The driver turned into a private road, joining a line of similarly expensive cars heading towards a mansion that looked implausibly grand and opulent, all white stone and columns, lights illuminating the palm trees that lined the driveway.
“Wow,” Maria whispered. “This is where the premiere is?”
“Welcome to the A-list,” Julian replied with a grin from the front seat.
***
There was a red carpet and, while it wasn’t as if Luisa had got to walk a red carpet that many times, the novelty was still in no danger of wearing off. Photographers lined one side, cameras at the ready, and she knew the routine with Julian by now… wait for him to come around and open her door, take his offered arm, smile (but not too much, enigmatic was good), pause where they wanted you both to pause, turn a little to show the dress, and then most importantly move along before you got hurried out of the way for someone far, far more important.
Julian was good at this… he’d been involved in the entertainment industry in LA for so long now that this was second nature for him, and everyone at the premiere whowas anyone would know him and want a moment with him. He rested his hand on the small of her back as they posed together, and Luisa knew they looked good as a pair… the older, handsome man with the younger model. The paparazzi would eat it up.
Maria had hung back, looping round to wait at the far end of the red carpet. She’d been to a few events with Luisa and knew the score. When Luisa and Julian made it through, Maria fell into step with them.
“That always feels surreal,” Maria said quietly.
“You get used to it,” Julian replied.
“I’m not sure I ever could.”
Inside was exactly as Luisa had expected from the outside: opulence bordering on the obscene. Crystal chandeliers, marble floors, staff in incredibly smart and almost painfully stylish uniforms bring round trays of champagne and hors d’oeuvres. The garden itself had, apparently, been turned into an outdoor cinema for the premiere and Luisa caught sight of a natural amphitheatre through the windows at the back.
“Champagne?” Julian asked, grabbing three glasses from a passing server.
“God, yes,” Maria said, taking one gratefully.
They spent the next hour circulating around the room as a three, Julian introducing Luisa and Maria to a never ending stream of people… producers, directors, actors whose faces Luisa recognised even if she couldn’t put a name to them. Marialooked a little overwhelmed but was holding her own, flipping the focus on to the people she was talking to. Never a bad tactic when dealing with some of the narcissists in the industry, Luisa figured.
Luisa slipped without noticing into professional mode, the same version of herself that came out on photoshoots and at parties. Charming but not too eager, interested but never starstruck, beautiful but not threatening… she’d learned over the years that it was necessary because there were pitfalls everywhere.
Just before the premiere itself started, Luisa was walking back from the bathrooms when a familiar voice said, “I loved your work on the Seraphim campaign.”
Luisa turned, surprised, and didn’t quite stop her mouth falling open.
“Luisa, isn’t it?”
“Uhh… yes, that’s me…” she managed to say, before shaking the hand that was offered to her. Because yes, she’d recognised the voice, but not because she knew the person… it was because she’d heard them speak many, many times up on screen.
Nico Wilde… one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, three blockbuster movies already that year, and he was stood there shaking her hand and grinning the charming grin that roughly a million women would give anything to be stood there on the receiving end of instead of her.
“I’m Nico,” he said.
“Ah… yes… I know.” Luisa took a deep breath, calming herself. “I saw you in your latest movie. It’s nice to meet you.”
“And you.” He moved closer, lowering his voice in the way that men often did when they thought they were being charming. “Listen, I know we all have to sit down in a moment, but I’d love to take you to dinner sometime. Maybe next week? I know this great place in Malibu, right near the beach…”
Luisa had caught up with her surprise now, and grimaced inside. She’d been through this before many, many times. The offers, the presumption, the assumption that because she was a model she’d be thrilled to go out with a movie star, one who skipped straight to asking her out. Earlier in her career she’d have probably said yes, if the connection seemed genuine and she thought it might be fun. More often now, though, she said no. Not always, but nearly.
“That’s very sweet of you,” she said, keeping her tone friendly but definite. “But I’m actually seeing someone at the moment.”
“Serious?”
“Getting there.”
Nico took it well, stepping back with a rueful smile. “Lucky them… well, if things change…”
“I’ll keep you in mind,” Luisa replied, knowing she wouldn’t.
He drifted off in the direction of the screening, and Luisa went to find Maria only to spot her by the windows deep in conversation with a publicist for one of the major studios. The other woman was leaning in, telling Maria something, and whenMaria laughed Luisa had to stifle a laugh of her own… Maria was in full on flirting mode and looking like she was enjoying herself.
