Free Chasing Chaos: A Novel by Katie Rose Guest Pryal Page B

plans
in motion.
    “What
do you mean?”
    “Sandy
didn’t tell you? He asked me to drive you home.”
    “Did
he now?” Marlon looked like he would be having a conversation with Sandy when
he got home.
    “I’m
happy to. Really.”
    “A
bit out of your way, isn’t it?”
    Daphne
checked her watch. It was a little after four. By the time she dropped off
Marlon, it would be close to five. At six, she had a pitch-meeting-dinner-thing
with Dan and a young producer she didn’t know. Dan thought the meeting would be
a great opportunity for them both to meet an up-and-comer. Dan was usually
right about these things.
    The
dinner was in West Hollywood, not far at all from Sandy’s place. She could just
go early and kill time at the bar.
    “Actually,
tonight it isn’t out of my way at all,” she said. “I have a thing in
Hollywood.”
    “A
thing?”
    “Yes.”
    Marlon
chuckled again, the same sound he’d made coming into Rivet, the same unnerving
sound that made her feel as though he knew far more about her than he let on,
more than she ever wanted anyone to know except for the few people, like Greta,
whom she trusted with her entire life.
    She
didn’t trust Marlon with her entire life. She didn’t even know him. Suddenly,
the same anger she’d felt toward him yesterday came roaring back. She tried her
best to stifle it.
    They
walked along the road to the valet lot to retrieve her car. The afternoon sun
warmed her through her black sweater. The warmth felt good after the dark
interior of Rivet. It energized her. She eyed Marlon, who smiled slightly as
they strolled.
    He
looked smug. She wanted to know why.
    “I
had lunch with Carrie Ademola today,” she said, watching him closely for a
reaction. Marlon looked startled by her words. Daphne felt gratified that she
managed to knock him off-kilter.
    “Why?”
he asked.
    “I
met her here.” Daphne nodded at Rivet. “She and I have a lot in common.”
    “Doubt
it.”
    Daphne
smiled. It seemed he didn’t know her so well after all. “Carrie told me about
your parents. I’m sorry to hear they died when you were so young.”
    Daphne
watched his reaction. At her words, Marlon pressed his mouth closed, the skin
around his eyes tightening.
    When
they got to her car, he stopped, not opening his door. He rested his hand on
the roof, looking her dead in the eye. “You sound genuinely sympathetic.”
    “I
am,” Daphne said, taken aback by his skeptical tone.
    “But
we both know there’s more going on here.”
    Daphne,
recognizing a worthy opponent, nodded.
    “You
wouldn’t be using the death of my parents to make a power play here would you?
To try to get some sort of upper hand?”
    Daphne
felt tears sting her eyes, and not just from the dust of the road or from the
late afternoon sun in her face. Of course she’d been making a play. She had
indeed wanted to get the upper hand, to let him know that as much as he might
think he knew about her, she knew things about him too. That he wasn’t so
mysterious. That he shouldn’t seem so self-satisfied.
    She
wanted him to feel like she did: unsteady. So she’d been manipulative. Mean.
    She
didn’t recognize the person she was around this man. She barely recognized the
person she was at all the past two days. Whoever this strange Daphne was, she
didn’t like her.
    “I’m
sorry,” she said.
    Marlon
relaxed, running his hands through his hair. “I think you and I need to start
fresh.”
    “Yes,”
Daphne said, grateful that he’d stopped her from using her knowledge against him,
and grateful that he’d forgiven her for trying.
    Sandy
was right. Something was wrong with her. She was out of control in the ways
that she was usually the most in control. It was important to Daphne that she
not cause pain to the people close to her. But that’s all she’d done the past
twenty-four hours.
    She
didn’t know how to make it stop.
    “Hop
in,” she said.
    She
pulled out of the lot, and they headed north to Santa Monica