Page 106 of Foes & Cons
“Everything changes, Eliza. If you try to fight that, you just end up alone.” He stares at the carpet and takes a sip of tea, then he’s back in TV star mode by the time he puts the cup down on the saucer. He claps his hands. “Let’s get back to business. It’s not every day you get to have coffee with a Hollywood star, am I right?”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “It’s not ending like this. I won’t let it.”
Damon Van Schwartz glances at Debbie, exchanging an unspoken code for when a fan is about to go Annie Wilkes on him, but they don’t need to worry. I’m in a room with my favourite actor from my favourite TV show and he’s just dropped a bombshell, a heartbreaking, life-altering bombshell, but something else occupies my core right now. All I can think about is how tightly Sadie held on to me as she sobbed; the best weekend of her life coming to a crumbling, disappointing end. And then it hits me.
“She doesn’t think she’s a real fan until she’s completed herfirst convention,” I murmur, standing up slowly.
“Are you OK?” asks Debbie, edging towards me like I’m a wild horse.
“No,” I say, looking at her. “No, I’m not OK, but I know how to make it better.”
I head to the door.
“Where are you going?” asks Damon Van Schwartz. “You haven’t touched your coffee, and we wanted a few fun selfies for Insta.”
“Sorry, I can’t,” I say, gathering up the headshots (well, he did sign them especially for me).
Damon Van Schwartz looks at Debbie, then nods and stands up.
“You go to him, Eliza,” he says, tapping his chest. “You go to him, and you tell him.”
I walk to the door, turn back and nod, but this has nothing to do with Charlie, like Damon Van Schwartz thinks.
This is for her.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
VIGGO RASSMUSSEN
For goodness’ sake, Lila! You must get out of your comfort zone!
LILA MURPHY
But it’s so comfy in there.
Vampire Falls. Season one, episode four – “Bury Me”
Of all the people I expected to find Vivian sitting with, Dorothy was not one of them. I take a deep breath, smooth down my hoodie, because apparently appearances are important to me now, and I walk over to their sofa. Vivian’s looking down, smiling at Dorothy as she finishes her story.
“. . . and she said, ‘I’ve never even seen that corset!’”
Vivian throws her head back and laughs, putting her hand on Dorothy’s shoulder who looks delighted. They both look at me.
“Hey, Curly. You OK?”
“Hi, Dorothy. Kind of.”
“What do you need? More fire breathing?”
“Not this time.” I bite the inside of my cheek, wondering how the hell I’m supposed to navigate this. “It’s actually Vivian I wanted to talk to.”
Vivian’s eyes widen for a split second, then she crosses her longs legs and raises an eyebrow.
“I’ll piss off and leave you to it,” says Dorothy, holding up her hands so I can pull her up from the sofa.
She shuffles off towards the coffee shop, and I turn to Vivian. She’s wearing over-the-knee velvet boots and a striped jumper dress. She looks like she’s advertising the sofa, whereas I looklike I’m advertising cold and flu medicine. She blinks at me, her perfect eyebrows getting higher and higher.
“Sit down or something then. You’re hurting my neck.”
