Aura In LaLaLand

by Skye Grace

  Liam shakes his head, smiling sheepishly. “That she did not. So, are you going to tell me who your date is?”

  “Can’t,” she replies.

  “And why not?” She can tell Liam’s holding in his laughter. She stamps her foot under the table a little.

  “Because I don’t have one,” she pouts. “Alexis can’t come, she’s on set all next week. She’s on this kinda popular teen drama, Beautiful Deception. You may have heard of it?”

  “Sounds vaguely familiar,” he snarks. “Good thing I don’t have to be on any set next weekend. Only the girls are called on… or, you know, that’s the word on the street anyway.”

  Liam squeezes her hand and bites his lower lip to keep from laughing, while Aura grips her chair to keep from falling off. The sight of him like this is just too much, joking, grinning, and possibly offering to escort her to a public event, on the other side of the country. It’s way too much, the idea that he’d even want to, agree to, let alone suggest it. She realizes she’s gone mute and decides just going with it is the only option.

  “Aura? Would you like me to join you? In New York?” He moves his fingers over her wrist to feel her pulse and she frowns, feeling that he now knows too much. His effect on her. She attempts to even out her heartbeat, slow breaths matching her nods. Slow, but yes. He knows I’m saying yes, right?

  “Well, if you want to… And you really aren’t busy?” The milktoast answer escapes her lips before she can shove more chocolate into them.

  “I’m not!” Liam insists with a laugh. “And I want to. I know I’m not as skilled in ‘New Yorker’ as you are, Aura. I’ve only been a few times for press stuff, maybe you’ll show me around?”

  “Oh, definitely!” she replies, her confidence surging. “And I do need someone cheering me on from the green room when I do the Falco show.”

  Liam’s eyes widen, “You got the Tonight Show? You and Whit and the girls?”

  She tries and fails to contain her grin. “Nope, just me,” ending her response with a little squeak, the wonderings of how she’ll come up with the right things to say, the details accurate, are the furthest from her mind right now.

  “Aura, that’s huge!” Liam says, giving her hand another squeeze, “Of course I’ll be there. I mean, I might rather be in the audience watching you, but if backstage is where you want me, that’s where I’ll be.”

  Outside the restaurant, Liam’s level of responsibility for someone her same age continues to shock and disappoint. I wish he was just driving me home, she pouts to herself but is slightly more diplomatic aloud.

  “I wish we could stay out a little later,” she tries not to whine.

  “Me too,” he replies, fingers still entwined with hers while he reminds her that his morning obligations, “Sunrise hike and taking mom to church, of all things,” keep him from staying out with her any later. “But I’ll be there tomorrow, patiently awaiting any recognition from the star of the event that I can get. And maybe I’ll even get to hang out with her after the viewing?”

  She smiles and nods, begrudgingly, before Liam leans in for a kiss goodnight. She attempts to align her lips with his, but when his hit her cheek instead, her heart sinks. Her goodbye is bittersweet, and she tries to keep her mind off of everything twisting inside it by driving her Corvette home at lightning speeds, the wind and the electronica she’s pumping wiping any and all negative away.

  Chapter Eight

  “He basically asks to join me on the other side of the country and then kisses me on the cheek! I don’t get it.” Her sorrows are sufficiently drowned in a tray of tarts she’s quickly inhaling, and yet all the stylists in the room coo at her sob story.

  Her co-stars follow suit, agreeing how sorry they are, how confused, and how they’d all be hugging Aura so tight if they weren’t all bound to their makeup chairs. The hotel suite is a bustle of activity as people rush around the room with dresses and makeup while others coordinate transportation to and from tonight’s events. The girls manage to stay still, hair being styled intricately and lip liner applied impeccably by the stylists while they attempt to rehash last night’s untimely demise.

  “Maybe his lips were chapped from the night before. You did kinda wear them out, Aur,” Nina responds dryly before Lacie can chime in with more sympathy.

  “He was probably just tired, it’s obvious that he’s into you. He didn’t look at a single other girl that night, my friend. Totally obliv to everything! Seriously, so into you.”

