Chapter 3 Liz

Settling into her car, Liz looked over to Elena in her own vehicle, blowing her a kiss before watching her drive off. Today was going to be a busy day. Liz had a meeting with the publisher about her book this morning and then would be off to the college to play a minor role in a film some students were making for a final project. She figured while she was in town, she'd pick up some rides with U-Ride to make a few extra bucks before heading home. Her nerves were shot over the pressure of it all. She decided to stop at the coffee shop and ordered two mocha frappes just the way she liked it: extra espresso and no whip cream; one for herself and one for her best friend.

The slow drive up to the window gave her mind time to wander. She thought about the last few nights. Her dreams had been wild. She recalled one in particular that played in her dreams a few times over the last two years; three owls. They flew to her, resting on her arms and shoulder. She could recall it was all immensely powerful. They sat on her until she was ready to move, and once she started to walk down the dirt path barefoot, the owls followed her on the journey, one always leading the way.

Liz ordered and received her drinks, exchanged pleasantries with the barista, and then asked for a small bag before tipping well and driving off. She was giddy, knowing good and well that her friend hated surprises, but Liz couldn't help it. She loved spoiling the people in her life.

Pulling into her friends place of work, she smiled, knowing it was still closed and no one would be there. But she had a key the owner gave her so she could pick up shifts as needed. Grabbing one of the drinks and the small bag, she walked to the door and unlocked it. Retrieving a piece of paper, tape, and a sharpie from the office, she walked back to the front of the building.

Sloppily, she scrawled 'Love ya! ^^~<3 -L' on the lower part. Folding the paper in half, she wrote 'for Eva' on it before taping it to the bag and placing the drink inside. She slipped the bag in the reach in cooler and left, remembering to lock up.

Sitting in her car once again, she shot a message to Eva:

'Good morning, Sunshine! I know how much you absolutely loooooove surprises, so I left you one in the reach in. Enjoy! 😆'

Smiling to herself, she watched the message go from sent to delivered. Eva wouldn't see it until she woke up an hour later, and that gave Liz enough time to be far away from any real in-person retribution from her friend.

Liz scrolled through her phone in the parking lot, finding a podcast about voice acting. Hitting play, she buckled her seat belt and checked herself in the vanity mirror. Dark brown eyes looked back intensely. Eyebrows scrunched together as she noticed a stray hair poking out above her left eye. Liz reached in her center console for the tweasers and removed the unsightly thing. Tucking the instrument away, she took a sip of her mocha and sent her girlfriend a message.

'Good morning, beautiful! I hope you have a fabulous day. Wish me luck at the publisher!'

Send.

Pulling out of the parking lot, she listened intently to the podcast. A soft male voice spoke, giving suggestions for neck rotations, massaging of the shoulders, and yawning exercises.

Liz did these on her ride, completing each exercise with ease. She glanced to the car on her right at a red light and realized the young woman was staring at her during the yawning exercise. Liz gave the woman a big shit eaten toothy grin before waving and excellerating thru the newly changed green light. The woman gave a baffled half smile back, unsure of what to think of the strange woman driving away.

The ride was smooth and uneventful. The podcast was getting to the good parts about breathing and vocalization. It commented on tone and inflection, different ennunciation methods, where to place the tongue while speaking, and how to shape the mouth. Liz tried each with mild enthusiasm. She listened to different podcasts almost daily, trying to perfect a variety of accents and speech patterns. Today, she needed to work on her southern accent as the role she played had a small short line that needed that distinction drawl.

Pulling into the parking lot, Liz spoke her line. Frowning, she said it again. She felt it was off. Her phone alerted her to a new message. A kiss emoji from Elena. Liz' eyes softened at the reply. After parking, she sent a kiss emoji back. Another message popped up. 'Good luck 🍀,' it read.

She loved Elena. She was there through Liz' heartbreak and eventual divorce. Elana never faltered in her loyalty and care. It took a long time for both Liz and Elena to accept Kris leaving and how everything played out. But life was ok. Better than ok. Elena secured a management position at the bank after moving to a new town with Liz. Liz continued her writing and acting career while driving with U-Ride and managing at the local pizzeria a few days a week to bring in extra cash.

They healed their pains together and grew as a couple. Being surrounded by family and friends definitely helped this process. They worked on their communication and managed to save enough to possibly buy a house in the next year or so. Everything was finally falling into place.

Liz opened an audio recording app, determined to nail this one line.

"What are ya doin 'ere!?" she recorded into the phone.

Replaying it, she sighed. It was all wrong. How hard could a southern accent be? She lived surrounded by the dialect but struggled to pick it up properly.

"I'll try again later," she muttered to herself.

Putting her phone down, Liz grabbed her brush and smoothed her hair out of her face. She applied a generous amount of chap stick to her lips and sucked down the remainder of her drink, careful not to spill any on her blouse.

She felt silly in a blouse and slacks. It felt unnatural to her, but she needed to make a good first impression. The publishers would most likely be in business attire, and she needed to play the part of an aspiring author.

Her phone dinged again.

"LINDA!" read the message.

It was Eva. She really hated surprises but couldn't bring herself to be mad at the few Liz left for her.

Liz replied, "Linda isn't home right now. please leave a message after the beep... BEEP!"

Send.

Grabbing the bottle of water she brought with her, Liz swished the liquid in her mouth, swallowing the contents. She checked her teeth in the vanity. Content nothing was stuck in her teeth, she popped some gum in her mouth and chewed slowly, mentally preparing herself for whatever awaited her on the other side of the doors she was facing.

The minty flavor mixed with the chocolate of the frape reminded her of the ice cream Elena despised. Mint chocolate chip. A small chuckle caused Liz' shoulders to rise and fall abruptly. The podcast long since over, Liz chose a song from her playlist to listen to until it was time to head it. The song was upbeat and she sung along, working on her vocals like it was a new linguistic exercise.

Checking the time, she spit the gum into the empty frappe cup and took a second look in the vanity before closing it and turning her car off. Standing outside, she allowed herself a deep breath of fresh air and slowly exhaled, releasing any remaining tension from her shoulders. She put her phone on silent and tucked it into her pocket, not needing any distractions during the meeting. With renewed confidence, she walked into the building; a hopeful smile etched on her face.