The First Assistant (30 page)

Lachlan hadn’t lost
his
breath. “Mama!
Casa!
” he yelled.

The door flew open and Lara bounded out and wrapped me in the most enormous embrace.

“Lizzie, you’ve been nominated for an Oscar! I can’t believe it.” She grabbed Lachlan out of his stroller and the three of us bounced up and down on her doorstep in total euphoria.

“Is it really true?” I asked, having just managed to regain a bit of my breath.

“Of course it’s true.
Sex Addicts in Love
has been nominated for al-most every category. They’re predicting it’s going to sweep the board,” she said. I stopped jumping and was frozen to the spot as a chill ran through my entire body. I was just coming to grips with the idea of a nomination. It hadn’t occurred to me it could win.

“Are you okay?” Lara said as she watched all the blood drain from my face. I leaned against her heavily, feeling faint again.

“Lara, I don’t deserve this,” I said in terror. “I didn’t earn this, and now something is going to go terribly wrong. I know it. Someone in my family is going to get sick or I’m going to get killed in a drive-by shooting.” I looked around nervously at the quiet Santa Monica street.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lara said as she looked around nervously as well and quickly pulled Lachlan and me into the house. “You deserved that credit. Jason promised it to you when you agreed to help him. That script would never have seen the light of day if it weren’t for you.”

Lara plopped the baby on the floor and eased me down onto her plush velvet sofa. Then she walked to the cabinet and pressed a hidden but-ton. The wall magically opened and there was an entire temperature-controlled secret wine cellar. She disappeared into the cavernous space and returned with a bottle of champagne. She showed it to me proudly. “Dom Pérignon work for you?” she asked with a smile. I looked at the bottle with apprehension. Lara sat down next to me and took my hands in hers. “Listen to me, Lizzie. If it hadn’t been for you, that film would never have been nominated for anything because it wouldn’t have been made. Do you know how many times Jason Blum asked me, and every other person at The Agency, to read that script of his? A million. He’d been trying for two years to get someone to look at it with no luck until you came along. You know what? If I remember correctly, I think one of the agents had actually given it to one of our readers the year before and the reader had passed. You read it yourself and then actually followed up. You did something about it. That’s what a producer does. She puts

unlikely people together.”

“But I wasn’t even on set when they made it.”

“And neither are half the producers in Hollywood. You did the hard part, my love. You found the director and the material a home. And if Ja-son Blum hadn’t screwed you out of your credit in the first place you wouldn’t be having a moment of guilt for your good fortune. Why is it that men feel entitled and women feel guilty?” Lara said contempla-tively. “You know, I suffered from the same fate. But not today! Today we are entitled and empowered and inspired.” And with that Lara popped the cork off the bottle of champagne. It hit the ceiling with gusto and then skittered across the old stone floor where Lachlan could chew on it happily.

The sound was obviously like the scent of a truffle to a French pig because Scott appeared out of nowhere.

“What, a celebration that I’m not invited to? Get your ass over here, Lizzie,” he said. I walked toward Scott, dragging my feet like an embarrassed teenager. Lara was my best friend in LA and it made my relationship with Scott really confusing sometimes. But Scott didn’t seem to notice or care as he gave me a big old hug. “Way to go, Lizzie. Makes the office look good. Now just make sure Jason extends his contract with us and I’ll give you a monster bonus.”

He let go of me and grabbed one of the two glasses of champagne off the coffee table. Lara looked at him disapprovingly as I studied the lovely paint effect on the ceiling.

“Come on, baby. Just relax. It’s only a glass. And it’s for a good cause. One little sip won’t kill me.” Lara shook her head in warning, but Scott just smiled and chugged the entire glass. She took a deep breath and walked to the cabinet and got a third glass. But determinedly refused to refill his glass when he held it out toward her.

I looked down and noticed Lachlan clutching the champagne cork in his fat little hands. Then in one smooth movement, he shoved the en-tire thing into his mouth. I quickly bent down and extracted the cork from his jaws and he let out the most unholy of screams. I held it up for Lara and Scott to see.

“Like father like son,” Scott said proudly.

Lara turned a lighter shade of puce for a brief moment. I dived in and changed the subject.

“So are you two around to celebrate tonight?”

