“Maybe I’ll go for a swim,” I say. I wish I’d packed up more of my things last night after we stopped by my apartment. I forgot to grab a swimsuit. I’ll just have to wear one of Lorelei’s.
“So, before I go,” Tabitha says, checking her watch, “all the reservation info for the spa tomorrow is here.” She taps a finger on the clipboard. “As well as my number. You can call or text me in a pinch. I haven’t been Lorelei’s PA for very long, but I was a huuugge fan for years before I landed this gig. I was prepping for it my whole life. It’s kind of my dream job.”
“What about Lorelei’s family and friends?” I ask. “Should I be concerned that someone might just stop by?” And then another thought occurs to me. “And what about Rafe’s mom? Does she really hate Lorelei?”
Tabitha sighs heavily and sits back down on a barstool. “Okay, I can see that you’re clueless and that you’re going to need the entire Wikipedia debriefing.” She checks her watch again.
“Am I?” I wonder how long this information-gathering session is going to take that she needs to check her watch. I’ve learned it’s best to let officious and annoying people say their piece. If you argue with them or interrupt them, they’ll just drone on forever.
“Yeah, if you’ve got a prayer of not screwing this up. I can’t believe Lorelei has entrusted her whole life to someone who knows so little about her. It’s a big chance she’s taking, leaving her reputation in your hands like this.”
Tabitha doesn’t seem at all concerned that Lorelei is currently mucking about in my life, and that my reputation is in her hands.
“Here’s what you need to know about family. Lorelei doesn’t have any besides her mom, and they haven’t spoken in years. They’re estranged.” Tabitha drags out the “strange” part of the word, making me think that she herself is very strange.
“She mentioned to me that she was emancipated at sixteen?” I confirm.
“That’s what I said. Estranged.” Tabitha repeats the word.
“Okay,” I nod. “Got that.”
“I personally think what happened was that they had a big falling out afterMoxiewas canceled. Lorelei doesn’t talk about it publicly or privately. But I know that her mom still sends her birthday cards, and she runs the OG Moxie fan site. She’s spoken out a few times on podcasts and stuff that she’d love to reconcile with Lorelei someday,” Tabitha continues.
“Sounds complicated,” I say, wondering how much of Lorelei’s actual Wikipedia entry has been contributed by Tabitha.
“Well, if you ask me,” Tabitha says, without being asked, “I think it’s super sad. I blame the network. They never should have canceledMoxie. I just think it’s a miracle she’s not a drug addict or totally screwed up like so many other former kid stars.”
“Yeah,” I nod dumbly, like I know what she’s talking about. Of course I know the trope, who doesn’t? But having met Lorelei, it’s hard to picture her as anyone’s victim.
“And Rafe’s mom …” Tabitha shakes her head. “I don’t know this for sure, but from what intel I have been able to gather, it all goes back to something that happened when they were kids.”
“Rafe and Lorelei knew each other as kids?” I ask incredulously.
“Oh yeah! Totally. You didn’t know that?” Tabitha looks at me like this is Titanium Man fandom 101 content, and I’m some kind of idiot who couldn’t even be bothered to read the syllabus.
“No,” I admit.Whatever. I have a life.“I didn’t know.”
“Huh,” Tabitha says, clearly pondering a universe where this information is not taught in kindergarten. “Well, let me dumb it down for you then. You know how they were both child actors?”
“Rafe was a child actor?” I ask, bracing for the inevitable get-with-the-program comeback from the PA.
“Oh yeah, well, not many people know about Rafe’s early acting career. He was on a really popular Israeli TV show when he was a teenager.”
“He was?”
“Yeah, but that’s not how he met Lorelei.” Tabitha speaks faster and more animatedly, enjoying her moment on the podium.
“Okay,” I say. Just when I thought I was starting to follow.
“He met her because he was also, very briefly, in a boy band. It wasn’t long afterMoxietook off andhisshow was canceled. Rafe came to LA with the band and attended the Kids’ Choice Awards. Somehow, their moms met at the awards ceremony and became friends, and he and Lorelei ended up hanging out together.”
“Okay,” I say. “What a bizarre coincidence. They met as kids and then again as adults on a blockbuster film.”
“There are no coincidences in Hollywood,” Tabitha scoffs while shaking her head and rolling her eyes. “Rafe was the one who insisted they cast Lorelei as Ember. They’ve stayed in touch all these years. He pulled her career out of the indie toilet.”
“But they’re not, you know …” I blush, thinking again of Rafe in the driveway. And then I blush more, thinking about his hand against my bare chest in the catsuit, fist wedged against my cleavage.Fist that was holding a plastic whisk.
“I mean, the rumors would suggest they are, and have always been, a couple, but I haven’t seen any evidence to support that. I’ve kind of been rooting for them to finally hook up this summer. I mean, who else could be more perfect for Lorelei than her childhood friend Rafe Barzilay?” She gets a dreamy, faraway look that has me wondering if she is planning their wedding in her mind. I raise my brows at her, and she finishes her thought. “Ideally, I would be working for both of them.”
