Jesse’s voice cut into her thoughts. “You ready to go home?”
Jane shrugged. She’d had two martinis—one fewer than he’d had—and she was starting to feel their effect. “Yeah, I’m a little tired. I spent the last few days driving all over L.A. doing stuff for Fiona. Things were kind of not-busy with her for a while, and now they’re crazy-busy again. I knew the job was going to be a lot of work, but I was hoping I’d be more than a glorified errand girl, you know?”
“You just have to be patient,” he counseled. “I’m sure Fiona will come to her senses eventually and realize that you’re great and give you real stuff to do.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Oh, I’m right. You’re definitely great.” He flashed his big grin at her, while she willed herself not to blush. “So great that I’ve been talking about you to my friends for weeks. I really want you to meet them.”
“Your friends?” Jane repeated. Her mind immediately flashed to Braden. She wondered if Jesse discussed her with him. She didn’t dare ask.
“My birthday is in two weeks,” Jesse went on.
Jane leaned over and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “Really? Happy birthday!”
Jesse smiled and pulled her in for another kiss. Jane smiled back.
Breaking from a kiss, Jesse continued, “So like I was saying, I’m gonna be twenty-one. I thought I’d get some friends together at Goa. ’Course you know Braden already, but there’s a bunch of other people you haven’t met. I’d love it if you could be there. You should invite your friends too. Like Scarlett. And Madison and Gaby and whoever else you want. It’d be nice for me to get to know them.”
Jane wondered if Jesse knew what her friends thought about him. Scar giving him the cold shoulder whenever he picked Jane up at the apartment might have tipped him off.
“Absolutely,” Jane said. “I’ll text everyone as soon as you tell me the date and time.” She stopped and studied him. He was staring at her with an expression she couldn’t read. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Sorry. It’s just that you’re so beautiful.”
“I am not.”
“You are. You know I’m kinda crazy about you, don’t you?”
“Hmmm…or maybe you’re just crazy, period,” Jane teased.
Jesse reached for her and kissed her again. I’m kinda crazy about you too, Jane thought as they kissed.
35
MAYBE IT’LL BLOW OVER
Scarlett was in her room, watching L.A. Candy on TiVo. She and Jane had seen the first couple episodes together, Jane excited and laughing at how crazy it was to have their lives edited into perfect half-hour segments, and Scarlett cursing and horrified at how the producers chose to package them into pretty little clichés. But Scarlett was watching tonight with a purpose: to see if this might be the episode where she had tricked Madison into showing her true colors during her tour of U.S.C. She hoped it was, and she hoped the producers had the sense not to cut those scenes. She was trying to fast-forward when she heard Jane come through the front door. The clock on the DVD player said 1:14. Scarlett quickly stopped the show and switched to Comedy Central—she wanted to see it alone first before revealing Madison’s true nature to Jane. She listened, making sure Jane was alone. Hearing only one set of footsteps, she called out, “Hey! Wanna come watch TV?”
No answer. A moment later, Jane walked by, digging through her purse. She glanced briefly in Scarlett’s direction. Scarlett saw that her cheeks were flushed pink, and her eyes were…glowing. Dreamy. Scarlett stared at her for a minute, disoriented. She hadn’t seen Jane look like that in ages. Not since Caleb, during their first blissedout year before he took off for Yale and decided to redefine “monogamy.” That was Scarlett’s theory about him, anyway.
“Um…how was your date with the man-whore?” Scarlett yelled from her room. Jane had been dating Jesse Edwards for about two weeks now, and Scarlett had been giving her a hard time about it the whole time. She had seen all those tabloid articles featuring Jesse.
Jane took a few steps back and popped her head in the doorway. “His name’s Jesse,” she corrected her in a cool voice. “It was good.”
“It was?”
“Yep.” Jane smiled.
She walked into the room and slid into bed beside Scarlett, checking a text message. Scarlett leaned back to take a peek. It said: I REALLY HAD A GREAT TIME TONIGHT. CANT WAIT 2 SEE U AGAIN.
