This is a complete diversion from my other stories. This has nothing to do with the Try Again Tomorrow Universe. I hope you enjoy. Let me know your thoughts!
Chapter One – Nobody Dies
Jade was not sad. She was not upset. This did not matter to her. She wore black because she always wore black, thank you very much. She sat in the front row so as to appease her father, who was pretending to have loved her mother for the first time in over twenty years. Maybe he did, at some point. But after twenty years of separation, Jade knew he was over it - so he should stop blubbering in the space next to her. The priest moaned on and on about how everyone would miss the dearly departed Isabella West. Truth be told, no one was going to miss her mother. She was a terrible person who had not regretted an unkind word she'd said or a cruel deed she'd done until she was moments from death. And that, Jade felt, was too damn close to the end to count. She hadn't been remorseful or sorry. She'd been terrified. Because if anyone's soul was damned to go to hell, it was Isabella West's. Jade had not been in the room when her mother died. She'd been in the waiting room, stubbornly refusing to enter the hospital room despite the fact that Isabella had already been given her last rights.
Now, the funeral. A quarter of the city had come out for the festivities, as Jade thought of them wryly. And not because her mother was liked or even important. But because Jade was a world-famous director and writer. Everyone who had ever worked with her on a film or television show was there to "offer support." She could tell them where to shove their support. But in deference to the fact that this was a funeral, Jade had decided not to speak that day. As the old adage claimed - if you don't have anything nice to say, say nothing at all. That was her plan, because she certainly had nothing nice to say.
Just before the ceremony began, she felt someone slide into the pew on her right side. It was Cat, she could see in the peripheral. Cat was the only friend from high school that Jade still spoke with on a regular basis. Not that she didn't still hold some regard for the rest of them; she was just busy. And miserable. And depressed. And busy, miserable, and depressed people didn't reach out to their friends. They hid in their mansions and refused to do much more than work. It wasn't much of a life, but it was something that Jade knew well – her own type of solitude in which she found the only comfort that remained within her reach.
She had withered a bit since high school. She didn't eat as much as she should and went from thin to too thin in a matter of a few months after her third and final breakup with Beck. She didn't fight when Cat reached for her hand and held it throughout the mass. The redhead cried, as most people thought Jade would do. But she planned to surprise and annoy all in attendance by keeping a bored and unsentimental expression. She stood, knelt, and sat in tandem with the remainder of the congregation and listened to the ceremony her father and the priest had decided upon. Jade found it hypocritical that her mother was receiving such a lavish church funeral; the woman hadn't been inside a holy building in decades.
The readings, rites, and rituals were finished before Jade knew what was happening. She followed her father behind the casket, Cat's arms wrapped around her. Her eyes were dry. Toward the back of the church, she saw a group she hadn't been expecting. Tori, Beck, Andre, Robbie, even Sinjin. Beck's parents, Tori's parents, Cat's parents.. They were all there. Grown-up. They weren't supposed to be grown-up, not together. She had seen them all as adults. But never together. She told herself that their presence pissed her off but in the end, was forced to savagely bite back the tears that threatened. No one other than Cat approached her until after the burial. Once they were inside the restaurant that was hosting the wake, everyone seemed to believe that meant she wanted to be consoled.
They all said they were sorry, even Beck - who knew what a bitch her mother had been. And his mother, who had always pitied Jade her lot in life, being born to a woman as cold as Isabella. It was only Tori, who hadn't lived in California in years, who dared to venture beyond the scowl Jade offered in response. "How are you holding up?"
"I'm fine," Jade answered tersely. "I really don't want to talk about this. I haven't loved that woman since I was a child."
"People don't get so angry about people they don't love," Tori told her gently. She was pretty in a no-nonsense kind of way now. She wore her dark-rimmed glasses more often than not and her thick, beautiful hair curled in waves that stopped just below her shoulders. And she was far too intuitive for Jade's liking. The darker brunette scowled and Tori backed off. "But you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. What are you working on right now?"
Jade sighed with relief; she could talk about work. That was passable. She took a sip of the mimosa Beck had pushed into her hand and thought before answering. "I just finished another screenplay. Two more have been optioned by Warner Brothers and Summitt."
"That's great!" Jade shrugged. She was proud of her accomplishments, but right now things felt a little numb. It was better to brush them off.
"We just wrapped on production of City of Fallen Angels and I don't have another project to direct until February, so I'm just writing for now."
"Good for you. Now that I'm back in town, it would be great to get together some time - for dinner or just coffee. I've missed you."
"You don't have anyone in your current life who insults you on a daily basis?" Jade asked dryly.
"Nope," Tori said, popping the 'p' slightly. Her smile was as bright as it had been in high school. "It's a job open for applicants."
"I stay busy," Jade told her, "I don't have time for that."
"Work is not a life," Tori told her, her voice reflecting sadness. "Cat and Beck have been worried about you. Don't shut everyone out." In the way she was clutching her hands around her drink, Jade knew she was tense. This wasn't a conversation – it was an intervention. It had been something discussed. It had been discussed and Tori had been voted on as the speaker for the group. They had discussed her - all of them - and it made her blood boil.
"I haven't seen Beck in six months before today," Jade told her sharply. "I don't know what business it is of his - or yours - to worry. Mind your own damn business."
"I'm not going to argue with you," Tori said gently, clearly trying to deescalate. "Not here. But I'm going to call you next week and if you don't pick up, I will keep showing up at your door until you let me in. Got it?"
