Page 63 of Nothing Heals Me Like You Do
Mimi thanked the cast and crew profusely for all their hard work the past few months, then paused to smile before continuing.
“Directing a movie was my childhood dream. I’ve wanted to become a director since I was a teenage movie nerd. I became a lot of other things in my life. A mother. A TV show producer. Nora Levine’s lesbian lover.” Everyone laughed at that, Justine included. “And it was Nora who planted the seed in my mind that, just because I’m in my sixties, it’s not too late for my teenage dream to come true. It was also Nora who came up with the idea for this movie.” Even Justine felt a twinge of emotion as she witnessed how Mimi gazed so lovingly at Nora. The things love could do—the very thing Justine had run away from for such a long time. Until it came knocking on her door so brazenly, so irrevocably, that she could no longer ignore it.
“But, of course, this movie wouldn’t exist without its amazing subject.” Mimi fixed her gaze on Justine now. “I know you’re not fond of the spotlight, Justine, so I’ll be brief. But make no mistake, me being brief does not mean my appreciation for you, for what you do, and everything you stand for—the message you send every single day by tirelessly doing what you do—is any less. On the contrary. I am merely the director ofGimme Shelter, but you are its undisputed star. Let’s give it up for Justine Blackburn, everyone!”
“Whoop,” Rochelle shouted next to Justine.
On her other side, Sienna grabbed her hand.
Justine felt more than a twinge of emotion now. Nothing about this movie had gone as she had expected. Instead of mostly ignoring that there was a movie, and instead of getting on with her life, Justine had spent a lot of time on set. She’d cried bitter tears while watching some of the scenes. She’d felt her heart open a fraction and perhaps it was no coincidence that, as her defenses had stretched and then softened, Justine had fallen in love with Sienna Bright—helplessly and recklessly so. Against all expectations, she was secretly looking forward to watching the finished product.
Justine did what she wasn’t very good at. She accepted the applause. Not because of her so-called accomplishments, but because of who she was now as opposed to on that day when Alexis Dalton and Sienna Bright had first come to Rochelle’s house. Because of how this movie had changed some significant aspects of her life. Because, girlfriends or not, she and Sienna were in a relationship.
Because Justine was in love.
They were at Sienna’s apartment and, as she always did now, Sienna took a moment in front of a picture of her dad on the sideboard.
“How are you feeling?” Justine asked.
“I’m sad that he’s not going to see our movie.” Sienna had referred toGimme Sheltera couple of times as ‘our movie’ now, and Justine had stopped correcting her. It didn’t even bother her that much anymore. “And that he’ll never get to know you.”
Justine had only met Bobby briefly and talked to him on the phone once, but she’d forever be grateful to him for two huge accomplishments in his too-short life: donating all that money to the Rainbow Shelter and fathering Sienna Bright.
“Yeah. It’s sad and unfair.” Justine beckoned Sienna over to her.
Sienna crashed next to her on the couch and lay down with her legs dangling over the side and her head in Justine’s lap.
“How areyoufeeling after that wrap party?” Sienna gazed up at Justine.
“It was okay.” A strange sensation that she couldn’t really place had started creeping up on Justine from time to time. “I quite enjoyed it, actually.” She suspected that, in that dark, shadowy place where she preferred to bury a lot of her feelings, she might actually feel something akin to pride. Because that movie had reminded her how far she’d come. Justine had literally seen her own past come to life before her very eyes.
“Remember when I said we’d walk that red carpet together?” Sienna smiled up at her.
“I don’t know much about the movie industry, but I do know a hell of a lot of time passes between wrapping a movie and the premiere.”
“This one is low on the special effects, but yeah,” Sienna mused. “I’m fully expecting some reshoots. I wasn’t always at the top of my game.”
“How long do you reckon? Ballpark?” Justine didn’t have a clue about the actual time frame.
“Six months minimum, but it could be longer.” Sienna waggled her eyebrows. “Either way, no matter what happens to us, we’ll both be there.”
Justine nodded. “Let’s hope we’ll still be on speaking terms.”
“On much more than speaking terms.” Sienna looked deep into Justine’s eyes, and Justine knew what that look meant. Their hunger for each other had only grown. Justine couldn’t possibly imagine no longer speaking to Sienna, for whatever reason. But life was wholly unpredictable, that much she also knew.
Justine bowed and kissed Sienna’s forehead. “If I remember correctly, you said it would be an honor to walk the red carpet with me.” She broke into a grin. “That honor would be very mutual.”
Sienna’s gaze softened, and the hunger in her eyes changed into something else. “Can I tell you what would be an even bigger honor for me?”
“Of course.” Justine couldn’t wipe that grin off her face even if she wanted to.
Sienna took her sweet time saying whatever she was going to say. She gazed into Justine’s eyes. If she was trying to convey with that look that she was crazy in love with Justine, it was working. If she was trying to say something else, Justine was missing it completely—her brain was too saturated with the hormones unleashed at this stage of infatuation.
“If you told me something about your parents,” Sienna said.
Way to kill the mood. Someone might as well have just placed a glass dome over them, robbing the room of all oxygen in one fell swoop.
But instead of reacting, Justine took a breath. She had experience with this question andGimme Shelterhad only increased that experience the past two years. Being a part of this movie was always going to raise questions.
