LITMIR.BIZ

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jaw and headed for the kitchen. It took her a couple of impatient minutes to figure out how to work the state-of-the-art coffee machine in the corner of the kitchen, then she set to ransacking the cupboards for something to eat.

      Dom had a surprisingly well-stocked refrigerator for a bachelor. Fruit, vegetables, pro-biotic yogurt and freshly squeezed organic juice. After last night’s decadence, she should stick to All-Bran and water, but instead, she grabbed a banana muffin and a tub of yogurt, then sat at the kitchen counter with her espresso. The house didn’t have much of a view, but the back yard was certainly pretty, enticing her to enjoy its delights. A wooden patio set stood on the small redwood deck, with a wall of lush greenery beyond. A grapevine grew across the trellis that shaded the deck, and a wind chime hummed a melody as it stirred in the breeze.

      She rose to head to the sliding doors and caught sight of the wall clock. She only just managed to stifle a groan. Mid-afternoon already. Everyone she knew had to be worried sick and wondering where she was by now. At the very least her PA, Wendy, would have expected her to report in a few hours ago.

      Now, where the hell was her cell phone? Nina clapped a hand over her mouth, suppressing another groan. She’d left her purse at the coat check. At the one-of-a-kind, once-off party venue, which was no doubt already being dismantled.

      She could only hope some journo wasn’t going through her cell phone photos right now. Was there anything incriminating on there? Aside from a couple of no make-up selfies, she hoped not.

      Using the landline in Dom’s kitchen (who even still had one in this day and age?) she called the only number she could remember off the top of her head. She hoped Dom wouldn’t object to the long-distance call.

      “Hello?” Jessie’s voice sounded tentative down the line.

      “Hi, Jess.”

      Her sister screeched so loud, Nina had to hold the phone away from her ear. “Where the hell have you been? I’ve been calling and calling, and finally some intern from Vanity Fair answered your phone. She didn’t believe it was yours either. She was convinced an A-list celebrity would own something fancier.”

      Nina rolled her eyes. “I left it at the after-party.”

      “That good, was it? Did the party cheer you up, then? You sounded so down after the awards ceremony.”

      So her sister hadn’t heard the biggest news of the night yet. “The Governor’s Ball was really wonderful. How did your appointment go this morning? Did it take – are you pregnant?”

      Jess’s hesitation was all the answer she needed. Nina’s heart sank. How many IVFs had her sister already tried and failed?

      Jess cleared her throat. “Give me all the details. How was the VF party? Who was there? Drop some names. Was it really as glamorous as it looks?”

      Allowing herself to be diverted, Nina sipped a mouthful of espresso and launched into a description of the after-party as best she could. But her stomach pulled tighter as she talked. She had to get this over with. Jessie couldn’t hear from some other source. She steeled herself. “Paul proposed.”

      “Shut up! Why didn’t you tell me you guys were that serious? ”

      “Because we weren’t. I didn’t see it coming.” She stumbled for words. “I didn’t know what to do. He asked me in front of everyone. And I mean everyone. I said ‘no’.”

      “Are you mad?” Her sister screeched again, and Nina held the phone away from her ear. Not Jessie too.

      “I don’t want to marry him. I mean he’s nice and everything, but he’s not…I can’t see myself with him for the rest of my life.” She couldn’t see herself with anyone for the rest of her life. She had little enough privacy as it was. But if she was going to spend her life with someone, it would be someone who set her alight, not someone who’d eventually wear her down.

      As the words of her favorite country song went, she was “better in a black dress” than in a white veil.

      “You mean he’s not your One.” Jessie sighed. For someone who was constantly telling Nina how out of touch she was with reality, her sister was such a hopeless romantic.

      “By saying no I think I’ve undone any good the nomination did for my career.”

      “So what do you do next?”

      Good question. Nina bit her lip. “I have a plan, but it’s not going to be easy and I’m a little scared.”

      “You’ll be fine.” Jessie used her professional voice, the reassuring tone she used on her patients. “I know you. You’ll do whatever it takes and you’ll be great. Things always work out for you.”

      If only she had the same faith in herself that Jessie did. But Jessie was the strong one, not her. Her sister was the glass-half-full kind. Nina, on the other hand, had yet to see any evidence for Jessie’s belief that everything happened for a reason. Sometimes shitty things just happened.

      “Thanks, Jess. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

      Her next call took two other phone calls just to track down the right number. “Are you mad?” her PA, Wendy, demanded. “How could you turn down Paul de Angelo?”

      This was going to be a very long day.

      Nina set Wendy to track down her purse, gave her a list of things she needed and Dominic’s address, then hung up.

      The last call was the one she’d been dreading most. Dane was still as cold to her as he’d been the night before, but at least he took her call. “Paul’s been busy this morning,” he said. “The press are not painting a flattering picture of you. There’s a lot of speculation that you’ve been two-timing him. You’re not going to be able to get a Hallmark movie after this.”

      Well there was the upside. No more rom-coms. Maybe she could start to prove herself as a serious actress now, with roles worthy of the Alexander name.

      “I’m sending Chrissie over to you. You’re going to need her help more than mine to get you out of this.” Dane hung up.

      Great. So Paul had started the media machine moving while she slept. Well, there was nothing she could do about it stuck in Venice Beach, so all she could do was wait.

      There was still no sign of Dominic. Either he was a very sound sleeper, or he’d gone out. Either way, she was hardly going to go upstairs to find out.

      She pushed open the glass sliding door and stepped onto the deck. Beyond the wall of green she discovered another little yard, a paved suntrap patio edged with raised beds of bright-colored spring flowers. She stretched out on the sun lounger in the little garden. The golden late-afternoon sun warmed her and, unable to fight exhaustion any longer, her eyes drifted closed.

      She woke with a start when a shadow fell over her. Wiping her mouth and praying she hadn’t drooled in her sleep, she sat bolt upright. It wasn’t Dominic.

      A petite blonde woman stood over her, hands on her hips as she stared down at Nina. She wore her wavy, sun-streaked hair in a high ponytail. The woman pushed her sunglasses up onto her head to reveal a pair of curious, assessing gray eyes.

      “Hi,” she said, sounding neither cool nor friendly. “Is Dom around?”

      “I don’t know.” Nina scrambled up. “I haven’t seen him for a while.”

      The blonde moved out of the sun and Nina noticed that she wasn’t as young as she’d first appeared. Tiny lines fanned out from her eyes. But she still had the figure of a teenager, and long, shapely legs that made Nina feel the rush of inadequacy that seemed to be her default setting here in LA.

      “He probably went for a run on the beach with Sandy.” The woman’s mouth pursed in disapproval. “I’m going to pack away his laundry.” Casting another assessing glance over Nina, the other woman headed back indoors.

      Nina followed, equally curious.

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