Young Adulting

by Christina Benjamin

  I pulled out my phone and quickly typed out a response.

  ‘I wish I could attend the premiere but I’m out of the country at the moment. Let’s talk when I return. – L’

  There, that ought to buy me some time.

  Izzy

  This was officially the best day of my life.

  Carolina pulled a lock of hair and I flinched. “Ow!”

  “Beauty is pain.” My gorgeous blonde model of a roommate said this in her Russian accent. Her voice was low and monotone, which was kind of creepy, especially when she was wielding a hot curling iron.

  Okay, so today was the best day of my life, minus the pain.

  But every once in a while I caught sight of myself in the mirror and was starting to be convinced that maybe Carolina was right.

  Maybe all this pain would be worth it if I could show up at this party feeling like I might actually belong.

  And you do. You will!

  I had to clamp my lips together to smother another squeal of excitement.

  “Izzy, your lipstick,” Carolina snapped.

  I stopped pressing my lips together with a rueful wince. “Sorry,” I muttered. Although it was our roommates Ashley and Becca who had done my makeup, with Becca tweezing my eyebrows as Ashley did some sort of skincare cleanse that left me feeling like I’d shed five layers of skin. But with Carolina, it was best to apologize first and figure out why you were apologizing later.

  She sniffed and turned back to my hair and I was once more free to revel in my newfound good fortune. I mean, even my permanently bored looking roommates had admitted that this was a really good deal. Not many interns got a chance to pitch a script to producers, and not one of us had ever gone to a movie premiere.

  But this was happening. It’s all happening! That confidence and excitement I’d come to Hollywood with a few months ago was back in full force.

  I wasn’t gonna lie—it had been tough going there for a while. Surviving in Hollywood was harder than I’d expected, and I’d expected it to be rough. But between the grueling hours, the long commute, the new roommate routine, the fiercely competitive peers, and this constant feeling like I didn’t belong because I didn’t have the right clothes, the right hair, the right attitude, the right last name…

  It had taken a toll. It had worn on me more than I’d realized, I guess. But today, with one stroke of good luck, I felt like a new person. The old me was back, baby, and she was ready to take on the world.

  Kendal poked her head out of my walk-in closet sized bedroom, a measuring tape looped around her neck and pins sticking out of her mouth. She’d replaced her contacts with cute, cat-eye framed glasses that I rarely saw and her brows were drawn together in annoyance. “Make your phone stop,” she ordered, somehow managing to speak the words clearly despite the pins.

  “Oh, my parents!” Crap. I’d totally forgotten about our Friday night call. We had scheduled calls several times a week so my mom could ascertain that I hadn’t been murdered and my dad could bug me once again about finances and my plans for next semester.

  I’d forgotten to call an hour ago which meant...I gave Carolina a pleading look. “My mom’s gonna think I’m dead in a ditch if I don’t answer.”

  She scowled at me but relented with a sigh, removing the curling iron and stepping back so I could scramble off the stool in our kitchen and make a beeline for my room.

  Sure enough, my phone was on the bed where I’d tossed it and I picked it up with a breathless, “Hello?”

  “Oh thank heavens!” My mom shouted this so loudly I had to hold the phone away from my ear. “You’re alive!”

  Kendal, who was working some magic on a dress while sitting in my desk chair, just arched her brows in surprise. Yeah, my mom had been that loud.

  I turned my back on Kendal, who had no doubt heard my mom’s paranoia loud and clear. “Of course I’m alive. Sorry I forgot to call,” I added in a rush, guilt nagging at me as I looked in the mirror to see a face I didn’t recognize and a head of hair that was part frizzy disaster and part perfection.

  I grinned at my reflection.

  Tonight was going to be so great. Colin was the perfect non-date. He knew this was only business and he had the connections to be able to introduce me around.

  Networking. That’s what this business was all about, and while I’d slacked in that department up until now, I was about to make up for it with a vengeance.

  “...and even Fallon is worried,” my mom was saying.

