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Chapter Five
Wayne yanked open theback trunk of Elise’s rental car and snuggled the suitcases side-by-side as Elise hunted through her overwhelmingly-large purse for the keys. Long ago, Elise had arranged some kind of deal with the rental company—something that assured Wayne Elise had no real problems with money but had finally resolved to turn the thing in down in Traverse City, where they planned to fly out later that evening.
To Wayne, it was difficult to fathom the change in time-zone. Michael had teased him about this, to which Wayne had said, “We get it. You traveled all over the continent. You basically invented the different time zones. Give it a rest.” Even still, it was funny to Wayne: a forty-five-year-old man, a bit jittery about a flight across the continent. That is two flights—one from Traverse City to Denver, then a final one to Los Angeles.
These were places Wayne could point to on a map, places Wayne intuitively knew people were from. But him? Going there? That was another whole concept.
I’m doing it, Tara. I’m getting out there. Just the way you always wanted. The way we dreamed.
“You ready?” Elise appeared beside him as Wayne eased the trunk’s door back into place. Her smile was gorgeous, and her eyes danced with the soft grey October light.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Wayne said.
“That’s ominous,” Elise said with an easy laugh. She flung the keys in the air between them, and Wayne caught them evenly in a gloved hand. “Nice catch. Maybe you’ll make the baseball team this year after all.”
“I’ve been training all summer long, coach,” Wayne returned.
In the car, Wayne steadied his hands across the bottom of the steering wheel as Elise fiddled with the radio stations. When she found a song she liked, she hummed to herself and rubbed lotion over her hands.
“Is there anything you should warn me about?” Wayne asked suddenly.
“Warn you?”
“You know, about California. I like to be prepared in any given scenario.”
Elise arched an eyebrow and chuckled to herself. “Let me think. Oh, you know that I belong to a big religious cult, right?”
“Oh, you might have mentioned that,” Wayne said. “How is that Kool-Aide?”
“It’s pretty sweet, but you get used to it,” Elise affirmed. “They’ll suit you up with a big glass when we get there. And you’re okay with wearing all white, all the time, right?”
“I think I look great in white,” Wayne said.
“You do.” Elise’s eyes shimmered as she stretched a hand across the back of his neck and played with the base of his dark curls. “You really do.”
**
THEY DROPPED OFF THEcar, piled the suitcases onto the airport counter, then joined hands as they headed toward security. Wayne had only done the whole belt-off, shoes-off, keys-out security game a handful of times, and he was all jittery and strange as they went through—something Elise seemed to notice. “The thing you have to know about security,” she told him in a whisper, “Is they like it if you get as naked as possible. Off with the rest of it. It makes it easier on everyone.” She winked at the joke.
Wayne cackled outright. How did she always know what to say?
“I’m sure the entire airport staff would really appreciate that.”
“You don’t want to put on a show?” Elise asked, feigning disappointment. “You’re not the man I thought you were, I guess.”
“Having second thoughts about bringing me into the cult?” he asked as he slid his plastic tray, filled with his wallet, his keys, a few books, that kind of thing, toward the scanner.
“I just don’t know if you’ll fit in if you’re not as into voyeurism as the rest of us,” Elise said. “It worries me.”
Wayne and Elise sat side-by-side on the plane. Although Elise had been booked in the window seat, she gestured for him to take it. “I’ve seen so many sights from planes over the years,” she told him. “Take it.”
Wayne sat gladly, grateful to press his forehead against the window and blink down at Lake Michigan, which grew larger and larger, an ominous dark body tucked there between Wisconsin and Michigan and Indiana and Illinois. He had seen it countless times drawn out on the map that hung in his office at The Grind; he’d even sailed across it during the Chicago to Mackinac race. But there it was, so inconsequential from the sky.
Elise managed to grab some wifi at the Denver Airport, where she reported that her agent had read through her screenplay. Her eyes sparkled with tears as she said, “Courtney says she’s already gotten some initial bites on the screenplay. I can’t believe this. It’s like my whole career has been fast-tracked.”
“That’s fantastic!” Wayne squeezed her hand and then dropped down to dot a kiss on her lips. When he drew back, she gave him another one of those looks.
We’re building something together.
