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“Don’t get your hopes up,” Tracy said, but she did take the card and tuck it away somewhere in her bag. “Call me about those lessons. I’ll teach you one on one. I imagine your schedule might not allow you to make the weekly classes.”
“No. Probably not.” Lara slid the card into her pocket. “Thank you. I will definitely be in touch.”
“Good. Because after four or five weeks with me, nearly everyone says that they wished they’d started sooner, that they hadn’t wasted so many years talking about surfing and not actually doing anything about it.”
Lara nodded. “I need something right now. My life’s a bit chaotic. I could do with an outlet, maybe get out of my comfort zone too.”
“Then call me.”
Lara promised herself that she would.
6
What a difference a few years could make. Charlotte was almost as nervous to find out if Ada would win best actress tonight as she would be if she was the one sitting in that theater, waiting for her category to come up.
Not that long ago, they’d been so far from friends. Just acquaintances who bordered on rivals, always going for the same parts, always up for the same awards.
But the time they spent filming in London together changed everything, and Charlotte could never have imagined how much they’d have in common, how easily they could put all those years behind them and enjoy their newfound friendship and their successes together.
Lara laughed softly on the couch beside her, and Charlotte turned to look at her as she reached for the bottle of wine on the coffee table, topping up both their glasses.
“Sorry,” Lara said, a smile on her lips. “Kerri was so shocked when she found out you two had become friends. I obviously, didn’t know you at all back then, but it’s just funny, thinking back… And now here you are.”
“Here I am what?”
“Nervous.”
Charlotte waved her off.
They’d spent the evening together, starting with the red-carpet coverage as they’d eaten takeout while sitting on the floor, using the coffee table for a dining table, and Charlotte couldn’t hide her smile when Lara had looked at her with wide eyes, as if the likes of Charlotte didn’t eat food while watching TV like the rest of the world did.
“You are,” Lara insisted. “And it’s adorable.”
Charlotte scoffed. “I’m… Anxious.”
She shouldn’t have been as surprised as she was that Lara was easy to get along with, that she seemed older than she was. Not in a bad way. Just… Settled. Mature.
She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she should have known, because Kerri knew what she was doing. She wouldn’t have hired Lara or kept working with her for as long as she had without reason, never mind handing over her clients to her.
“And you’re not?” Charlotte challenged her. “You did send me all those texts asking what you should wear and what should you bring and who else would be here. You’ve been nervous all week.”
Lara had provided some unexpected entertainment when they’d texted a few days ago. They’d agreed on a time, and Charlotte had sent Lara her address, but as the week went on, Lara couldn’t seem to go a day without double-checking what kind of an evening they were going to have.
And in fairness, Lara was probably right to assume this might be some kind of watch party, but it wasn’t at all. It was just the two of them, and Charlotte had insisted that it was casual. She was wearing jeans and a white button-down blouse, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Lara was wearing khaki shorts and a black scoop-neck top, both of which highlighted the bronze glow of her skin.
“Okay,” Lara said with a smile. “That is entirely different. I was nervous about coming here and making a fool of myself. I didn’t think this was what you meant. I thought you were having a whole… Thing. Or dinner party. Something, that I could turn up to and commit some sort of faux pas.”
“Well, this is new to me, really. I rarely miss attending these ceremonies, but I have to say, I’m having a great time.” Charlotte leaned over the cushion that was left between them, clinking their glasses together. “Cheers.”
And she really was having a great time. Normally award show days were impossibly long and tiring but getting to watch it all from the comfort of her couch and be able to share a running commentary with Lara had been refreshing.
“Cheers,” Lara echoed, a piece of her golden-brown hair falling across her eyes as she leaned forward to reach Charlotte, the dip in her top momentarily distracting Charlotte, but she’d managed to avert her eyes before Lara could catch her.
Charlotte was buzzed, but she wouldn’t have thought she was so starved for attention that she’d be checking out Lara. Yes, she had for a brief moment at Jessica’s party, but that was before she knew who Lara was. And while she’d stalled on the dating front, the last three dates having zero chemistry, Charlotte had thought she was content with where she was in life, that as much as she’d like to meet someone, she wasn’t desperate to.
Maybe she was.
Not that Lara Soler wasn’t an attractive woman. She was. And she was progressing with her career. Charlotte had managed to get a few more snippets of information about how Lara felt she was doing. Charlotte thought she’d asked casually enough as the awards show had started, how Lara felt about being an agent, about taking on Kerri’s clients.
