. “It keeps me busy, at least. Which is good when you’re living in such a busy city. You’ll love it, Maddie. You were meant to live in Hollywood.”
She blinked, realized that I was about to marry a man, and shook her head.
“I guess you could still visit,” she said. “For a vacation, or whatever.”
“I might still get out there,” I said. “Gavin seemed to like the idea, at least. We talked about California a lot. He doesn’t really have too many attachments here.”
“What about his family?” she asked. “Well, I know his mom won’t last much longer, but there’s no one else?”
I frowned as she talked about Mona’s illness so casually. Mona was everything to Gavin; it didn’t take a fool to realize it.
“No one, really,” I said. “So who knows, we might still end up in California. He’s a writer, so it would be good for both of us. Maybe getting away from the life he’s used to will help get him back into the swing of things. I’d love to be there with you, but I’m about to be tied down to him. You know, in the best of ways.”
“Well I hope you do,” she said and finished her smoothie bowl. “I have plenty of gigs lined up for you when you do. And married or not, you’re still too talented to just waste away as a housewife taking care of little Gavins. You deserve your own life.”
“Like an actress?” I asked. “Do you know any acting agencies?” Modeling was where I wanted to get my start, but I prayed like hell that I could move into acting too. It was the ultimate dream.
Nancie nodded. “I talked to a few, and told them all about you. They can’t wait to meet you.”
I paled and gasped. It’s all I’d wanted since I could remember realizing that I could have a life one day. Like a grown-up life. “Then count me in,” I said. “One way or another, I’ll make it there.”
Nancie smiled as I paid the bill. She was hesitant to let me cover it, which I couldn’t blame her. She was still used to me being the poor friend. But there was no way I’d let her know that I had a few hundred thousand dollars in my account. At least, not yet.
“Now where to?” Nancie asked.
“We’re getting ready at Gavin’s house,” I said. “You knew that. You had your dress sent to his place in advanced, remember?”
“Ugh, I know,” she said. “I was just hoping you’d change your mind last minute and tell me we were running away to Vegas.”
“Better luck next time,” I said with a small laugh. “You’ll like him; Nancie, just give him a chance.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll try.” We walked back to my car. “As long as he makes you happy and you don’t give up on your dreams, then I won’t hate him.”
“No one’s giving up on any dreams,” I said and shrugged. “This is just a small detour, and it might be nice to have someone out there with me, besides you. You get so damn busy all the time. Who’s going to hold me when things fall apart? Because you know this business well enough. Things fall apart all the damn time.” I gave her a knowing look.
“True dat!” She got into her side of the car and leaned back. “Tell me about the dress, seeing that you didn’t send me any pictures!”
“I didn’t want Gavin to get on my phone and see them before the ceremony today. You know it’s supposed to be bad luck if your groom sees you in your dress before the wedding.”
“Really?” She glanced over at me, looking suspicious. “That’s bullshit. You’re making that up.”
“You’re dumb. You knew that.” I pulled out into traffic and hit the freeway as we chatted a little more about her experience thus far in Cali. She was living the dream, moving into the high life, and loving it.
It was easy to love life when you weren’t completely broke. Now that I had some money in my bank account, I would wrap up the deal with Gavin and be on my way to the sunny state.
Sadness raced through me at the idea of not seeing him again. Could I really do that? It was what we both expected, but thinking about on our last night together, I was unsure of myself. He hadn’t been welcoming in the bed, but sometime during the night, he’d rolled over and snuggled up to the back of me. We fit so damn good together. Maybe not in life, but in lust.
“Hey, dreamer. You still awake?” She patted my shoulder and pointed to an exit up ahead. “Don’t miss our turn off, or we’ll be late. No one likes to wait at a wedding. It makes you think about the asshole you married beside you, or if you’re not married, you start to ponder the great mystery of life known as love.”
I laughed and pulled off the freeway as butterflies danced in my tummy. “You should seriously think about switching from modeling to acting. You’re so dramatic.”
“I’m multi-talented, darling.” She used a funny accent and wagged her eyebrows before letting out a long huff. “Are we really doing this? You’re getting hitched to this guy?”
“Yeah. I’m really doing it.” I tugged at my seatbelt, hating that I had to lie to her. She was my closest friend. Hell, she was my only friend. “He’s worth it.”
“I sure hope so.” She leaned back and turned her face toward me. “I do think it’s cool you guys are trying to get this done before his mother passes. I’m down with that.”
I smiled and turned down the road that led to Gavin’s estate. “Me too. She’s pretty excited about it.”
“And you are too, right?” She sat up and cleared her throat, turning to look at his property. “Wowzer.”
“Yeah. I’m thrilled.” I pulled up and parked. “And a little nervous. I mean, what if I trip? What if he doesn’t like the dress?”
“What if it all goes perfectly?” She snorted and got out of the car. “Come on, Princess. We need to get you all dolled up before we put you in your dress and send you down the aisle to your forever.”
My forever. I liked the sound of it. Too bad it was a damn lie.