The Game Changer The Final Score - By L.M. Trio Page 0,77
want it anymore. Thankfully, he knew I was screwed up. He knew how much I loved this house and what it meant to me. He kept it and I never asked him about it. I hated knowing I gave it up. After I got back and you and I talked, he brought me here and told me he never sold it.”
She hugs me tightly and tells me she loves me. I show her my favorite part of the house. It’s a private little sunroom off the back. The French doors lead out to a small patio with a clear shot of the tropical foliage, the dock and the canal in the backyard. This will be her studio. I bought an easel, some canvases, paint and a few supplies, and put them around just as props so she can get the feel of it when she enters.
***
(Mikey)
Lora Rae persistently calls while I am home on Thanksgiving break. She keeps asking when I’ll be back in LA. From what I’ve seen, she doesn’t seem to have family around her, but, then again, she’s always surrounded by an entourage, which she doesn’t seem to mind.
I arrive in LA shortly after Thanksgiving. I’m not sure why I hurried back so quickly, but once the weekend came to an end, Deanna flew back to Phoenix to wrap up her last couple of weeks of school and get her transfer in order. Not to mention, I was still feeling a little unhinged about her feelings for Jerk off, so of course, I jump on a plane to LA when I think of her with him.
I book a room at the Omni so that I can have a place to escape when I feel the need to get away from Lora Rae and the rest of her crew. After checking in, I decide to rest for a while. I need time to figure out whether or not I even want to be here, or if I want to see Lora Rae. She doesn’t know I’m in town. I give Deanna a call to make sure she got back safe.
“Hey.”
“Hi, what’s going on?” she asks.
“I just wanted to make sure you made it back safe.”
“Awe, that’s nice. Yep, I’m here. Where are you?”
I laugh. “LA. I just got in.”
She’s quiet and doesn’t respond.
“Hello?”
“I’m here. Wow, you must really like it there. I’m surprised. I thought you would have been anxious to get back home to Florida. Can’t stay away from your new celebrity friends, huh?” she asks with a bit of arrogance mixed with a lot of contempt.
I note the tone of her voice. “I was going to, but then I ended up on a plane back here. I figured Luke and JJ could use a little more time to themselves. I’m heading back in a few days. What about you, when do you think you’re moving?”
“I don’t know. It’s complicated. Jeffrey was waiting for me at the airport when I arrived. He doesn’t want me to move to Florida.”
“What do you want?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady. I hide the fact that my heart just stopped when I hear her indecisiveness about moving closer to me.
“I still want to move to Florida, I guess… I miss everyone, but, I don’t know. He says he thinks that he may be willing to give this long distance thing a shot and see how it goes. What do you think?”
“I think whatever makes you happy is what you should do. Listen, someone is beeping in, I gotta go. I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” I lie, blowing her off. The last thing I want to do is talk to her about this guy. It also sort of pisses me off that she asks my opinion on it.
“Oh, okay. I’ll let you go… I’ll talk to you soon?” she asks.
“Yeah, sure. I gotta go,” I answer quickly, ending our conversation.
I thought that maybe we made some progress together over the weekend. I’ve been trying to feel her out, making comments about the two of us. I was beginning to think that maybe she feels the same way about me. Obviously, I’m reading her wrong, especially since she’s considering staying in a relationship with her boyfriend once she moves. No longer tired, I grab my wallet and room key and head to Lora Rae’s.
***
(Deanna)
The second Mikey tells me he flew back to LA instead of going home to Florida, I find myself extremely jealous. We had