Responsible Distractions

Nicole Rinshaw’s career as a contract auditor in Washington, DC, is off to a promising start until a DUI arrest lands her overnight in jail with Santana, a cocktail waitress whose unlikely friendship will share the burdens of alcohol treatment, court hearings, and mourning the recent deaths of their mothers. Nicole’s next few months become a matter of navigating which responsibilities she can keep up with, which new ones to take on, and which irresponsible indulgences might get the best of her. Act on her growing romantic interest with her defense attorney? Or follow the more disciplined grounds of recommitting to church?

Narrating her regrets and longings for escape through meditative letters, Nicole will face what she cannot come to terms with. To Santana, her mom’s death; to her deceased mom, her aloneness; to her attorney, her frustrations of faith; and to Santana’s baby girl, Bianca, whom in caring for, Nicole will find a chance to heal and the hope for a new future out West.