Fame

by Susan X Meagher

  Haley pulled Delta over and placed a kiss on the top of his head. “Let’s go take another spin, buddy. Then your Aunt Piper’s going to take over.”

  “Don’t let me interrupt,” she said, smiling at Haley’s narrow-eyed glance. “I don’t want to break up a winning team.”

  ***

  Their hour was over at eleven, and Haley took her phone from her pocket and took a look at it when it buzzed. “I’m going to have to take off. I’ve got to be somewhere at 11:15.” She got to her feet and brushed off her shorts. “Want me to bill you?”

  “I brought cash,” Piper said, standing up to reach into her pocket. She peeled off the bills, then spit out the invitation that was now a waste. “Delta and I hoped we’d get to take you to brunch.”

  A blonde eyebrow rose as Haley cocked her head. “You did, did you?”

  “Um, yeah,” Piper said, feeling a little tongue-tied. “It’s a nice day, and we’re both off work…”

  Haley checked her phone again. “I’ll be finished by 12:15. Why don’t you go to Vivace on Montana and put your name in for a table. By the time it’s ready, I’ll be back.”

  “Really? Your appointment’s that close?”

  “I’ll meet you there at 12:30,” she said, turning and breaking into a jog. Piper watched her go, admiring her form—which wasn’t great, frankly. Haley had clearly never run for speed, or if she had, she’d forgotten everything she’d learned. But she ran with a perky enthusiasm that made up for the energy she wasted bouncing up and down. Besides, the bouncing was nice to watch—from any perspective.

  ***

  That evening, Haley lay on the sofa in her apartment, chatting with her mom on the phone. “Yes, I honestly did go to church, Mom.”

  “You’re not just telling me that to make me feel better?”

  “Nope. I could even tell you about the sermon. And afterwards I stayed for a little while and said some prayers for Grandpa.”

  “Thank you, sweetheart,” she said, clearly choking up a little. “Daddy and I went to Grandma’s and took her to services, then everyone went to Marsha’s house for lunch. I know it makes Momma feel less lonely when she has people around on Dad’s birthday.”

  “I’m glad you did that, Mom. I was feeling a little lonely too, so I went out to brunch. We must both eat when we’re down.”

  “Did you go alone?”

  “No. After I finished working with this little dog, the three of us went out. One of us had to stay in a carrier, but he was cool with that. I took you to this place last year, as a matter of fact. Remember a nice little deli on Montana?”

  “No,” her mom said, chuckling. “Everything looks exactly the same to me out there. Every street’s jammed with cars, everyone’s in a hurry. It’s like watching a huge ant colony.”

  “Yeah, well, I took you to this place since it’s one of my favorites. Lots of good salads and house made bread.”

  “I do remember getting a really good cookie somewhere. That might have been in Santa Monica. But it was over four dollars. That left an impression.”

  “Uh-huh,” Haley said, letting little comments like that sail over her head. Her parents would always think she was crazy for living in LA, so it was a waste of time bothering to defend her chosen home.

  “Is that common for you, honey?”

  “What’s that?”

  “To have a meal with a client. I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned doing that.”

  “It’s pretty rare,” she admitted, laughing a little. “But this particular woman’s really cute…”

  “Oh, listen to you!” her mom said, giggling. “I swear, you’re just like your father. He’s never been able to resist a pretty girl.”

  “I assume he’s resisted a lot of them since you’re still married,” Haley joked.

  “Ahh! You know I didn’t mean it that way! But I see him looking. I won’t even take him to the mall anymore. I’m afraid he’ll have to go to the chiropractor because his head whips around so fast.”

  “I bet he’s crushed about the ‘no mall’ edict. God knows he loves to shop.”

  “I haven’t seen any tears shed,” she admitted. “So—” the excitement in her voice was pretty adorable “—tell me about this woman!”

  “Um, well, I don’t know her well. Her sister bought a new dog, then immediately took off on a long trip. So Piper, that’s the cutie, brought the dog into the shop for boarding. Now I’m doing a little training. Just the basics. He’s never going to be an obedience champ.”

