They’re letting me know this evening…I’ll keep you posted. Dad, this could be so good!! Can’t wait to tell you x
That’s the last text she sends before the six-day gap. Again the job is mentioned, and I can’t help feeling that’s relevant. To disappear on the exact same day you’re expecting to hear life-changing news has to be more than a coincidence.
Receiving bad news could definitely explain her sudden absence. My eyes instinctively flick toward the living room window to the sign I know hides behind the heavy drawn curtains, and I think again of the actress who jumped from it. People kill themselves over bad news.
And yet Emily couldn’t have heard she’d lost the job because she was still talking about hearing a month later. Something else must have happened that day. I scan back up the messages and note down the nameMarla,the friend her father mentions, on my pad. It’s the name on the back of the photograph I took from Emily’s apartment too. They were obviously close. It might be worth trying to contact her, I’m sure she will have noticed Emily’s disappearance by now. She might even have an idea where Emily is.
I read on. After the six-day gap Emily starts responding to her father’s texts again:
Tues Jan 12, 2:54pm
Sorry for the radio silence! Things got a little complicated, but the good news is I’m fine and that job I was telling you about is still looking good. So, fingers crossed. Apparently, I have to wait until they cast the male lead to get my contract offer X
Em-Em. It’s great to hear from you! Got a bit worried when I couldn’t get hold of you. That does all sound complicated but I’ve got everything crossed for you. And let me know about dates to book off work. Looking forward to seeing you.
Weds Jan 13, 12:56am
Probably not going to get the chance to fly back and see you before the job starts, dad. If it even happens. Sorry x
Weds Jan 13, 7:04am
That’s okay honey. No worries at all. Work comes first. Maybe I’ll fly out for Easter? If you’re not off jet-setting by then!! Keep up the good work. I’m real proud of you. Dad XX
I stare at her words on the screen. She doesn’t even try to explain the absence. And he doesn’t push her on it. But whatever happened in that six-day gap made her change her mind about going home to see him.
The fact that Emily disappeared for six days a month ago and eventually reappeared should give me some kind of reassurance but doesn’t.
I look away from the screen, suddenly aware of the similarities between Emily’s situation and mine. We’re both far from home, separated from friends and family, trying to further our careers, and while Emily was imminently expecting big news I have my own screen test, my own big opportunity, on Monday morning.
Two women on the cusp, waiting to hear about the role of a lifetime—the thought of it sends a shiver through me. I can’t help but wonder what role she was waiting to hear about. I open her mail app and scan through her inbox going back to the sixth of January, the original day she was supposed to receive the news. I click on an email from her agent sent that day.
From:Rogers, Asst
Sent:Monday, January 6, 2021 10:47 AM
To:“Emily Bryant”
Subject:RE: Self Tape: EMILY BRYANT / SUNDAY CLUB
Self-tape received. Great work!
Danny Engels
Office of Bernice Rogers
That’s it? It certainly doesn’t sound like the kind of email an agent would send to someone expecting huge news that day. And it’s not even from her agent, it’s from her agent’s assistant. Which is odd considering, in my experience, agents tend to get pretty hands-on when clients start doing well. I jot downDanny Engelson my list.
I pull up Google and searchSunday Club,the project mentioned in the email subject, just in case that’s the role. ADeadlinecasting announcement from mid-January pops up and a row of headshots smile back at me, cast and ready to film. This clearly isn’t the job Emily was excited about, it’s just a standard network pilot, a couple of weeks’ filming at most, nothing groundbreaking.
A wave of sadness floods through me as it suddenly occurs to me that she may have made up this potential job entirely—or that the job she’s talking about might not be an acting role at all. She might have been waiting to hear about an entirely different life-changing job. But whatever it is, it features heavily before both disappearances.
I head back to her message app hoping to find messages between Emily and her friend Marla, certain that they must have discussed Emily’s new job.
I don’t find her name anywhere on messages. But as I scroll through I find a relatively recent conversation with an unnamed number. I open the chat.
Fri Jan 1, 12:02am
Happy New Year bish!!! Sad I had to bail. Got to tape tomorrow. Bleurgh! Drink all the drinks for me.