ME TOO, Jane typed.
Vomit, Scarlett thought. Way to play it cool, Jesse.
“Uh, Janie? Not to be a buzzkill, but we’re talking about Jesse Edwards, right?” Scarlett said in as gentle a voice as possible. “How many times have we seen his picture in Gossip magazine? And how many different girls have we seen next to him in those pictures? I’m just saying…”
“He told me that was a stupid phase he went through, and he’s trying to get away from all that now,” Jane said defensively. “I guess one of his friends from high school died in a DUI a few months ago, and it really shook him up and changed his perspective on stuff.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, seriously.”
Jane turned her attention back to her phone, intently pressing buttons. Scarlett didn’t know what to do. Her best friend had a bad history with boys, and bad judgment too. Caleb had burned her. Braden, with his nearly invisible but definitely very real girlfriend (she didn’t care what Braden called her—she was a girlfriend), had almost been a huge mistake. Jane was probably still recovering from both Caleb and Braden on some level and was vulnerable to male attention of any kind—especially male attention from someone as hot as Jesse.
Maybe it’ll blow over, Scarlett thought.
Then she watched Jane reading another text and smiling happily to herself. Maybe not.
“Well, just be careful,” Scarlett said, feeling partly protective toward Jane, and partly annoyed that Jane was walking into another relationship with blinders on.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, he’s Jesse Edwards. You know he’s probably going out with like four other girls. He’s a player.”
Jane turned to face Scarlett. “You know what? I like him, and he’s really sweet to me,” she snapped. “New subject, okay? How’s your love life?”
Scarlett didn’t feel like answering the question. The truth was, she’d kind of been checking out Cute Camera Guy from the U.S.C. tour, Liam. He was not only hot, but he seemed smart, too. That day, she’d spotted him reading a copy of One Hundred Years of Solitude—one of her favorite novels—during a break.
She knew that the “talent” wasn’t supposed to date the crew—Dana had gone over the ground rules in the beginning—but maybe there was a way around that?
Jane was staring at her, waiting for an answer to her question. Scarlett pretended not to hear and climbed off the bed. “I need a little TV-watching snack. Do you want anything from the kitchen?”
“I’ll come with you,” Jane replied, following behind Scarlett. “So how’s your love life?” she repeated.
“Hmmm.” Scarlett opened up the refrigerator. She gave it a moment, and then decided that even though she was kind of annoyed at Jane for not trusting her judgment about Jesse, she had to answer the question. She didn’t want to say anything about her inappropriate crush on Liam, though. Not yet. “Nonexistent at the moment.”
“Any cute guys at school?”
“Nah, not really.”
“You’re telling me that there are no cute guys at U.S.C.?” Jane asked, teasing her. “There’re, like, thousands of students there, right?”
“Yeah, well. I don’t know. I’ve been kinda busy with papers and exams and stuff. And…” Scarlett hesitated, grabbing a bunch of grapes. “Don’t you find it weird having the cameras around all the time? I don’t want the entire country to see who I’m hooking up with, ya know?”
Jane shrugged. “I’m sort of getting used to it. Besides, it’s not like they’re with us twenty-four/seven.”<
br />
“Sure feels like it sometimes.”
Jane’s phone buzzed on the counter just then, loudly. She glanced at the screen. “Oh, I gotta get that. Hello?” she said brightly. “Hey, Jesse!”
Jane listened for a moment, then laughed. “Yeah, I know. What? You want to take me where Monday night?” She laughed again.
Sighing, Scarlett walked back to her room and shut the door.
36
A NEW OFFICEMATE
On Monday morning, after getting miked, Jane had two surprises waiting for her at work. She had a new office and a new officemate.
