Page 14 of For My Finale

I t was only as Lilah was scrubbing mud out of her own trousers in the kitchen sink that she realized that she actually had something to do. Alright, it might not have been what she’d have chosen to do, but she was busy.

She’d gotten up at a decent time, she’d made herself breakfast, here she was cleaning up some sort of animal manure from her trousers, and she still had her boots to deal with after. She checked the kitchen clock. And then there was a rehearsal tonight, her first real one.

She’d probably need to get some shopping in, too.

She went back to her scrubbing. Her days were somehow getting fuller, time was shrinking down again to its normal pace. And all that with none of the expensive distractions that Hollywood had once offered her.

There was movement out of the window, and she saw Blossom lugging a heavy basket of wet laundry toward the washing line.

There was her savior, if she was being totally honest. Blossom was the one who’d seen her, heard her, who’d put her on a path toward something.

Perhaps not real meaning yet, but at least she wasn’t sitting on the living room floor plotting cutting her own hair or something equally ridiculous but vaguely interesting to fill the time.

She scrubbed a bit harder at a particularly stubborn stain. Of course, without Blossom she wouldn’t be standing here scrubbing a pair of pants that were probably beyond saving, but at least the girl had tried.

She glanced up again and then her hands dropped into the hot, soapy water as she found herself staring out into the garden.

Blossom was now pinning out her washing.

Reaching up to grab pegs, to throw shirts over the line.

Her long legs stretching, tanned and lithe in shorts, the sun catching in her messy dark hair.

She bit her lip as she dropped a peg and bent to get it and Lilah had to force herself to look away for fear of doing something untoward.

Blossom was effortlessly beautiful, in the kind of way that didn’t seem aware of itself.

This wasn’t the first time that Lilah had noticed.

But it was the first time that she’d had a moment to herself to drink the sight in.

And something deep in the pit of her stomach was goading her to do something about it.

She sighed, shaking her head. No. Not appropriate.

She wasn’t going to do that. She might not be the smartest person alive, but Lilah was self-aware.

She knew that she was a tornado of a person and she knew that Blossom deserved better than that.

She also knew that people had a tendency to do things that they might not otherwise do just because they were sitting next to someone famous.

Lilah didn’t want that from Blossom. Didn’t want Blossom doing anything just because she was Lilah Paxton.

It was always hard to tell when someone was interested in her versus being interested in her persona.

Anyway, why would a totally normal and non-crazy person like Blossom want anything to do with the juggernaut of chaos that was Lilah Paxton?

Lilah grinned to herself. Unlikely that Blossom would want to upend her life to deal with an ex-actress and the trappings of fame, right?

Plus, Blossom had her own problems going on. The cafe. The cafe that for some reason she was lying about and pretending not to be concerned about.

Lilah sucked her teeth for a second, then came to a decision. She emptied the sink of water, left the damn trousers where they were, and dried her hands on a tea towel.

She had to admit that Blossom had helped her, and she wasn’t ungrateful. Despite the amount of animal manure helping had exposed her too. Blossom had set her on a path and she was thankful for that. The least she could do was return the favor. Or as close to it as she could get.

She straightened up, squared her shoulders and strode out of the backdoor and into the garden.

She did pause in her striding just momentarily to check for signs of bulls or any other animals that Blossom might see fit to keep around the place.

Seeing none, she marched straight over to the washing line.

The sun was warm, the scent of fresh laundry filled the air. Lilah put her hands on her hips. “We need to talk.”

Blossom looked up in surprise, then she pulled a face. “I know, I know. You’ve tried three jobs. I can’t clean today, Lilah. I’ve got things to do, but—”

“It’s not about cleaning,” Lilah said. “It’s about you.”

“Oh,” said Blossom.

“Yes, oh, and I won’t be put off. Or lied to like Ives. Put your washing up, get me a drink, and then we’ve got some talking to do.”

LILAH LEANED BACK in her chair, stretching her legs out as she regarded Blossom across the small wooden table in the garden. The sun was high overhead and Blossom had beads of sweat on her forehead that matched the beads of condensation on the glasses in front of them.

She also had her arms crossed tightly over her chest, like she needed to protect herself, her lips pressed together so that they were almost white as she stared at the ground.

“It was obvious when you saw that sign,” Lilah said gently.

“I know all about your cafe problems. And it’s all very well telling Ives that everything is fine, but a liar recognizes a liar, and I’ve spent my entire life lying to a camera.

