Page 25 of Always a Roommate
9
RAE
I studied Lola, trying to figure out if she was kidding or not. “Are you sure?”
That made her laugh. “It’s what Drew wants.” She shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t really care so much about the wedding. I just want him to be happy with it. As long as I get to marry him, I’m good.”
“But…” This was the first time I had a client who could call up any of his buddies in the music industry to perform at his wedding. And… he wanted a DJ. Normally, my clients chose DJs because they were the cheaper option compared to a band, but money wasn’t the issue here.
“Can I tell you a secret?” Lola dropped her voice like she was about to tell me some classified intel. “We’re protected by client-planner privilege, right?”
That definitely wasn’t a thing. “I won’t tell anyone.” Really, who would believe me that a DJ—one I could find last minute, no less—was Drew’s idea?
“Okay, so Drew kind of loves the cheesy wedding songs.”
“Oh no.”
She nodded. “He wants the ‘YMCA,’ the ‘Macarena,’ and—”
“Please don’t say it.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. “The ‘Chicken Dance.’”
I couldn’t help it, I laughed. The ‘Chicken Dance.’ The exact songs I forbade DJs from playing at weddings I planned. “I really don’t know what to say.”
We were interrupted by a rumble up above where we were sitting on the patio of The Beach Club. In front of us were strawberry daiquiris, virgin, of course. It was the middle of the workday, after all. I scribbled notes in the margins of the checklist.
Drew was out in L.A. for a few days, which gave me time to go over a few details with Lola, and I was glad he wasn’t here. I wasn’t sure I could look him in the eye right now, knowing he wanted to do the ‘Chicken Dance’ at his wedding.
The guy was supposed to be one of the best dancers there was.
“I hate hurricane season.” Lola took a giant bite of her burger, smearing mustard across her lip. She didn’t bother wiping it away.
“Tell me about it.” I closed the binder that held all the details planned out. “Last year, we didn’t even get hit by a hurricane, but my street still flooded.”
Lola groaned. “I lived here not too long ago. The bad stuff always passed, but it’s ridiculous how much rain there is this time of year.”
I nodded in agreement. “It’s just gloomy.”
The sky had gotten darker and darker the longer we sat out here, but we’d seen it all before. A hurricane would make landfall in Florida, but it would no doubt miss us, and we’d have a passing rainstorm before going about our days again.
I hadn’t been home all day, but after dinner with Lola, I was looking forward to curling up in a Snuggie with a cup of tea and a book. It was my favorite rainy activity.
A drop of rain hit my cheek, and I looked to the sky, all thoughts of DJs and ridiculous rock stars fading from my mind as I stared into the tumultuous clouds.
“We should probably be getting home.” Lola’s voice drifted on the gale of wind that blew the hair from my neck. When had the wind picked up? I looked around, realizing most other diners were gathering their things and heading inside to finish their meals.
“Sounds like a good idea.”
I tucked my binder under one arm, using my free hand to push back the hair that kept blowing in my face. More raindrops fell around me as we made our way toward where a waiter was ushering people inside.
I kept pace beside Lola. “Are you staying at Drew’s place?” He had a house in the exclusive Wentwood neighborhood, or so the tabloids said.
She shook her head. “When he’s not with me, I stay with my mom. I don’t get to see her much when we’re on tour, so it’s nice to have some girl time.”
An irrational jealousy hit me at that. I knew it wasn’t right. Lola might have a mother who cared for her, but she was still like me, having a parent gone. She didn’t have her father around.
Something I struggled to imagine.