  “Thanks Lacie,” she responds, ignoring Nina entirely. Get used to doing that, Aura’s older, and far more bitter conscience reminds her. And give the sugar a rest, will you?

  Whit is unusually quiet and it makes her uncomfortable; she can’t really pinpoint the reason for the general ickiness that she feels.

  “Whit, do you agree with her?” she asks, her eyes closed as the makeup artist draws thick, black cat eyes liner over her lids. “He’s into me and was just, like, tired?”

  Whit ‘um’s,’ for over a whole second before responding yes and Aura’s insides engage Panic Mode. Why the long um? Never a good sign. Long um’s have never been a good sign.

  “Yeah, of course. I mean, it’s clear he likes you. I just don’t know if it’s something real or, you know, just as friends.”

  The room goes silent, all staring at Whit after her entirely too honest comment. Did Whit just say Liam could be thinking of me as just a friend? The most uncomfortable thing was knowing that Whit is so rarely wrong, it scares her. Especially now.

  Silence between the four of them was also a terrible sign, and Whit quickly interjects into it, “Brigette, will you please bring these girls some more Champagne?” She quickly glances at Aura, eyes now open wide, staring back at her in shock, “My life depends on it. Veuve please!”

  Towards the end of the slightly tense limo ride, Whit leans over to whisper in Aura’s ear, “Are you going to be mad at me all night?”

  “I’m not mad! I’m anxious,” she hisses through her teeth at Whit, who looks at her with an eyebrow raise that says it’s the most obvious phrase to ever be uttered in Whit’s relatively short life.

  How do you think you and Whit got so close? That she saw so much in you that she just had to bring you to New York? You have quite a bit in common, Aura, and you know the story.

  Getting out of the car, with flashbulbs popping, champagne bubbling through her brain, eyes steadfast on her girls, Aura remembers all the story as clear as quartz. The girls pose separately, then together, on the red carpet. The photos come as natural as breathing to Aura, and, not surprising to anyone but her, the interviews do as well.

  Whit gives her the tightest squeeze and smile before she is ushered into a separate interview room. A charming, petite blonde Aura just wants to pick up and put in her pocket, too cute to exist, greets her and mentions she’ll be the one interviewing her. The woman seems familiar and Aura is automatically at ease.

  “Aura, we all know Whit has said that once she met you, all the pieces fell into place. First the indie movie, then the show that’s been such an insane hit. Whit’s even called you ‘her muse.’ I heard there might be a crazy story about how you first met?” the perky blonde, whom she had learned is TV Tonite’s star reporter, Drea Duff, asks excitedly.

  “It’s only crazy in the literal sense, Drea,” Aura laughs casually. She doesn’t know what’s taken over her, but a cloud of calm settles over her and the words just escape without even thinking, “Literal. Crazy. And we both are, and I think that’s why it works.”

  “Whit was visiting her extended west-coast family and I happened to be dating her cousin at the time, we majored together. We met at this big family gathering, Whit and I were instant friends. That weekend, when she got a call from her lit agent saying that the New Yorker wanted to publish an article she’d written about post-collegiate... ennui,” she pauses and shrugs. “Whit just couldn’t take the pressure. She starts having a panic attack, and doesn’t want all her family to know
, so I have to take her to my psychiatrist for an emergency session, prescription, the whole bit. We’ve never been afraid to admit our anxiety brought us together, and we work on it together. Ever since that day, she’s insisted on having me be there, on everything she creates.”

  Drea nods, interested or at least, faking it well, “Right, first with the film and then it was optioned as a series by THE NETWORK. We all know that it’s the biggest network on the planet right now. How did it feel when you first found out you’d be filming ‘Girl Gang’ for the network… and how does that compare to the feeling you have now, as Season 4 premieres? Oh, god, sorry, that was a mouthful!”

  Aura just laughs coolly, leaning back in her chair, the memories flowing from her freely as she explains the absolute elation and flat out terror she felt when Whit called her that night to tell her that The Network wanted to option a show.

