Page 6 of One Time in Paris
Exhausting? Must have been rough alternating between cocktails and yachts.
“Oh, Bobby and I went there last year,” Blair said, stretching back on the pristine white couch. Even from here, the giant diamond on her hand sparkled.Thatwas a wedding Isla had missed. Blair and Bobby had done a destination wedding in Bora Bora—say that five times fast—where the rooms they reserved for their guests cost four grand a night. Isla could practically feel her bank account clenching at the memory of receiving that invite.
Fortunately, runningLa Haciendafull-time gave Isla a better out to some of these invitations now. It was an upgrade, at least, from having to claim thepoor starving actresscard.
As the other girls resumed their conversation, Davy joined Megan. The three of them exchanged a smile, and for the first time all day, Isla felt a shred of genuine excitement about this trip. Davy and Megan had gotten her through most of the roughest parts of high school. “I’m really so glad you could come.” Megan reached over and squeezed Isla’s hand. “How’s the hospitality industry treating you?”
“It’s great. Insanely busy,” Isla said. “Rainy season will be coming up in a couple of months, so things will slow down then, but it’s been a wild winter. Lots of honeymooners and special events nonstop.” She glanced back at her suitcase. “Where should I put my stuff?”
“You’re rooming with me, of course.” Davy took the handle of the suitcase. “Come on, I’ll show you where to stash everything.”
Isla followed Davy into the bedroom she’d come from, glad for the excuse to put her things away before she really faced the rest of the Squad—and their inevitable questions.
Love life?
Nonexistent.
Career?
Busy. And not her first choice, but hey—at leastLa Haciendastill belonged to her family.
Skincare routine?
Tears and sunscreen.
“Oh my God, I have never been so happy in my life to see your face,” Davy breathed as they stepped into the room. “If I have to hear one more word about ‘Bobby’ or tennis matches or their new diets, I might actually scream.”
Isla smiled and set her carry-on on the made bed in the room. It had been ten years since they’d finished high school, and she hadn’t spent much time with the Squad since then. She knew they had her back—sort of—but she had always felt...different to them. “How much of this bachelorette party do we all have to spend together?”
“Too much. But I’ll do my best to keep my complaints to a minimum.” Davy sank onto the bed beside Isla’s carry-on. “But seriously, last night. My God, Isla. We went to one of those hibachi places, and I have never been more embarrassed to be out at a restaurant with people—and that includes being with mymom,who returns every meal she gets. First, every single one of them had special, off-menu requests. Then Kelsey told the chef—after he’d already started cooking—that she had a shellfish allergy, even though she doesn’t. She just thinks shrimp juice is ‘gross.’ That was fun.”
She flopped onto her back.
Isla sat beside her. “Makes you wonder what we thought we had in common in high school, doesn’t it?”
Davy shook her head, pursing her lips emphatically as she scowled at Isla. “No, I know exactly whatyouhad in common with them. You’re a trust fund baby too, even if you pretend not to be.”
“If by trust fund baby, you mean I’ll inherit some money from my father when he dies—assuming my stepmother doesn’t spend it all first—then sure, I’m a trust fund baby.” She nudged Davy. “And you’re acting like your dad isn’t Greenwich’s top plastic surgeon and your mom their top cardiologist.”
“Yeah, yeah, don’t remind me.” Davy covered her face with her hands. “I have to hear about what an absolute disappointment I am every time I go home.If you’d just gone to medical school like we planned...”Davy shook her head bitterly. “My mom still wants to send me to India to become a doctor.”
“At least you’re still chasing what you love. I bailed the second I had to pick between my dreams and my mother’s.” The words sat heavy in her chest—heavier than she expected. But it felt so good to tellsomeone.
She couldn’t tell Callum that, of course. Callum had shelled out the money to save the inn from financial ruin when Mum had gone bankrupt. And he’d done it, in large part, to save the only childhood home that Isla had ever really known.
He’d done it for Isla, not for Mum.
But after having walked away from acting almost twenty months earlier, if she had to make the same choice all over again...would she?
She’d loved acting. Few places felt as comfortable as a stage did for Isla.Like another home, really. One I gave up.And because the film and theater worlds in London were more closely linked than they were in Hollywood, she’d seen some success in both.
Isla had been at the cusp ofsomething,too. The audition before she’d gone to Costa Rica for Elle and Quinn’s wedding—when everything in her life had changed—had been one for a film where the producer had personally invited her.
And when the producer had called her to tell her he wanted her for the part? She’d felt like such a flake for turning it down.
Just that easily, she’d left behind a lifelong dream. She’d told herself she was all right with it—and maybe she was—but damn if she didn’t miss the excitement ofcreating.
Davy was quiet.
