Chapter 56
Ingrid shouldn’t have left.
The regret weighs on her as she’s getting her hair and makeup done backstage, preparing to go on Variety’s Power Players in Hollywood panel.
She’d have bailed on it if she hadn’t told Cassie to come watch.
She doesn’t know if her daughter’s out there in the audience, and she can’t tear her eyes away from the live view on her Ring cam to text Cassie.
Why is Maggie not out of the house yet? Teresa already texted to say that Maggie’s awake, everything’s fine, and that she’s leaving. So what’s the girl still doing there?
“You ready, Ingrid?” the host, a journalist named Michelle Barra, asks.
Reluctantly, she puts her phone away. She walks out onto the stage and takes a seat.
There are four other panelists besides her—all of them male.
Two of them are showrunners; the third guy is a director.
She gazes out at the room and smiles when she spots Cassie standing in the back.
She gestures for her daughter to come sit up front, but Cassie stays by the door.
The journalist starts with some general questions on how the rise of streaming has shaped the landscape of TV and film.
As usual, the men hog the spotlight, going off about things that have nothing to do with the question being asked.
Ingrid sneaks another peek at her Ring cam app.
Still no sign of Maggie. When she looks up, she sees Charlie slip in from a side door.
“What about you, Ingrid? Do you think we’ve reached a saturation point with the sheer volume of content available, and how do you make your projects stand out?”
“They have to be exceptional,” Ingrid answers honestly. “There’s no other way. It’s never been so hard to get a movie made in my twenty-eight years doing this. And even harder for a movie to actually catch fire!”
“So how do you make something exceptional?”
“You have to enjoy pain.” Ingrid half covers her face while the audience cackles.
“But seriously, you have to be relentless. I don’t leave anything to chance.
I look at every line in the script. I’m thinking about every strategy.
And sometimes…you know, it’s hard. You have to make some tough decisions.
But it’s always in the best interest of the story.
I always say—and my daughter will tell you—my job is to serve the story.
” Ingrid smiles at Cassie, standing in the back.
The host turns to Cassie and asks, “Are you a filmmaker, too?”
“I’m…I don’t know,” Cassie replies, flushing. The cameras pan to Cassie’s face.
Ingrid immediately chimes in, “Oh, she’s just being shy. She’s working on a killer script!”
“Really? Can you tell us about it?” the host asks. “I’m sure the studio execs in the room will be very interested!”
Cassie shakes her head. Ingrid laughs. Charlie looks on, amused. The host turns back to Ingrid. “But you can tell us more about Summer Rain, hopefully.”
Ingrid sits up. This is what she came here for—to drum up early buzz for the project.
“Yes! It’s going to be amazing! Like many of you in this room, I’ve been a fan of Summer Rain since forever.”
“I hear you’re doing something really modern to it! Putting a new spin on the traditional rom-com genre?”
“Exactly!”
“Can you tell us more plot details?”
“Unfortunately, not at this point—”
The host leans over. “Just tell us this—by Ingrid Parker’s standards, is it going to be exceptional?”
Ingrid catches Charlie’s gaze. He looks anxiously at her. With all her confidence and conviction, she answers, “Yes.”
“I’ll be there opening night!” The host smiles.
—
Charlie walks up to Ingrid afterward. “Excellent job up there!” he says.
She smiles, thanking him as she scans the room for Cassie. She spots her talking to a reporter. She waves eagerly at her daughter to come over and talk to Charlie instead.
“So when am I going to see some pages?” Charlie asks, popping an olive into his mouth.
“Soon, hopefully.”
“But they’re good?” Charlie asks as Cassie walks over.
“Uh-huh!” Ingrid says, turning to Cassie.
Charlie doesn’t let her dodge the question. He leans over and whispers into her ear, “Ingrid, I hired Maggie on your recommendation—”
Heat rises in her cheeks. She turns to face him. “And when have I ever let you down?”
Charlie smiles, relieved. He turns to Cassie and greets her with a warm hug. “Cassie! What’s this killer script of yours, and how come you haven’t sent it to me yet?”
As Cassie and Charlie chat, Ingrid goes back to her phone.
She pulls up the Ring cam and waits impatiently.
Finally, she sees Maggie leave her house, a full forty-five minutes after Teresa said she was leaving.
This time, Maggie and Kyle are hugging. A long, tender embrace that makes her feel a homicidal rage, needle sharp.