  My grin fell at the mention of my best friend’s name. Crap. I’d totally forgotten to text her back. I’d meant to tease her a bit with my silence but I hadn’t meant to ignore her outright.

  I lifted a hand to rub my eyes and stopped myself just in time.

  Becca and Ashley would kill me if they came home from picking up our takeout dinner to find I’d smudged their eyeliner and smeared the eyeshadow.

  I dropped my hand. “I’ll call Fallon this weekend,” I said, although a part of me was wondering how they knew. “Did you call her?”

  “When we didn’t hear from you?” my mom snapped. “Of course we did. I was worried you were in a ditch somewhere or…”

  She kept talking, but I held the phone away from my ear. I was so not in the mood to hear about my mother’s weird fears right now. Not when I was about to have the kind of Hollywood evening I’d been dreaming about since I was eight years old and watched my first Oscars ceremony.

  True, tonight wasn’t the Oscars, but it was close. It was a step in that direction. And one day, if I played my cards right, I’d be getting dressed up like I was tonight and waiting for my limo to arrive so I could accept my award.

  My wistful sigh must have alerted my mom to the fact that I wasn’t paying attention because she finally, mercifully stopped with the lecture.

  I was kind of wishing she’d keep going when my father took her silence as his cue to start in. “So, you’re still on target to start Ohio State in January, right?”

  My mouth instantly went dry. I swallowed the surge of guilt that was now becoming a regular part of these calls. “Mmmhmm,” I murmured.

  I did have every intention of going to Ohio State next semester...but only if I didn’t get the job with the studio.

  And even then, only if they didn’t ask me back as an intern again.

  So really, Ohio State was my plan C. But I couldn’t tell them that. Not when they had their hearts set on me getting a college education and going to school somewhere safe, with Fallon by my side and the big bad world safely at bay…

  As if on cue, an ambulance siren cut through the quiet room and my mom heard it.

  I groaned quietly as it sent her off on another tangent of fear and worry about what might happen to me here, but I was also a little bit grateful.

  I mean, I didn’t want my mom worrying about me, but I also really didn’t want to answer any more of my dad’s questions either.

  “It’s fine, Mom,” I said. “It’s not coming for me.”

  I looked over and saw Kendal rolling her eyes. When she saw me looking her way, she arched a brow and tapped a finger to an imaginary watch on her wrist.

  My eyes flared wide. Crap, I was totally running out of time and I still had half a head of hair to curl, a dress to try on, and some food to cram down my throat.

  “Guys, I’ll call you on Sunday, ‘kay?” I said. “My roommates and I were just about to grab dinner.”

  Kendal gave a snort of amusement behind me at the little white lie. We were going to have dinner, so really it was more of a lie of omission. Still little. Not a big deal.

  I heard my dad start in on another question about my timeline, but I bulldozed over him. “It was great hearing your voices. Give everyone at home my love. Talk to you soon!”

  I hung up before they could respond.

  I grimaced as I saw the three texts from Fallon that I’d missed thanks to my makeover. But now I had no time to waste. Colin was probably already on the way and I had to look
perfect.

  Home and all the problems that came with it could wait.

  Right now…? I caught sight of my unfamiliar reflection again and grinned.

  Right now I had a future to think about. And it was one where all of my dreams were finally starting to come true.

  Chapter Four

  Henry

  “Yes, yes, it’s always a pleasure,” I said, shaking yet another hand as I played the dutiful son alongside my mother.

  She beamed at me, her signature dimples showing. I’d inherited the very same dimples, ones that made my fans weep anytime I turned my mega-watt Hollywood smile their way.

  That smile was out in full force tonight.

  I could already tell I’d need a facial massage tomorrow from all the fake smiling I was doing. My cheeks ached as I turned my smile on the next guest who waltzed over to us at the afterparty. I felt like I was in a receiving line at some stuffy wedding.

