Page 72 of Marlowe Banks, Redesigned
Angus: Good call. How about I pick you up? You can take the stealth car home. Use it as long as you need it. Please say yes. Jeeves is very insistent about returning these keys
Marlowe melted against the storefront. Of course he offered her his car, and before she even asked. Just like he’d given her hisYankees hat, recruited his agent, opened up his home, planned breakfast… He also made her laugh. He supported and encouraged her. He didn’t autopilot to a position of entitlement or authority. He embraced words likeyou’re rightinstead of always defaulting toyou’re wrong. He even helped her confront her problems in a kind and thoughtful way. How could she walk away from all of that?
Marlowe: I’ll see if Cherry can me drop me off after work
Angus:
Marlowe: You’re cute. You know that?
Angus: I’m counting on it. Keep me posted. See you later
Cherry’s car was packed with shopping bags by the time she drove Marlowe through the winding streets of Bel Air toward Angus’s house.
“You sure you don’t need anything?” Cherry asked. “A comb? A toothbrush?”
“Doubt it,” Marlowe said. “He’s very well stocked.”
“I’ve been in enough of his fittings to notice.” Cherry waggled her brows.
Marlowe couldn’t help but laugh. “That wasn’t a euphemism.”
“I’m just saying, if that’s what you’re into…”
Marlowe got out her phone as a means of cutting off the conversation. She had no interest in discussing what Angus stocked in his pants. She had no complaints, either.
Three emails had come in since she last checked: a receipt for her car donation, a bill for her union dues, and…
“Oh, my god.” She gaped at the message on her screen.
Cherry snuck her a glance before steering around an S-curve. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah. I got the job. The Off-Broadway design one I told you about this morning.”
“Fuck, yeah, you did.” Cherry held up a palm for Marlowe to high-five. “I’m so happy for you. I’m also insanely jealous. How soon does it start?”
“Right away, though I can join the first meetings remotely. I’d head east in four or five weeks, shortly after we finish wrap. Sneak in a few friend and family visits in late October. Use November to prep for December rehearsals and fittings.” As the idea took shape, Marlowe’s excitement built. After months of menial errands, she’d finally get to use her creativity again, and she’d get to dig in to a script with depth and purpose. She was surprised at how ready she felt, but her days of invisibility were behind her. Besides, if she could face her ex, she could face a few critics. “I’ll move back in with my friends, cheer on my mom in her marathon, find a new excuse to avoid my dad, drag out my favorite cozy sweaters, and put myself out there for other jobs.”
Cherry beamed at her. “That all sounds perfect.”
“Well, almost perfect.” Marlowe leaned against the door, watching the next bend in the road. As they rounded it and approached another, her excitement faded and her posture wilted. “I’ll miss hanging out with you. And then there’s You-Know-Who.”
Cherry pulled her car onto the shoulder and put it in park.
“Maybe this is for the best,” she said. “The timing’s ideal. You had some fun. You didn’t make each other any promises. You’re already freaking out about him. Why not get out now, before you have to deal with any more clickbait bullshit?”
Marlowe frowned as she pivoted to face Cherry.
“You know why,” she said.
“You guys spent one night together.”
“It’s about more than that night.”
“Is it? How can you tell?” Cherry stared Marlowe down, the picture of skepticism, but Marlowe didn’t buy it. For all of Cherry’s sass, she had a mushy side, too.
“What if your next job required leaving Maria?” Marlowe asked.
Cherry shrugged but the creases by her eyes and mouth belied her indifference.