“Are you kidding! Of course we are!” Lara said warmly.

“How about dinner at Nobu and then you ladies can accompany me to my poker game at Leo’s? It’s always good luck to have a bit of poker pussy on hand,” Scott said with a devilish smile.

“Scott, you are foul!” Lara said, trying very hard to hide her laughter.

Scott pulled her into his lap and we all clinked glasses.

“Hey, Lizzie, why don’t you bring Jason along tonight?” He said it like a suggestion but I’d never heard a clearer order.

When I’d finally recharged my cell phone there were about seven hundred messages from every person I’d ever met in my life. The first call was from Jason, screaming in total delirium. Then my mother and father, my sister, my entire group of high school friends, a boyfriend from college whom I hadn’t spoken to since he’d dumped me, and a bunch of people from The Agency. Mingled in with those messages

were another ten or so calls from Jason demanding to know my where-abouts, and a variety of people I’d never heard of in my life. When the last message played I felt oddly disappointed, and I knew exactly why. There was no call from Luke.

I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised. The last contact we’d had was about the untimely death of his cat at the hands of my fishnets. But I’d really thought that this enormous event in my life would be the excuse he needed to call me. But then he was Luke and he didn’t really need an excuse. If he wanted to call me he would. It was abundantly clear that he hadn’t forgiven me for my childish behavior. And more than likely, he probably never wanted to speak to me again in his life. I had to bite my lip to stop the overwhelming feeling of self-pity that was taking over like the invasion of the body snatchers. I willed my thoughts away from Luke and focused on the positive.

I dialed Jason’s cell phone and we had a mutual moment of pure joy and self-congratulation. Well I congratulated him and he congratulated me. A lot of “No you’re brilliant!” “No you are.” “No really, you are.” It felt really nice to be part of a team. No matter what the future held for us romantically, Jason was my friend, and we were sharing one of the most amazing moments in both of our lives. And that brought us closer than sex ever could. I told him about Scott and Lara’s invitation, and Ja-son thought it sounded like the perfect celebration. He’d been taking secret poker lessons and he was really looking forward to tossing his chips in with the big boys. He was certain that he was on a winning streak and he was positive he’d be able to buy himself a Ferrari tonight if he played his cards right. I was even promised a fur coat if he got lucky. In the heady excitement of the moment, I accepted his generous offer, totally banishing from my thoughts my family membership to PETA that my sister had just given all of us for Christmas.

We had a fantastic drunken dinner with the sake and crazy lychee martinis flowing like water. And for once, for good or for bad, Lara ignored the fact that Scott was probably breaking all twelve steps in one fell swoop. It was the first time I had seen Lara really enjoy herself since she’d had the baby. She was carefree and fun. Scott looked at her so adoringly that it made Jason and I hold hands under the table. We

even tried to duck out of the poker party with whispered plans of checking into a suite at Shutters. But Lara wasn’t having any of it. She’d heard about Scott’s poker parties for ages and had never actually been invited. So there was no way she was going to miss this evening for love or money. And Jason and I were necessary for moral support.

As we walked in the door of the eco-friendly canyon spread, I longed instead for a big king-sized bed and a nice, fluffy, white robe. The drinks and excitement of the day had left me absolutely exhausted. I could barely string a sentence together and Jason wasn’t doing much better. There were a few other girls milling around looking a bit drunk and bored. At least for once I was wearing the right thing. It had taken me hours to get dressed. I’d never been invited into the inner circle of the Hollywood elite before, and I’d needed to look casual yet cool. It was a look that every girl in LA seemed to be able to achieve with minimal ef-fort but one that I was completely incapable of pulling off. Ever. It was only made worse by my mother’s reminder that this was just the beginning. Now that I was an Oscar nominee, I’d probably be expected to show up at a variety of parties, luncheons, and interviews perfectly dressed and groomed at all times. I was raised in Maryland. Now that meant you either wore Levis or Banana Republic on special occasions. And though I now bought all the right labels, on sale of course, I never had the requisite hauteur to carry them off. So tonight, in emulation of the style of the upper echelons who were too cool to care, I managed to do don’t-give-a-fuck chic brilliantly.

