“Yet,” Gino cautioned. “Look, either you take the photos yourself, and you get to control the situation, or we get that cooperative gardener to try to get the nude shots through the bathroom window. But if you tell them—if we even suspect you’ve told them—the only way you’ll ever get into Freddy’s again is if they hire you as a bathroom attendant. Are we clear?”
“So, a shot of them together, outside, fully clothed, will shut you up?”
She could hear Gino grinning on the other end of the line.
“It will do more than shut me up; it will make you rich.”
“Fine. You’ll have it by Sunday,” Kara said tersely and hung up. At least that bought her some breathing time.
Her phone dinged as two more texts came in.
Call me.
Right fucking now.
Both from Amber.
She called.
“Oh, hi, bitch,” Amber said brightly.
“You’re fucking kidding me,” Kara began.
“Oh, so you’ve already talked to Gino? So we’re all good?”
“Amber, you know I can’t do this.”
“Kara, what I know is that you can’t not do this. Do you remember who you work for?”
“She’s my friend. She’s my roommate. And she’s my publicist.”
“So she’s about to be my publicist, too. And let’s face it. You and I are cut out to be celebrity girlfriends, but Nicola is clearly not. She’s definitely a behind-the-scenes girl. This thing with Seamus isn’t going to work. You and I both know that the sooner it’s over, the less it’s going to hurt her.”
“Why do you even care, Amber? Are you jealous?”
“Of a girl in love with Seamus?” She laughed. “Do you even know how many of his girlfriends I’ve outlasted? Your hillbilly friend won’t know what hit her when Seamus gets bored of her.”
“Amber, you two are just friends, right?”
“You wouldn’t understand,” she sniffed. “Listen, I gotta be somewhere. Tell your friend not to get too attached. And make sure you get the shot. Byeeee.”
Her phone rang as soon as Amber hung up. It was Robyn, her producer on Amber’s show.
“Gurl, this is big,” Robyn began. Robyn made hyperbole sound like understatement. Always. “We need you to get some footage this weekend.”
“Did you even read the NDA I sent you? I can’t shoot shit.”
“You’re so lucky you have me, you really are. I’m the best. I didn’t just read the NDA, I read between the lines. You can shoot whatever the hell you want that isn’t movie related. You can shoot Seamus, off set. You can shoot Tom Kendall, who signed onto the movie yesterday and was just papped in Ojai.”
“Nice!” Kara licked her lips. Kendall was fine.
“So, I just talked to the director, and if you get footage with either of them, we can use it in the spinoff. Is that big enough for you or are you holding out for fucking Taylor Swift?”
“I can’t hear you.” Kara struggled out of her comfy bed. “I’m getting ready to go meet Tom Kendall.”
* * *
Kara peered up the staircase. The door to Nicola and Seamus’s room was ajar, and the only light was the setting sun. Both cars were still parked out front. They must have gone for a walk.
She threw her HD camcorder into her Herschel backpack and took one last look in the mirror over the leather couches. She’d pulled her hair back behind a vintage Pucci headband, and she looked bangin’ in black Dior hot pants and a raspberry sheer tank. She slipped on strappy Vuitton cork wedges and made her way out the door.
In the gathering dusk she could see lights glowing from above the polo field, the spaceship glinting brightly, workmen still clambering over its surface; a welder was sending an arc of sparks shooting from one of its wings out into space.
She could smell food cooking and figured it was coming from somewhere by the polo field, so she began walking. The klieg lights around the field filled the dusty road with an eerie blue glow. The dusk chill gave her goose bumps and she picked up her pace.
Behind the bleachers that would be full of extras in alien costumes in just a few weeks, Kara spied the telltale white tent of catering. Her tummy rumbled, and she realized she hadn’t eaten since yesterday. She could see people sitting at the long tables, laughing and eating their dinner. Nicola and Seamus were sitting with a small group of men and women, and as she drew closer her heart leapt. Tom Kendall was sitting with his back to her, right next to Seamus.
Suddenly grateful for the chilly air and the fact that she wasn’t a sweaty mess, Kara skirted the catering tent until she could approach in full view of Tom. Seamus saw her first and waved her over, and she sashayed up to them, a huge smile spreading across Tom’s face. She saw Nicola roll her eyes and put her head on the table. Bitch.