Page 5 of For My Finale
“Ooo, what about when someone graffitied the bus shelter?” asked Ives.
“Bigger than when I headlined as Medea?” enquired Gloria, who had always taken an interest in Arty. He was from London, Gloria wished that she was.
“Fools, the lot of you,” said Arty, but he said it kindly. “We’re talking world news here, not measly village gossip.”
“Go on then,” said Ives, looking interested against her will.
Arty leaned forward, grinning. “Lilah Paxton just quit Hollywood.”
There was silence in the coffee shop for a long few seconds.
Ives was the first to break it. “You’re joking.”
“Nope.” Arty unfurled his paper, a tabloid, revealing the headline. “She won the best actress Oscar last night, and promptly quit on the spot. Just like that.”
Blossom very carefully schooled her face to look neutral and got to work making Arty a flat white. But Ives was having noneof it.
“No, no,” Ives said, teasingly. “Don’t you even pretend not to be interested in this. Your teenage crush has just blown up her entire career, your hands are literally itching to get ahold of that newspaper.”
Blossom felt herself blush furiously. “I do not have a crush on Lilah Paxton.”
“So you didn’t wallpaper your bedroom with posters of her?” asked Ives. “You didn’t check her horoscope against yours in the paper every day?”
“No,” Blossom screeched.
Ives laughed. “We’ve all known you too long and too well to believe that, Bloss. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. We’ve all had our crushes.”
“I just adore that young Matt Damon,” said Gloria, staring wistfully into space.
“He’s about thirty years too young for you,” said Daisy, who wasn’t known for her tact. Gloria scowled at her.
“The real question, though,” said Arty, who was skimming through the newspaper article. “Is what is she going to do now?”
“Move to a private island,” Gloria said. “Or disappear into obscurity, like Greta Garbo.”
“Maybe she’ll come to Bankton,” said Blossom, without really thinking about it. Ives and Arty both turned to stare at her.
Ives narrowed her eyes. “Why in the world would she come here?”
Blossom hesitated before giving up. “Because she was born here.”
“And you’re definitely not a fan,” Ives said. “You definitely don’t know so much information about her that it’s practically creepy. Like, I don’t know, like where she was born.”
“She’s right,” Arty said. “Lilah Paxton was born here. Her parents emigrated to the States when she was a few months old.” He looked up to find everyone staring at him. “What? I do my research. Old habits die hard and all that.”
Blossom grabbed a dish towel and busied herself wiping downthe coffee machine. “It’s just trivia.” She was trying not to die inside.
It wasn’t like she was a stalking kind of fan. It was more… Well, every little lesbian needed an idol to fall in love with. That was just the way of the world. And hers had been Lilah Paxton. With her long red hair and her wide green eyes and her perfect pink lips and… Blossom’s breath hitched a little.
Arty leaned back. “Well, if she does show up here, it’d certainly make life interesting.”
Gloria pursed her lips. “If she’s looking for a role in the next Am-Dram production, I hope she realizes that she’ll have to audition just like everyone else.”
Ives drained the last of her coffee and stood up. “Seriously? What are the chances of Lilah Paxton showing up here? You lot live in a dream world sometimes, I swear.” She nodded at Blossom. “I’m off before the kids start a coup.” Then she put a hand on Daisy’s shoulder. “And I’ll take that blind date, whoever it’s with.”
Daisy clapped her hands in glee. “Excellent, you won’t regret it.”
“I’m already regretting it,” Ives muttered as she slid out of the door.
