Chapter 8
eight
. . .
WYATT
“You look gorgeous,” I say when my sister walks out of her little bungalow in black silk pants and a black silk tank that seems to be missing a back. A hot pink scarf wrapped around her waist and matching heels complete the look. With her hair pulled up in a high ponytail, she looks like a modern Pink Lady from Grease . It’s Bad Sandy meets Innocent Sandy.
“It’s not too much?” She tilts her head from side to side. “Or too little?”
“It’s perfect. You look like a fan of the show.” I open the back door of the SUV that will take us to the premiere and motion for her to jump in.
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” she asks as she climbs in.
“Just take the compliment.” I shake my head as I shut the door and then round the car to the other side. I’m all decked out in black, too. Apparently, it’s the unofficial dress code for this premiere.
“Thanks for coming with me to this event,” Sophia says to me when I get in, “but I didn’t even ask you this time. Any particular reason you’re so eager to be my plus-one?” She turns toward me, bringing her knee up on the seat like she’s getting comfortable for girl talk.
We are most definitely not having girl talk.
I keep my eyes down on my phone, hoping she’ll get the hint and change the topic.
“Come on, Wyatt. I have questions!”
To make it seem harmless, I decide to keep it simple. “There’s not much to say. We were friends in high school, lost touch in college, and haven’t talked since.”
“Nuh-uh. There was shock, surprise, hunger, lust, anger, hurt, all the emotions swirling when you walked into my trailer yesterday.” Sophia raises her elbow to lean on the back of the seat, doubling down on her interrogation.
I’m not sure what to tell her. It feels na?ve to say I thought Blair was the love of my life. And until yesterday, I managed to block out those feelings, but then my heart betrayed me and started to convince me she could still be the love of my life. Now that we’ve seen each other, maybe she can be mine again?
I’m what the cool kids call delulu.
Seeing her again brought back so many memories. I had a crush on her when we first met. We slipped right into a comfort zone I’ve never had with anyone else, and it allowed us to grow as friends. But then her friend Holly came on strong and the three of us started spending time together. I was young, and she was a beautiful girl. When Blair seemed excited about Holly and me dating, I just assumed she was confirming our friend-zone status.
Holly was fun to date. She was a cheerleader and had the energy to play the part. But she liked it most when all eyes were on her. I’m pretty sure she cheated on me more than once, especially when we started to grow apart senior year. By that time, I didn’t really care. I liked Holly, but I knew our relationship wouldn’t last into college.
My parents spent the week with Sophia in LA for some auditions during Spring Break senior year, but I stayed back in Santa Barbara with my uncle to play in a qualifier event for an upcoming junior golf tournament. I ran into Blair on that first day of practice at the club. Turns out she wasn’t going anywhere for spring break, either, so she could work extra shifts to save for college.
I’m not sure we even discussed it, but somehow, we ended up spending every bit of our free time together. She would run or work out with me in the mornings, and I would hang at the clubhouse until her shift was over. We would eat and watch TV together, and one night, I fell asleep at her house. That opened a door I didn’t think I had the key to.
“Fine. You don’t have to tell me, but I’m interested in her as an agent.” Sophia pauses to see if I’ll react. She knows I usually have an opinion about a lot of the things surrounding her career. When she got her big break, I was obsessed with the behind-the-scenes of it all. I foolishly thought our dad would be fine if I pursued entertainment law. As long as I was a lawyer, why would he care? I was so wrong. I tried to use every extra elective I could to take classes on intellectual property, distribution, trademarks, contracts—everything I could learn about the business behind Hollywood. I didn’t get to practice that kind of law, but I definitely practice sharing my opinion on topics surrounding entertainment.
“She’s one of the top agents in the industry,” I tell Sophia. “You’d be in good hands.” I may have looked her up a time or two to see what she was up to. I’ve seen the articles and awards she’s won. It also means I’ve seen more about her than I wanted to know. She’s not famous, but she was with a reality star who had a moment. There wasn’t a magazine rack in town that spared me a view of her face when they got married.
“I’m not playing favorites. This is still a business decision. Even if you have history.” Sophia straightens back up in her seat.
“I would never expect that. Neither would Blair. Let her court you and see if you think she’s a fit.”
“And you’ll stay out of it?”
I give her a look that quickly communicates she should know better. I would never get involved like that.
“Ok, ok. I just needed to say it out loud so you know where I stand.” She reaches over, grabs my hand, and gives it a squeeze.
“I would never try to influence something like that.” I squeeze her hand back.
“I know. I’m not sure I will be as honorable. I’m invested in finding out if the love connection is still alive!” She laughs as we pull up to the theater.
“There’s no love connection,” I say too quickly and too harshly. Even I hear the defensive lie in my voice. “Look, I can’t say a lot, but I’m working on a project, and TWA is the client. So, between you and work, there are plenty of conflicts of interest to keep Blair and me strictly professional.”
She nods and pats me on the arm, her way of saying that she understands and won’t push anymore…at least right now.
I join her outside the car and extend my elbow for her to wrap her arm around as we approach the red carpet.
“Besides,” I say, “I don’t even know if I’ll see her again after tonight. We’ve been in this city for years without running into one another.”