“This is Hannah,” TV Fiona said, introducing Jane to a tall, slim girl with a slick honey-blond ponytail and intelligent brown eyes. (“TV Fiona” is how Jane had started mentally referring to her boss when she could tell she had scheduled hair and makeup for the days the cameras were there.) Hannah was sitting at a desk across from where someone (little elves?) had moved Jane’s desk during the weekend, along with her Mac, her disorganized filing cabinets, and her sad, half-dead plant. The two desks faced each other, with a wide aisle in between. The office was three times as big as her previous office/storage closet. Two L.A. Candy guys were shooting in the corners, their cameras arcing between Jane, Hannah, and Fiona. At least those guys would have a little more space now.
“Hey.” Jane shook Hannah’s hand as she surveyed her outfit: navy, high-waisted pants, a white silk blouse, and a single strand of long pearls. Hmm, conservative, but pretty.
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” Hannah said. She had a sweet, friendly smile.
“Hannah’s going to be here part-time, helping me—and you—with some of our events,” Fiona explained.
“Great!” Jane said enthusiastically even though she was wondering if it really took two people to pick up dry cleaning, lunch, raw honey, or whatever not-TV-Fiona wanted.
“I thought you could fill her in on our day-to-day schedule. Why don’t you start her on the phones and filing system, and then I’ll see you both in my office in an hour,” Fiona said.
“Sure,” Jane and Hannah said at the same time.
“And Jane? Don’t forget, Anna Payne’s going to be here at three.”
“Yes, of course.”
After Fiona left, Jane turned to Hannah. If the girl was impressed by the mention of Anna Payne’s name, she didn’t show it. “Sooo. Is this your first job in event planning?” Jane asked her.
“No. It’s my second,” Hannah said. She studied the Mac on her desk and switched it on. She picked up the phone on her desk, pressed some buttons, and nodded to herself. “I used to be an intern at David Sutton’s.”
Jane recognized the name immediately. David Sutton was probably Fiona’s top competition in the L.A. market. “Why’d you leave?”
“I interned there for, like, a year. David was awesome, but he couldn’t hire me. He warned me that working for Fiona could be rough, but this seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up. Might as well get out of my comfort zone and challenge myself. Know what I mean?”
Jane’s eyes widened. Hannah’s words reminded her of the things she had said to Wendell and Dana during her L.A. Candy interview. “Yeah, I know exactly what you mean,” she said with genuine enthusiasm this time.
Jane spent the next half hour showing Hannah the phones and filing. But Hannah was a quick study, and she hardly needed to be trained. She was already familiar with most of the office systems.
She also seemed to be a quick study in front of the cameras. She didn’t look nervous or self-conscious at all. Some people are just naturals at this, Jane decided.
“So. What part of L.A. do you live in?” Jane asked her, making conversation as they sat at their respective desks, sorting through piles of caterers’ bills.
“Third Street by the Grove. How about you?”
“Oh, I live in West Hollywood, too. Right by there. At the Palazzo.”
Hannah whistled. “Wow, I live in the Villas. We’re neighbors. I love that area.”
“Yeah, my roommate and I are pretty lucky to have found it,” Jane agreed, not mentioning that Trevor had found it—and that PopTV was paying for it.
Hannah stared at her computer screen. She was no doubt admiring the screensaver of the fat Buddha figure, Jane thought in amusement.
“So do you live with a boyfriend roommate or a roommate roommate?” Hannah asked after a moment. “Sorry, is that personal?”
“No, not at all.” Jane laughed, wondering if Hannah didn’t really know or if she was just asking for the sake of the cameras. Not that Jane had started assuming everyone knew who she was, but she figured Hannah might know since she was being filmed and would likely show up on L.A. Candy soon enough. Signing a release may have even been part of the application process. “I live with my friend Scarlett. I don’t have a boyfriend. There’s a guy I’m kinda dating, but we’re not, like, together.” She blushed happily, thinking about Jesse.
Hannah grinned. “Ooh, you’re all glowy. What’s his name?”
“Jesse.”
“How long have you guys been dating?”
“Just a couple of weeks,” Jane replied. “The thing is…” She hesitated.
“Yeah?” Hannah leaned forward.
