The Tick-Tock Between You and Me

by Kristy Tate

  “Hey, babe,” he said again in his swoon-worthy accent.

  She clung to his arm as they made their way to the spinning luggage carousel. The other women who had been traipsing after Benjamin seemed to have lost interest, although Darby noticed quite a few women—and men—watched them. She supposed she would need to get used to this. After all, he was an actor, and as long as he was successful, he would always be in the limelight.

  “I can’t wait for you to meet everyone,” Darby said, squeezing his arm.

  He blanched. “Tonight?”

  “Well, yeah.”

  “Babe, I told you Tommy is taking me to a thing. A lot of big names are going to be there.”

  “Aren’t you tired after your long flight?” She had thought they’d have time to settle in together. She’d help him unpack at his friend’s and then they could go to her house so she could show him off to her family.

  “I’m raring to go!” He gave her a boyish grin. “Been twiddling my thumbs for hours and hours on that boring flight. I had thought I might run into some Hollywood blokes on my way here, but, no. Instead, I had to sit next to this giant man and his pet Chihuahua. I don’t know if anyone from the airline knew the dog was even there. But, of course, I did.” He sucked in a long breath. “I have to create my big break, take advantage of every opportunity to rub shoulders with the Hollywood set.” He kissed her cheek. “You get it, right?”

  “Oh sure. Tomorrow will be a better time for meeting everyone anyway.” Her family usually had dinner together every Sunday after church. Maybe he could go to services with her, then he’d be able to meet not only her parents and siblings, but also her aunts, uncles, cousins, Father Dolan…He’d see the chapel where she planned on getting married. That thought sent a wave of longing rocketing through her, and she squeezed his arm. “I can’t believe you’re really here.”

  He made a happy chirping sound. “Me neither. It’s…well, it’s the beginning of everything.” He stepped in front of her and took her face in his hands. “I owe this all to you. When I’m giving my speech at the Academy Awards, I’m going to say that everything I am is because you believed in me.”

  She flushed and shrugged. “Of course, I believe in you.”

  “I would have gotten the money together to make it over here eventually, but it was slow going. I mean, there wasn’t any point in coming if I didn’t have the portfolio.”

  “Portfolio?”

  “You know, the photo shoot. I told you about that right?” He slung his bag off his shoulder and placed it on a chair. After unzipping the bag and rummaging through it, he pulled out a folio. “These look great. It was brilliantly expensive but so worth it.” He showed her picture after picture. He looked like a cover model for G.Q. in all of them, except the ones where he looked like he belonged in a Calvin Klein underwear commercial.

  “Wow.” A mental picture of him showing these to her mom or sisters flashed in her mind. She tucked the tighty-whites photo behind the others.

  “I know.” Benjamin smiled and shook his head. “Crazy, right?” He looked over his shoulder. “Ah, here’s my bags.” He bounced on his toes. “We’re almost on our way!” After returning the folio to his duffle bag, he hurried over to the carousel and pulled one bag, and then another, and then another, off the conveyor and deposited them at her feet.

  Darby didn’t mean to, but she found herself counting the bags. Four bags. Each cost twenty-five dollars to transport. That was an extra hundred dollars. She chided herself for being so stingy. Of course, he needed four bags. He was moving here. To be with her! This wasn’t a vacation. He probably had everything he owned in these four little, well…giant, bags. And in that duffle bag. And was that box his, too? And what was that? It looked like it contained some sort of instrument. Like maybe a cello. He handed her three bags—two for each hand and one to tuck under her arm.

  “You brought a car, right?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “I’m probably going to need to borrow it for the auditions.” He bit his lower lip and gazed at her. “That’s not going to be a problem, is it? Especially since we’re going to be together. Mostly.”

  “You have auditions lined up?”

  He radiated with excitement and it spilled toward Darby. “Things are happening, baby. I can feel it. It’s starting right now.”

  #

  First stop, Benjamin’s friend’s Tommy’s place to unload Benjamin’s things. Following the directions from Benjamin’s phone, Darby pulled her car down an alley in Culver City and found a place to park in the shade of an orange tree alongside a weathered wooden fence. A rickety set of stairs led to the attic apartment above the garage.

