Payback by Kim Brogan Page A

my ship had sailed and sunk on its maiden voyage. I made a mental note to pick up condoms for emergencies.  We walked to my car in silence, and by the time I was tucked safely behind the wheel, he was already walking back to the cottage, not even a false promise to call me soon.
    When I got home , I was both mentally and physically frustrated with my life. I’d just kissed off my chances with Caden and now, with the exception of a possible rewrite of one or two scenes after editing, I was out of a job. My agent wanted me to write another novel, but, frankly, I was exhausted and nothing was coming to mind, or at least nothing I wanted to publish under my name was popping into my head.
    Tina managed to land me a stint writing for three television series. I wrote five episodes in the next year , so I managed to keep quite busy and maintain a good income.  But that night, the night of the wrap-up party, I was worried about both my love life and my future as a writer.  Was I going to be a JD Salinger? Have one big hit and that’s it?
    The season changed, we marched into the rainy season. We’d had three days of solid rain, not unusual for Los Angeles.  Southern California doesn’t get much rain , but when it does, it tends to come all at once. It was one of those wet March nights, the rain was heavy, and I was cold to the bone.
    I was stopping by to pick up some takeout at the Vinery, a nice, but not posh, restaurant.  I had to walk three blocks, because there was nothing closer, to park. By the time I reached the restaurant in my vinyl windbreaker, jeans and T-shirt, I was thoroughly soaked and looked like a drowned rat. They sat me on a bench by the door while they prepared my meal. I was there scrolling through my iPhone when Caden popped through the door. He was holding it open for someone else. Jessica Winthrop, his co-star from Rowhouse, came running in with her gorgeous trench coat and wide umbrella. Caden was laughing at something until his eyes latched onto mine.  He went dead cold silent.
    “Hi , Caden, Jessica.”
    Jessica was put off by Caden’s silence but when she realized that she knew me, she made a valiant effort to remember my name. “Mary!  How are you?” Leaning down, she gave me two air kisses on each cheek.
    “Great. Really great.”
    “Caden! It’s Mary! You remember, she was an assistant to the writer, uh, what was his name? Aaron! Aaron Gold.”
    Aaron had been the writer who helped me with some adjustments to the script but I had done the heavy lifting on both the script and rewrites.  Nonetheless, I insisted that he be given a byline as a screenwriter on the film. 
    Caden didn’t take his eyes off of me. “Yes, I remember Mary,” he said with some glee at the mistaken version of my name.  “How is Aaron?” he added, with a mischievous look in his eyes.
    “I haven’t seen him in a while,” I said, as detached as I could.
    “We’ve just been to an interview about Rowhouse over at Entertainment Tonight,” Jessica mentioned.
    The hostess was practically peeing in her pants as she stood holding menus , ready to seat Jessica and Caden. Jessica had always been pleasant to me, even though she didn’t have a clue who I really was and what I really did on the movie. So it was no surprise when she looked down at me and said, “Are you alone?  Why don’t you join us?”
    Terror flashed in Caden’s eyes.  I almost burst out laughing when he panicked at the idea of me eating with them. “I’ve already ordered dinner as takeout.  I’m just waiting for it.”
    “Nonsense. You can eat it here just as much as you can eat it alone in your apartment,” Jessica insisted.
    I wanted to let her know I actually owned a house, but it wasn’t worth it.
    “Come on, Mary, eat with us. Caden, we can’t let her go out in that weather. Her meal will get cold by the time she gets home.”
    “I’m sure she thought about that when she ordered it.”
    “Jessica, you’re very sweet, but I