“You heard me.”
“Can we talk about this later? I need to prep for this Melissa McCarthy interview and then we have the sit-down with Beyoncé later this week. I wonder if she’ll bring Blue Ivy? Hey, we’ll have to get a picture of the two of you together since you’re practically identical twins.”
“Don’t change the subject. I want to know why you’re not jumping at this New York thing. Is there a chance we’re not going?”
“Destiny, I promise, we’ll talk later, okay? When does our car leave?”
Destiny relents and reopens her iPad.
I grab the latest issue of Us Weekly from the corner of my desk and start casually flipping through it as I think about what I want to ask Melissa during the interview. There’s a spread about the outfits Julia Roberts’ niece, Emma, wore while promoting her latest movie; an article about Giuliana Rancic’s baby news; and a Who Wore It Best? that I almost bypass until I see that the woman being compared to Blake Lively is Casey. It’s the cranberry minidress she wore to the high school reunion. Seeing twenty-something Blake Lively wearing it makes me cringe for Casey. She looks great, but the dress is clearly meant for someone younger. I think of Fiona clawing for her job and can’t blame Casey for trying to compete with women almost half her age.
Charlie appears in the doorway and gives me an easy smile. “You ready for me to brief you?” He holds up a stack of blue cards and a binder of research and I notice he’s let his stubble return. Yes, you can brief me. You can brief me right on this desk.
Destiny gives me a pointed look, not missing Charlie’s flirtatious tone. “We’ll need to leave by noon to get up there and have enough time to get you into hair and makeup before we roll tape at four.”
I look at Charlie. “Is the crew already up there setting up?”
He nods. “They just arrived. It’s going to be a multicamera shoot and I told them I’m tired of the interviews we do in hotel rooms looking like interviews in hotel rooms, so we’re going to do this one out by the pool.”
“That’ll be tricky with audio, won’t it?” One of the many things I’ve learned in the past few weeks is that shooting outside is easily complicated by unpredictable things like planes flying overhead and cars driving by; things I wouldn’t have ever noticed until I tried to interviewing Mariska Hargitay after she got her star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.
“The pool area is quiet and removed from the street—you know that. We interviewed Rob Lowe there, remember?”
“Oh yeah, of course. Ready to go over the questions for Melissa?” I change the subject quickly.
? ? ?
“At the end of the day, I’m just a mom who likes to enjoy a cheeseburger and a beer. I’ll never get used to all this Hollywood stuff,” Melissa McCarthy says with a laugh a few hours later.
I know exactly what you mean.
Melissa’s publicist hovers nearby and whispers something to Destiny. The camera is recording the time so I can see that it’s 4:29. I know I need to wrap this up.
“Thanks so much, Melissa, for taking the time to talk with me. And congratulations again on your Oscar nomination,” I say with a smile before reaching out to shake her hand.
“You did it again,” Charlie says as the crew packs up the equipment.
“Thanks. I’m glad you’re happy with it.”
“You were great. That cheeseburger and beer line is golden. You really have a knack for getting celebrities to talk to you like they’re everyday people.”
Because I’m an everyday person.
“Hey, so can I talk to you for a sec?” Charlie lowers his voice.
“Of course. Everything okay?”
Charlie motions for me to follow him into the suite Melissa McCarthy and her entourage abandoned twenty minutes ago.
We walk in and I smile as I look around the room. No bowls full of all-green M&M’s, no vases filled with only white tulips, no humidifier that blows only cold air. Charlie sits on the arm of the couch. “So, I know it might be a risk asking you this because we haven’t been back here since right before . . .”
Before what?
Charlie takes off his baseball cap and runs his fingers through his hair before continuing. “I was wondering if you’ll let me take you to dinner at our place up here?”
“Of course!” I answer brightly.
“Great,” he says, looking both shocked and relieved as he inhales deeply.
What happened between them that night?
Charlie walks over to me and grabs my hand. “Because I think we need to talk about everything. And this time, I’m not going to let you dodge me.”
CHAPTER 27
* * *
casey
“Rachel, wake up.” John is beside me, his hand gently shaking me awake. I glance at the clock. It’s 3 a.m. “What is it?” I ask, alarmed. “Is it the kids?”