  I mean, my father deserved the praise. Gold City was spectacular—if you liked that sort of thing. I was all for big budget films, but I’m pretty sure most of the money went up in smoke during the endless explosion sequences throughout the film.

  But I was happy to play my part, because tonight I was here for me.

  With any luck, I’d very shortly be making my debut as a serious screenwriter at a party just like this. Tonight, I was laying the groundwork. I’d schmooze, kiss cheeks, clink champagne glasses, and plaster on this phony smile for as long as it took if it meant I got to make my movie the way I wanted to.

  And why shouldn’t I?

  I’d grown up pretending I enjoyed the spotlight. At least now I was doing it for a good cause.

  A genuineness reached my smile as I thought about my script. It felt nice to have purpose. That was something that had been missing from my life for quite a while.

  Speaking of things missing from my life…

  Elena Rhodes sauntered over, stealing my smile and what was left of my heart.

  “Elena, darling,” my mother cooed. “You were just fabulous in the film, wasn’t she, sweetheart?”

  “Mmmhmm,” I murmured, begging the ache in my chest to subside. I hated that it still stung when I saw Elena. Just smelling her perfume again made my heart race even though I didn’t want it to. I wished I could just turn my emotions off.

  When would I ever get over this girl?

  Apparently not anytime soon if my mother had her way.

  “I hope you won’t be a stranger, Elena. I miss seeing you at the dinner table,” my mother pressed.

  “Is that right?” Elena drawled, her blood-red lips quirking up in the corners, as her dark eyes searched mine.

  “Of course. Tell her, darling,” my mother said, practically elbowing me. “Thursday dinners just aren’t the same without you, Elena.”

  “Oh, I’m sure she’ll be back,” I said.

  Elena raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “Will I?”

  I leaned in. “Well sure, just as soon as you feel like using me to get another part, right?”

  She frowned, trying to pull away but I placed my hand on the small of her back and jutted my chin ever so slightly to alert her to the photographers.

  Ever the actress, Elena plastered on a perfect smile and posed against me with practiced grace. “Are you implying I couldn’t get Gold City on my own?” she whispered between the flashbulbs.

  I shrugged. “If the shoe fits.”

  As soon as the photogs got what they needed and moved on, Elena untangled herself from my hold, crossing her arms to give me the arrogant pout I used to love. “Just say it, Henry.”

  “I don’t need to say anything, Elena. You know what you did. I just wish it didn’t take me so long to see it.”

  “To see what?”

  I took a step closer, lowering my voice. “That you’re a social climber. You use people and then drop them like garbage once you have what you want.”

  She huffed a laugh and flipped her shiny black hair over her shoulder. “Tell yourself whatever you need to, Henry.”

  “So, you’re saying you didn’t date me just to get a part on Hermosa Beach, and then again to get into my father’s new movie?”

  Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Henry, this is Hollywood. It’s all part of the game.”

  “Yeah, but that’s the problem, Elena. It wasn’t a game for me.” I’d fallen for her. How did she not see that? Or was it that she just didn’t care?

  Her lips twisted into a tight smile that almost made her look sincere. She stepped close enough to run her hands up the lapels of my tux, then slipped them around my neck. I sucked in a breath as she pressed her lips softly against my ear. “Sweetie, my plan was never to hurt you, but can I give you some advice?”

  I nodded, swallowing past the tightness in my throat as my pulse raced.

  “Learn to play the game or get out of this business.” Then she kissed my cheek and walked away.

  I watched until she disappeared into the crowd—another bright star fighting to stand out against the stunning Hollywood sunset.

  Maybe Elena had it right. Maybe you had to be heartless and ruthless to survive in this world. It would certainly be easier…but I wasn’t built that way. I needed to feel. My emotions were what made me a good actor and an even better writer. I refused to turn that off just because I’d been burned.

  I stared after Elena, hating that I had so many questions that I’d probably never get the answers to. I’d always wonder if there had ever been anything real between us. But I was certain of one thing…I was never making the mistake of letting someone like her in again.

