Life, Love & A Little Coffee

Deleted/Rewritten Scenes (Part One)

During Ada's Party:

By the time the party began to really kick off, the member's of Ada's father's band appeared to be somewhere between half in the bag and suffocating inside it. All the equipment was set up and hadn't been touched since sound check, the members scattered across the lawn in a blissful inebriation. One of them she'd spotted sneaking into her bedroom with his girlfriend which pissed her the hell off until she realized she officially had a scapegoat for the condom.

Tom stood in a large group with her father, a mixed drink in his hand and an easy smile on his face, causing the lines by his eyes to become adorably prominent. He was charming people in that effortless way he did, blending easily with her father's friends as if he'd been a part of their group forever.

It was true that Tom was undeniably easy on the eyes, no matter how hard he'd tried to mask that fact in the past, but that wasn't what had captured Ada's heart and forced her to give it back to him time and time again without his knowledge. It was that smile and that charm that naturally irradiated from him.

She'd only ended up in the Bennet Trance once or twice because of his looks. All the other times was because of that smile that she could stare at for days and not grow tired of. It broke her heart into pieces whenever something happened that took that smile away from the world.

He caught her stare and winked at her, causing Ada to swoon. It was taking all her self control not to go over there and kiss the living daylights out of him, knowing she had no choice but to resist that unrelenting urge.

Luckily and not so luckily, something else grabbed her attention when Tom's smile faded. Or rather, someone. Ada followed where his eyes had wandered off to, toward the edge of the yard. There was Rayna, looking plenty worse for wear and rather sheepish as she just stood there and stared down at the lawn as if she were trying to decipher something.

Ada had no effing clue why she was there or what she wanted and was tempted to continue and enjoy her mother's signature champagne drink and wait for the crazy bitch to come to her. Instead, she walked over toward the wood bench that her and Tom had once shared near the garden, sitting down and taking a sip of her drink. All Rayna had to do was walk ten more feet and say whatever it was she came here to say.

It took Rayna longer than expected to finally walk over, her gaze remaining on the ground, unwilling to connect with hers. She sat next to Ada in silence, seeming to still be trying to collect her thoughts or maybe questioning as Ada was as to why she was here.

Though music still played from the stereo and laughter could be heard throughout the crowds, the quietness between the two became to deafening for Ada to bare. "How's the arm?"

A tired snicker slipped out between Rayna's lips as her stare moved from the lawn to the cast. "Still hurts like a bitch."

All Ada new about the accident was that that her and Britt were fighting and Britt got distracted. She knew nothing else, yet that fact alone was enough for Ada to feel true hate for someone for the first time in her life. It bewildered her not to feel that hate in this moment.

"Why were you in her car, Rayna?" Her voice came out eerily calm and steady, causing goosebumps across her own skin.

Rayna's eyes finally looked up at her and still, she felt nothing. "Mr. Bennet didn't talk to you?"

Ada's eyes narrowed on her and she pursed her lips, her brain suddenly feeling cloudy.

What did Tom have to do with any of this? When would he have had the time to have anything to do with this?