“That’s what I’m worried about,” Tolly’s tone is wry.
“We won’t be long,” Ryan says encouragingly. “I’ll keep them brief.” He flashes the big gold watch on his wrist and moves off without a backward glance. Tolly follows after him, but Anna is pleased when he turns to check on her just before he enters the corridor.
She drifts outside. The evening breeze is still warm from the day’s heat, but it is pleasant. She catches one of the servers returning to the kitchen and lightens his platter of the last of his canapes. But the little bite-sized morsel does little more than awaken her hunger. She moves to sit on a planter close to the open door, the better to intercept the next waiter. But before one wanders into her path, a shaggy blonde head intrudes.
“I can’t believe you never mentioned Tolly Hyde!” Bella exclaims, settling beside her friend. “If he was my friend, I’d be telling the world. Except no one is going to believe me. I wish I’d thrown my phone over the wall! You’ll back me up, though, won’t you?”
Anna mutters a vague noise of assent, but Bella is already gabbling on. “I guess that’s your cousin. Sabrina? Didn’t you say she was in the movie business?”
Normally, Anna would correct Bella, but she finds herself unwilling to divulge exactly how she knows Tolly or anything about their friendship. Indeed, she’s as confused about their relationship as Bella is. She can’t work out if Tolly is genuinely interested in her or if he’s just one of those people who is intense about their friendships. She suspects it is the latter. She hopes it is the latter because Tolly is off-limits. Even if she had never sworn her childish pledge, how could she be with someone whobroke her sister’s heart? She would not normally be averse to a brief romance, a holiday fling, but Tolly is something else. He might be the most fascinating man she has ever met. But Anna has enough self-awareness to know that one bite of him is unlikely to be enough for her. And how would that work, with the two of them on opposite sides of the world? The US medical system doesn’t recognise UK medical training. She would have to re-train for years if she moved to Los Angeles. And why is she even considering this? There is nothing between her and Tolly and there likely never will be. He is a charming man. Charming men make everyone feel special, even those on the periphery. Best not forget that.
She comes back to the present as Bella gives her a nudge. “I said, ‘Look what I’ve got’.” She shakes a small bag of powder in front of Anna’s nose. “Do you want some?”
Anna leans away from the bag and refocuses her eyes on Bella. From somewhere, Bella has produced a key in one hand and the tiny bag in the other. “What’s that?” Anna asks, more from curiosity than want.
“Ket. Do you want some?”
Anna shakes her head. Drugs have never held any attraction for her. She has never felt the need to boost her social capital by taking them or bragging about them, nor does she seek validation as a rule-breaker. And she is well-balanced enough not to use them to prop up failing mental health. She is surprised Bella is so eager to indulge. Anna is not so naïve as to think all medics are shiny, bright people with no bad habits. She knows they are flawed humans, the lot of them. She tries to think back to when they were students together. Had Bella been taking drugs then? She cannot remember any major signs, but Bella’s apparent familiarity with them clearly didn’t start today.
She watches as Bella scoops a portion onto the key and lifts it to her nose. Anna wants to sweep it from her friend’shands and throw it into the pool, but it would achieve nothing. If Hollywood’s reputation is to be believed, there are probably enough drugs floating around this party to fund a small nation. And no one can be forced to stop taking drugs. They have to want to stop. Anna is resigned, but in her head, her estimation of Bella as clever, outgoing and friendly is eclipsed by the image of someone moving through life, chasing one high after another. She wonders if James knows. Possibly, because Bella is being very open, as if drug use is normal and acceptable to all her acquaintance. She cannot believe James would condone it, though, even as smitten as he is.
Bella chatters on. “I met this guy,” she says. “I mean he’s no Tolly Hyde, but no one is. I’d fight you for him if I thought I had a chance, but I’m not daft. He wasn’t interested in me, only you. But this guy is a director on a US show. We don’t have it over the pond. He said he reckoned I’d be a good fit.”
Anna wants to back the conversation up and return to Bella’s analysis of Tolly, but she needs to issue a warning to her hyped-up friend instead. “Sounds like a line to me,” she says.
“Yeah, I thought that too. But … maybe it’s not. This is a party at Tolly Hyde’s. Stands to reason there will be directors here. Right?”
“I don’t doubt he’s genuinely a director. And I don’t doubt his eyes fell out of his head when he saw you. But I do doubt he’ll follow through with any promises he makes.”
Bella’s voice goes vague as she stands. “Maybe,” she says. “I’m going to dance. Want to come?”
Anna shakes her head. “I need some food first,” she says. During her talk with Bella, she’s seen several trays of canapes emerge and return empty. Given that starlets aren’t supposed to eat, she’s not sure who is consuming all of it. Bella floats away, the tassels on her dress swaying in time with her hips as she heads towards the music. As Anna finally manages to intercepta tray of food, she turns her attention to loading up a napkin with little goodies. Each one is a miniature work of art. Just cooked slivers of beef folded on top of a cube of crispy polenta, skewered in place and topped with horseradish sour cream; crispy fish skins piled with diced crab and cucumber topped with shreds of lime; pearls of mango nestling between dabs of crème fraîche with slivers of tuna carpaccio on squid-ink crackers. Anna takes a minute to admire them all before she eats them, each one an explosion of taste on her tongue. This is money. She wonders if this is how Tolly eats every day, with food this good. Anna is no stranger to fine dining and has frequented plenty of Michelin-starred restaurants around the globe. But these are extraordinary. She looks around the party. All the women are wrinkle-free and gorgeous; all the men wear success like their gold watches. It is another life. Even for someone raised among the British upper class.
But she finds them less impressive than Bella does. She wonders how many of these people Tolly would count as genuine friends. A couple? No more than half a dozen, for sure. And she would hold herself as one of those. But maybe they all would. Maybe Tolly’s magic is such that each and every one of them thinks he is their close friend.
She licks the last few traces of food off her fingertips and wipes them dry with the napkin. As a waiter passes, she drops the used napkin on his tray and then looks around for what to do next. She need not worry. A voice says, “Actress?”
Anna turns her head. “Doctor.” She debates her next words. Her inclination would be to return with “Grifter?” but this isn’t some random stranger in a bar. And the last time she rebuffed one of those, he turned out to be Bella’s brother. This is Tolly’s private party. Any one of these people could be crucial to his career. She moderates her response, but the guy is stillat least two decades older than her and clearly trying a hit. He deserves some slapping down. “Extra?”
“Ooh. I like that. I might have to use it one day. Writer. British, uh? Randy?”
Anna’s eyes flick open. This is forward even for an American. “Not one bit.”
“Randy, short for Randall.”
And Anna laughs. “Did your parents hate you?” she asks. Then: “Anna, short for Anna.”
“Your king named his son Willie. And you had a prime minister called Johnson. You Brits can’t talk.”
“Point taken. But you also had a president called Johnson.”
“In your guts, you know he’s nuts.”
Anna’s eyebrows shoot up.
“One of LBJ’s campaign slogans, used very effectively against the opposing candidate.”
“Politics really is a tough game over here. Definitely not for thin skins.” She saves that nugget to send to her sister Jasmine, a political activist. She smiles to herself, but Randy clearly misinterprets the target of her pleasure.
