Page 30 of Double Standard

The fan hands the phone to me, and I aim the camera, framing her and Ana in the middle of one of the arched windows along the front wall of the Finch. Ana’s still in herPeopleinterview look—a short-sleeve purple sweater, wide-leg jeans, and makeup that even I can tell took a long time—and the woman who approached our table is wearing a bedazzled cowboy hat and a “Last Fling Before the Ring” T-shirt. She’s one of the many bachelorettes who appear in this city every Friday, and her crew of hype girls, all in matching pink, sits at a large circular booth next to the bar.

“How’s this?” I hand the phone back. The bride-to-be tilts her head to the side and appraises the photo.

She shrugs like she’s disappointed with the shot but recovers quickly. “I can’t wait to see the movie. Hard to believe I’m going to be a married woman then!” She turns and makes her way back to her squealing group. I chuckle at the sight of it, the flamingo-colored mass of energy.

“Can you even imagine having that many friends?” Ana is incredulous.

“If I’d stayed in Ohio and proposed to my college sweetheart like my parents wanted, I might have become one of the guys in the... what was that bus called with the hot tub in the back we saw on the way here? The Music City Party Tub? I can hear the Kane Brown cranking now.”

She pulls the side of her lip between her teeth like she’s trying to picture it before a boisterous laugh escapes her. It causes the table next to us to turn their eyes in our direction.

“Sorry!” Ana whispers and scrunches her nose. “Didn’t know this would be a tough crowd.”

“Maybe we should’ve asked Edwin to bring us to lunch somewhere less... on display.”

“Yeah, that interview definitely took it all out of me.”

“How do you think it went?” I’m twirling a straw in my glass of water and hoping I’m projecting a casualness I don’t particularly feel.

“For your first real media experience?” She shifts a little in her seat. “It... wasn’t all bad.”

“But some of it was bad?”

“The stuff about Colt and the double standard—they can take those quotes out of context. I’d be surprised if they didn’t, honestly.”

“But it was the truth—you weren’t treated fairly, and people should know that. I’m not worried about it.” Anitchy feeling prickles the back of my neck, and I press my fingers into the muscle there.

“It was very white-knight of you. And risky. Who knows, maybe it’ll be fine. I guess I’m just not used to having people look out for me.”

“Is that part ofhaving fun? Looking out for each other?” I don’t intend it to come out sounding as snarky as it does. Something flares in her eyes, and she folds her hands on the table.

“Are you really going to take that personally? What was I supposed to say, Levi? That we’re working together and occasionally sleeping together and sometimes sharing pieces of ourselves that no one else gets to see? The story is that we’re dating—we’re an on-set romance just significant enough for us to be needled into doing an interview together. Everyone who reads the story will understand our relationship is tied to the film. No one expects it tolast.”

She bites her bottom lip, like she didn’t mean to bring as much snark either. She takes a deep breath. Sighs. “To be honest, I’m not sure what we are to each other. And you certainly didn’t have a problem using this interview to your benefit, leaning into your career ambitions, so you have no room to talk.”

She’s right, but I only went so hard because she started down the path, and I felt compelled to follow. Right? “Can’t both things be true?” I drop my voice down a notch. “We’re spending time together to benefit our careersandsomething is happening between us that doesn’t feel fake anymore. Or am I alone in feeling that?”

Ana brings a hand to her drink. The glass is dotted with beads of sweat. Maybe it’s feeling the tension in the air too. She swipes some of the condensation away with a pass of her thumb. “I... no.”

“No, I’m not alone? Or no, you’re not feeling this too?”

“I don’t want to get hurt,” she answers softly.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Then don’t.” She reaches for my hand and slots her fingers between mine. “I don’t know what to call this—or maybe I’m scared to name it—but I feel it, and it’s new, and my nature is to downplay it so it can’t grow too big, too out of my control. I meant it when I said I’m not thinking about what’s next. Right now, I’m here and learning that maybe it’s possible to have a career that doesn’t come at the expense of my personal life, or a personal life that doesn’t come at the expense of my career. It’s scary for me. Scary to let myself hope.”

Her eyes dart back and forth, scanning mine, and she’s asking something of me. It’s the same look from the day at my apartment with the pizza dough.Be patient with me while I find my new shape.

I hope she sees that I’m trying.

“It’s scary as hell for me too, Ana. I know it’s dumb. I was just worried you weren’t on the same page. If you want to step back... we can do that. The last thing I’m trying to do is come into your life and make it complicated.”Because isn’t that what I always seem to do? Make choices that hurt the people I love in some way?

“You’re not making my life complicated, I promise. Let’s keep doing what we’re doing—whatever it is—and we’ll see how it evolves. No pressure. I like spending time with you. I want to keep spending time with you.”

Relief washes over me. “Here’s tohaving funtogether.” I lift my drink for a toast, and she levels her pretty green eyes at me before bringing her glass to mine. A smile curls the edges of her lips, and it unfurls something in my chest.

reddit.com/r/BattleOfTheGodsFilms