  “That’s the dog,” her mom said. “I want to know about the girl.”

  “Hmm. What do I know about her? Um, she’s a little taller than I am, pretty brown hair, kind of athletic-looking…”

  “That’s what she looks like. Tell me about her.”

  “Well, that’s—” She thought for a minute. “I know one thing I like. She takes good care of her younger sister. There’s a possibility she spoils her rotten, but I think she just cares for her. I like people who take care of family.”

  “Oh, me, too,” her mom said, so sincere it was funny. “That’s it?”

  “Well, she’s pretty lighthearted. I think she likes to have a good time. And she seems interested in me, which is always a plus.”

  “Of course. Who wouldn’t be interested in you?” her mom said, laughing.

  “I just meant that she didn’t spend the whole day talking about herself, or talking at me. I’m always amazed at how many people seem to have a script they’re going to rip through, no matter what.”

  “Those people are called bores, Haley, and I agree we have far too many of them.”

  “So she’s pretty, and seems like she’s got a good heart, and she’s around my age. So far, that’s the best combination of attributes I’ve come across in a while.”

  “A long while,” her mom said quietly. “Is she really single?”

  “To be honest, she hasn’t confirmed she’s gay, so I haven’t asked any tough questions, but we’re vaguely flirting.”

  “Do more! How am I going to get grandchildren if you don’t get a move on?”

  “All of my cousins have kids, Mom, and all of them are within an hour’s drive of you. I bet every single one of them would love for you to babysit—frequently.”

  “Oh, those are just ordinary children,” she said, making Haley laugh at her dismissal of them. “I want grandchildren. Your children.”

  “Given that my partner won’t have any genetic material to share, I could have a baby any time I wanted to,” Haley reminded her. “You’ll note, I haven’t done that.”

  “That doesn’t mean I can’t harass you about it. That’s what mothers are for.”

  “Then I’m glad you’re playing your part to perfection, Mom. Excellent job.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  PIPER SPENT THE NIGHT READING through Charlie’s business email. While she didn’t have an official role, and she was very ready to relinquish her unofficial one, she was far more involved in her sister’s career than she wanted to be. They were going to have to come up with a workable plan for how to hand over her duties to someone better able to devote his or her time to it, and they were going to have to do that soon.

  Since she’d turned eighteen, Charlie had made her own decisions regarding her career. When her agent presented her with viable options, she quickly and thoughtfully made her choices, rarely even bouncing things off Piper, or anyone else. When she was home, she was even pretty diligent about maintaining her calendar and staying on top of her email. But when she was on location, someone—at this point Piper—had to help out. Before Delta Epsilon Forever had come out, lending a hand hadn’t been too onerous a task. But, as Piper had feared, things had definitely ramped up since Charlie’d gotten such good reviews for her role. The buzz about her was definitely increasing, meaning her agent needed to reach her much more often than normal.

  That wouldn’t have been a problem, but one of Charlie’s quirks was the way she interacted with her agent, Lama
r. Piper was dead certain there wasn’t another young actress who ran things this way, but Charlie was, in many ways, unique.

  From the beginning, she had refused to give Lamar her cell phone number. That was a crazy choice, but Piper respected her for having boundaries—even weird ones. Actually, it probably wasn’t crazy. Charlie had, since she was a little girl, exhibited a certain cool, aloof attitude toward her career and everyone involved in the biz. Piper wasn’t sure if that was a gambit or if she really was willing to let things fall where they may. But it had worked—to a remarkable degree. Because she wasn’t knocking down doors, people were drawn to her. In her case, the silent wheel got the grease.

  For the last two years, ever since she’d been cast in Delta Epsilon Forever, their routine had been that Piper would check Charlie’s business email every few days when she was out of town. That was usually plenty. But when Piper sat down to take a peek on Sunday night, the in box had totally blown up.

  As she dug through three days worth of mail, she stopped at one whose header read “PAY ATTENTION! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PAY ATTENTION!”