  “It’s probably not much,” Benjamin said, “but I’m thinking I won’t be spending a whole lot of time here.” He jumped out of the car, hustled to the trunk, and hoisted a couple of suitcases out.

  “I wish you could live closer,” Darby said. She pulled out the musical instrument with one hand and grabbed a box with the other.

  “It’s not far from Hollywood. There’s a lot of big-name studios in Culver City,” he said.

  “I meant closer to me.”

  “Ah.” Benjamin grinned and leaned in for a quick kiss. “Me, too. But take what you can get, right? You said yourself I can’t stay with you. Tommy is the next best thing. Besides, he’s got connections!”

  “Yo!” A guy in a pair of jean cutoffs and a wife-beater T-shirt stuck his woolly head out the window of the attic apartment and raised a beer bottle by way of a greeting. His white out-of-control hair made him look like a sheep.

  “Tommy!” Benjamin cried.

  “Yo!” Tommy hollered again.

  Benjamin hurried up the stairs and Darby, with the musical instrument banging against her leg, followed.

  On the landing, Tommy and Benjamin greeted each other with a hug. Tommy took the suitcases from Benjamin and led them inside.

  The so-called living room didn’t have any windows, and the smell of day old pizza mingled with beer and something else Darby couldn’t place hung in the air. An orange sofa, a purple loveseat, and a green plaid chair were gathered around the TV. Tommy ushered them through the tiny kitchen, past trash cans overflowing with used paper plates and Chinese food containers, and an open door to a bathroom with a raised toilet lid and a counter filled with hair devices and creams, gels, and sprays.

  “You’re in here, dude,” Tommy said, pushing open another door and revealing a room about the size of Darby’s parents’ closet. A blue and white ticking mattress lay on the floor beside a cardboard box serving as an end table with a crook-neck lamp on top. Is this real life intruding on romance? she wondered.

  Ninety years without slumbering

  (tick, tock, tick, tock),

  CHAPTER 3

  “There’s a party happening in about an hour,” Tommy told Benjamin. “Tim Mulligan from Warner Brothers is going to be there, as well as some other A-listers. You down?”

  “Yeah, we’re good,” Benjamin said. He dropped his bags beside the cardboard box.

  “I can’t go to a Hollywood party,” Darby whispered as soon as Tommy stepped out and shut the door.

  “Why not?” Benjamin asked.

  “Well, for one thing, I have a coffee stain on my shirt.”

  “Yeah, you got to look the part,” Benjamin told Darby, giving her clothes a critical eye. “Do you want to go home and change?”

  “That’s two hours round trip.”

  “Shopping?”

  Darby frowned at him. “You want me to buy new clothes for a party?”

  “Well, at least a top and maybe some shoes.” Benjamin blew his bangs off his forehead. “Sorry, love, but you gotta look like you belong.”

  With who? In what? Darby wondered. I don’t look like I belong in an above the garage apartment?

  #

  Above the collar of his dark blue cable sweater, Benjamin’s neck flushed red. He looked nice. Darby wondered if he looked Hollywood nic
e, but since she’d never been to a Hollywood party before, she couldn’t say.

  “I knew you’d rock that dress,” he said.

  Darby smoothed down the chiffon. “Thanks. You have excellent taste.” She tried not to think about her upcoming credit card bill. They’d bought the dress and shoes from a consignment store Tommy had told them about. It had seemed ridiculous to spend so much money on (gently) used clothing that she’d probably never wear again, but she told herself Benjamin was worth it. Wasn’t he?

  They followed Tommy downstairs to the garage and he lifted the door, revealing an ancient Mercedes convertible. Tommy grinned at her. “Good thing you’re not worried about your hair.”

  Darby touched her ponytail. Who said she didn’t worry about it? She tried to think of a rebuttal as she climbed into the back. Because there wasn’t any leg room, she had to sit with her legs curled up beside her.

