Chapter 46
Shay
“What do you mean someone dropped this off at your studio?” I asked Mima as I gave her a bewildered look.
She had called me over to help her move a dresser, but by the time I arrived, she’d already changed her mind about moving it.
Even so, she made us some coffee and cut me a slice of the pound cake she had made the day before.
“I mean exactly that. Someone came by the studio and put up the sign. It’s not uncommon for people to hang up posters in my studio. It happens weekly. I kept this one for myself because it seemed like a perfect fit for you.”
“This is all it said? An email address?”
“Well, no. There was a bigger flyer, but I didn’t bother bringing it. It’s for a personal assistant job on a movie set.”
“A movie for who?” I asked. “Who would I be assisting?”
Mima waved her hand in a dismissive fashion. “Shannon Sofia, you need to learn to just go with the universe sometimes.”
I laughed. “I don’t even know what that means, Mima. You hand me a random email address, with no name attached to it, and I’m supposed to email them to get in contact?”
“Yes. Exactly.”
What in the heck was going on?
“This smells fishy,” I said, narrowing my eyes.
“That’s just because I had tuna for lunch. Now go on, email the person and see what comes from it. Just imagine working on a set, surrounded by movie stars. You’ve always wanted to be in the film industry. I can’t see how this couldn’t be a good thing.”
“Well, it sounds more like some kind of porno film, seeing as how it’s so vague.”
“Yes, well . . .” Mima cut me another slice of pound cake and placed it on my plate. “Porn stars need assistants, too.”
“Mima!” I gasped.
“What? It’s true. Now do your grandmother the favor and email that person. Who knows? This might be the beginning of something special, Shay. You have to open your doors to new possibilities. When God gives you an olive branch, take it.”
“I don’t know . . .”
She pointed a stern finger at me. “That’s why you need to start going to church with me again. You’re losing faith. Just believe in this for the next forty-eight hours, all right? And if nothing comes of it, nothing comes. But don’t disrespect God’s blessings.”
“OK, I’ll email them. Will that make you happy?”
“The happiest.”
* * *
I was glad to learn that the job interview wasn’t for a porn studio.
After a few emails back and forth with Lane, the current assistant of the actress I’d be working for, I was stunned that she was so quick to give me the information for the shoot.
I was instructed to go to the shooting location and meet Lane there so she could take me to the interview.
Christ. I was on a studio set.
Not even a broken-down porn set but a real-life moviemaking set.
It was unbelievable.
There was a lot of hustle and bustle around me.
It appeared as if everyone was running around in circles, getting tasks done.
From the outside looking in, it appeared as if it were a train wreck, but shockingly enough, everyone moved as if they knew exactly when to get out of the way and when to step in. An organized chaos.
“Shay?” a voice called.
I turned to see a very-pregnant-looking woman walking toward me. She looked stunning from head to toe and wore high heels even though it looked as if they were killing her feet.
I smiled. “Yes, that’s me.”
She held a hand out, and I shook it. “I’m Lane. I’m so glad you’re here. I want to get you in to meet Sarah as soon as possible before she has to start her morning shoot. She’s in hair and makeup in her trailer, so we can hop over there and get things going.”
I felt my cheeks heat. “This is all so insane.”
Lane gave me a kind smile while placing her hands on her hips. “First time on a set?”
“Yes.”
“I could tell. I still see the stars in your eyes. Don’t worry, you get used to it. Just move around as if you belong and no one will think differently—they are too busy minding their own business.”
We began walking toward the actor trailers, and my stomach was in full knots the closer we grew.
“I know it’s probably odd to hold an interview in a trailer, but Sarah likes to have a chance to really get to know someone and feel their energy and all that jazz.
” She leaned into me and lowered her voice.
“She recently watched a video on crystals and went full-blown hippie mode on me over the past two years. Don’t be freaked out if she asks you to hold one of her stones.
