“OK, should we start with popcorn? Or wait a little while?” DeeDee could never get enough of Mr. Darcy, or popcorn. She said they go hand in hand.

DeeDee was B’Lana’s best friends, they grew up together and did almost everything together. Her family rescued B’Lana from child services when they were just kids. B’Lana’s family died in a crash leaving her with no family to care for her so she was put into the foster system. Since B’Lana had grown up with DeeDee and her parents, they had no problem with adopting their daughter’s best friend. Both families had been very close. Every year they took family vacations together and DeeDee’s family loved B’Lana as their own, even before the accident. To this day no one really knows what happened to B’Lana’s parents. The road they were found on was the opposite direction from where they should have been going.

“Ummm, let’s wait until at least lunch time? You know I am trying to lose some weight.” B’Lana had gained a few pounds since she lost her job. Her previous employer said they were getting rid of the higher paid employees in a cost cutting effort, but she knew it was because she wouldn’t go out with her boss. He was constantly flirting with her and asking her out. One time he went so far as to try and brush up against her chest but she saw it coming and moved so he only touched her shoulder. She had gotten progressively angry and it was showing. People were asking her what was going on. Her only mistake was not going to HR when it first started. She had promised herself to never let that happen again.

“But it’s hard when there is buttered popcorn in front of me! I will eat the whole bag myself!” Both ladies laughed about that as they knew once the popcorn started, it wouldn’t stop popping until the movie marathon was over and they had each gained a couple pounds. Neither of them could resist Orville’s buttered popcorn.

Two hours into the 5 hour version of Pride & Prejudice, both ladies decided it was time to munch on popcorn while drooling over Mr. Darcy, even though he was still acting like a stuck up snob who found nothing good about any woman in Derbyshire, so far. “I wonder what we would do if we met Mr. Darcy? Would we slap his handsome face? Or just attack him right there on the spot?” B’Lana laughed while considering which option would work best for her.

“B, you know I would just grab him and kiss him full on right in front of everyone!” DeeDee laughed so hard she was spitting out popcorn all over the sofa. This in turn, caused B’Lana to choke on the popcorn she had in her mouth while laughing.

“Ok, Ok, DeeDee you know you would never actually kiss some guy, even if it was Mr. Darcy, right in front of a crowded room! Although, you might just slap him if he said the same things about you as he did about Elizabeth at that dance! Some one really does need to teach him some manners! However, I would still take him, bad manners and all!” B’Lana kept a smile going the entire marathon and would occasionally zone out and fantasize about what it would be like to have a man pay her a lot of attention; a sexy man who would pursue her. Up until now, most men she dated didn’t really work for her attention. She figured that was partly her fault since she was a flirt, but she wanted a man who knew what he wanted and went after it. Well, as long as he was a gentleman and not some disgusting pig.

Once the movie was over they both sat there discussing what it would be like to be married to Mr. Darcy. And then realized they would have to live in Victorian England if they were to marry him. Neither lady could stomach the thought of not having any of the modern conveniences they had today, even if it did mean living with Mr. Darcy. So they put aside their fantasy and started discussing what B’Lana should do after her interview while waiting for the traffic to die down the next day. After all they lived in the real world, were fantasy does not exist.

“Are there any good movies playing right now that we haven’t seen? Maybe I can go to the movies after dinner? That should keep me busy long enough to wait out the traffic.”

“What about that new rom-com where the vampire and the werewolf fall in love? That looked cute. Plus, the theatre it’s playing at is only about a 6 block walk from the office. You could walk to dinner and the movies! Get some exercise in while you wait.” Both girls were trying to get as much walking in as possible to help them get in better shape.

“You know, that isn’t a bad idea at all! Even though it is downtown L.A., it will still be early enough to walk around safely. What time does the show start?” B’Lana was mentally calculating how long she thought the interview might last.

DeeDee looked up the times and told B’Lana the show was playing on a couple of screens at that theatre. There’s a 6:30 and a 7:50 showing. If she hurried with dinner she might make the 6:30 showing. But if she missed it then she would have to wait for over an hour for the next showing.

“You know, it would be nice to make the 6:30 showing, but that could signal it was a bad interview. If I can’t get there until 7:30ish, then that will mean it was good interview! Any interview that lasts at least two hours is considered hitting it out of the park.” She was counting on getting this job as her money was starting to run low. She had always been good with money and had a generous savings account, even though she had a shopping addiction.

Thursday morning came and B’Lana found that she slept very well the night before and was in a good mood. She took her time getting ready for the day and decided to head to her favorite coffee place around the corner before putting on her suit. She wore black yoga pants with a purple stripe down the side of the legs. And she matched it with a solid purple shirt and her favorite black slip on Sketchers. While taking a leisurely walk to the neighborhood coffee bar, she checked her iPhone for e-mail and text messages. There was one text message from DeeDee wishing her good luck, as well as one from DeeDee’s mom with the same sentiment.

After she placed her order for her favorite drink; a tall, non-fat, no whip peppermint mocha and a low-fat turkey bacon breakfast sandwich, she went to a table which had a comfy leather chair and started going through her e-mails. Most of those were junk e-mails, of course. B’Lana spent about an hour drinking her coffee, eating her breakfast and going through her e-mails. Once she had cleared out her e-mail box of all new messages, she got up to go home and finished getting ready for her interview.

As she got ready, her nerves kicked in and she regretted the coffee. Her hands were shaking as she touched up her make-up before leaving the house.

Before leaving home she looked one last time in the entry way mirror and decided that her black slacks fit just right and looked great with her red and black kitten heels. But her red blouse with the silver buttons might be just a tad bit too small and decided that she would leave on the black jacket with red pin stripes as it covered up the fact that her blouse was a bit tight through her chest area. “I have really got to lose at least ten pounds in the next month so my clothes fit me better.” With that thought she left the house anticipating a long drive to the interview, but a nice drive home after the movie.

“Thank goodness I gave myself three hours to get to L.A. today!” B’Lana grumbled, as she inched her way through the traffic along the 5 freeway. “Of course, the day I need to be in L.A. on time, is the day the 10 freeway has a tanker spill! Now all of the traffic is diverted to the 5 freeway, ugh! I hope this is not going to make me late for my interview! I hate being late for a job interview!”

Later she would re-think this entire day and wonder if that tanker spill was the Universe’s way of trying to warn her away from Los Angeles.

Haven’t read the Eclipse series yet? Now is your chance to start the series before you get too far behind!