  “It was insane, I was a theater major like two weeks out of UCLA, suddenly being flown out to the East Coast to film this little indie movie. Twenty-one years old, with nothing to my name but a 4.0 GPA, I might add,” she stops to laugh at herself briefly. “I had no idea it was going to blow up like it did, but Whit may have. When they asked us to adapt it into a series, we just knew so many girls would relate to it. Not knowing what to do after college, nothing going according to plan, it was so us, and yet it’s so many other women too. And we’re just so thankful to The Network for letting us do what we love.”

  Who am I?

  When her interview is over, she is reunited with the girls and a few more snaps are taken before they’re lead into the auditorium for the screening. Aura is suddenly not only aware of but also incredibly grateful for the towering conglomerate that is The Network, knowing that other TV shows simply do not get this kind of grandeur, this fanfare, and probably no Hollywood premiere at all.

  The feeling of watching herself on the big screen, martini in hand, is an ultimately surreal experience for her, nearly out of body, or so it feels like. She knows Alexis and Liam are watching excitedly from different seats in the theater, but can only focus on herself and her three girls on the screen.

  The four of them getting matching heart tattoos after they finished their first day back of filming, Lacie crying on her shoulder after getting dumped in real life by the actor who plays her character’s boyfriend on screen, painting Whit’s apartment lime green while singing Spice Girls at the top of their lungs. Being with the girls, really being with them, helps her remember everything that had been going on in their lives while they filmed as she watches the scenes fly before her.

  Aura looks to her left and catches Lacie’s eye right away, the blonde smiling back at her. She grips Lacie’s hand and just nods, holding hands while she looks away, trying not to let a little joy tear escape. She turns to Whit and winks, taking her hand and grasping it firmly while Whit grins in response. Whit takes Nina’s hand and they return to watching the rest of the episode, Aura holding back the happy waterworks the entire time; she really has found her girl gang.

  She’s greeted with hugs and kisses from Alexis and Liam, a kiss on the cheek from Alexis, and a hot, lingering one on the lips from Liam that puts her anxieties at ease. That, and being done with interviews and on to a party thrown mostly all for her, helps a little bit too.

  “Aur, I can’t! I just can’t,” Alexis sputters.

  Liam looks desperately at Aura for a translation.

  “Does that mean you loved it?” She beams.

  “Of course I did! I can’t believe you didn’t tell me! Your character goes upstate, hits her ex-boyfriend with a car, goes to rehab and what… sells her novel? All in one episode!?”

  “Amazing, Aura, we can’t wait to see the rest. We kept looking at each other the whole time like ‘What are these girls gonna get into next?’ And I know everyone always talks about how funny Whit is, but I think you’re just as funny… or more… as-”

  “Whit!” Aura exclaims as she walks up to them, cutting Liam off barely in time.

  “Talking about us?” Whit asks, giddy.

  “Of course! We loved it,” Liam smiles, hoping his ass has been thoroughly covered.

  “I think this is going to be our favorite season, Whit, you’ve totally hooked us. And basically our entire cast and crew!” Lex coos.

  “Well, you guys are the King and Queens of getting people hooked, so I’m flattered!” Whit responds, “And I’m glad Aur has you here, and I’ll see you at the after party?”

  Alexis can barely get out an enthused, “Yes!” before Whit is yanked in a different direction. The driver gestures to them wildly and she leads Alexis and Liam to the car with her.

  “Have I told you how much it means to me that you’re both here?” Aura sweet talks to the two of them once they’re on the road, being swiftly chauffeured to the party just a mile or two down the street.

  “Hmmm, I don’t think so, but I can guess how much. Let’s see… I’m thinking it means roughly half as much as the fact that Liam is going as your date to the New York premiere. Can we talk a little more about that, please? Because inquiring minds want to know,” blasts Alexis.

  “And which minds would these be?” Liam questions the blonde. “The ones that are filled with little but useless gossip on other people’s lives? The ones we work with on a daily basis, perhaps?” Liam’s co-star gossip tolerance had been worn out since Season 1, and the idea of him being in the middle of said gossip annoys him even more.

