Up & Out - Ariella Papa [82]
“I love Father of the Bride. I can’t wait to see the original,” she says.
“What?”
“The movie.”
“I thought it was Double Indemnity.” That’s one of my favorites. “I drink from a bottle, too.” I quote the movie. Sarah doesn’t catch the reference and her sorority sisters give me funny looks.
“No, that’s next week. This week is Father of the Bride. You know, Liz Taylor?”
Oh shit, I hope it isn’t going to be too much for Kathy. Sarah cocks her head. “Oh, hey, how did it go with Don?” I ask.
I catch a look between her and one of her sorority sisters. She manages to keep her face blank for me. I realize that she doesn’t remember hinting at a crush or the fact that I kind of left her and Don alone.
“Okay, why? Did he say something?”
“No,” I say. One of her friends makes a face. I’m not sure I believe her. Maybe she’ll think Don was talking about her and that will boost her confidence with him. “I was just wondering.”
“Nothing happened.” She is still suspicious. “Say hi to those guys.”
When I get back to the blanket, John is there.
“I had to get out of there,” he says, referring to Explore! “I could have stayed all night and it would have sucked the life out of me.”
I try not to be jealous that he was just working on Esme’s Enlightenments. I bend to kiss him hello and I tell them I saw Sarah, but don’t mention anything about Don. According to them, relations between Production and Programming are at an all-time high now that they all share a hatred of Delores. Still standing, I take a low bow and camp it up.
“I’m just glad my livelihood was sacrificed for the good of network relations.”
“When do we get to eat this yummy-smelling thing?” John asks, holding up my party-size sandwich. I’m pretty hungry and I open it up, passing everyone a piece along with a napkin.
The pesto and olive oil have soaked into the bread and tomato, and all the flavors are working really well together. I look around to see if it’s just because I’m hungry. Apparently not, everyone is scarfing up their sandwiches.
“This is delicious,” Kathy says between bites.
“Mmm, perfect,” Jen says.
“You can really make a sandwich,” Janice says.
“Is there more?” John asks, eyeing the bag behind me. We all have seconds and John has thirds.
“Maybe Rebecca will do the race,” Janice says, looking at Kathy. Have my friends been making plans behind my back? People with jobs have things to say. It must be nice to be employed and have things to say to people.
“What?”
“That’s a good idea,” Kathy says.
“What?” I repeat. Now they have secrets and good ideas. Wasn’t I the one who pulled Kathy out of her funk?
“There’s a 10-K at the end of the summer over Labor Day,” Kathy explains. “I’ve been running a lot. I’m going to do it and so is Janice. It’ll be wonderful, two weeks before the wedding.”
“I don’t run,” I say.
“It’s only 10-K. That’s like six miles. It’s nothing,” says Janice.
“That’s six more miles than I run,” I say.
“That’s what I said at first, Rebecca. Fight the power,” Jen says.
“You’ve got almost two months,” Kathy says. “I thought you might want to start training.” I think I see her eye my stomach. Okay, I am a little bloated from the sandwich.
“Is this about a race or how I’m going to look in my bridesmaid dress?” I can tell my question makes everyone feel awkward. It wasn’t what I intended.
“She wants you to run it in your bridesmaid dress,” John says, trying to break the ice. Jen changes the subject to her weekend visit to her sister’s timeshare on the Jersey shore. I don’t look at Kathy for a little while.
After what has been hours, the sun is finally down. Someone announces the movie is going to start and people cheer. I think we must all be drunk on beer or sun or long, hot summer days. I glance at Kathy to see if she minds that the movie is wedding-related, but she smiles at me. I think she is worried that I’m upset that she thinks I’m chubby.
A promo for the sponsors of the movie comes on the big screen. All the people