“Well, no. There was a bigger flyer, but I didn’t bother bringing it. It’s for a personal assistant job on a movie set.”
“A movie for who?” I asked. “And who would I be assisting?”
Mima wave her hand in a dismissal fashion. “Shannon Sofia, you need to learn to just go with the universe sometimes.”
I laughed. “I don’t even know what that means, Mima. You hand me a random email address, with no name attached to it, and I’m supposed to email them to get in contact?”
“Yes. Exactly.”
What in the heck was going on?
“This smells fishy,” I said, narrowing my eyes.
“That’s just because I had tuna for lunch. Now go on, email the person and see what comes from it. Just imagine working on a set, surrounded by movie stars. You’ve always wanted to be in the film industry. I can’t in my life see how this couldn’t be a good thing.”
“Well, it sounds more like some kind of porno film, seeing how it’s so vague.”
“Yes, well,” Mima cut me another slice of pound cake and placed it on my plate, “Porn stars need assistants, too.”
“Mima!” I gasped.
“What? It’s true. Now do your grandmother the favor and email that person. Who knows? This might be the beginning of something special, Shay. You have to open your doors to new possibilities. When God gives you an olive branch, take it.”
“I don’t know…”
She pointed a stern finger at me. “That’s why you need to start going to church with me again. You’re losing faith. Just believe in this for the next forty-eight hours, all right? And if nothing comes of it, nothing comes. But don’t disrespect God’s blessings.”
“Okay, I’ll email them. Will that make you happy?”
“The happiest.”
I was glad to learn that the job interview wasn’t for a porn studio. After a few emails back and forth with Lane, the current assistant of the actress I’d be working for, I was a bit stunned that she was so quick to give me the information for the shoot. I was instructed to go to the shooting location and meet Lane there so she could take me to the interview.
Christ. I was on a studio set.
Not even a broken-down porn set, but a real life, real movie making set.
It was unbelievable.
There was a lot of hustle and bustle around me. It appeared as if everyone was running around in circles, getting tasks done. From the outside looking in, it appeared as if it were a train wreck, but shockingly enough, everyone moved as if they knew exactly when to get out of the way, and when to step in. An organized chaos.
“Shay?” a voice called.
I turned to see a very pregnant looking woman walking toward me. She looked stunning from head to toe, and wore high heels, even though it looked as if they were killing her feet.
I smiled. “Yes, that’s me.”
She held a hand out and I shook it. “I’m Lane. I’m so glad you’re here. I want to get you in to meet Sarah as soon as possible before she has to start her morning shoot. She’s in hair and makeup in her trailer, so we can hop over there and get things going.”
I felt my cheeks heat. “This is all so insane.”
Lane gave me a kind smile while placing her hands on her hips. “First time on a set?”
“Yes.”
“I could tell. I still see the stars in your eyes. Don’t worry, you get used to it. Just move around as if you belong and no one will think differently—they are too busy minding their own business.”
We began walking toward the actor trailers, and my stomach was in full knots the closer we grew.
“I know it’s probably odd to hold an interview in a trailer, but Sarah likes to have a chance to really get to know someone and feel their energy and all that jazz.” She leaned into me and lowered her voice. “She’s recently watching a video on crystals and went full blown hippie mode on me over the past two years. Don’t be freaked out if she asks you to hold one of her stones. It’s just you know, famous people doing weird famous stuff.”
I chuckled. “I’ll hold anything she hands my way.”
“Good to know. Otherwise, my advice? Just be yourself. Sarah will probably have a million questions for you. She really likes to get a good idea of who she’s working with.”
“That’s fine. I’m an open book. Or, an open script, I should say. Nothing to hide here.”
“Wonderful. Besides, if you had something to hide, Sarah would find it. Okay, here we are,” Lane said, stopping in front of a trailer. I stared at the name against the door, and I am instantly sent back in time.
Sarah. Freaking. Sims.
The woman Landon dated after he finished dragging my heart through the mud.
Also, my favorite actress of all time.
I was going to vomit.
“Wait. I’m interviewing with Sarah Sims?” I choked out, my heart in my throat. “Like the Sarah Sims?”
Lane nodded. “Yes. Sorry, I thought I’d mentioned that earlier.”
“You definitely didn’t mention that earlier.”
“I hope that isn’t a problem?”
I shook my head, trying to regain my composure. “No, of course not. I just didn’t expect it to be her, that’s all.”
Lane’s worried expression dissipated as she nodded. “Oh, yes. Well, when we bring in PAs for actors, we try to keep the name of the individual under wraps. It keeps fanatics away.”
“Right, of course.”
“Wait here and let me check if Sarah is ready.” I stood still outside of the trailer as Lane hurried inside. When she popped her head back in, she waved me over. “Come on in, Shay.”
I walked up the steps of the trailer, and to my surprise, it was much bigger than I assumed from the outside looking in. There was a large sofa, small kitchen with a mini fridge, and a dining room table. Toward the back of the trailer was an area for hair and makeup, which was where Sarah currently was standing.
