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“I am off. I just had to work today. I go back on Tuesday. I work four shifts a week. Any more than that and they have to pay for health insurance, and they don’t want to do that.”
“Nice,” David said. “Gotta love corporate America.”
“It’s just until I finish school.” She hoped all the hubbub passed soon. She couldn’t afford to miss much work and she couldn’t afford to miss school.
“And what are we going to be when we grow up?” David asked with a sweet smile.
“A marketing geek,” she said.
“Hmm, a creative. I like that.”
“Yep,” she said.
“Well, I have an idea,” he said. “If you’re into it, we’re so close to Carmel. Why don’t we kick back for a few days down there? Unless you have school or something.”
“I can do an overnighter, maybe come back tomorrow night because I do have homework.”
He whispered in her ear. “I’m crushing on a school girl.”
She returned a whisper. “I like your stick.”
They finished up the session, getting the recordings to a satisfactory point.
Stan still tried to make peace between David and Jay. “While I think the day was a success, we should still have a sit down with Jay to smooth things out.”
“I’m not having a guy who date-rapes women on my label,” David said.
They piled in the Mercedes and dropped Tommy and Marissa home. By that time, David’s mechanic had delivered Tommy’s car to them. It was like magic.
He and Cara were now alone. He drove her to her place in Japantown to pick up fresh clothes. She rented the front half of a duplex that was definitely not a mansion in Sea Cliff or Pacific Heights.
She’d expected to own her own place by now. She didn’t need a mansion but something different from what she had currently. As she turned the key to her door, her insides clutched with regret for the choices she made that had set her back. She often went back in time to never taking that first drink that sent her spiraling down to the depths of despair.
David was sensitive. She knew he felt her embarrassment as she entered her humble living room.
“Are you okay?” he asked softly. “Is this overdoing it?”
“I’m fine,” she lied.
“You’re pulling away. Don’t. This thing with the naked pictures will work out. I’m going to have my guy come down hard on Gary, if that’s what you want. I actually have a press agent and we can consult her as to what’s best—”
“That’s not it entirely,” she said shushing him.
“Well, then, why don’t I shut up and listen,” he said with a smile.
“I have a hard time dealing with the detour my life took when I wound up with a drinking problem,” she said. “And even when I cleaned up my act, I still made dumb choices.”
“Hanging out with me is not one of them,” he added quickly.
She laughed, and it felt good.
“That’s a beautiful sound.”
She turned her head trying to process the random compliment.
“Do you know how dumb I felt that I didn’t know who you were?” she confessed.
“I didn’t feel dumb that I didn’t know you,” he teased.
