Adrenaline

13 | miss cellophane

One of the unfortunate obligations about brand partnerships is having to go to random parties they throw.

I don't know what this brand party is for, but Jun and Seira make a beeline for the free booze and food respectively while the rest of us hang back.

"Just smile and pretend like you want to be here," Jenny orders. "Good?"

"Define good."

"I'm serious."

Rami raises his hand. "I actually have no objections."

"That's because you're the only one who makes my job easy."

"I object to that statement." Lauren pouts.

Jenny places a hand against her forehead. "Now I get what Marty is always complaining about."

"Marty is going to call us into his office soon because we'll need to give Jenny a raise for all the shit she puts up with," Rami warns.

Plastering a smile on my face, I flash her a look that's unsuccessful. "I will try my best to pretend like I'm enjoying myself."

She gives me a once-over. "If Marty offers you an acting gig, turn it down. Please."

"What happened to women supporting women?" I scoff.

Jenny isn't amused. "I'm not an enabler."

Deciding to put all of us out of misery, Lauren tucks her arm into mine and drags me away.

"I think we're safe," I say after a minute or two. Lauren stops and stares at me, shaking her head. "And I thought I was the miserable one. Why do you look like you've just watched your puppy get murdered?"

"Your imagination is a wild place."

"And you're as bad of an actress as I am if you think I can't see through you." I nudge her hand away. "You might as well be made of cellophane."

"Does that make me John C. Reilly in this situation? I'll take that as a compliment."

I stare at her.

Lauren snags a glass of champagne from a server. "Maybe Maver and I had another fight. Maybe we didn't. I'm definitely not drinking away my problems right now."

Before she can lift the glass to her lips, I pull it away. I'm not above drowning my sorrows, but Lauren isn't subtle when she wants to talk about something even though she's pretending otherwise. Miss Cellophane.

"Is it..."

Instead of hashing over the details of their fight, Lauren rolls her shoulders in an attempt to release some of the stress, unaware there's only one viable option at making herself feel better. But she's in a stage where she's not ready to hear what anyone wants to say about their relationship, and I'm duty-bound by our friendship to help her through this, however long it takes.

After finalizing the finishing touches on the song she's been working on for so long, adding in a few lines here and there and crafting the perfect melody together, it's clear she's written about the eventual downfall of their relationship.

She's not subtle about it, though she's dodges acknowledging it out loud. And in spite of all that, she's still manages to weave a beautiful song into something cozy and tangible and heartbreaking all at once.

"He's leaving in a couple of weeks to start filming," she says after a few beats. "I just figured it would have been nice to not leave on such a sour note."