It’s just, you know, famous people doing weird famous stuff. ”
I chuckled. “I’ll hold anything she hands my way.”
“Good to know. Otherwise, my advice? Just be yourself. Sarah will probably have a million questions for you. She really likes to get a good idea of who she’s working with.”
“That’s fine. I’m an open book. Or an open script, I should say. Nothing to hide here.”
“Wonderful. Besides, if you had something to hide, Sarah would find it. OK, here we are,” Lane said, stopping in front of a trailer. I stared at the name against the door and was instantly sent back in time.
Sarah. Freaking. Sims.
The woman Landon dated after he finished dragging my heart through the mud.
Also, my favorite actress of all time.
I was going to vomit.
“Wait. I’m interviewing with Sarah Sims?” I choked out, my heart in my throat. “Like the Sarah Sims?”
Lane nodded. “Yes. Sorry, I thought I’d mentioned that earlier.”
“You definitely didn’t mention that earlier.”
“I hope that isn’t a problem?”
I shook my head, trying to regain my composure. “No, of course not. I just didn’t expect it to be her, that’s all.”
Lane’s worried expression dissipated as she nodded. “Oh, yes. Well, when we bring in PAs for actors, we try to keep the name of the individual under wraps. It keeps fanatics away.”
“Right, of course.”
“Wait here and let me check if Sarah is ready.” I stood still outside of the trailer as Lane hurried inside. When she popped her head back out, she waved me over. “Come on in, Shay.”
I walked up the steps of the trailer, and to my surprise, it was much bigger than I had assumed from the outside looking in.
There was a large sofa, a small kitchen with a mini fridge, and a dining room table.
Toward the back of the trailer was an area for hair and makeup, which was where Sarah was sitting.
“Oh my gosh, you must be Shay!” she exclaimed, standing up with rollers still in her hair as her small frame was wrapped in a robe. “Get in here,” she said, waving me in for a hug.
I wrapped my arms around her, and even though it was the weirdest moment of my life, it was truly exciting, too.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said, pulling back to give me a once-over. “What’s your zodiac sign?” she asked.
“Uh, um, Aquarius,” I said, thrown off by her question.
“Oh yes, I get that vibe from you. You are definitely an Aquarius. It feels good to be around your energy. I’m a Gemini, so it makes sense why it feels this good.”
I smiled, not having a dang clue in the world what she was going on about. “Yeah, totally.”
She placed her hands against my cheeks and stared at me for five seconds too long. I tried my best to not be completely thrown off by the exchange. But honestly, how could I not be? It was . . . odd. To say the least.
“Can you do something for me?” she asked, finally dropping her hold against my face.
“Sure, of course.”
“Can you hold my balls?”
Uh, come again?
“Excuse me?” I hoped I had a decent poker face, because having Sarah freaking Sims ask me to hold her balls felt extremely awkward.
“Well, my crystals. I like to call them my balls, seeing as how I like to rub them more than a pair of actual balls.” She winked.
I relaxed a little more. Sure, Sarah was odd, but at the same time, she was kind of charming. In a very weird way.
She walked over to her table, grabbed her balls, and came back to me. I held my hands out and she placed them in my palms, wrapping my fingers around her cryst—er, balls.
She stepped back, clasping her hands together, grinning at me as if she were a proud mama watching her kid’s graduation.
“How does it feel?” she questioned, her eyes wide with intrigue.
“Um . . .” I hesitated, completely unaware of how I was supposed to answer that.
She waved her hand at me. “There is no wrong answer. Go on. Just the first thing that pops into your mind.”
“Well, they are . . . warm.”
“Yes.” She sighed, pleased by my answer. “My balls are warm.”
Good Lord, was I being Punk’d? Was Ashton Kutcher about to pop out of the trailer bathroom?
“What else, Shay?”
“Smooth. They are smooth.”
