Lisa
A couple of miles from the house, my cell phone rings out and I reach for it in my cup holder. Looking at the caller I.D., I realise that it's Bambam.
"Hey, Bam, hold on." I answer, while holding the phone between my ear and my shoulder for a moment while I roll up the windows so I can hear him better. Love throws me an unhappy glare over his shoulder, because he loves hanging his head out the window. "What's up?" I ask as soon as I'm situated.
"Hey, Lisa." Bambam greets me, sounding hesitant. "Barbara called."
My heart slams nervously in my chest. "What did she want?"
Bambam takes a slow breath. "She wants you to shoot the wedding."
My heart now sinks to the bottom of my stomach like a stone. "What?"
"She wants you to shoot the wedding." he repeats reluctantly.
"Why!?" I blurt a little harsher than intended.
"I don't know, dude." he replies weakly. I hear his desk chair squeak in the background and I picture him leaning back, while pinching the bridge of his nose. "She really likes the pictures you took and she insists."
"Well, what did you tell her?"
"I told her what you told me to, Lisa. I said that you have another commitment that day..." he hesitates for a moment, "... but she was persistent. She's willing to shovel out almost double of what she was originally going to pay you."
"I don't care about the money." I mumble.
"I know, dude. I know." Bambam assures. "I told her that you probably wouldn't change your plans, but again, she was persistent. I just told her that I'd talked to you and call her back tomorrow. I wanted to let you know what was going on, just in case you want to change your mind."
I pull up into my driveway and throw the car in park, leaning my head back against the headrest. "Yeah." I say, scrubbing a hand down the side of my face. "But I just... I just can't do it, Bam." I admit, with my throat suddenly feeling very tight.
"I understand that. You and Jennie have a lot of history."
"Yeah." I sigh.
My stomach knots just thinking about Nini actually being engaged and getting married. There is no way that I could show up to that wedding and not feel hurt at all or do my job properly.
Love lets out a small whine, while laying his head in my lap, probably sensing my stress. I switch my phone to my left hand to pet his head.
"I'll just tell Barbara that you can't change your plans. Don't worry about it, Lisa. I understand. I just wanted you to know."
"Yeah, thanks, Bam."
"Like I said, I get it. You and Jennie..." He lets out a breath, his lips vibrating together. "I'll call Barbara first thing in the morning and tell her that you can't do it."
"Tell her I'm sorry." I say, somehow feeling guilty.
"Will do. Get some rest, Lisa. I'll talk to you later." Bambam says and we both say our goodbyes.
I sit in my truck for a while, just letting everything digest before going inside and washing up for supper.
