Haze - By Andrea Wolfe Page 0,90

look I'd ever seen. I could barely explain why it looked optimistic, but that didn't matter. I felt it.

"Effie, I'm so sorry. I hope everything turns out all right." Stacy obviously felt horrible about what had happened, and I knew what that felt like. I had done the exact sort of thing before and actually lost a friend over it.

I paused, allowing the words to digest slowly. I glanced around at the world I was in, the strange universe I was currently a part of. Seth Rogen popped up in the background, and that only made everything weirder. To my right, Jack, my rich, handsome, protective boyfriend. To my left, his ex, my favorite actor, an inspiring woman in my life. Combined, they had more talent that the rest of Hollywood combined—at least in my eyes.

Making decisions wasn't easy right now, not when I was here. I couldn't worry about this, not now. I couldn't chastise Stacy because she just didn't know. On top of that, she had been drunk, same as me, just trying to have a good time at this petty, superficial event.

"Okay," Jack said, piping in, "we're all going to go out to dinner and then we're going to go to the club at the hotel. It's going to be mindless fun. God knows we all need it."

"I have to be on a plane to Chicago early tomorrow morning, though," Stacy said.

"You can sleep on the plane, can't you?" I asked, trying to encourage her participation. I wanted to wipe the tension away, to start anew with her after the incident.

She looked at me and smiled, a response that would have been blog-entry-worthy had I not already known her. "Okay, I'll go out for a little bit at least. You convinced me."

"Okay. Can we get the hell out of here now?" Jack asked.

"Sure. I'll say a couple of goodbyes and then we'll go." She walked off into the crowd.

Jack stood up with me and put his arm around my back, leading me around the house toward the front. I didn't need to think hard about any of this. Normally, this sort of arrangement—guy and girl hanging out with guy's ex girlfriend—would have been problematic. Look at what happened with Timothy and me...

But no, Stacy was not your run-of-the-mill ex-girlfriend. She was the ex-girlfriend worth hanging out with, the ex worth knowing, without a doubt.

And the thing with Dan would probably turn out just fine. I didn't need to be so paranoid. Tomorrow, Jack would assuage me with his knowledge and sensibility, his ability to simplify and act. I would voice my concerns and everything would be okay by the time we arrived in NYC.

All of this was making me reconsider my goals, however. I didn't know what I wanted them to be anymore—Dan being an asshole record label employee definitely didn't help my perception of the business—but I had time to think about that later.

Couldn't I just find another job if I lost the one at MCI? It was a huge city, so there had to be plenty of jobs available. Yet, the more I tried to convince myself it would be okay, the more overwhelming that prospect seemed.

Relax, Effie.

By the time Stacy met us up front, the limo had already arrived.

Chapter 16

We grabbed sushi at a semi-famous place, one where framed celebrity photos and autographs were pinned to the wall.

"Do you have one up there, Jack?" I asked.

He laughed. "No. But Stacy does." My vision followed his finger to a photo of Stacy smiling with the head sushi chef, her autograph decorating the bottom of the photo. I was surprised that I hadn't noticed it prior to him drawing attention to it.

"Hey, it was for a charity thing," she said awkwardly. "I know you don't get hounded for that stuff, Jack, but it's hard to say no without looking like an asshole."

"It's fine by me," I said supportively. "Good for you."

"See, at least someone cares," Stacy laughed, and it made me feel good about the whole lame exchange.

The sushi was great, and nobody bothered us while we ate. Then again, we had somewhat of a private booth away from the regular tables at Jack's request. I had some kind of super spicy 'dynamite' roll, one that Jack kept eying hungrily.

"Why didn't you just get it yourself?" I asked. "I'm not giving any of it up."

"He's always stupid about sushi," Stacy added.

"God, you guys are jerks," Jack said, quietly sipping his sake.

It was a good time.

After we