  “Those exact ones, yes! And that includes me but you know I have more going on than just gossip in my head! Jerk!” Alexis punches Liam playfully on the shoulder, and Aura is overcome with the awareness of how close the two of them are, and just how rare it is for her best friend to like someone she’s dating.

  We are officially dating, right? She worries to herself before Liam reaches over and places his hand on her knee. She relaxes into her seat as he smoothes his fingers over the black velvet of her dramatic gown, which is also low-cut, practically backless, and dripping with bling. She feels herself drifting into some sort of I’m a beautiful and sought after movie star type of bliss before she realizes Alexis is still waiting for her to speak.

  “And what exactly do these inquiring minds need to know?” she asks.

  “Well Liam wouldn’t spill and we need deets-” Alexis whines, but is quickly interrupted by Liam.

  “She wouldn’t stop asking,” he explains. “I didn’t want to share all your personal information with Alexis.”

  At this, the girls’ faces break and the uncontrollable laughter that follows leaves them gasping for air and Liam’s caught in a crossfire of maniacal giggles, “What? Was that funny?”

  If the girls could talk, they would respond ‘Yes’ and yet, they can’t even catch a breath in order to talk. The idea of the girls keeping secrets of their love lives from each other is just too hilarious for them. They’re tumbling all over each other and laughing hysterically until finally they pull up to the after party venue, a giant, sparse-chic warehouse type of building lit with deep jewel-toned spotlights.

  “You better tell me what’s going on with you two, exactly,” Alexis insists again, now that she can breathe. “Because I’m not the only one who wants to know. In fact, people inside will be asking so just spill.”

  “Well, I told Liam yesterday that Whit said yes to dates next weekend, and he offered to join me,” she offers lamely.

  “If you were single, you’d ask me to be your date,” Alexis replies with a stamp of her high heel.

  “She’s not exactly single… right, Aura?” Liam interjects, “And we knew you’d be on set all next weekend anyway, Lex. I saw the call sheets and Sage said…”

  “Wait- you’re NOT single?” Alexis interrupts, glaring at her friend as if the world’s largest secret has been kept from her for an eternity.

  Aura feels a crimson flush creeping up her cheeks underneath her bulletproof foundation. I guess I’m not. But we haven’t said anything either way, and I’m pretty sure
we’ve only been on one date. Is that enough to make this a thing?

  A rush of crisp evening air rushes over her and she realizes she’s being saved by her driver, an angel in a black suit and legit chauffeur's cap. He’s holding the door open for her and his gloved hand is extended to help her out of the purgatory that is the limo at this moment.

  “Thank you,” she smiles at him awkwardly, taking his hand and escaping the uncomfortable car gratefully. Alexis frowns and tries to read Liam’s face but gets very little from it. He’s honestly nonplussed being interrupted like this; not that he doesn’t want people knowing he and Aura are together or, at least, getting very close to it. He just loves to see Alexis in such a perturbed state, and the face she is currently making is almost as pleasing to him as the time he’d jumped out of the closet in her dressing room and she’d nearly peed her pants. Almost.

  Liam hops out of the car and offers his hand to his now cranky co-star and she takes it begrudgingly. Once Alexis is on the walkway, not red carpet this time, Liam offers the crook of his elbow to Aura and her breath catches slightly in her throat as she threads her arm through his. The petite blonde pouts as she walks behind them, little mind paid to her, as they enter the party.

  It’s five days after the Los Angeles premiere of Season 4 and Aura is solo, in her bedroom, hastily pulling clothing items from her expansive closet and shoving them carelessly into a gigantic suitcase when her phone buzzes.

  She feels her larynx tighten as she reaches for the phone, vocal cords tensed and ready for a teenager worthy shriek at any time. She opens the message from Liam, and feels them relax just as quickly as her lip juts out. Just another pic of Banks, she groans in her own head. Just the dog.

  ‘I think Banks is gonna miss me, what’dya think?’

  She attempts to ignore the text. She has packing to do. But all she can think of now is that damn dog. Not that he’s not sweet, very, or not cute, totally. But he’s more than just a dog, and she feels reminded of that constantly.