“Are you trying to keep me from writing down piñata?”
“Yes. Because you’ll tell everyone it was my idea.”
Laughing, they continued to write down ideas and nibble the graham crackers while they sipped their tea. Julia kept glancing at her husband as he stared into space, trying to think of ideas, and she felt overwhelmed with gratitude for how sweet her life had become.
CHAPTER SIX
Delilah pulled a compact mirror out of her purse and checked her reflection. It had only been a few minutes since the makeup artist had spruced up her hair and makeup, but there was a strong wind blowing in from the ocean and she wanted to make sure her hair hadn’t become too tousled. Her hair had always been coarse and unmanageable, and it took a great deal of work to make it look smooth and glamorous. She’d always felt as if she had some kind of secret that she had to hide from the public, as if people finding out that her hair wasn’t all that wonderful after all would make her less of a movie star.
You’d think after all these years I wouldn’t have any imposter syndrome anymore,she thought with a good-natured grimace, snapping the makeup case shut and slipping it back into her purse.I still feel like a normal person pretending to be the glamorous woman they all seem to think I am.
She was surrounded by the film crew as they prepared for the shots that were going to be filmed under a picturesque willow tree. She and the rest of the movie crew were tucked away in a corner of Rosewood Beach, closer to the ocean than the charming streets, and Delilah felt almost as if they’d steppedback in time to a world that was quieter and filled with more green.
Carla was distracted at the moment, making sure the lighting was giving the effect she wanted, but Delilah knew that soon she would approach her and give her direction for the shot. While she waited, Delilah picked up her phone absent-mindedly and started to read a news article about troubling riots happening in L.A. A moment later, her phone began to ring and she saw that it was her agent Martin calling.
“Hey, Martin,” she said.
“Hey, Delilah.” Martin’s tone was crisp, and he sounded slightly rushed, as he almost always did. “Do you have a minute?”
“Probably exactly a minute or so,” she said. “I’m on set and I might get called away any second.”
“Okay, that’s fine. I have a role on my radar for you. It’s about a woman who tries to get out of her small town but ends up deciding it’s the place she wants to be.”
“Um,” Delilah said. “Maybe…” She didn’t want to be rude, but to her it sounded as if the movie didn’t have any kind of a substantial plot. She felt doubtful that it would be successful if it was too sappy and lacked action. “What are they offering me for it?”
There was a short pause, and then Martin said, “Actually, they want you to audition for it.”
“Oh.” Delilah felt slightly as if she’d been splashed with cold water. She hadn’t had to audition for a part in years. “I—I suppose so, if it’s really a good part.”
“It’s a great part. The kind of thing that could win you an Oscar.”
Delilah felt that Martin was probably exaggerating, but even though she didn’t like the sound of the storyline, she all of a sudden felt as if she had something to prove. If they wanted herto audition, then she would audition and do exceptionally well so that she was cast.
“I’ll do it if I can get a page or two of the screenplay,” she told him. “Or, even better, the whole thing.”
“I think I can arrange that,” Martin told her. “The director is very excited about the prospect of securing you for the role, so he just might agree to that.”
Delilah wondered if Martin was exaggerating again, since she didn’t understand why the director would ask her to audition if he wanted her for the role.
It’s not as though my acting abilities are in question,she thought.All he needs to do is watch one of my movies to see what I can do. And I look older now than I did in most of my more famous movies, but all they would need to do to see what I look like right now is google me.
She repressed a sigh, not wanting to have a bad attitude about the situation. After all, she was lucky that she hadn’t had to audition in a long time. Maybe the director admired her work and wanted her for the movie, but he wasn’t sure that she would be the right fit for the character and felt that he needed to see her actually read the words from the screenplay.
“I’ll let you go,” Martin said. “I’ll let you know what the director says.”
“Sounds good, thank you.”
“Mm-hm. Bye now.”
Martin hung up abruptly, and Delilah stood still for a moment, taking in the new information. She felt a flurry of emotions, and she knew that she needed to put the conversation from her mind in order to focus properly on her acting.
Her eyes searched for Carla in the crowd, and she saw that the director was still talking to the lighting crew. It seemed that she wanted something to be changed, and Delilah guessed that she had another few minutes.
She clicked her phone screen back to life and went back to scrolling through the news. Various headlines outlined the successes and scandals of various stars, but she scrolled past all of them, feeling disinterested. Suddenly the drama of Hollywood seemed tiring and overblown. She had expected to feel a bit left out, stuck in a small town away from the hustle and bustle and glamour that she was used to, but instead she was finding that she enjoyed being away from the city. Rosewood Beach had a peacefulness to it that she found appealing, as if she was able to take a real deep breath for the first time in years.
Huh,she thought, surprised by the revelation.Do I really feel that I need a break from Hollywood? I thought I was going to be bored here, but instead I find it so… inspiring.
“Delilah, we’re ready for you,” Carla called, and Delilah slipped her phone back into her purse.
