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All my verve and determination leached out of me as reality slapped me in the face. Damn, today just wasn’t my day. I didn’t even have to look at my bank account to know that I didn’t have enough to cover rent next month. Before Rome, I’d been living paycheck to paycheck, and I hadn’t had one since he’d come into my life.
Well, that wasn’t a hundred percent true. He had paid me, but it’d all gone to my credit card to pay off the mechanic after my fender bender on La Cienega. And the paycheck from the coffee shop had been pitifully small since I’d only worked two days that pay period. I could put the rent on my credit card, but I couldn’t do that every month. The interest alone would bury me.
I’d have to call Molly and let her know she’d have to find a new roommate. I could give her a month, but any more than that would be crippling.
Steeling my nerves, I pulled her contact up on my phone and hit call.
She answered on the third ring. “Hello?”
“Hey, Molly. Long time no talk.”
“Yeah.”
Silence hung between us for a few painful moments. Honestly, that more than stung me. Molly was my best friend. She’d been there for me through all the high school bullshit. Moving here. Starting fresh, just the two of us. All the ups and downs of trying to make it in LA and now…
Now I wanted my best friend back. “I, uh, I know I haven’t called in a while. How are you? Are you back at the apartment?”
“Yeah. Things died down here after it was obvious you weren’t coming back.”
I winced. Molly hadn’t sounded accusatory, but I felt a pang of guilt over the way I’d left her. And how I was going to have to leave her hanging in a few weeks when it came to rent.
“Right. I’m so sorry this all blew up on you. I never thought…” I sighed. I could keep apologizing until I was blue in the face, but I couldn’t go back and change any of it.
“You don’t have to keep apologizing, Soph. I was a dick. I’m sorry for blowing up at you while it was happening. It was just so crazy and chaotic, and I didn’t know how to handle it, but that’s no excuse. I was a shit friend then, and I’ve been a shit friend since. I know I should’ve called you and apologized, but I didn’t. I suck. I’m sorry.”
“Aww, Molls.” I grinned despite my conciliatory tone. “You don’t suck.”
“You’re right. I’ve always been a swallower.”
I snickered. There was the Molly I’d been missing these past few weeks. I felt so much relief having her back. “For what it’s worth, I am sorry. This shouldn’t have blown up on you. I know it screwed up a lot of stuff on your end. I need you in my life. It’s been so sucky without you. I’ve missed you.”
“Thanks, Soph. That means a lot. And I missed you too. So are we done apologizing to each other?” Molly laughed.
“Yes, I’m done. I think. Or at least for now.” I laughed. “Fill me in. What’ve I missed? What’s going on with your band?”
Molly filled me in on her practices and the few shows her fledgling band had managed to book. And the infighting that always came with being a strong woman in the music world. Well, that and her lead guitarist was a chauvinistic prick.
“How’s things with Roman Grier?” Molly asked, her voice full of innuendo.
But still I laughed. “You know I can’t give you any details. I signed an NDA.”
“But is it real? All the pictures I’ve seen of the two of you look so…in love. Please tell me it’s real and you’re not acting.”
“When have you ever known me to be an actress, Mol?”
She squealed. “I knew it! I knew you had to’ve fallen for him. Is he every bit as sexy as we thought?”
I giggled as I remembered all our conversations about who we thought would’ve been amazing Hollywood boyfriends. Rome had been at the top of both of our lists. “I’ve got no complaints.”
Molly squealed again. “I’m so happy for you! So when am I going to see you again? And when do I get to meet your hot new boyfriend?”
All my forgotten guilt crashed back down on me. “Things are kinda crazy right now. Rome is busy filming. I’m actually sitting in his trailer right now. But I think he’ll be done in a few weeks. Maybe mid-month?”
“That feels so far away. I miss having my bestie in the bedroom down the hall.”
“Right. About that, I know rent is due in a few days, and I’ll pay my share this next month. But you’re going to have to find a new roommate. I don’t have a job right now, and I can’t keep paying for a place I’m not staying in. Is there someone at the bar you’d be comfortable rooming with?”
Silence buzzed over the line for a moment. “Is that a joke?”
