Page 23 of Home to Me

Ben walked over to talk to him, and Lauren gathered up her things and started to head out to her car. When she got there, she saw that Bernie was leaning against it.

“Bernie! Why are you standing out here in the freezing cold?” she asked him, concerned. She didn't want to have to be the one to point this out to him, but Bernie Kaplan was not a young man.

“To hear how it went, of course! Why else?”

“What?! Bernie, next time, just tell me you're coming. I'll at least leave you my keys and you can sit inside the car!”

“You're as sweet as you are beautiful. Now stop trying to change the subject. How did the screen test go?”

Lauren sighed. Moment of truth.

“Not as amazing as I would’ve liked. Bit of stage fright in the beginning. But I feel like I might have turned it around. By the end, I think they seemed pleased.”

Bernie hugged her. “I have all faith and confidence in you. Now, how they feel? We'll find out in a few days. I'll let you know, chickadee.”

Lauren returned the embrace. “Thanks, Bernie. Now go get warm!”

Bernie waved at her as he returned to his car. Lauren was just about to unlock her Mercedes and climb inside when she heard Ben's voice from around the corner of the building. He sounded really upset.

She quietly approached the edge of the building and saw that he was talking on his cell phone. His body language was tense, his shoulders hunched over. When she caught a couple of glimpses of his face in profile, he looked scared and discouraged.

“No, I don't know what that means... Well, is that what the doctor actually said or is that just what you think he meant? Of course there's a difference... Listen, you have to bring a notebook when you see him and write these things down... No, I don't care if it's expensive. If the doctor says you need it, you need it... Well, obviously, I know it's my money, but what else am I going to spend it on that's more important than your health? Okay... Yes, I promise... Okay... I love you.”

Ben pressed the button to end the call. He sat down on the small stoop in front of the side door he’d come out of and held his head in his hands, looking miserable. Lauren was just about to walk over and ask him if everything was all right when he sat up straight and made another call on his cell phone.

“Hi, Jerry? Yeah. I need you to set aside another $20,000 for next month’s Cedars-Sinai bill... Yes, I know that's a lot of money, Jerry. I may not be an accountant, but I know that much... Look, we've gone through this for the last time. If she needs something, I don't care if insurance covers it. She’s getting it. This isn’t up for discussion... Damn it, Jerry, just cut the damn check!”

Ben angrily ended the call and then dropped his head back in his hands, slumped over, defeated.

One of the PAs popped her head out the door and said, “Mr. Stevens? We're ready for you.”

When Ben stood and thanked her, to Lauren's shock, he was back in ‘Ben Stevens, Television Host’ mode; like a light had been switched on inside of him. All traces of anger, of sadness, of frustration, of defeat—gone in an instant.

It made Lauren wonder what else was hiding behind that façade. She hadn't heard enough of his conversation to know all of the details, but it definitely was clear that he was paying someone's medical bills, which they obviously couldn’t pay themselves, and that those bills amounted to quite a bit of money. That was such a selfless move. She was shocked.

Lauren considered this new information as she walked back around the building and got into her car. Hmmm. It certainly did not match up with what she had thought she knew about Ben Stevens.

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Lauren was mostly silent at book club, which was unusual for her, and the other ladies who were attending didn’t miss that fact for one second, although they had different reactions to it.

“Lauren, are you feeling all right?” Amanda asked, concerned. It was in Amanda's nurturing nature to always jump to caretaking first.

“Yeah, you haven't said a word,” Karina chimed in cheerfully. “Usually by this point, you've bitched us out at least three times for the fact that we're not discussing the book at our so-called book club.”

Lauren smiled pensively. “I'm fine,” she said reflexively.

Karina glanced over at Sam. “Back me up here, Sammi,” she said to the top of Sam's head, which was bent over her cell phone as she typed furiously with her thumbs. “Isn't Lauren being weirdly quiet tonight?”

Sam looked up, distracted. “Uh...yeah...” she said, although her tone made it obvious that she hadn't been paying one bit of attention to Lauren’s involvement that evening—or possibly even to what Karina asked her.

“Hey!” Karina protested, swiping the phone out of Sam's hand. “Will you quit sexting with Luke and join the book club? I mean, good Lord, Sam. This is girls' night! Amanda and I are all lovey-dovey with our men, too, but we can at least take two hours out of our hormone-fueled hazes and focus on hanging out with our girls!”

Sam laughed, ashamed. “Sorry,” she said, “It's just that now that I've finally gotten the hang of sexting, it's kind of addictive.”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Karina, handing the phone back with a small smile. “Let's just focus, shall we? Right now, we're concentrating on Lauren.”

Lauren put her hands up in front of her. “No, please. Go back to what you were doing. No need to focus on me.”

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