CHAPTER 2
“It’s been almost a year. You can’t blame people for asking you to set a damn date already. Otherwise, what’s the point of even being engaged?” Dana asked.
“Hey, there’s a point to it,” Lainey, her sister, said. “Some people just like to take steps in a relationship and live in those steps. They don’t need to immediately start preparing that next step while they’re in this one.”
“What she said,” Paige said, nodding over to her fiancée.
They’d gotten engaged on Christmas the year prior, and ever since then, Dana and Lainey’s parents have been asking when Dana would finally settle down and meet someone.
She was only thirty, so it wasn’t like she was old, but when one sibling took a significant step in their lives, it always seemed to encourage parents to ask the other one when they would be doing the same.
“Mom and Dad are waiting with their checkbooks. Literally, Laine. They’ve got their checkbook out on the counter because they still write checks to people, and they want to start writing them for your wedding.
They leave it there in case you visit and tell them you’re ready to pay for something because you’ve actually planned something. ”
“Well, they’ll have to wait. It’s not like they’re not used to it.
We’ve been together for, like, five years now.
Paige and I want to get married, yes, but we’re not rushing toward it just because Mom and Dad want us to.
Besides, Paige starts her new job in January, and we’re moving into the new house, too.
We close on January third. So, I want us to focus on that stuff for now. Then, we can start planning a thing.”
“A thing?” Paige laughed in response before she leaned over and kissed Lainey’s cheek. “I’ve got to get to practice. I’ll see you later.”
“Love you,” Lainey told her.
“I love you, too,” Paige replied before she looked at Dana and added, “Bye, Dana.”
“Bye.” Dana waved her off.
They’d been having lunch at Chapter I’m not really working on it.”
“You are working on it. You’ll be on set. You’ll physically be working on it.”
“Not exactly what I meant or want, and you know that.”
“I do, but you keep taking these catering jobs, so I’m not sure what you expected, Dana,” Lainey said and stood up to toss her trash into the bin.
“If you wanted to act, why didn’t you even audition for this?
You know both Bryce and Sophie now, and it’s based on their life.
Bryce also wrote the script and works for the production company.
Hell, she could get you auditions for other things, too, if you just asked her.
You could have a job before you hop off the plane at LAX with your dream and your cardigan. ”
“I hate you.” Dana glared at her sister playfully.
“And I don’t want to get a job because of nepotism.
I barely know them. They moved to LA right when Maisie and you joined that giant-ass friend group and pulled me into it.
I have never seen so many lesbians in one place that wasn’t a lesbian bar in my life.
Candace knows she’s putting the vibes out there, right? ”
Lainey laughed and said, “Candace doesn’t care about vibes. She just loves owning a bar.”
“Maybe, but I don’t know Bryce or Sophie all that well anyway. I’ve met them, like, three times, I think, when they came back to visit and prep for the production. I can’t just ask for an audition.”
“They had an open thing. What’s that called?”
“A call. It’s called an open call,” she answered.
“Yeah, well, from what I know, they had one of those, which means you could’ve shown up. It films here, Dana. You wouldn’t have had to leave.”
That was true, and Dana didn’t know how to reply because she had seen the notice for a local casting call several months ago, but she had dismissed it because there had been a chance that she would’ve gotten the role.
Had Bryce and Sophie known she was auditioning, they would’ve considered her because of her relationship to Lainey and the rest of their friends, and if Dana had gotten the part, she would’ve had to then be in a movie.
School and bit parts in community theater couldn’t have prepared her for an actual film, right?
She would have only ruined the thing with her lack of talent from being so out of practice.
“I must have missed that,” she lied to her sister. “Anyway, I need to get back now. I’ve been put on a special task for this one.”
“Special task?” Lainey asked. “What does that mean in the catering world? Doing the hard-to-clean dishes?”
“No, you asshole.” She chuckled. “I’ve been tasked with being Samara Barber’s food gofer. I think that’s my actual title, too.”
“A food gofer? What?”
“I guess she has a very special diet. It requires her food not to touch anyone else’s, and it needs to be hand-delivered at certain times to ensure proper temperature.
I’ve got specific instructions in an email that I have to follow, including this giant list of ingredients she doesn’t even want to be in the same room with, her favorite things, and particular butters and oils she wants used for each meal.
Apparently, she would be able to tell if I used olive oil on the one she wanted vegan butter used for.
There are exact brands of things on the list, too.
She has a brand of tofu and soy products.
Oh, and she drinks coffee, but only one cup per day at 205°. ”
“Damn. Diva much?”
“That’s what I’ve heard about her. I guess if you’ve been in the business forever, you probably think you can get whatever you want.
Why she’s doing this movie, though, is beyond me.
She’s been getting all the good roles, making millions for each one, and I can’t imagine they’re paying her that much for this one.
It’s not even hitting theaters. It’s going to be on a streaming channel. ”
“Well, maybe her bad reputation got her on some kind of naughty list, and she needs to bide her time on something like this one.”