“A thing?” Paige laughed in response before she leaned over and kissed Lainey’s cheek. “I’ve got to get to practice. I’ll see you later.”
“Love you,” Lainey told her.
“I love you, too,” Paige replied before shelooked at Dana and added, “Bye, Dana.”
“Bye.” Dana waved her off.
They’d been having lunch atChapter & Verse, a very old bookshop owned by Lainey’s best friend, Maisie. Lainey used to work here, but when she’d gotten the coaching job at the college, she had had to quit the part-time gig that she’d taken in order to save up money for the ring that was currently on Paige’s finger. Now, her sister hung out here whenever she could, or she would help out if Maisie needed an extra pair of hands. Today, both were true, and Maisie had even asked if Dana could stop by on her lunch break as well because her shop was having a book fair in the back parking lot, taking advantage of the cooler but not-too-cold weather and the fact that many people were looking for unique holiday gifts for their loved ones.
Dana had helped by lugging a few boxes outside and had even manned the cash register for a few minutes to cover for India, Maisie’s girlfriend, who had taken the day off from her job at Southern Roastery next door to help. Those two had been together for over a year now, and Dana could see them taking at least one of those significant steps soon. Unfortunately for her, though, because her mother considered Maisie to be like another daughter to her, that only meant that Dana would then get yet another lecture about what she was doing with her life.
“Well, Mother, if you must know, I am working for the catering company to the stars, loving every minute of it, and bedding a new star or starlet with every film. In fact, I’ve recently met the love of my life, and we’re going to announce our relationship to the world soon,” she had said jokingly to herself after her mom had texted her the other day asking her about her Christmas plans.
All of those things were lies, of course, and she hadn’t actually told her mom that because her mother knew better and would see right through her. Dana didn’t like her job, but at least it was movie-adjacent, and technically, she’d been part of the creation of several recent blockbusters. She had evenserved Lennox Owen and Kenzie Smyth lunch. There were other stars, too, but those were the two that still stood out to her more than a year later. Her dream of being an actress herself, though, had yet to come to fruition, and Dana knew she would eventually need to move to LA or New York for more opportunities, but she was scared. She’d always been scared, and she had her reasons. She didn’t see that fear going away anytime soon, either. Here, she had her family, her friends, her small one-bedroom apartment, and her old trusty Honda Civic that hadn’t let her down yet. She had her support system, and they had her, which she actually considered more important. Moving away from all of that was terrifying, even though leaving meant she could pursue what she wanted.
It wasn’t as if just moving to LA, her preferred destination, was guaranteed to bring her success. Millions of people had moved there over the years, wishing, hoping, and praying for their big break that had never come. Some had ended up doing commercials to make ends meet, others waited tables, and likely, even more had moved back home and given up. Dana figured that if she never tried, she’d have to give up as well, and she pushed the thought that that was giving up, too, really, out of her mind as often as it entered.
“I need to get back out there,” Lainey said. “Maisie and India wanted to run the indoor stuff in the afternoon when the tour stops by. Sarah is slow at the register, so the tours with a ton of people make it worse.”
“Yeah, okay. I have to get back to work, anyway.”
“How’s this one going? Big deal, and it’s taken forever, from what everyone has told me. Bryce and Sophie’s movie is finally becoming a reality, and you’re working on it. Pretty cool, huh?”
“I’m on the catering staff; I’m not really working on it.”
“Youareworking on it. You’ll be on set. You’ll physically be working on it.”
“Not exactly what I meant or want, and you know that.”
“I do, but you keep taking these catering jobs, so I’m not sure what you expected, Dana,” Lainey said and stoodup to toss her trash into the bin. “If you wanted to act, why didn’t you even audition for this? You know both Bryce and Sophie now, and it’s based on their life. Bryce also wrote the scriptandworks for the production company. Hell, she could get you auditions for other things, too, if you just asked her. You could have a job before you hop off the plane at LAX with your dream and your cardigan.”
“I hate you.” Dana glared at her sister playfully. “And I don’t want to get a job because of nepotism. I barely know them. They moved to LA right when Maisie and you joined that giant-ass friend group and pulledmeinto it. I have never seen so many lesbians in one place that wasn’t a lesbian bar in my life. Candace knows she’s putting the vibes out there, right?”
Lainey laughed and said, “Candace doesn’t care about vibes. She just loves owning a bar.”
“Maybe, but I don’t know Bryce or Sophie all that well anyway. I’ve met them, like, three times, I think, when they came back to visit and prep for the production. I can’t just ask for an audition.”
“They had an open thing. What’s that called?”
“A call. It’s called an open call,” she answered.
“Yeah, well, from what I know, they had one of those, which means you could’ve shown up. It films here, Dana. You wouldn’t have had to leave.”
That was true, and Dana didn’t know how to reply because shehadseen the notice for a local casting call several months ago, but she had dismissed it because there had been a chance that she would’ve gotten the role. Had Bryce and Sophie known she was auditioning, they would’ve considered her because of her relationship to Lainey and the rest of their friends, and if Dana had gotten the part, she would’ve had to thenbein a movie. School and bit parts in community theater couldn’t have prepared her for an actual film, right? She would have only ruined the thing with her lack of talent from being so out of practice.
“I must have missed that,” she lied to her sister. “Anyway, I need to get back now. I’ve been put on a special task for this one.”
“Special task?” Lainey asked. “What does that mean in the catering world? Doing the hard-to-clean dishes?”
“No, you asshole.” She chuckled. “I’ve been tasked with being Samara Barber’s food gofer. I think that’s my actual title, too.”
“A food gofer? What?”
“I guess she has a very special diet. It requires her food not to touch anyone else’s, and it needs to be hand-delivered at certain times to ensure proper temperature. I’ve got specific instructions in an email that I have to follow, including this giant list of ingredients she doesn’t even want to be in the same room with, her favorite things, and particular butters and oils she wants used for each meal. Apparently, she would be able to tell if I used olive oil on the one she wanted vegan butter used for. There are exact brands of things on the list, too. She has a brand of tofu and soy products. Oh, and she drinks coffee, but only one cup per day at 205°.”
“Damn. Diva much?”
“That’s what I’ve heard about her. I guess if you’ve been in the business forever, you probably think you can get whatever you want. Why she’s doingthismovie, though, is beyond me. She’s been getting all the good roles, making millions for each one, and I can’t imagine they’re paying her that much for this one. It’s not even hitting theaters. It’s going to be on a streaming channel.”