"You always were too dramatic," Jade snapped, walking away from the other brunette. What business was it of Tori's? They hadn't been friends in years. Jade didn't even know what she did for a living – all she remembered was that Tori went to school for something in the sciences. She didn't even know if the other woman was married or had any kids. The few details she'd garnered had been from Cat's prattling over the years; she knew that Tori had moved back to LA a few weeks before and that Cat spoke to her frequently enough.
Once away from Tori, Jade wandered through the room, silently observing the various groups of people mingle and pretend they cared that her mother was dead. After a bit of searching, she found the perfect hiding place. If anyone found her, she would look childish, standing behind a pillar in the corner of the restaurant, sipping her alcohol and wishing it were something stronger. After twenty minutes, she was found. Beck handed her another pitifully weak drink and a plate of food, leaning against the column so she had even better cover.
"You know, you're allowed to be sad she's dead -she was your mother - even if she wasn't very good at it."
"I'm not sad," she told him. "I'm pissed off that all these people are pretending to care. She was a terrible person."
"Even terrible people can do good things for the world," he told her, brushing a curl of brown hair behind her ear. She had allowed the color to grow out shortly after high school and had left it to its natural beauty ever since. "If nothing else, she brought you into the world - and that was worth more than most people hope to achieve in a lifetime."
"Don't be cheesy," she said with a scowl. "I'm hardly nicer than she was."
"You do things that matter to people," he told her. "And you're not cold-hearted like you want everyone to believe." He paused and gave her a once-over. "Now I'm not leaving you alone until you eat everything on that plate, because you look like crap."
"Thanks, Beck. You really know how to make a girl feel special." But she did eat. It had been several days since she'd had a full meal and at least twenty four hours since she'd had more than an apple or a handful of crackers. She finished the plate and her drink and handed them back to Beck.
"Shouldn't you be filming today?" She asked.
"Hollywood shut down for you, babe," he told her. "My director apparently worked with you last year on Broken Shards and he wanted to come, so the rest of us got the day off."
"People are stupid," she said irritably.
"People love you, whether you want them to or not," Beck told her, carefully wrapping his arms around her dwindling frame. She held herself still, not giving in to the warmth that she remembered - and sometimes still longed for. She pushed him away, glaring at him.
"That reminds me – don't talk to Vega about me." He looked surprised but recognition slowly made its way back into his expression. He looked like he might apologize but then his eyes darkened and he looked straight at Jade, his sincerity and worry cutting at her.
"You can stop me by showing up when I invite you out to lunch or dinner – at least once in a six month period. I don't care how hard you push, Jade. I'm not going to let you disappear." She could hear each strain in his tone - the honesty – the harshness – the fear. The emotions in his words stabbed at her and constricted her chest. She couldn't breathe – and she had no answer for him. She turned on her heel, ducked below his arm before he realized what she was doing, and disappeared into the corridor leading to the ladies room. She knew she couldn't hide there – someone would find her eventually – so she went for the next door. It was a linen closet that was both unoccupied and unlocked. She slipped inside and turned out the light. She was safely ensconced between towers of clean dish towels and tablecloths before the tears began to fall.
Tori watched the scene from across the room, nodding her head as two of her past teachers from Hollywood Arts told her about some of their newer students. She excused herself and met Beck in front of the bar. "That looked bad," she said softly.
Beck shrugged. "Not really any worse than usual," he admitted. "Either she really doesn't care that her mother is gone – or she's in the strongest state of denial ever."
"She cares," Tori assured him, her voice almost absently wandering. She repeated what she'd said to Jade. "People don't get this angry about people they don't care about."
Beck raised his eyebrows. "I didn't realized how much Jade has cared over the years."
Tori smiled and turned her attention to him. "How are you? Are you seeing anyone? Andre said you had a date last week."
Beck grimaced. "She ate salad – without dressing – for dinner. She laughed at everything I said – and didn't try to correct anything I said. And I started making stuff up just to see what would happen. She was really agreeable."
"Shameful," Tori teased. "You know you need to move on, right? I mean – there are breakups – and then there's what happened between you and Jade."
"I'm moving on," Beck said, his eyes unable to stop before the flittered toward the direction where Jade had run. "It's just not as easy as you'd want it to be."
After hiding in the closet for an hour or so, Jade slipped into the ladies room and freshened up. Things were winding down and she was able to avoid her old group of friends for the rest of the wake. Without saying goodbye to anyone, she left the luncheon and walked across the pavement to her car. She had almost reached the sleek black vehicle when she heard scampering heels behind her. She didn't need to hear the voice or turn around to know that Cat was following her. The redhead caught up and slipped into the passenger's seat. Jade looked over at her. "Go away."
"No," Cat answered.
"Cat, get out of the car – go back to Tori and Beck and tell them all to leave me the hell alone."
"They didn't send me," Cat insisted. "You're my best friend and your mom just died. I'm not leaving." Jade said nothing. Cat wasn't usually insistent or intent on anything. The words 'go away' usually worked well enough. This was a different situation. Jade took a few deep breaths and sighed, falling back against her seat. Finally, she sat up a bit and looked directly at the petite redhead.
"Fine – you can stay. But not one word, got it?"
Cat nodded. Jade buckled her seat belt and put the car into drive, steering them toward her home. Cat was surprisingly obedient and did not say anything for the drive. The evening was quiet without her usual chatter and it gave Jade too much time to think. After taking a shower and slipping into her pajamas, she curled up with her best friend to watch a movie marathon. Cat bravely offered to watch Jade's favorites but the brunette knew that would only lead to nightmares that she would be stuck dealing with – so she allowed Cat to choose the movies. They watched hours of old movies and musicals until, somehow, Jade drifted off to sleep.
