The Lift

8

A couple weeks had gone by since David's friends hosted the party to meet Preston. She and David had seen each other most days since then, which was saying something considering his filming schedule and her work schedule. But they made it work. Preston had gotten a car, a small blue Subaru, which made it easier for them to hang out away from the hotel. ("You're such a granola," David had joked.)

Now about a month out from when they originally met, they still hadn't spent time together at David's house. They met up at the hotel, the shared house, restaurants, the beach. Never David's house. David hadn't realized it was weird until Matt pointed it out one day.

"David, you see this person almost every day," Matt said incredulously. "How have you not taken her to your house?"

"I don't know," David said. "We just go other places. She didn't have a car for a while, so we had to work around that. Is it really that weird?"

"She 1000% thinks you're hiding something," Matt said.

David looked genuinely worried. "What? Really?" he questioned. "No, she doesn't. Preston isn't weird like that. She's not like you."

Matt nodded his head condescendingly. "Sure, David. Everything is fine. It's very normal that she hasn't been to your house, which you live in alone while she's been living in a hotel, when you've known each other a month and have seen each other most days for the past couple weeks. Normal as can be."

The conversation changed direction after that, but David couldn't stop thinking about it. So he texted Jason for advice.

D: Is it weird that Preston hasn't been over to my house?

J: So fucking weird.

D: Don't mess with me, Jason.

J: Swear on Charley and Wyatt. It's weird. Also, why the fuck haven't you invited her over?

David didn't reply. Deep down he knew he hadn't because of the money thing. A lot of what he did came down to money. He had a lot of it. David didn't know how well Preston did financially, but it had to be enough. No matter what, he still made a lot fucking more, and that made him anxious. At this point what did he have to lose though?

D: Let's hang out at my house tonight.

P: Is something wrong?

D: .... No?

P: Are you sure? Because we never hang out at your house.

D: We're trying something different. I'll text you the address.

P: If you say so. I just figured it must be haunted or something. I'll be done around 6 today.

Now it was Preston's turn to freak out. She tried to act nonchalant in the texts, but going to David's house freaked her the hell out. She wasn't made for $2.5 million homes in the hills of LA. Not that it mattered anymore. She had agreed to not only go to his house but to be his friend. That meant going to his house and pretending like she hadn't ever seen his house tour video. Welcome back anxiety, she thought as she finished up some edits in the office. It was just after 4, so Preston had 2ish hours to calm down.

Preston ended up finishing later than she hoped, so she went straight to David's. As her phone's GPS took her closer and closer to his house, Preston started talking to herself.

"Everything will be fine. It's just David. It's just David's house. It's only a house."

She finally pulled into the driveway and turned off the car. "I could just not go inside," she thought. "I could turn around right now, delete his number, and never talk to him again."