This new coffee shop opening up is a problem for you. A big one. ”

Blossom shifted in her seat. “And what of it?”

Lilah ignored that. “So, what’s the plan?”

With a short laugh, Blossom rubbed her hands over her face and exhaled. “Plan?” she echoed. “What plan? There isn’t one.”

“What do you mean, you don’t have a plan?” Lilah asked.

Blossom let out another sigh, the kind that was more exhaustion than breath.

“I mean, I don’t think that I can actually do anything about it.

What am I supposed to do, Lilah? The big chain coffee shop is coming whether I like it or not.

They have money, resources, they could probably eat me alive. I can’t fight that.”

“Jesus,” Lilah said, sitting back. “Well, you definitely can’t with an attitude like that. You’re insane, you know that?”

Blossom blinked at her. “Excuse me?”

Lilah took a calming breath, determined to keep her patience and actually be helpful, sat forward again and leaned her elbows on the table. “Blossom, do you know how many people saw my last movie?”

“No,” Blossom said with a shrug.

“Sixty million.”

Blossom let out a low whistle. “That’s a lot of people.”

“Exactly,” said Lilah. “And do you know what each of those sixty million people was?”

“Um, a moviegoer?” guessed Blossom.

“A single person,” corrected Lilah. “One person who made the decision to buy a ticket and go and see a film.”

“Alright…” Blossom’s brow furrowed. “What’s your point?”

“My point is that individuals add up. If every person in the world thought that their decisions and actions didn’t matter, then nothing would ever happen.

No one person decides who’s president, it takes millions.

And yet if each of those individuals thought they couldn’t enact change, nobody would be president.

You’ve already convinced yourself that you can’t change anything.

But my question to you is, if you can’t, then who can? ”

For a moment it was quiet, just the birds chirping away. Blossom looked down at the table, fiddling with a loose splinter of wood. “You really think I can change things?” she asked quietly.

“If you don’t, who will?” asked Lilah. “This is yours to protect, you built it, you own it, who better to fight for it than you? I don’t really understand why you’re doubting yourself. You had the strength to build a business, why would you lack the strength to save it?”

Blossom let out a breath, shaking her head slightly. “Alright, fine. What do I do then?”

Now they were getting somewhere. Lilah sat back again, pleased with herself. Look at her helping. “First thing’s first, you probably need a business plan. Then, you should talk to the bank about securing some funds to keep you afloat while you make a strategy.”

Blossom’s lips twitched in amusement. “And you know that how?”

“Played an accountant in a movie once,” Lilah said airily.

“Of course you did,” Blossom laughed.

Lilah crossed her arms, satisfied. “The point is, you need to stop burying your head in the sand. I know that you’re Little Miss Sunshine and you don’t want to let the negative vibes destroy your energy or whatever, but this is serious. You’ve got options, you just have to take them.”

“Right, yes,” Blossom said, looking faintly ashamed. “You’re right. I’ll work on it.”

For a long moment, Lilah watched her. Then, much against her better judgment, she reached out and put a hand on Blossom’s shoulder.

She could feel Blossom stiffen slightly, but she didn’t pull away.

The little voice deep in her stomach told her that Blossom was probably interested in her.

Lilah told the voice to shut the hell up.

“You’re a good person, Blossom. A… a special person. You have amazing qualities. You’re kind and generous, even to someone like me who can run over you in her self-involvement and not even notice. But I have noticed. You shouldn’t be so doubtful of yourself. ”

“Easy for the great Lilah Paxton to say,” Blossom said.

Lilah squeezed her shoulder lightly. “I wasn’t always the great Lilah Paxton, you know?”

Blossom finally met her gaze, eyes searching Lilah’s as if looking for the truth in her words. Lilah gave her a smile that she hoped was reassuring, then reluctantly let go of her shoulder and stood up.

“I’ve not finished washing those trousers from the farm,” she said. “And there’s a Flim-Flam rehearsal tonight.”

“Am-Dram,” Blossom said. “And I know, I’ll be there. I deal with the snacks and act as prompt. Sometimes I help with the costumes. As for the trousers, I think you should ditch them.”

“Um, you might be right,” Lilah said. She let herself study Blossom’s face for a moment, the gold-flecked eyes, the strong chin. “Right, I’ll be seeing you later, I suppose.”

And she left.