“I’ve had my fair share of rendezvous since I moved here, thank you very much. But I don’t want that anymore. Not to mention, I’m not exactly in a position to go out with random people.”
There had been a period of fleeting affairs here and there when Caitlin hadn’t been too busy working, but once her firstmovie had been a box-office hit, her attempts at casual dating had come to an end. She had become too well-known to have hasty flings with strangers. Caitlin hadn’t stopped dating entirely, though. In addition to it becoming more difficult to find time in her increasingly busy schedule, it had now required more effort to ensure that her private moments wouldn’t become a scandal in the tabloids. Eventually, the forced logistics of love had worn on Caitlin, and she had left the idea behind her.
Maddie huffed as if she didn’t believe Caitlin. “I get it, you’re a big celebrity and that’s a tough life you live, but you have got to get back out there and start coming out with me again. I miss the Louise to my Thelma.” In the early years after Caitlin moved to LA, the duo went out often, spending many late nights bouncing between the Viper Room, the Rainbow Bar, and Whisky a Go Go on Sunset Boulevard.
Her friend, reading the expression on her face, said, “You can’t even come up with an excuse because you know you want to let loose like we used to.”
Caitlin fought hard to stop the grin from forming as she thought of the fun… okay, trouble the two used to get into. “Maybe I could use a night out.”
“Hell yeah!” Maddie triumphantly cheered. “We’re hitting Hollywood and will not end up drunk at Café 101 because you, my friend, are going to take someone home with you. Or go back to their place, whichever.”
Caitlin was over being reminded how celibate she was these days. “You seem to be very hung up on my sex life. Are you still sour about me not wanting to sleep with you, and this is you planting the seed for a second try?”
That one very drunken night during their first year living together had nothing to do with anything, but it was always a card Caitlin could play to push her friend’s buttons, quickly ending a conversation.
“You wish.” Maddie puckered her lips at Caitlin. “I’m just saying, it wouldn’t hurt for you to get your panties wet and live a little.”
Caitlinwasliving. Maybe not by Maddie’s standards, but she was content with her steady routine of going between the studio and home, spending her nights curled up on her couch with a glass of wine, far away from the flashing cameras. Sure, Caitlin wished there was someone she could come home to. That would probably require her to go out of her bubble a bit more often, though.
“Five minutes, girls.” The movie’s producer had walked over to where Maddie and Caitlin sat on the fountain.
They nodded as they gathered their belongings and headed over to the hair and makeup trailer for touch-ups.
“Cait, before we go back to work, I forgot to ask,” Maddie said as they sat down in glam next to one another. “When do you start that new movie in New York?”
“Last I heard, they still hadn’t set a date. I forget why, you know I don’t have much space in my brain these days for anything other than my current lines.”
“Well, let me know when you hear. I need to mentally prepare for the fact that you’ll be leaving me for three months. Plus, we need to go out at least once before you go.”
“You’re always my first call.” Caitlin smiled at her friend through the large horizontal mirror hanging in front of them.
This new movie would be the first one in years that she wouldn’t be able to take Maddie with her. They were both bummed about it because they loved working together, but Maddie no longer needed Caitlin’s help to get roles. Her career was doing great.
After they finished with touch-ups, the two headed to the set to film the last scene for the day.
When Caitlin arrived home later that night, she wentstraight into her kitchen and inhaled the comforting scent of rosemary and old cork. She popped open a bottle of red wine and filled a long-stemmed glass halfway.
The interior of her home matched its Spanish-style exterior with white and brown hues. The kitchen housed a wine cellar that held at least a hundred bottles of red and white wine. She rarely made a dent in her supply, but her assistant insisted on keeping the racks full for the sake of aesthetics. Of course, it came in handy after a long day or when Maddie would come over to binge their favorite shows in Caitlin’s home theater.
Picking up the heavy pour of merlot, Caitlin headed into the living room and sank into her plush, cloud-like ivory couch. She didn’t see the point of all the burnt orange, sand, and deep olive throw pillows, but her interior designer had insisted that they were essential for bringing the space to life. Moving them out of the way to get more comfortable, Caitlin pressed the single button on the remote to turn on her fireplace. She was drained from her early call time that day, and her exhaustion only deepened as she remembered that she had to be back at six o’clock again the next morning.
As Caitlin sipped her wine and the glow from the fire danced above the fake wood, her earlier conversation with Maddie filled the silence in her head. She looked around herself at the seven-thousand-square-foot home, tucked into the exclusive gated community of Mulholland Estates amongst the hills of Los Angeles, and felt a sense of loneliness.
She paused to admire a tall glass cabinet, where her gleaming Golden Globe Award stood beside a bronze BAFTA statue, a shimmering glass shooting star from the Critics’ Choice Awards, and two crystal People’s Choice Awards. Just beyond it, the adjacent wall was a gallery of movie posters, each one showcasing a chapter of her life.
Moments from each acting role filtered through her mind.Despite the skill she knew she possessed, she’d been typecast over and over again as the witty, bubbly, beautiful trophy. Caitlin wasn’t naïve. She knew that her all-American, girl-next-door looks had helped get her to Hollywood. But she had always hoped that one day, she would be known for her actual talent.
Caitlin had gotten everything that she had once dreamed of—recognition beyond her imagination, a home that looked as if it had been pulled fromArchitecturalDigest, and indefinite financial security. Except now, after all these years of hard work and dedication to her career, she realized that none of it meant anything without someone to share it with.
THREE
“ROLL CAMERAS. SOUND READY?” THEassistant director checked that his crew was in place. “And action!”
It was after midnight, and Gemma was working in Central Park. The night temperatures were still cool, but the added wind had made for a chilling scene when a group of kids spotted a lifeless body in the dark corner of the park, uncovering a new murder case for the NYPD’s detective squad.
Gemma was in the middle of filming a scene when her phone vibrated in her back pocket. It was usually on silent, given that they used their own phones as props in the show, but she must have forgotten to put it on Do Not Disturb. Who would even be calling her so late?
The consecutive beat distracted her again. A jolt of panic shot through Gemma—had something happened to her parents back in Pennsylvania? That fear was always lurking beneath the surface, a constant companion in her life. Her dad hadn’t been deployed in years, but the war had never really left him. Post-traumatic stress lingered, and working on the military base kept him close to both danger and triggers. He’d served his country for all of Gemma’s life, and even now, long after he had come home, the quiet hum of worry never stopped.
