Page 72 of Coup De Grâce
“Ugh, stupid pregnancy hormones. My dreams are more like nightmares. I remember when all I used to dream about was a Highlander and James Earl Jones.”
“Yeah, that’s still weird.”
“I can’t help it. I think it’s the deep voice.”
“Shouldn’t you be dreaming about Edu?”
“You would think, but oddly, he only comes to me in my daydreams, which have been completely non-existent lately.”
“Well, I guess you can’t have it all.”
“Speaking of having it all…”
My heart started to pound in my chest at the way she was eyeing me. I knew what was coming. She was about to ask me something that would inevitably leave me fleeing for the hills. I wasn’t up for friendship, going out for drinks with friends, or watching kids. It just wasn’t going to happen.
“I was thinking about your job and wondering…what’s it like to get away?”
I waited for the other shoe to drop, for her to ask me to take her on one of my trips. “Um…”
“I mean, I’ve always thought about traveling, but other than escaping Edu for a few months when I first found out I was pregnant, I never considered leaving again. Is it nice to get away?”
“I suppose,” I said hesitantly, “but part of the fun is getting away on my own,” I stressed.
“Right. I totally get that. You know, I love Edu and the kids, but sometimes…like when I’m laying in bed and this one is pushing against my bladder, I think about how nice it would be to get away on a deserted island.”
“Alone,” I emphasized, just to be sure we were on the same page.
“Well, of course. There wouldn’t be much point in escaping if I had other people join me.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. That could have gone badly so fast. Thankfully, she didn’t even seem to have thought about a girls’ vacation, which was something I was always on edge about.
“Oh my God, oh my God!” Zoe screamed as he ran into the kitchen, flapping her hands in some weird way that made me think she was a chicken. “I’m totally freaking out. This is insane!”
“What’s insane?” Harper asked, always ready to jump in and join the conversation. Me? I kicked up my heels and ignored them.
“I was just asked to do something that’s never been done before!”
“What? What is it?” Harper squealed.
I plugged my ears to cut out the incessant noise, but it didn’t really work.
“That producer I told you about, the one who’s this genius to work with…well, he contacted me. ME! He’s on his way here now, and he wants to discuss doing a live-action film!”
I snorted in amusement, unable to help myself.
Zoe turned, scowling at me. “Is there a problem?”
“Nope,” I grinned, trying desperately not to say a word.
“Obviously, there’s something. Tell me what it is.”
She was only going to keep asking, so I decided to let her down gently. “Well, that’s basically what they do now. How is this any different than anything else that’s been done before?”
Giving me her best fuck off look, she smirked. “Because this will be filmed live and streamed to major theaters!”
Okay, that was different. “Wait, they’re coming now?”
“Yes!”