We were all greeted by a friendly, ever so scruffy Leo who introduced us to the girls. The boys were in the den settling in, he informed us. “Ben just showed up,” Leo said with a slightly apologetic tone. “Jason, I know you’re new to the game, so remember no one needs to get macho here. If you fold early, we’ll think you’re the smartest guy in the business,” he said. Jason laughed uncomfortably as Lara leaned in and whispered in my ear.

“Apparently Ben is some huge poker champion. Bets like a half-million a hand.” Jason overheard this and I could see his hand shake ever so slightly as he rubbed his eyes trying to wipe away the alcoholic haze. I felt really sorry for Jason as I watched him be led away by Scott and

Leo like a lamb to the slaughter. Success had hit him like an oncoming train. And though he was invited to the parties and welcomed into the fold with open arms, he was still a bit out of his depth. He was making money now, but he hadn’t yet had the chance to stockpile it like these guys had. To them half a million was a week’s work. To Jason it was still his father’s salary for ten years.

“Lara, do you think Jason will be okay?” I asked as we heard laughter and smelled the fragrant whiff of the best Cubans money could buy.

“Lizzie, he’s a big boy. And you never know, he is on a winning streak. Now, let’s keep this buzz going or I’ll probably pass out,” she said. I couldn’t have agreed more. Leo had pointed to a bar outside, so Lara and I cruised out to the pool.

The entire environment was pretty low-key. We made ourselves strong vodkas and then sat down with a few modelly looking girls who were smoking pot on a swinging sofa.

“So, what do you guys do?” I asked stupidly. I reminded myself to think up a new introductory line. It had just become habit as it was al-ways the first thing anyone ever asked you in Los Angeles. In the early days it had disgusted me, and there I was falling into the same trap. And in this particular case, the answer couldn’t have been more obvious.

“I’m at UCLA studying biochemistry,” the girl who looked like a prettier version of Helena Christiansen said with a friendly smile. That would teach me for succumbing to stereotypes.

“Let me guess,” I said jokingly to the blonde. “You’re studying rocket science?” Lara and I laughed at my dumb joke. Feeling superior in our age and, unfortunately, size.

“No. Genetic engineering, actually. What do you two do?” the blond asked sweetly without the slightest trace of much-deserved sarcasm. Lara and I looked at each other and took enormous swigs from our vodkas.

“She was just nominated for an Oscar and I just had a baby,” Lara blurted out, placing much more emphasis on the first half of the sentence.

“Congratulations!” they both said with genuine enthusiasm.

I was about to launch into the story, starting to really enjoy recanting my miraculous Oscar nomination, when the genetic engineer pushed on. “I’m so jealous. I’m dying for a baby. Lucky you,” she said to Lara, who fell in love instantly. Poor Lara was so used to being blatantly ignored

when she revealed that she was a stay-at-home mom, that she didn’t quite know how to respond to this Grace Kelly look-a-like’s warm response. “It’s such a big decision to bring a life into this world. The most important thing you can ever do. I’ve just started dating this great guy. And he’s such a family man. I mean, we’ve only been going out for a few weeks, but we’re already discussing kids.” Lara and I exchanged a look. “Well, if you ask me, he’d be the luckiest guy in the world if he married you,” I said. And I meant it. She was perfect.

“I promise you.
I’d
be the lucky one. Luke is a rarity in this town,” she said.

My heart stopped.

“Luke Lloyd?” I choked out. Already knowing the answer. Lara spon-taneously grabbed my hand.

“You know him?” she asked openly. “He’s incredible. So down to earth. The only flaw I can see so far is this poker habit of his.” She laughed as I struggled to breathe. “But then I guess even the most perfect diamond has to have a flaw, right?”

“Luke’s here?” I managed to squeak.

“Well, I hope he’s still here, since we did come together. So how do you guys know Luke?” She smiled, her perfect skin glowing in the moonlight.

“He’s my... he was my . . .” I couldn’t finish my sentence, and there was a slightly awkward pause.

“He’s a friend of my husband,” Lara jumped in smoothly.

“You don’t play the piano by chance? Chopin?” I couldn’t help but ask. Grace Kelly broke into a big smile.

“How did you know? He’s my favorite. Are you in the mood for some music? You’re absolutely right this party does need some livening up.”