Your Perfect Life

Destiny walks over to Casey’s desk and high-fives her. “I still don’t know where you got the idea for this, but I think it’s genius,” she says, referring to the series they were pitching about two childhood best friends who switch bodies at their high school reunion.

“What can I say?” Casey says lightly. “It just came to me one day.” She recalled the meeting where she and Rachel passionately outlined it to Charlie and Destiny, Charlie staring intently at her the entire time, prompting her to wonder if he had any suspicion about what happened.

Casey plops down into her chair and feels Charlie’s hands on her shoulders, expertly rubbing the tension away. He leans down and whispers into her ear, “Good job, babe,” and goose bumps instantly appear on her arms. Part of her was still pinching herself that she was with Charlie after everything that had happened. But when she admitted as much to Rachel the other day, Rachel had encouraged her to never stop feeling that way. “Then you’ll never forget how lucky you are to have each other,” she had said, thinking of the mistakes she’d made with John.

Waking up in her own bed the morning after John’s party, Casey muffled her screams with her pillow after discovering Charlie curled up beside her and then her own naked body under the sheets. (Although she did slightly miss the comfort of Rachel’s Ebenezer Scrooge–like nightgown and made a mental note to invest in one.) She may have been out of a job, but in her eyes, her future had never been more exciting. She lay in bed for hours, watching Charlie sleep and contemplating her next career move. When Charlie finally stirred, she leaned over and kissed him deeply, realizing it was the first time in more than a year that she had done that. It felt good—damn good—but more important, it felt right. “I have an idea,” she announced. C&C Productions was born that morning, Casey feeling more than ready to be on the other side of the camera and Charlie, still smarting from his experience with the GossipTV network executives, wanting to be in charge of his own career for a change.

Rachel glances up at the C&C PRODUCTIONS sign they’d hung last month on the wall in their humble office on Santa Monica Boulevard, bursting with pride all over again at the perfect logo designed by Audrey. She had shyly handed over a draft and asked if they’d please consider it. Rachel, taken aback by Audrey’s talent, had run her hand over the intricate design: two C’s intertwined with an infinity symbol underneath it, signifying eternity. “It symbolizes Aunt Casey and Charlie’s love and also your friendship with her,” Audrey had said profoundly, sounding so much older than her years. Rachel had secretly slipped her design into the pile with the others, not wanting Casey and Charlie to know who’d created it, understanding that Casey would instantly choose it if she knew it was Audrey’s. Rachel wanted them to select it because it was the best, and she felt confident that it was. When she came to work the next day to find Audrey’s design sitting on her sleek black desk with a Post-it note stuck to it that read, LOVE this one, what do you think?, she fingered the paper in her hand, her heart swelling with pride.

Rachel’s cell phone buzzed and she looked down. “I’ve got to run in a few minutes,” she says as she grabs her jacket off the chair. “John’s taking me to see Coldplay tonight,” she says, a happy smile playing on her lips. This makes Casey smile too. She’d been enjoying watching the two of them fall back in love, John fully supporting Rachel’s decision to accept Charlie and Casey’s offer to work with them. She’d refused a title, saying that she was too green, instead wanting to dig in and learn every aspect of developing and producing projects first. Turns out, not only was Rachel a natural in front of the camera, she was also a mean negotiator, joking that dealing with her two teenagers had taught her how to play hardball. She’d been responsible for getting them the fantastic deal on the cozy office space in Santa Monica where they’d set up shop, later confiding in Casey that she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so happy. Casey had smiled and said, “I know exactly how you feel.”

“How’s your other project going?” Charlie asks Casey.

“Great! All the paperwork is in, and they’ll be out to interview me in a few weeks,” Casey replies.

Liz Fenton , Lisa Steinke's books