  Darby tried to stay dialed into Benjamin and Tommy’s conversation buzzing around her, but her thoughts kept going back to the night she and Benjamin met. Snippets of their long conversations during their separation floated to the surface of her memory. What had they talked about? Her stomach knotted with worry.

  “You okay, babe?” Benjamin asked, throwing her a glance in the rearview mirror.

  “She’s probably just nervous about meeting Daniel Beech,” Tommy said.

  Darby didn’t want to admit that she didn’t even know who Daniel Beech was. She pressed her back into the seat and bit her lip while the wind set her hair dancing. She was glad she had it tied up in a ponytail. She promised herself she’d finger-comb it and twist it into a knot as soon as they reached Daniel Beech’s house.

  Daniel Beech lived in a bungalow in Hollywood Hills California at the top of a hill behind a pair of wrought-iron gates. Below, the lights of Los Angeles flickered in the semi-darkness. A valet waiting on the curb sprung to open the convertible’s doors. Tommy climbed out and handed over the Mercedes’s keys. Then, he went to the front porch and gave their names to a woman dressed in black and wielding a clipboard. “Darby isn’t on the list,” he said. “My bad. Should have remembered that.”

  “Want to wait in the car, babe?” Benjamin asked.

  “For how long?” Darby asked.

  Tommy and Benjamin looked at each other and shrugged.

  “These things can last all night,” Tommy said.

  “Are you serious?” Darby asked, searching out Benjamin’s gaze. He kept his eyes focused on the tips of his shoes.

  “You know what, it’s okay,” she said, hurt and disgusted. “I’ll take an Uber back to my car.”

  “Huh, babe? About that, do you mind if I borrow your car tomorrow? There’s a photo shoot in Santa Monica.” He flashed her a winning smile. “This one is paying.” When she hesitated, he added, “It can lead to other photo shoots…”

  She answered him by fishing her keys out of her purse and putting them in his outstretched hand. He kissed her on the cheek before swaggering up the stairs. Tommy elbowed Benjamin on his way through the door.

  Darby found a tree to lean against as she waited for the Uber and watched the party-goers arrive. Only beautiful people had been invited. It was as if fashion models had stepped off a runway to attend. Laughter and the smell of perfume floated on the cool night air.

  Darby’s gaze followed Benjamin through the open door and to a balcony on the other side of the French doors. A cluster of adoring men and women gathered around him. He looked like he belonged.

  She pulled out her ponytail and raked her fingers through her hair. A few people passing her on the way to the party threw her curious glances, but no one stopped to say hi or invite her inside.

  Moments later, the Uber, a sun-faded Toyota Corolla pulled up and Darby climbed in. She battled tears on the long drive back to the valley.

  #

  The next morning, Darby followed the sound of arguing to the garage.

  “I don’t know why I can’t take my own car,” Grandma Betty harrumphed.

  “Mom, we’ve been over this,” Darby’s mom said. “The doctor said you shouldn’t drive.”

  Darby, wearing the dress she’d bought with Benjamin the day before, trooped behind her family and lined up for a seat in her parents’ car. No one noticed her new and fancy dress.

  “What does he know?” Grandma Betty demanded.

  “Apparently, he knows the results of your vision test,” Dad said.

  “I’m sorry, Mom,” Darby’s Mom said. “I know this is hard, but it’s not safe for you to drive. Fortunately for you, you have a loving family who is happy to take you wherever you need to go. Like church. Like now.”

  “Get in,” Dad said, losing patience and holding open the car door.

  “So, where’s your car?” Dad asked as Darby climbed into the back seat of her parent’s Buick sedan beside Grandma Betty.

  “I…huh, loaned it to Benjamin,” she said, buckling her seat belt “He has a photo shoot today.”

  “But won’t you need it for work?” Grandma Betty asked.

  “It’s just temporary,” Darby said, hoping that Benjamin would return the car when he came to dinner, then she could drive him home. He’d apologize for leaving her hanging at the party, she’d forgive him, they would indulge in some snogging… “He’ll bring it back tonight.”