“So freaking smooth,” she moaned, way too into this than she should’ve been. “Now hum to them.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“You know, hum. Close your eyes and hum. Then lightly blow on my balls.”
That awkward moment when you discovered that one of your idols was a freaking psychopath. But alas, I needed a job, and if that meant humming to two balls, then by all means, I was going to hum my heart out.
I shut my eyes, and right as I was about to push my lips together to hum out a tune, chuckling erupted in the room. I opened my eyes and raised an eyebrow as Sarah, her hair designer, and her makeup artist all stood there, laughing at me.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, just a joke. We don’t hum at the stones. That would be silly. I just wanted to see how far you’d be willing to go with my crazy requests.”
I breathed out a breath of air. “Oh, well, OK.” Obviously, I’d go as far as blowing on her balls. That was the level of desperate I was sitting at.
“I think we are going to have fun working together,” Sarah remarked, taking the stones from my hands. “And it’s clear that you have a lot of dedication, so I think we’ll get along just fine. Have a seat, and I’ll give you the list of tasks that Lane typed up for you.”
“I’m sorry, are we not . . . interviewing for the position?”
“Interviewing? Oh no, honey, you’ve already been hired.” She cocked an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, I thought I made that clear. It wasn’t much of a question that you’d be hired, since your name was given to us by one of my favorite people.”
“I’m sorry, given to you?”
“Yes. You came with the highest referral. I really trust you, seeing as how Landon spoke so highly of you.”
My stomach dropped. “Did you say Landon?”
“Yes. He said you were an old friend, and honestly, I’ll do anything to get in his good graces.” She took a seat at the table and patted the chair beside her. “Plus, since you have history with him, I figured you could give me some insider information?”
“What do you mean?” My mind was still spinning from the idea that Landon was the one who lined up the job for me. Why would he do that?
“Well, you know.” She licked her lips, then bit her bottom one. “It’s no secret that Landon is a dreamboat. I’ve been trying for years to hook up with him, but it never really worked out.”
“What? I thought you two dated years ago. Back when your first film together came out?” I asked, trying to keep my question as calm as ever, even though my heart was pounding against my chest, trying to leap out of my body.
Sarah waved a hand at me. “Oh, I wish. That was just some promotion mumbo jumbo. Landon got himself into a bit of a dramatic pickle back then, so our agencies shifted the storyline. But you probably know all about that, being such an important part of his life.”
I sat up in my chair, confused as ever. “Yes, of course. Right.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I tried with him back then, but he wasn’t having it. He was too hung up on some high school sweetheart or something. I swore, he’d sit on set every single day talking about her like a lovesick fool. I’d never seen anything like it.”
He talked about me to Sarah Sims?
The emotions sitting at the back of my eyes were intense, and I did my best trying to blink them all away.
“Did he ever say what happened between them?”
“Just that she was better off without him and his baggage.”
Better off without him? Why would he think that? There were so many missing pieces to the puzzle of Landon and my past, I wasn’t even sure what to think of it all.
“Thankfully, it didn’t work out for the two of them.
Leaves more of a chance for me to reconnect with him.
The production company wants to push that narrative again this time around—the ‘old lovers rekindle their flame,’ which is fine by me.
Only this time, I don’t want it to be a fake love story.
I want Landon to really fall for me, and it’s going to be so much easier with your help. ”
“My help?”
“Yes! Of course. It seems you two must be close, so perhaps you can give me pointers on Landon. Help me get to know some of what he’s into. His likes, his dislikes.”
“I don’t know . . .” I started. “Maybe that should be something you do—grow the connection yourself.”
“I would, but I don’t have much time with my schedule.”
“We haven’t really connected in a while,” I confessed. “I can’t really say much about what he’s into and whatnot.”
“That’s fine. You have time to learn.” She took my hands into hers and squeezed them. “I think this is going to be magical. Don’t you?”
“You can say that much,” I huffed, pushing out a smile.
“OK, now come on. Let’s hold the balls again.”