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When he spotted Tate in the crowd, he waved him over. Holy shit.
“Are you serious?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Tate nodded as we made our way through the crowd. “I met him at a party that Erin and I went to a while back. I thought I told you about him taking over my current project? The original director was canned two weeks ago.”
“No, you didn’t mention it at all. What’s he like to work with?”
“Demanding.”
“Erin was helpful to your career, I’ll give her that. What are you going to do now that she’s gone?” I asked as we proceeded to work our way through the party to the other side of the room.
“I’ll be fine. I’ve learned enough and I know what I need to do. Whatever it takes, right?”
The coldness of his tone made me shiver. Tate was always single minded in his ambition.
Then again, I was the same. I’d even slept with someone I didn’t want to, in order get ahead. Or rather, to keep my job. Not my proudest moment and I didn’t plan on doing it again, but there it was.
And Tate’s rise from just another face in the crowd to where he was now, was impressive. But sometimes I wondered if it was the job or the accolades he was seeking. All actors needed to feed their egos, but some couldn’t handle it if they weren’t always in the spotlight.
“Tate, my leading man,” Neal boomed and drew him in for a bro-hug and a slap on the back.
A shorter, stockier man standing next to Neal was sipping his drink and staring at us like we were something he picked off the bottom of his shoe. I got the ick factor right away.
“Tate, I want you to meet my agent, Victor Sills.”
“Nice to meet you, Victor.” Tate shook the man’s hand and turned to me. “This is Reed Larkin.”
Neal looked at me and his face iced over. “I’m familiar with Mr. Larkin. If you’ll excuse us, I need to talk shop with Tate and Vic. Privately.”
The director’s sharp dismissal was unsettling.
“Uh, sure.”
What the hell just happened? I looked over at Tate, but he shrugged.
“I’ll go find Kendrick,” I stated. “See you later.”
I turned and headed back for more booze. When I glanced over my shoulder, I watched Tate deep in discussion with Neal and Victor.
A sudden tap on my shoulder startled me. I turned to find Kendrick giving me a knowing smirk.
“Don’t mind Neal. He’s old school. And by old, I mean he’s a homophobic prick. He hates to work with queers. Even though he doesn’t mind taking our money, whether it’s from producers like me or moviegoers in general.”
“I still can’t believe people think that way. It’s 2017 for Christ’s sake.”
“It’s a shit world, sweetheart. And I don’t like it any more than you do, but in this town, you get used to shaking hands with the devil.”
“Neal’s still got a lot of power?”
“He does indeed,” Kendrick remarked. “And it looks like Tate is Neal’s next leading man. You know what that means.”
I did. Tate was going to be looking for a new girlfriend.
And our friendship?
I had a bad feeling I was going to be written right out of the script.
CHAPTER 5
