That Blue Gibson

CH 90

"Elizabeth!" 

She smiled brightly when the elevator door opened and revealed Bill Murray. It felt foreign to grin and she worried it might look like she was bearing her teeth at him, but he didn't give any indication she looked as disastrous as she felt. 

"You look lovely!"

"Oh," she laughed softly and adjusted her white silk blouse atop a dark grey pencil skirt and black heels. "Thank you. Have to impress those investors!"

"That we do," he nodded and lead her down a hallway towards a conference room filled with the people that were hopefully going to agree to fund their little movie. "Ready? Big smiles and... here we go!"

*

Liz shifted in her uncomfortable office chair, staring down at the script in her hands while she and Bill worked through their lines. She tried to pay attention to Bill's monologue but was struggling to focus. It had been almost four days since she had asked Dave to leave and was profoundly grateful for any distraction that took her mind off of him. Jack had started school the day before, Owen was at a playgroup with Travis and she only had three more hours until she could change into her sweats, open a beer and cook dinner for her kids. She told Travis that she was handling the break up better than she had anticipated but was only doing an okay job believing that lie herself. It was helpful that she was living somewhere new where memories of him didn't linger when she crossed a room or rested her head on a pillow, but she missed him so much that she actually texted Ally for an update during her lunch break. 

He's fine, a terse reply compared to her usual emoji-filled paragraphs. 

That's it? Just fine?

There was a five-minute, anxiety-filled wait before her reply came and Liz actually whimpered when she saw the picture of Dave huddled under a blanket on Ally and Taylor's couch with a beer in his hands. He looked awful.

He's been here for three days, Liz. Help me. My upholstery can't take much more.

I'll call him tonight, Al. Liz frowned as she tapped out the text, she didn't even know what she was going to say to him. "Goddamnit, Dave," she whispered and flipped her phone to silent before heading back into the conference room. 

*

When the meeting ended, Liz and Bill mingled among the investors in an attempt to charm their way into financial solvency while answering as many questions as they could about filming locations, supporting actors and potential release dates. Liz was trying to fend off a particularly flirty investor's request for a date when her manager Sophie delicately interrupted.

"So sorry," she said softly, her accent making Liz miss England terribly. "Could I borrow you for a moment, Elizabeth?"

"Yes, of course," Liz followed her out into the hallway and slumped against the wall. "Thanks, Soph. That guy was the worst."

"Liz, Jack's school called. Seems he took a tumble on the playground and-"

*

She didn't wait for the car to stop behind the fire truck before kicking the door open with her heel and running out. The principal met her at the front door with a look of pure terror on his face. "It's his leg, Ms. Colbert... The medics are looking at him right no-"

"Where is he?" she demanded. He was probably terrified, sitting in some sterile school nurse's office surrounded by panicked adults he didn't know and in horrible pain. Her poor baby.

"Through here..."

She elbowed her way through the crowd of firefighters, EMTs, and concerned school employees and found Jack on a bench, his right leg stretched across the blue vinyl with an ice pack over his ankle. There was no sign of tears, panic or fear on his face, just his sweet giggle as Dave sat on the floor in front of him, showing him a video on his phone.