  Opening it, she saw that the original had come in on Friday, and had then been resent nineteen times, with each header a little more frantic. Lamar wasn’t usually very excitable, but whatever this was had him wetting his pants. Probably another offer to play a hot, dumb girl who chases an older man. A man, who, in the normal world, a woman like Charlie would have completely ignored.

  “Charlie,” the email began. “Call me the second you get this. I’ve got an offer I can’t put in writing, but you’re going to say yes. You’re actually going to say ‘Yes, yes, yes!’ I’m not kidding.”

  Piper looked at her phone, seeing it was almost ten. Lamar was a fitness nut who got up at the crack of dawn, so she thought she’d wait until morning to reply. Then another email came in, once again resending the original. Lamar was clearly still awake. She’d never called him, had never even spoken to him after the initial meeting when he was wooing Charlie away from her commercial agent. But she had his number, and she dialed, knowing she was consigning herself to being the contact number for the rest of eternity.

  “Lamar Taylor,” he said, his deep, smooth voice making him sound like he could have easily had a career in voiceovers. But he probably made a lot more money as an agent, and spared himself the heartache of having to go on a thousand auditions.

  “Lamar? It’s Piper Campbell, Charlie’s sister.”

  “Sweet lord!” he shouted, polite enough to hold the phone away from his mouth when he yelled. “I never thought I’d hear from her!” He paused a second. “Actually, I’m not hearing from her. Where is she, Piper?”

  “New Orleans. Um…shouldn’t you know that? Don’t you remember how tough it was to find a date when she could do the second-unit work on the Aaron Evert movie?”

  “Not to be a jerk,” he said, his weary sigh sending a clear message, “but I’ve got a hundred and fifty clients. I don’t know where ten percent of them are at any given moment. Of course, I only have two clients who act like they’re in the witness protection program, and the other one is truly insane.”

  “Charlie’s not insane. She just likes to disconnect. She explained that to you when you met.”

  “I was wooing her,” he said, laughing a little. “She could have told me she had Ebola and I would have let her drink out of my glass.”

  “Well, you’ve got her, and that means you have to put up with her quirks until you drop her.”

  “I’ll tell you one thing,” he said, sounding proud of himself. “She’s not going to drop me. Not once she hears about this movie.”

  “Want to tell me?”

  “No. I want to tell her. Have her call me, Piper. Right now. I promised I’d get back to the director tomorrow, and I don’t like to break my promises.”

  “I’ll try to get hold of her. How late will you be up?”

  “She can call any time. I’ve got a new baby in the house, so I’m up around the clock.”

  “Got it. I’ll do my best.”

  “Do better than that, Piper. Your sister’s one phone call away from being a star. A certified movie star.”

  “I understand,” she said, “and congratulations on the baby.” She hung up, thinking of how many times someone had made a much bigger deal out of an offer than it deserved. But she dutifully called her sister, pleased when she picked up her phone.

  “A real phone call?” Charlie asked. “What’s wrong with a text?”

  “Important,” Piper said. “Call Lamar. He’s got a deal that’s going to make you a certified movie star.”

  “Oh, he does, does he? Who provides the certification? I only ask because he told me the film I’m currently working on is going to make me a certified movie star. Will I get some kind of notice—?”

  “Call him,” Piper said. “Or don’t. Your choice. Gotta go. Your dog has to pee.”

  “Let me talk to him,” Charlie said, already going into the puppy voice she reserved for Delta.

  “He’s standing by the door, yipping and staring at me. That means he’s got to go now. Call me back if you want.” Then she hung up and opened the garage-style doors. By the time one cleared Delta’s head, he was racing for something green, which he found not a foot away from the house. The little guy had really had to go, and had valiantly restrained himself. She stood alongside him and quietly said, “Hurry up,” just like Haley had taught her. Apparently, if you named the behavior consistently, you could use the word to make the dog perform the associated behavior on your terms. Delta moved a few feet away and lifted his leg again, looking up at her as she repeated the term. They had kind of a moment, where he seemed to know exactly what she was saying, and was pleased he’d been able to make her happy. Then he shook himself and walked over to the chaise, wagging his tail and whining softly. She gave in and sat down, then picked him up. After stepping on her belly and thighs for a minute, he was satisfied, dropping down to let out a heavy sigh. Then they sat there placidly, listening to the night sounds of the neighborhood. She wasn’t sure when Charlie was coming home, but she was absolutely sure she was going to miss this. It had only been a week, but she was as bonded to this little guy as if she’d carefully chosen him herself. Once again, her sister had inadvertently gotten her into a position that made her life just the tiniest bit more difficult.