“Oh my gosh, you must be Shay!” she exclaimed, standing up with rollers still in her hair as her small frame was wrapped in a robe. “Get in here,” she said, waving me in for a hug.
I wrapped my arms around her, and even though it was the weirdest moment of my life, it was truly exciting, too.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said, pulling back to give me a once-over. “What’s your zodiac sign?” she asked.
“Uh, um, Aquarius,” I said, being thrown off by her question.
“Oh yes, I get that vibe from you. You are definitely an Aquarius. It feels good to be around your energy. I’m a Gemini, so it makes sense why it feels this good.”
I smiled, not having a dang clue in the world what she was going on about. “Yeah, totally.”
She placed her hands against my cheeks and stared at me for five minutes too long, and I tried my best to not be completely thrown off by the odd exchange. But honestly, how could I not be? It was…weird. To say the least.
“Can you do something for me?” she asked, finally dropping her hold against my face.
“Sure, of course.”
“Can you hold my balls?”
Uh, come again?
“Excuse me?” I hoped I had a decent poker face, because having Sarah Freaking Sims ask me to hold her balls felt extremely awkward.
“Well, my crystals. I like to call them my balls, seeing how I like to rub them more than a pair of actual balls.” She winked.
I relaxed a little more. Sure, Sarah was odd, but at the same time she was kind of charming. In a very weird way.
She walked over to her table, grabbed her balls, and came back to me. I held my hands out and she placed them in my hands, wrapping my fingers around her cryst—err—balls.
She stepped back, clasping her hands together, grinning at me as if she were a proud mama watching her kid’s graduation.
“How does it feel?” she questioned, her eyes wide with intrigue.
“Um,” I hesitated, completely unaware of how I was supposed to ans
wer that.
She waved her hand at me. “There is no wrong answer. Go on. Just first thing that pops into your mind.”
“Well, they are…warm.”
“Yes.” She sighed, pleased by my answer. “My balls are warm.”
Good Lord, was I being Punk’d? Was Ashton Kutcher about to pop out of the trailer bathroom?
“What else, Shay?”
“Smooth. They are smooth.”
“Soo freaking smooth,” she moaned, way too into this than she should’ve been. “Now hum to them.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“You know, hum. Close your eyes and hum. Then lightly blow on my balls.”
That awkward moment when you found out that one of your idols was a freaking psychopath.
But alas, I was in need of a job, and if that meant humming to two balls, then by all means was I going to hum my heart out.
I shut my eyes and right as I was about to push my lips together to hum out a tune, chuckling erupted in the room.
I opened my eyes and raised an eyebrow as Sarah, her hair designer, and her makeup artist all stood there laughing at me.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, just a joke. We don’t hum at the stones. That would be silly. I just wanted to see how far you’d be willing to go with my crazy requests.”
I breathed out a breath of air. “Oh, well, okay.” Obviously, I’d go as far as blowing on her balls. That was the level of desperate I was sitting at.
“I think we are going to have fun working together,” Sarah remarked, taking the stones from my hands. “And it’s clear that you have a lot of dedication, so I think we’ll get along just fine. Have a seat, and I’ll give you the list of tasks that Lane typed up for you.”
“I’m sorry, are we not…interviewing for the position?”
“Interviewing? Oh no, honey, you’ve already been hired.” She cocked an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, I thought I made that clear. It wasn’t much of a question that you’d be hired, since your name was given to us by one of my favorite people.”
“I’m sorry, given to you?”
“Yes. You came with the highest referral. Honestly, with your background in being a barista, and your coffee girl latte crazy fiasco, I was even more excited to work with you. I mean, if I had a dollar for every time a terrible story about me went viral, I’d be rich.” She paused. “—Er. I’d be richer. Anyway, I really trust you, seeing how Landon spoke so highly.”
My stomach dropped. “Did you say Landon?”
“Yes. He said you were an old friend, and honestly, I’ll do anything to get in his good graces.” She took a seat at the table and patted the chair beside her. “Plus, since you have history with him, I figured you could give me some insider information?”
“What do you mean?” My mind was still spinning from the idea that Landon was the one who lined up the job for me. Why would he do that?
“Well, you know,” she licked her lips then bit her bottom one. “It’s no secret that Landon is a dreamboat. I’ve been trying for years to hook up with him, but it never really worked out.”
“What? I thought you two dated years ago. Back when your film came out?” I asked, trying to keep my question as calm as ever, even though my heart was pounding against my chest, trying to leap out of my body.
Sarah waved a hand at me. “Oh, I wish. That was just some promo mumbo jumbo because Landon got himself into a bit of a dramatic pickle back then. But you probably know all about that, being such an important part of his life.”
I sat up in my chair, confused as ever. “Yes, of course. Right.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I tried with him back then, but he wasn’t having it. He was too hung up on some high school sweetheart or something. I swore, he’d sit on set every single day, writing her love letters in a notebook like a love-sick fool. I’d never seen anything like it.”
He wrote me letters?
The emotions sitting at the back of my eyes was intense, and I did my best trying to blink it all away.
“He wrote letters on set?” I asked, my voice cracking, but Sarah was too much in her own la-la land to even notice.
