FIFTY-FIVE

The next few days passed in a haze of work and wedding preparations. It felt like I was living two lives—one where I was the director with a vision, crafting a story that would make people laugh, cry, and think; and another where I was just Wendy, struggling to make sense of everything going on in my personal life. The balance was exhausting, but I tried to keep my head down and focus on what I could control.

I'd managed to finalize the scene breakdowns for the film and had even gone over them with the production team. The meetings were productive, and I was proud of how things were coming together. But as much as I loved my work, it was getting harder to stay in the moment. My mind kept drifting back to Ivan—wondering if he'd made any decisions, wondering if Jennifer was still in the picture, wondering what my next move should be.