  At eleven, Piper and Delta settled into her sister’s ridiculously sumptuous bed. Even though she knew it was mostly horse hair, she wouldn’t have been surprised to learn it was one hundred percent angel wings. Delta was under the covers, his favorite spot, and he snuggled against her when she turned onto her side. He liked to lie against her bare belly, a place she hoped would someday be occupied by a human woman. But Delta wasn’t a poor substitute, all things considered.

  She was almost asleep when her phone rang, jarring her and making Delta pop out from the covers, sounding his ferocious little bark. He actually wouldn’t have frightened a mouse, but he sure gave it his all. Piper put the phone up to her ear. “Kennel mistress,” she said after seeing Charlie’s photo on the display.

  “Too late?”

  “Nah. Just got into bed.”

  Charlie sounded like she’d chugged a case of Red Bull. “Best. News. Ever!”

  “So Lamar wasn’t exaggerating?”

  “Not at all,” Charlie insisted. “I’m throbbing, Piper. Throbbing!”

  Piper laughed, waking up more fully as her sister spoke. “Spit it out, woman!”

  “I’m going to…” she paused dramatically “…star in Tim Banks’s next movie. Star!” she shouted.

  “Holy fuck! You’re going to be the female lead in a Tim Banks movie?”

  “No,” she said, panting with excitement. “The lead! I’m starring in an action movie, Pip. I’m so happy I could pee myself.”

  “Goddamn, Charlie! How did this happen?”

  “Sierra Vickers, the stupidest woman on the planet, dropped out after months of pre-production. The
y’re scheduled to start filming in a couple of weeks, and they don’t have a lead.”

  Piper couldn’t stop herself from butting in. “And? Tim Banks wouldn’t know you if you bit him!”

  “I know that,” Charlie said, now sounding a little calmer. “But Jo Rosen’s casting the movie and she’s been putting me up for things since I was seventeen.”

  “Then why didn’t you get to audition in the first place? You’re a better actress than Sierra Vickers.”

  “Jesus, Pip! Move on! I’ve got it now, and I didn’t even have to do a thing to get it. Do you honestly want me to complain about this?”

  “Of course not,” Piper said, feeling like a jerk. “I’m just so stunned! No one hires an actor for a role like this without meeting her. I’m…well, I’m stunned.”

  “You’re stunned! A huge movie just dropped into my lap! It’s gonna be crazy trying to get up to speed, but I don’t care. I’m starring…starring in a Tim Banks movie!”

  “Hey, what about that project you’re supposed to start working on for your friend. Isn’t that shooting soon?”

  “Wesley can wait,” she said, barely pausing. “You can’t expect people to drop everything when you’re not paying them.”

  Piper was about to launch into another of her “keep your commitments” lectures, but that was a waste of time. Even if Charlie’s friend was going to make a groundbreaking indie film that every movie buff would talk about for decades, that opportunity couldn’t lure her away from Tim Banks.

  “I think I’m calm enough to listen now. Tell me all about this movie. Every detail.”

  “Okay.” She took a breath. “It’s an action/adventure/coming of age kind of thing, based on some young adult books. Ever heard of the Eden 2.0 series?”

  “Nope. Oh, wait. Yes, I have. Rada’s daughter made her go to a bookstore at midnight to get a hardback copy on the night the last one was released. That’s a big deal, Charlie. Those books are huge!”

  “I know! They’ve sold like fifty million copies worldwide. Tim bought the rights after the first one came out a couple of years ago, and he’s been working on getting a screenplay he likes ever since. We’re doing the first book, the one without the love interest. So I won’t have to compete with some guy to get noticed.”