“I swore, he filled notebook after notebook for that girl. I’m surprised they didn’t end up together. If someone was that obsessed with me, I’d marry them in a heartbeat.”
“Did he ever say what happened between them?”
“No. Just that she was better off without him and his baggage.”
There were so many missing pieces to the puzzle of Landon and my past, I wasn’t even sure what to think of it all.
“Thankfully, it didn’t work out for the two of them. Leaves more of a chance for me to reconnect with him. The production company wants to push that narrative again this time around—the ‘old lovers rekindle their flame’ which is fine by me. Only this time, I don’t want it to be a fake love story. I want Landon to really fall for me, and it’s going to be so much easier with your help.”
“My help?”
“Yes! Of course. It seems you two must be close, so perhaps you can give me pointers on Landon. Help me get to know some of what he’s into. His likes, his dislikes.”
“I don’t know…” I started. “Maybe that should be something you do—grow the connection yourself.”
“I would, but I don’t have much time with my schedule.”
“We haven’t really connected in a while,” I confessed. “I can’t really say much about what he’s into and whatnot.”
“That’s fine. You have time to learn.” She took my hands into hers and squeezed them. “I think this is going to be magical. Don’t you?”
“You can say that much,” I huffed, pushing out a smile.
“Okay, now come on. Let’s hold the balls again.”
29
Landon
“You used Mima to get to me?!” a voice barked as I stood outside of my trailer flipping through my script. I looked up to see Shay storming my way. The closer she grew, the more I noticed her nose flaring and the crinkles that sat deep in her forehead. “Are you kidding me, Landon?”
“I figured you wouldn’t take the position if I handed it to you, but I wanted to help after everything I did. I felt really shitty for the way you lost your job because of me showing up to your place of employment. Everything spiraled so fast, that I didn’t want to be the cause of you being stuck without a job.”
She sighed. “I would’ve lost the job with or without you there.”
“Yes, but you wouldn’t have been mocked across the internet because of it. It would’ve been swept under the rug, but because of me and who I am, people were there to capture a really shitty situation. I needed to do something to right that, Shay. I needed to fix that.”
Her brows lowered. “By making me work with your ex-girlfriend?”
I shook my head. “Sarah was never my girlfriend. I know how it was showcased way back then, but that was all business. We never had a connection on that level.”
“Why would you make it appear as you did?”
That felt like a loaded question, and I wasn’t sure how to even tackle it without my mind wanting to spiral out of control. I tried my best not to think back to that period of my life when things went to complete shit.
Shay frowned, seeing the reservation I had on answering the question. She shifted around in her shoes. “Sarah’s a lot…odder than I thought.”
I laughed, a breath of relief running through me. “Did she ask you to hold her balls?”
“Her big, smooth balls,” she bellowed. “And she also told me each one was over four thousand dollars. You know your life is okay if you can spend four thousand dollars on a crystal.”
“It’s no secret that Sarah is pretty well off.”
The sun beamed against her as she faced me, and she shielded it with her hand, narrowing her eyes. “I think this is the first time it’s actually setting in for me that you’re a true-blue actor.”
I chuckled. “You mean running from the paparazzi wasn’t enoug
h to prove it?”
“Don’t get me wrong that was insane, but actually seeing you on a set with your name on a trailer… I don’t know. This makes it more real to me.”
I nodded. “Who would’ve thought that a fucked-up kid like me would’ve ever made it here?”
“Me,” she softly said, a slight curve to her lips. “I would’ve thought it.”
The energy between us intensified from her words, and all I wanted to do was step forward and wrap my arms around her and never fucking let go.
I held off on doing such a thing. She still had her walls up with me. I didn’t want to keep trying to knock them down without her permission.
“You deserve to be here more than I do,” I said, meaning it, too.
“Yeah, but as it turns out I am here because of you. And for the record, I would’ve taken the job if you’d given me the opportunity. I would’ve been super stubborn about it—but I would’ve given in after a while.”
“Good to know.”
She shook her head a little in disbelief. “You truly used my grandmother to do your dirty work, unbelievable.”
“She was oddly easy to convince.”
“Not shocking,” Shay mentioned. “She always had a soft place in her heart for you.”
“I can’t say that about a lot of people,” I joked.
“I can say it at least about two,” she replied.
Was that…?
Was that a glimmer of light in her eyes? Did she reveal that there was still a soft place in her heart for me? Why did I feel like crying and leaping for joy like a damn fool?
Keep it cool, Landon. Act natural.
“Okay, well, I better get back to Sarah. She’s going to walk me through a meditation of sorts. But, before I go, I have to ask you something really important.”
I took in a breath. “Shoot.”
Shay gave me a slight grin. “How many crystals do you have?”
I brushed my thumb against the tip of my nose. “Oh, you know, only about three or four dozen. Nothing too crazy.”
She laughed.
God, she laughed, and I wanted to bottle up the sound and release it on my saddest of days because I was certain that her laugh would always make me smile, even at my lowest.
Landon & Shay - Part Two: (The L&S Duet Book 2) Page 22