Page 45 of See You Next Winter
“I hate this, but I need to get back. I’ll be home as fast as I can, I promise.”
There’s a knock on Ryan’s bedroom door a few minutes later, and Cameron’s voice, full of pity, on the other side. “Hey Kayla, can I come in?”
His face lights up when he sees my dress and my hair. It took almost an hour to straighten it, and it was all for nothing.
“Oh, you look so nice.”
“Thanks. Unfortunately, Ryan won’t be back in time for dinner, so I’m about to change out of all this.”
“That’s why I’m here. I’m taking you out instead.”
“Oh God, no, you don’t have to do that.” My lip wobbles, and he steps closer, wrapping me in a big hug.
“I’m sorry, I know it fucking sucks,” he says, holding me tight. “But you came all this way, and he booked a table at Yvet. It would be a crime for you to go home without eating their grilled peach salad.”
“Honestly, it’s fine,” I sniff. “I feel wildly overdressed, anyway.”
“Nobody who says they're fine is every actually fine.” He releases me and gives my shoulders a friendly squeeze. “Please don’t cry. And do not take that dress off. You’re gonna fit right in. Give me fifteen minutes to shower and change, and then we’re going to eat everything on the menu on Ryan’s dime.”
Chapter 34
Kayla
Turns out Yvet isthe type of restaurant where a red silk dress and four-inch heels actually feels under-dressed, somehow. I’ve never been anywhere this fancy in my life, all white stone walls, dim lighting, and huge olive trees growing straight out of the floor. The second we walk in from the busy street, I feel transported to somewhere in the Mediterranean.
Our hostess looks like she stepped off of a movie set, and I feel so out of place as she shows us to our table. It’s tucked away in a nook that would be romantic were I here with Ryan and not his best friend. The white linen tablecloth is set with polished cutlery, and crisp, thin wine glasses I know probably cost more than a hundred dollars each.
Cameron is a true gentleman, pulling back my chair for me to sit down, and he looks great in cream trousers and a black shirt, his curls styled away from his face. Hannah’s a lucky girl. He’s certainly not difficult to look at, but neither is anyone else in this restaurant.
“Is that George Clooney?” I whisper, cocking my head to the left. He subtly glances across the room while taking his own seat.
“Sure is.”
I force myself to stare at my plate. “How do you not get star-struck coming to places like this?”
“Oh trust me, we do, but we have fantastic poker faces from being around famous people on productions. Also, we don’t really come to restaurants like this. Tonight is a special night.”
When a server appears to take our order, I let Cameron choose for us both. It’s a small plates situation, and such decisions feel too overwhelming under these circumstances. He asks for a bottle of champagne, and when it arrives, the first sip is so delicious, I finally start to relax a little.
“So, what’s it like living in L.A.?” I ask him, unsure how to make small talk even though I do it almost every day at work. Meeting people from all over the world and asking them to trust you with their safety means you have to find common ground and put them at ease quickly. I’m clearly losing my touch in the off season.
“I mean, I grew up here, so I don’t know any different, but I’ve always loved it. The sun, the surfing, the opportunities. I love working in the film industry, and if that’s your thing, there’s nowhere better.”
That hits a little too hard, given I know how much this industry means to Ryan, too.
“And what about your… other work?” I ask discreetly. Cameron blushes and tries to hide it with a swig of champagne. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
“No, I just wasn’t sure how much you know about it.”
Turns out there’s no easy way to talk about audio porn in public. “Let’s say I’m familiar with the genre, but not a consumer of your particular, um, output.”
“Understood,” he says, and we both burst out laughing.
We dance around the actual content of his work, but he tells me how his subscriber numbers are up, and he’s aiming to reach a point where he can turn audios into a full-time job by the end of the year. I love to meet people who’ve found their calling.
So often my clients talk about how they wish they could live in the mountains, but their real lives are holding them back. It makes me feel so lucky to have found mything,and be able to turn it into a career too. I’d have a very hard time trying anything else, and, so far, this trip is cementing that feeling.
When our food arrives, we tuck into several dishes, passing them back and forth across the table. He was right, the grilled peach salad is amazing, but so is the charred zucchini with white bean mash, the ricotta ravioli, and the lemon zest crispy potatoes.
