Page 27 of Tied to Hope
Lea walked into the guestroom and frowned. “It looks like you’ve already done most of the packing.”
“Nope, there’s still the closet, and trust me, I have a lot of my old stuff I have to finish sifting through. Thankfully, it’s going to be tons more fun with you here.”
“That’s exactly why I came!” she said, opening up the closet door and grabbing a tote. “I make the world a more fun place.”
“Yes, you do,” Brie agreed wholeheartedly, giving her a hug.
Lea squeezed her back before ripping off the lid of a tote.
“Oh…!” Brie cried in delight.
“What?” Lea asked, peeking inside.
“This is the old video camera my parents got me when I was a kid.” Brie held it up, a flood of memories washing over her as she stared at it.
Lea took it from her, handling it as if it were made of glass. “This…this belongs in a museum. The Brie Bennett-Davis Director Museum.”
“Yeah, right,” Brie said, trying to take it back.
Lea moved it out of her reach. “No, I’m serious, girlfriend. You’re going to be famous, and this will become a treasured item that fans everywhere will flock to see.”
Brie burst out laughing. “I doubt that very much.”
Lea held up the video camera, looking at it with reverence. “And this is the hallowed instrument that began her career in film.”
Shaking her head, Brie took it from her and set it to the side. “So, this goes in the keeper pile.”
Lea suddenly let out a squeal. “Are these all the films you made?”
Brie looked fondly at the mix of mini-cassette tapes. “Yep. It’s like a digital diary of my life as a kid in Nebraska.”
“Ooh…can I watch one?”
She shook her head, saying, “My life was extremely boring back then. Trust me. I’m sparing you by saying no. You really don’t want to watch them.”
“But I do…” she said, giving Brie puppy eyes. “Ireallydo.”
Brie giggled. “Fine. Someday we’ll have a My Boring Life in Nebraska Party. But, today, we have to get all this sorted and packed.”
“You promise, Stinky Cheese?”
Brie wrapped an arm around Lea, touched that she cared. “Yes, I promise.”
Lea grabbed a roll of bubble wrap and started wrapping one of the tapes.
“What are you doing? They don’t need to be wrapped. Just throw them over here with the camera.”
“Are you kidding? These are precious, Brie. You can’t chance them being compromised because of the move.”
Brie shook her head again. “Lea, you’re freaking adorable.”
“I don’t want any of your devoted fans to say that I failed to protect these jewels.”
She laughed. “Girl, when you watch them, you’ll have another name for them, and it will start with S-H—”
Lea hugged the tape against her chest. “Don’t you dare call them that.”
The fact that Lea was being so protective of her first attempts at filmmaking was totally endearing to Brie. “I wish I could keep you in my pocket.”
