Rina wished she could frame the look on Regina’s face, and store it in her bedroom so she could stare at it as much as she wanted to. It was one of horror, her jaw almost dropping to the ground in astonishment. Regina blinked. “He said…”
“George detests you,” Rina drawled, then shrugged. “But I’m not here to talk about my manager. However, I have to admit that he did such a fine job. If he desires to go into acting at any point in time, I will be giving him my whole support. I can’t believe you fell for it.”
“Rina…”
“Actually, at first, I doubted it,” she continued, cutting Regina off. Rina gingerly pulled the empty seat out and sat slowly, placing her purse on the table and crossing one foot over the other. “I told him you were smarter than that that you would see right through his facade. I mean, almost everyone in the country knows how close George and I are. And for someone who pays such keen attention to my life, I am disappointed you missed it.”
“I’m not going to sit here and watch you talk to me the way you please,” Regina snapped, getting on her feet.
“You are going to sit down and listen to every word I say,” Rina retorted with all the confidence in the world. She reached for the bottle of water and poured herself a glass. “Compliments of the house, right?” she asked a fuming Regina who was still on her feet, her eyes darting to the door.
Rina took a sip and sighed dramatically. “I needed that,” she muttered, then turned her attention back to Regina. “Why are you still standing? I really do not mind talking to you from there, but I figure your feet are going to hurt at some point in the night, and I wouldn’t want that to happen to you. You have to be on a set tomorrow, right?”
“So you now dig into my life?”
Rina laughed derisively. “I don’t need to do that, Regina. You see, unlike you who gains gratification from doing that, I don’t have the time for such petty acts. You seem to have forgotten, but I will juggle your memory. You uploaded your Instagram story just a few hours ago about how you are going to be having an eventful day tomorrow. You also mentioned although, I like to think of it as bragging that you have been asked to play the role of the assistant lead in a romcom. You remember now, don’t you?”
“What do you want, Rina?”
“Sit down.”
The waiter chose that minute to appear, with her pristine uniform, a refreshed lip gloss, and a smile plastered on her face. “I hope our ambiance is to your taste, ma’am?” She directed the question at Rina, then as an afterthought, turned her gaze to Regina who scowled at her. Returning her attention to Rina, she tapped the menu on the table gently and smiled again. “If you are yet to decide what you want for your starter, I can come back later.”
“Actually, I have,” Rina drawled. “I will be having your jalapeno-buttered corn, and Regina here will be having the same thing.”
“I never said so!” She protested, plopping right back into her seat.
“You can take your time going through the menu while she fetches me my first course, and then you can watch me eat while she prepares yours. Your choice, really. I don’t care about whatever you do.”
Regina shot Rina a look but nodded wordlessly to the waiter who wrote down the order and walked away.
“I see you have matured in the last few minutes,” Rina muttered. “That’s progress.”
“What do you want, Rina Power? I don’t have all night for this.”
“But you promised George to stay here with him for the rest of the night, plotting ways on how to bring me down.”
“I never said that!” she snapped, causing a few of the diners to look their way. She pursed her lips and grabbed her half-filled glass of water, downing it in one go. Rina was proud of herself for choosing that table. It made the perfect spot to do what she had planned. There were witnesses, hungry fans, thirsty for some juicy gist to take to the internet, and Rina would be more than pleased to offer them Regina’s story. In fact, she wouldn’t have to move a muscle as Regina would expose herself with her own loud mouth.
“Whatever,” Rina said, throwing a hand in the air as if waving that subject. “It’s not why I’m here.”
“So why then are you here? Why are you doing this?”
“I’m saying nothing until my starter is here. I just figured out that I am so hungry. I need to eat to be able to process whatever this is.”
Regina’s mouth fell open in surprise, but Rina just scoffed. She retrieved her phone from her purse and scrolled through her contacts, stopping at George. She sent him a quick message, informing him that she had gotten to the diner and was now speaking to Regina. The message icon popped up at the top of the screen, and a message from an unknown number came in.
It read: “I am right at the door, ma’am. Call me if you need anything.” William. It made Rina feel good that she had people who would support her and stand by her. She no longer felt so alone as she used to feel when she had first gotten blacklisted and thrown out of her home.
The waiter arrived with the order in a trolley and set the plates on the table. Rina grinned at her, and said with a chirpy tone, “You are really good at your job, I’m glad you work here.”
It was some sort of stamp of approval, and even though the waiter didn’t know how much those words would help her career since Rina had no power in the entertainment industry anymore, Rina was certain that would change really soon and the waiter would understand.
“Now, can we talk?”