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“Girl, you look a mess,” Ash says, shaking her head. She swipes her hand at mine, knocking my finger from my mouth. “And stop biting your nails. That’s gross.”
“I’m so stressed,” I admit. “You were right about Nico. No one wants to work with him. Burke thinks he’ll ruin my career before it even begins. I can’t mess this up.”
Ash leans against the cubicle wall with her arms crossed over her chest. “The few times I went over to his house, he was drunk and even had the nerve to hit on me in front of Dylan.”
I laugh. “I bet Dylan loved that.”
“Yeah, definitely not.”
I rest my arm on my desk and look up at Ash. “Did I make a mistake? Because so far, this is looking like the worst decision I’ve ever made. Burke will fire me if this doesn’t work out.”
“Did he say that?”
“In so many words.”
She bites her cheek, staring down at my messy desk that has random papers on every surface. My office is like an extension of my car, which represents my scatterbrain thoughts right now.
Ash lifts a script from my desk and flips through a few of the pages. “I liked this one for Nico, but the director didn’t want to work with Nico.”
“His assistant told me that an hour ago.” I lift another screenplay from my desk and hand it to Ash. “War of the Gods is perfect for Nico.”
“I considered pitching it to Nico until Dylan told me how much it sucks.”
“Ha! What does he know about this business? I think Nico would make an exceptional Hades.”
“That’s what I said,” Ash coos. “But you know Dylan, he read two pages and threw the script on the coffee table before he kissed me.”
“You guys are so grossly cute I want to throw up,” I joke.
Ash sticks her tongue out at me.
“Anyway, I left a message for the studio an hour ago.”
“Firehouse Films bought this one, right?”
I nod. “I think we’ll have a better shot with an indie studio. Nico made a lot of mistakes in the past few years. He has to work his way back to the top.”
“It’s crazy how far he’s fallen,” Ash says in a hushed tone. “When people look at movie stars like Nico, they assume they have it all figured out.”
“Method actors take their craft a little too far. In Nico’s case, it’s like he’s still living the life of his character from Twelve Steps.”
“He was amazing in that movie,” Ash says with a smile. “Nico nailed homeless, strung-out junkie. His performance was reminiscent of Leonardo DiCaprio in The Basketball Diaries.”
“Awesome movie. But I love Leo in pretty much anything.”
Ash taps my shoulder. “I only have thirty minutes for lunch. Wanna grab a burrito with me?”
“Do you ever get sick of burritos?”
She rolls her shoulders. “I hear they’re one of the major food groups.”
Laughter shakes through me as I glance at the clock. “I don’t know if I have time. I’m still waiting on a few calls back about Nico.”
Ash tugs on my arm. “Take a break. You look like you haven’t slept in a month.”
I recheck my phone for messages for what feels like the hundredth time. “What if someone calls?”
“You need to eat,” she points out. “And working yourself to death won’t help you or Nico.”
“One condition,” I say with a grin. “Come with me tonight to Nico’s party.”
Ash bites her lip. “Um… I don’t know how Dylan will feel about that. He’s not exactly one of Nico’s biggest fans.”
“Bring him with you. Nico said I could invite friends, and since he already knows both of you, I don’t see the problem.”
Ash fishes her cell phone from her pocket and types furiously on the keypad. “Dylan hates when I rearrange our plans.”
“He’s such a control-freak.”
She chuckles. “But I don’t hate that side of him in the bedroom.”
“I bet,” I say with laughter in my voice.
Ash makes a face when her phone rings. She sighs, her fingers gliding across the keys as she gets into what looks like a heated debate with Dylan. He’s hard to know. His need for control over everything would drive me crazy. They are complete opposites in every way, but their differences seem to balance out the other.
“Okay,” Ash says as she shoves her phone into her pocket. “All good.”
“He’s mad, isn’t he?”
She holds up her hands and shrugs. “He’ll get over it.”
“You guys just got back together a few months ago. I don’t want to come between you.”
She waves her hand to dismiss my concern. “Dylan’s going out with Sloan tonight. He’s just bummed that I’m not going with them to the party.”
“For Date Crashers?”
“It’s a Hollywood party. He said something about mingling with people in the business. I told Dylan he could pick me up from Nico’s house afterward.”
I check my phone again for messages and sigh.
