Free Cut to the Chase by Lisa Girolami Page B

Her reputation was far from that, since the tabloids liked to talk about her wicked mouth and her sometimes-fierce manners. But in that moment, Paige felt more than saw that she was relaxed and peaceful.
    “I’d be an architect,” Avalon said.
    “Really?”
    She nodded. “Building things, that’s what I’d like to do. Being able to create a structure that suits the people who want to live there, or plays to the arc of the sun and feels as if it was grown from the land it’s on, would be so satisfying. Homes say so much about a person and their life, or at least they should. Adobes in New Mexico and Craftsman homes in Pasadena make strong statements about how people want to live and what they want to be surrounded by. And I’d like to create places where they feel comfortable and happy.”
    Avalon looked at her with a gaze so deep, all she could do was take it in and urge her breathing to slow down. In the following silence, Avalon turned to look out the window and appeared to be contemplating something.
    “What are you thinking about?”
    After a moment, Avalon said, “Finding land and designing my first project. One for me.”
    “That sounds wonderful.”
    “What about you? What would you do without a camera in your hands?”
    She hadn’t expected Avalon to turn the tables. She was supposed to be conducting the interviews. “I don’t know. I mean, I guess if I could do anything I wanted…” She wasn’t sure if she should reveal any more.
    “Come on, what would you be?”
    Embarrassing as it was going to sound, she said it. “A live-weather journalist.”
    “Like a tornado chaser?”
    “Tornadoes, hurricanes, monsoons, yeah.”
    “Truly?”
    “Well, I know I’ll never do that, but it would be awesome.”
    “But why wouldn’t you do that?”
    She had to laugh at herself. “Because it’s not me. My life is fairly predictable and pretty habitual, which is the opposite of what it would have to be if I reported on the world’s insane climate.”
    “That would be so cool to do that!”
    She was struck by Avalon’s passionate interest in her dream. “Yeah,” she said, “but I never will. It’s a fantasy that I have for the simple reason that it would force me to be a little more impulsive.”
    “Feh.” Avalon waved her hand in the air as if shooing a fly. “Impulsive is easy.”
    “For you, maybe. It doesn’t come easily to me.”
    “You just have to not think too much about what you’re about to do.”
    “You mean, like the consequences?”
    Avalon pursed her lips and Paige knew she was being scolded for being so stiff, which she was.
    “Like the regret that hits you when you realize you could have done something exciting or spontaneous, and didn’t.”
    “Yeah,” she said, shaking her head. “I’ll leave that to the fearless people.”
    “You don’t think you’re—”
    Someone knocked on Avalon’s door.
    “Come in,” she called.
    Tawnya poked her head in. “Gotta get you ready. Your call is in fifteen.” She walked in holding a satchel and dropped it on the counter. As if this routine was as familiar and automatic as walking over to the coffee condiment stand, Avalon relocated to the director’s chair in front of Tawnya.
    “Now let’s see how we’re going to cover that cut and bruise of yours…”
    When Paige stood and walked toward the door, Avalon said, “You don’t have to leave.”
    “I need to download some images to the laptop in my car.” That wasn’t really true. She could do that anytime. She was just feeling a little foolish for revealing her crazy dream and needed to get away. “I’ll be back before you start shooting.”
    Avalon watched the door close from its reflection in the mirror she was facing, ignoring the smirk on Tawnya’s face behind her.
    “You don’t have to leave…?” Tawnya brushed out the ends of Avalon’s hair.
    “She’s cute, huh?”
    “Very much so.”
    She fidgeted when Tawnya didn’t say any more. Something about Paige