Page 39 of The Spotted Cottage By the Sea
“Anyway. What made you want to get into accounting?”
Sheila shrugged. “I’m just a boring person.”
“I don’t believe that.”
She set her paintbrush down. “What made you get into acting? Did you look in the mirror one day and decide you were just really, really good-looking and everyone needed to see?”
He laughed. She was not going to make it easy to get to know her. “Yes, that’s what exactly happened.”
“Knew it,” Sheila said with a smirk.
Russell cleared his throat. “It was actually because of a girl. I was trying to impress her. She was a drama major. I auditioned forHamletand got a part.”
“Ah, andthenyou looked in the mirror?”
Relentless teasing. His favorite kind of teasing. “Not exactly. A talent scout spotted me. He was visiting Minnesota for Christmas and convinced me to move to LA.”
She paused what she was doing to look at him. “Wait, you were discovered? That sounds made up.”
“I know.” He laughed. “But it’s true. I took a bunch of acting classes and I loved it. I loved conveying a story, you know?”
She bit her lip and looked down. “Hm. Even though I’ve never acted, I think I know what you mean.”
“That was when I moved in with Hank. Er, Henry Rattler.”
She put a hand over her mouth. “Wait, that’s right! You’ve been in a bunch of his movies.”
Russell studied her for a moment. Sometimes people pretended not to know about his past, as if it weren’t available with a quick internet search.
But Sheila’s surprise seemed genuine. It was nice.
“Yeah. He’s the reason I’ve had any success. I would’ve kept doing small plays and working on craft. Hank dragged me to movie sets. He was always the one with a vision, the one telling me I would be something.”
“A superstar director befriended you and insisted you were talented?” She let out a huff of air. “That’s awaybetter story than me becoming an accountant.”
He took a step back and eyed her. “Maybe to the casual observer.”
She tilted her head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Russell nodded toward her Mazzy Star shirt. “Well, for one, you’re too punk rock to be boring.”
Sheila shook her head. “I’m not punk anymore. I’m a middle-aged mom. I went back to the grocery store last month because I realized I hadn’t paid for my paper towels on self-checkout and the guilt was killing me.”
“I don’t buy it. You were in a band!”
She narrowed her eyes. “Did Eliza tell you that?”
“No. I can just tell.” Not entirely true. Eliza had mentioned it, in a more, “Can you believe my mom was in a band?” type of way.
He thought it made perfect sense.
Sheila laughed. “Fine. Yes, I was in a band, but becoming an accountant was my first choice. I love music, but I needed something stable.”
Ah, finally. Some truth. “Was it because you didn’t want to disappoint your parents? Because let me tell you, mine were not happy when I told them I was becoming an actor.”
“Eh…not exactly.” She wiped her hands on a rag, her eyes cast upward, pensive. “My mom was…eccentric. She wasn’t around much, and my dad always struggled with money. I promised myself I’d have a stable career and never have to worry like he did. I didn’t want to rebel. I wanted to…I don’t know. Excel?”
“That was smart.”