Jane shook her head. She didn’t want to tell Hannah, whom she’d just met an hour ago, about the details of her relationship (could she even call it a relationship yet?) with Jesse or about her friends’ feelings about him. Sadly, Scarlett continued to have a bad attitude about him—and she had no problem expressing her criticisms whenever she was at the apartment. Which wasn’t much, lately. (Was school really keeping her that busy?) Even Madison and Gaby seemed to be against him. Madison had called her a few days ago, telling her to “be careful.” Gaby had texted her and said she personally knew five girls he’d gone out with and dumped within days. And of course, Braden had made his opinion of her and Jesse abundantly clear.
But Jane felt like her friends were dead wrong. So far, he was nothing like his old tabloid image. When they were together, his eyes never strayed from her. He treated her so well. And on Friday night after Arclight, when he’d dropped her off at her apartment, he’d whispered in her ear that she was different from any other girl he’d ever met. He’d said she was special.
Jane hadn’t told anyone that yet, because she knew how everyone would react. But Hannah didn’t know Jesse or Scarlett or Madison or Gaby. She was an outsider, which meant that she could be objective. Maybe Hannah was the perfect person to talk to about this.
“Anna, this is my assistant, Jane Roberts. Jane, this is Anna. Jane’s going to be helping out with your New Year’s Eve party,” Fiona explained.
Jane stood in the doorway of the conference room, staring at the stunningly beautiful actress who was sitting across the table from Fiona. She wondered if Anna would remember their encounter at Les Deux. Or maybe she’d been too drunk that night to remember anything. On the other side of the room, a camera guy adjusted a knob before zooming in on Jane.
Anna smiled at Jane. The tabloids had dubbed it the “million-dollar smile” because of her full lips and perfect teeth. Jane couldn’t help but be dazzled by it, even though the woman had been a total bitch to her at the club. “Pleasure to meet you, Jane,” Anna said.
“Yes, it’s a pleasure to meet you, too,” Jane said, smiling back.
“Jane, why don’t you sit down and talk to us about venues?” Fiona said.
“Sure.” Jane took a seat next to Fiona, then pulled out her notebook and opened it to the first page.
“I did some research, and I came up with some possibilities,” Jane began. “One idea is to have it on a boat.” Neither Anna nor Fiona reacted at all, so Jane went on. “Or Rick’s Place at the Hotel Figueroa downtown, which is a cool area.” More blank stares. “Another idea is a rooftop at the SLS Hotel. I was thinking since we have nice weather in winter, might as well take advantage of it.”
Anna’s blue eyes lit up. “Love it! Jane, you’re good.”<
br />
Jane blushed. “Thanks.”
“Maybe I should run it by Noah.” Anna reached into her enormous silver Prada bag and pulled out her cell.
While Anna was busy with her call, Fiona turned to Jane and gave her a thumbs-up sign. Huh? When did the boss lady start giving the thumbs-up sign? When the meeting was over, the camera guy took some quick shots of their good-byes and handshakes as they exited the conference room together.
As soon as the cameras were off, Anna glanced over her shoulder at Jane. She smiled and winked. “Just wanted to say—love your show,” she gushed.
“That’s nice of you, thanks! I’m a big fan of yours, too!” Jane replied. Oh my God. She couldn’t wait to tell Lacie and Nora, who were both huge Anna Payne fans, about this meeting.
Anna waved good-bye and headed down the hall past dozens of cubicles, seemingly oblivious to the wake of worshiping stares she was leaving in her path. As Jane watched her go, she thought about the irony of it all. Just a few months ago, Anna Payne had blown her off big-time at Les Deux. Now she was one of Jane’s fans. It seemed unbelievable to her.
37
A TIME BOMB WAITING TO GO OFF
Veronica thumbed through the photos that her favorite staff photographer, Manny, had just delivered. Jane Roberts getting into a Range Rover, Jesse Edwards grasping her arm protectively. The couple exiting Café Luxxe in Santa Monica, holding hands. Standing close together, buying popcorn at the Arclight.
Veronica went through the stack a second time. Excellent. She selected three from the pile. They would make a lovely spread. She made a note to reserve two full pages.
L. A. Candy Page 19