  “But what if he doesn’t?” Grandma Betty asked, her voice bordering on panic.

  ”He’s going to bring it back, I can ride Nick’s bike to the gym and shower and change there.” Darby smoothed out her dress, hoping the seatbelt wouldn’t cause wrinkles.

  “Nick’s bike?” Darby’s mom echoed.

  “He won’t mind, right?” After all, Nick, her older brother, was on a service mission to Haiti for six months. She had bought a membership at the gym directly across the street Hopper and Rhode when she’d first starting working there thinking that she’d workout before going to the office, or during her lunch hour, or after she got off. But in the six years since she’d started at Hopper and Rhode, she’d only gone to the gym a handful times. Benjamin had given her a perfect excuse to change….more than her clothes.

  #

  Later that afternoon while cousins and aunts and uncles trickled into the house, each bearing a casserole, a Jello salad, or a dessert, Darby hid in her room and called Benjamin. She tried to make her voice light. “Hey,” she said when he answered the phone, his voice groggy with sleep. She glanced at the clock and saw it was after one in the afternoon, so she couldn’t feel bad about waking him. “Will I see you today?”

  “Mmm,” Benjamin murmured. “I’d love that, babe. When can you get here?”

  “No, when can you get here?”

  The sound of rustling sheets came through the phone, and Darby pictured Benjamin sitting up on his mattress and running his fingers through his hair. She leaned against her desk and stared out the window at Jolene and Luke, her niece and nephew climbing a lemon tree in the backyard. Their baby brother sat on a blanket beside the tree, waving his fists at them. Her aunts, uncles, siblings and parents milled around the yard with paper plates laden with food. They all looked so happy, while Darby, definitely, was not. She hated the ugly suspicions playing in her head.

  Did Benjamin care for her at all?

  Had their long conversations been one-sided?

  He was an actor. Had he been only pretending to like her?

  Had he used her for a free plane ticket to L.A.?

  “You have my car, Benjamin,” she told him.

  “I do?”

  She heard him moving and pictured him going to the window and looking out at her Camry.

  “Hey, yeah. It’s here,” he said, sounding as if he’d just come upon an Easter egg in July.

  “Well, I need it. So, you can drive it here and meet my family.” She started to tell him about the key she kept hidden in the wheel well.

  “Your family?” His voice squeaked. “I’m not so sure about that, babe.”

  “Why not? It’s th
e perfect solution.”

  “I can see why you might think that, but remember, I’ve never driven in the U.S. before.”

  “So, it’s not that big a deal.”

  “I disagree. I’ve seen the motorways.”

  “The freeways are nothing compared to the traffic in London.”

  “Yeah, well, I didn’t do that, either.”

  “What?”

  “I didn’t have a car! Living in London, I rarely needed one. The truth is, I’ve only driven a handful of times.”

  “Wait. You can drive to a photo shoot, but not to Shell Beach?”

  “Yeah. The photo shoot is three miles away. Your house is ten times that.”

  She blew out a frustrated breath. “So, take an Uber.”

  “I don’t have any money, babe. I thought you understood that.”

  “Ask Tommy to bring you down,” she said, although Tommy was one of the last people she wanted to see at her parents’ house.

  “Tommy is just as strapped as I am. I hate to ask him since he’s already letting me stay here for free.”

  Darby sank down on her bed and blinked back tears. Chad’s words floated back to her. Real life steps in eventually on everyone’s romance.

  #

  “I guess I thought it was going to be our time,” Darby told Nora, her best friend, a week after Benjamin’s arrival.

  Darby sat on Nora’s bed watching Nora rummage through her closet, tossing shirts, pants, and skirts onto the bed. Darby folded the clothes into neat little piles.

  “Oh sweetie,” Nora said, “I’m sorry things haven’t worked out the way you thought they would.”

  “I wish you weren’t going away. I think this is crazy!” Darby said.

  Nora poked her head out of the closet long enough to give Darby a severe glance. “Have you gotten your car back, yet?”

  Darby shook her head and concentrated on folding up a bathing suit. It was tricky because it involved a lot of strings.