N A T H A N I E L x P R I C E
"You're one to talk." Erin butted in. He had almost missed her knowing everything and not having a filter. Everything in his life was so goddamn filtered now. Everything had to be carefully thought out. Nothing was carefully thought out where Erin was concerned. It just happened.
"Okay, that sounded bad. I just...I didn't mean it like that." Casey stammered. Her cheeks were starting to turn pink.
"Sure you didn't."
“Hey, it’s fine, don’t worry-” he started to say.
"Anyway uh..I'll be back in just a second....I need to uh, use the bathroom."
Nate watched her leave. Clearly he was missing something here and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know. The last time he had been in town, she had been glued to Jenna’s hip, but he couldn’t see the other woman anywhere in the crowd. He knew things hadn’t ended well between them, but surely it couldn’t have been that bad, right? Break ups happened all the time and they’d had years to get over it. What had Jenna done to make Casey so skittish? He was brought back to earth by Ben’s voice.
"It's good to see you, man. Always nice to have our favourite star around the place." Nate rolled his eyes. "How have you been?"
“I’m good, always good. Pilot season just died down so things are a little quiet, but y’know, scripts are still landing on my desk. Gotta ride the wave before it crashes right?”
Before he could ask Ben if he was working on anything new, the once familiar call of Diana filled the room. "Who the hell started this party without me?"
“Wouldn’t have had to if you could be anywhere on time,” he muttered to himself before pasting a smile on his face. “Diana! Feels like forever.” He wrapped his arms around her, rolling his eyes at Erin over Diana’s shoulders. Nate was starting to feel like he’d fallen into another dimension. Everyone was themselves, but not how he remembered. Sure, Di had always been the golden girl, Mommy’s princess if you like, but this was a level of schmooze that a studio head would be proud of. And Casey was kinda awkward all the time, but she seemed like she was about to combust. How much had he missed? Erin would know. She always knew. “Hey Erin, let me know when you’ve got a minute.”
J E N N A x R E Y N O L D S
Jenna felt the dread knotting in her stomach as they walked up the drive. The Boudreaux-Hansen’s had always done pretty well and Jenna had thought their house was a castle when she was a kid. Now it felt more like a fortress. With any luck, Casey was running late and she could find her feet before having to deal with the ex. She twisted the strap of her bag around her fingers.
”Well.., I guess we’re letting ourselves in.”
“Looks that way.” Jenna stepped into the lobby and everything was exactly as she remembered it. Still ornate and grand, and almost like something out of a Disney movie. But it all felt different now. Maybe she knew too much now about appearances, about life in general. It was still beautiful, but it was beautiful the way a blizzard is beautiful, not the way spring is. She looked around the room. Nate and Ben were by the bar being lovingly attacked by Diana...and Casey. Jenna felt her chest tighten and she looked away. This was ridiculous. It had been years and Casey still had this effect on her. She was Jenna fucking Reynolds. She didn’t need someone who didn’t need her. Jenna sucked her cheeks in and tried to get a grip on herself when "Jen?"
Jen looked up to see her best friend standing there. She let Jeremiah have his hello before she practically pushed the quarterback out of the way. She threw her arms around Nas, squeezing him tight. “I’ve missed youuuuu.” It had only been a few months since she’d last seen Nas, but he did hold the ranking of Best Friend. They’d seen each other through everything, usually over several alcoholic beverages and a strong black coffee in the morning. She missed Nas when he wasn’t in New York. She held him at arm’s length and looked him up and down. “You look so good!
”So Nas?…How are you feeling right now? I mean…, this must be weird for you, no?”
Jenna closed her eyes to hide the roll she did. “Think it’s weird for all of us. Never thought I’d end up back here. Not like this anyway.” She looked between her two boys. "But first, drinks!"