  I was done being lied to and used.

  Taking a deep breath, I regained my focus. I needed to use tonight to feel out some costars for my script. That is, if there was a script left after Isabelle tore it apart.

  I pushed that nagging thought away, sure that there was probably some merit to her suggestions, even though I hadn’t been able to revisit them yet. I knew I needed to give myself more time to be objective. But the few hours I’d had today weren’t enough.

  I’d probably still be stewing over the shrewd junior script developer’s strong opinions into the next century if I had my way. But for the sake of my script, I had to find a way to loosen the reins.

  I eyed the bar. A drink might help. I wouldn’t be twenty-one for a few months yet, but this was Hollywood, where champagne was practically served as a palate cleanser. Or as my father liked to say, “Champagne is cheaper than water in this town.”

  It was true considering the price of the ridiculous vitamin-enriched glacial water my mother had imported from Iceland.

  I glanced at my parents. My father was thoroughly distracted by the gaggle of actresses fawning over him and my mother was posing for yet another photo with someone she deemed notable. It was the perfect time to slip away unnoticed.

  I moved across the manicured lawn, dodging an occasional low-hanging paper lantern that bobbed into my path. I was halfway to the bar when an even better distraction presented itself.

  “That’s right, from Polarizing Pictures,” a confident male voice said, stopping me mid-step.

  I paused, craning my neck to follow the voice. My gaze landed on a tall guy in a navy suit. He had boring hair and an unassuming smile. So, not an actor then.

  I moved to an empty high-top table nearby and pulled out my phone pretending to scroll while I eavesdropped on the conversation with my script’s potential studio.

  “Colin Davis,” the guy said, shaking hands with a short, stocky gray-haired man. Probably a writer. “And this is Miss Ellis.”

  My ears perked up as Colin introduced the gorgeous blonde beside him to the stocky old guy. I let my eyes roam over her, head-to-toe. She was dressed in a stunning red dress that made her pale skin glow like spilled milk. Her shiny blonde hair slipped over her shoulders, parting and swaying in the breeze like the waters of the Pacific on a calm night. And her smile…I was mesmerized.

  She certainly wasn’t w
ho I’d been expecting. When I pictured the woman who sent me the script inquiry, I’d envisioned an uptight film snob. An older woman, one who probably wore glasses and her hair in a bun, not this young blonde bombshell.

  Holy hotness, Batman! I was flabbergasted.

  This was the girl who loved my script? Be still my heart!

  A guy like me, working with a girl like her probably wasn’t a good idea for many reasons. But my heart was pounding too loudly to let me think of any at the moment. All I could think about doing was putting on my best smile, pushing Colin Davis out of the way and stealing Isabelle so I could pick her brain about my script.

  Okay, so that might be a bit over the top considering Isabelle thought she loved a script by Leo Lang and I was wearing the face of Henry Landon. But still, what would be the harm in at least walking over there to introduce myself?

  I was just about to do so when the old-timer they were talking to finally excused himself, but Isabelle’s smile stunned me, making me pause long enough to hear the next words out of Colin’s mouth.

  “Well, Izzy, I’d say tonight has been a success. How about we celebrate with a toast?”

  “Sure. I’ll run to the bar and grab some champagne. Non-alcoholic for me of course.”

  I watched him laugh and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Izzy, you’re not an intern tonight. I’ll get the drinks.”

  Intern. The word rang in my ears. Intern? No, that couldn’t be right. All the excitement, that sense of validation, of finally having found success on my own merit…

  I felt it all dissolve in a heartbeat as that word registered.

  Intern.

  Colin walked away and suddenly the crowd between us cleared, leaving nothing between us but my smoldering glare. As though she could feel me shooting daggers at her, she turned, her big brown eyes meeting mine.

  Her mouth fell open in recognition and she had the audacity to look shocked. She crossed her arms, looking like she was going to say something, but I didn’t give her the chance. I stormed toward her, closing the distance between us quickly.