West & Vega: The Untold Jori

Between the Lines

"Jade? Are you there?

My throat felt like I swallowed a bucket full of gravel and washed it down with hot lava.

"Jade I know it's you. Prank calls don't really work when I've got your number programmed into my phone." She had that high-pitched squeak to her voice that she always got when she was nervous or upset. At least I was getting in her head as I fumbled over myself to try and speak.

Say something, dumbass!

I cleared my throat. It was like coughing up thumbtacks. "It's not a prank," I snapped. "I had something caught in my throat."

"Oh. What?"

My stupidity.

"I'm eating a sandwich if you must know." The tightness in my chest came back the moment I lied to her. Are you seriously having an anxiety attack over this? You're pathetic.

"Well I'm glad you're not choking," Tori said, the squeaky edge fading a bit. "So, what's up? I'm surprised to hear from you."

"Not half as surprised as I am to be calling you."

"Why are you calling me? Did you lose a bet?"

There just enough snark in her voice to both impress and annoy me. Snark was my thing, but Vega wore it pretty well sometimes. "I'm getting to that," I said. "Geez. Are you in a hurry? Can't even ask me how I'm doing or anything?"

She sighed. Was that irritation I heard in her voice? "Hi Jade, how have you been?"

"None of your business."

Okay, the irritation in that sigh was unmistakable. "Gee, I didn't see that one coming." The high-pitched edge was back. "Well as much fun as this has been, I need to go and...do literally anything else right now. It was nice hearing from you—"

"Wait," I said, not without a hint of aggression. And by a hint, I mean a lot. "I need to talk to you about something."

I heard a soft whimper, the same one I heard a million times over the years. She brought it out anytime she was bracing herself for something she didn't think she'd like. Just a short, sad, weird little noise. It was honestly kind of cute.

I hated cute. Usually.

"Okay," she said. "I'm listening."

"An interesting opportunity fell into my lap recently," I said, choosing my words carefully. "I'm directing a short film for this small production company."

Just like that, the dark clouds were gone. Tori practically squealed at me. "Oh, that's awesome! I'm so happy for you!" Despite all the shit I just gave her, there was genuine enthusiasm in her voice. I couldn't wrap my brain around it. How could she be so happy for someone that just dumped all over her?

It was that insufferable something about her. I couldn't get away from it, even on the phone.

You know what it is, Jade. "I'm not done," I shot back impatiently, trying to drown out my inner voice. "The film is just to prove that the studio can handle a mainstream production, since they usually do horror movies. After reading the script...well..." Come on, Jade. Spit it out. You've worked with her before. "I think you'd be perfect for the lead role."

A long silence fell between us. All I could hear was a faint ringing in my ears that came and went with each rapid heartbeat. Why isn't she saying something? She's going to say no. She's going to laugh at me. Ha, ha, Jade. Real funny. No way.