In my defense, I don’t think anyone could have predicted how spectacularly wrong it would go.
The Girls
By now you’ve gathered that we were not friends before this.
Friendship isn’t what brought us together. It was the darkness, lurkingwithin each of us. The want. The crushing blows.
We didn’t know it at the time, but that’s why we did it.
Why we can’t find a trace of remorse within ourselves. Why we’re not even looking for any.
However, we feel like we should make that distinction: this was not the team effort one might imagine it was.
There was no murder squad.
And we’re certainly not guilty in equal measure.
We could have pointed the finger. We could have kept up the fights. We could have drowned in other people’s spotlights.
But one thing united us: in the darkest shade of the night, we saw a sliver of opportunity.
We recognized it.
We seized it.
Time only can tell whether it was worth it.
Cannes Film FestivalDay Five
Lou
I was leaving Cannes; there was no question about that. My career was over, my spirits crushed. I’d run out of money. But I couldn’t fathom theidea of being in LA, breathing in the hopes of anyone who hadn’t yet been broken by the chase of their Hollywood dream.
And yet, there was one loose thread I had to snip off before getting on that plane. I’d spent the last few years trusting Liza with every corner of my heart. She’d been my shoulder to cry on, my own personal motivational coach, the one person I allowed myself to talk to about the Oscar wins and multimillion-dollar contracts that were definitely coming for me.
If she’d been honest with me, I never would have come here. I’m not sure what I would have done after learning that my only important role to date had been left on the cutting room floor, but spending all my savings to fly to Cannes and humiliate myself wasn’t it. So really, this was Liza’s fault. But I still couldn’t accept the lie, the betrayal. There had to be an explanation.
I pulled out my phone and flicked through my contacts until I found Marnie’s name. She’d insisted on giving me her number at the end of ourlunch yesterday, in case I remembered anything else about Odetta Olson. Marnie had grilled me on the topic with impressive skill. She’d pressed the issue gently but firmly, until she felt like she’d squeezed every last drop out of me. Had anything unusual happened on the set ofDon’t Be Sad!? Had I interacted with Fiona Pills much? How so and when? What was Odetta Olson like? What did I think of the two women? What did I know? What had I seen?
Liza would have been so proud of me. When Marnie first approached me, I’d been tempted to get back at Odetta Olson for cutting me out of her movie without warning. I felt the urge to unleash all my frustrations, to go on a rant about the hell that awaits women who don’t support other women.
But I couldn’t do it. In the end, I’d told the simple truth. I hadlovedbeing on set, spending entire days filming with seasoned professionals, and a female director with a bold creative vision. Feeling like I was part of a cast full of strong women and a unique story I couldn’twaitto see on-screen.
Besides, Marnie hadn’t seen the movie. It was nice to have someone with whom I could keep up the illusion for a little while longer. And she had that cool confidence that immediately made me want to impress her.
I sent her a text.
Hey, thanks again for lunch yesterday! I’m supposed to meet with Liza this morning, but she forgot to tell me where and now she’s not responding. Any chance you know where she is?
I didn’t want to ask Liza to meet before I left. I knew she’d remind me, yet again, that we could talk when she was back in LA. But this couldn’t wait. If Marnie guessed that I made it up, she didn’t let on. Moments later, a voice message came through. I tapped Play, intrigued.
Hi Lou! You did not hear this from me, obviously, but there’s a breakfast happening right now at La Petite Maison. Right by the Palm Beach. Looks gorgeous! Anyway, I don’t know for sure, but there’s a good chance Liza was invited. I’d say they’re about midway through it now but, again, I didn’t tell you this.
Thank you!!!!I texted back.
The voice note had already disappeared from our message thread. Damn she was good.
The restaurant was about a forty-five-minute walk, near a little harbor in a pointy inlet on the south of town, an area called Pointe Croisette. I arrived there dressed in innocuous black jeans and a matching T-shirt, my hair pulled back. My airplane outfit.
