Second Act (His Chance 1)

He started driving again, and a minute or two later, he asked, “Do you want to continue on and have our picnic? I was planning to take you to the Griffith Observatory, but if you’d rather go home I can drive us back to the airport.”

“I’d love to have that picnic with you. Just so you know, I don’t have any negative memories associated with that place, so hopefully I won’t continue to fuck up this wonderful day you planned for us.”

“I’m the one who fucked it up,” he muttered.

“No, you’re not. I shouldn’t have said anything back there.”

“I’m glad you did, though. I could tell something was bothering you, and I never want you to feel there are things we can’t talk about.” That was nice to hear, but I still wished I’d kept my thoughts to myself.

After a while, I tried to lighten the mood by challenging us to name every movie or TV show that had filmed scenes at the observatory. The most famous was Rebel Without a Cause, and one of the more recent was the TV show Lucifer. We thought we did pretty good by coming up with thirteen, but then I looked it up on my phone and told Lorenzo, “We missed a couple.”

“Yeah? So, how many shows and movies have used it as a location?”

“About a hundred and forty.”

He chuckled and said, “We were so close.”

It really was no wonder that the Griffith Observatory was such a popular filming location. The iconic art deco building was beautiful in its own right, and it was also situated at the top of a hill with panoramic views of the city. We were surprised to discover it was actually open on New Year’s Day, so we decided to go inside and check it out, just because we could.

It was quiet, peaceful, and nearly deserted, and the lights were low to put the emphasis on the illuminated exhibits. Lorenzo was fascinated by everything and paused to read all the information, which I thought was very cute. Meanwhile, I wandered around and looked at the pretty pictures of space. It wasn’t that I had no interest in the subject. I was just distracted, and when Lorenzo noticed, he took my hand and asked, “Are you bored out of your mind?”

“Not at all. I love being here with you.”

He watched me for a moment, and then he leaned in and kissed me, under a great, big glowing model of Jupiter. I sank into him—into his kiss, his arms, his warmth. It felt so good, better than anything.

After a while, he kissed my forehead and said, in a voice that sounded a bit rough, “It’s past lunchtime, and you must be hungry. Let’s go have our picnic.”

We exited through a side door and paused to take in the astonishing, panoramic view from the terrace. The Hollywood sign was off to our right, and all of Los Angeles was sprawled out before us. I turned my back to it as my heart ached.

I said softly, “I really don’t want to move back to the small town I grew up in, but I just don’t think I can stay here. Even if I was able to find a job that paid enough to support myself and send money home, Southern California is just depressing now. It feels like failure. I don’t think this is the right place for me anymore, but rural Louisiana isn’t either. I don’t know where I belong.”

“You like it on Catalina, don’t you? I thought you were happy there.”

“It’s been wonderful, but it was meant to be a short-term thing. Just like you were saying last night, I feel guilty for taking advantage of my friend’s generosity.”

“Beck would give you a job if you wanted it,” Lorenzo said. “He and Ren will need to build up their staff as we move into spring and the resort gets busy again. Maybe then you wouldn’t feel guilty about staying there, especially since they provide housing for a lot of their employees.”

“He’d definitely give me a job, but I’d still feel like I was using him.” I sighed and said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring the mood down again. Let’s go get our picnic.”

I started walking toward the parking lot, and Lorenzo fell into step with me. “There’s no need to apologize. I know you have a lot on your mind right now.”

He was as kind and understanding as ever, but I vowed to shut up about this stuff and get a grip. This was such a good day, and it would suck if I ruined it for both of us.

When we reached the car, we retrieved the picnic basket and a blanket, which Lorenzo with his remarkable attention to detail had asked his cousin to leave in the trunk for us. Lunch was a gourmet feast with several types of cheese, French bread, olives, and fruit, along with a bottle of wine. As usual, I drank more than I ate. It wasn’t like I didn’t know alcohol had plenty of calories, but I’d always allowed myself that dieting loophole.