She glanced across to the next table, where John was deep in conversation with Amara, gesturing toward one of the paintings above them, tracing the shape of something in midair with his hands. Chloe wished she could hear what they were talking about.
“Are you still close? Do you see a lot of him?” she asked.
“When I can. I tried to lure him out to LA a few years ago, but he said his dog wouldn’t like it.” Sean laughed. “He hasn’t changed. You know he just did a master’s in archaeology, for fun. It’s not surprising his relationships don’t last. He’s always got too much else going on.” Sean shook his head and then turned to narrow his eyes at her. “Why this sudden interest in John? Are you seeing the gosling you always assumed was a duck? Slightly inappropriate, given present company.” Sean nodded toward Rob, who was still talking to Elaine.
“No,” she said quickly, elbowing him gently. “I just—I don’t think I was a good friend to him at the end of third year, with his dad and everything…” She trailed off, not sure how much Sean knew.
Sean’s face softened. “Yeah. He had a rough time of it, poor guy.”
They paused as the servers came around to clear the starters and top up their wine.
“Anyway,” Sean said once the server had gone. And Chloe knew “anyway” meant he wanted to change the subject.
“How about you? Are you really dating Gracie Lamé?” she asked.
“Yeah, it started as a PR thing, but we genuinely like each other now. She’s cool, she’s into weird shit like ice fishing.” His eyes softened at the corners, crinkling just slightly, and his mouth curved into a quiet, unguarded smile. “I’m meeting her parents next week.”
“A PR thing, wow, who are you?” Chloe said.
“I know. Half of Hollywood is fake dating.”
This made her stomach clench. Were they fake dating people or robots?
“So, tell me, are you really done with acting?” Sean went on. “Because I have this role—it would be great for you—it’s this six-headed, bloodsucking alien.”
“Which head would I get to be?” she asked, humoring him.
“Actually, all the heads are prosthetic, so you would be the butt,” Sean giggled.
“I thought you were making ‘great art’ next,” she said with a sigh.
“Maybe the one after next,” he said ruefully.
“Speaking of scripts,” she said, catching Rob’s eye across thetable. “My boss found out I knew you. He has this script he was trying to get to your agent. I know it’s horrible to even ask…” She trailed off.
Sean’s expression shifted instantly. He gave her a tight smile. “Right.”
“You don’t need to read it. Maybe if you could say you did, so I can get my boss off my back.”
“I tend to get read requests through my agent,” he said, no hint of humor in his tone.
“Cool, no, don’t worry about it.”
“I just don’t read stuff unless it’s through my agent, or it opens me up to all sorts of plagiarism suits. You know, if I do something similar in a few years and then some guy claims I stole his work—”
“Yeah, of course, I get it.” She knew this. McKenzie knew this. Why had she ever agreed to mention it?
“It’s just not a professional way to do things,” he said. Wow, that stung.“But send it to Larry, if you think it’s worth my while. Anyway…”
He punctuated their conversation with another stiff smile, then turned to Katie, sitting on his right. Chloe felt her cheeks flush, a lump in her throat. “Excuse me,” she said quietly, getting up to leave. She caught Rob’s eye as she stood. He made to follow her, but she firmly shook her head; she didn’t want him to come. She just needed a minute.
Outside the hall, she took a deep breath. The air was warm and still, holding on to the heat of the day. She turned to lean her forehead against the stone wall of the hall. It was rough and cool beneath her skin. The scent of damp stone and lichen filled her nose, familiar, grounding. She exhaled slowly. Why was she even trying to do McKenzie a favor? She knew how unprofessionalit was to approach a director this way. She’d just got their friendship back on track; currying favor with McKenzie wasn’t worth derailing it for. Her gut had told her it was a bad idea. She should have listened.
As she squared her shoulders, readying herself to go back in, she noticed John coming out of the dining hall carrying a cardboard box. The golden light from the hall spilled onto the gravel behind him, lighting him like a spotlight. He looked incredibly handsome in black tie.
“Hi. What are you doing out here?” he asked, his eyes flashing with warmth.
Chloe felt a surge of pleasure in seeing him. “I don’t know, looking for bats,” she said, and he smiled that easy, knowing smile that always made her stomach flutter. “You?”
