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They played it off with laughs, and Joanna cleared up the confusion. “No. Lucy and I are here to meet with another client, but it’s very nice to meet you. You’re in excellent hands with Chase.”
Lucy took note of Joanna’s tactic. Lily wasn’t a client yet, but if Shawn saw them dining with one of Hollywood’s It Girls, he’d know they meant business at J&J, and he’d want a piece of the pie.
As if on cue, a sleek car pulled up, and Lily Chu climbed out of the back seat looking like a star. Her black hair tumbled to her waist, setting off her white jumpsuit. Her heels were flaming red and her sunglasses gold. Her agent climbed out from the other side of the car, the fourth lunch guest and one of Joanna’s personal friends—which had nothing to do with Lucy’s chances of landing Lily as a client, Joanna assured her; you just had to work connections where you had them.
Lucy pivoted to greet them, making a point to overstep and mash her heel straight into Chase’s toe. She saw him wince as she turned, which made her smile all the more genuine for welcoming Lily.
She let Joanna take the lead given the personal acquaintance, but soon she was shaking Lily’s hand and entering the restaurant. They were seated three tables away from the booth Chase and Shawn took. The Palm emanated classy steakhouse: leather chairs, low light, an endless wine rack. A campy mural of Hollywood landmarks splashed across one wall and a glowing bar filled another.
They made small talk. Lily talked about moving to L.A. and how different it was from Northern California. She hinted at details about her new movie that would send anyone listening running to Variety with a spoiler scoop. She was young and a little green, but Lucy could tell that, with the right help, she’d radiate star with the wattage of a supernova. Not only that, she was charming and genuine and everything Lucy hoped she’d be. She wanted to be her friend as much as she wanted to be her publicist.
“I just feel like I have so much to learn,” Lily said, her smokey voice incongruent with her fresh features and petite frame. She sounded like an old jazz singer and looked like she could easily play a convincing teenager despite being twenty-one. She twisted her wineglass’s stem, showing off her ruby red nails. “That’s why I’m surrounding myself with successful women in the industry. Bestow your collective wisdom, please.” She waved her hands at herself like she was welcoming a tide and laughed.
How refreshing, Lucy thought. A young actor willing to learn. Most celebutantes just wanted ten million Instagram followers and the cover of Vanity Fair. Lucy could get both of those things for Lily, but she sensed an integrity she rarely saw in young stars coming up in Hollywood. And she wanted to nuture it.
“What’s, like, the biggest thing you wish you knew when you were my age?” Lily asked, revealing her youth maybe more than she intended to. She directed the question at Joanna since she clearly had more years of wisdom to share, and Lucy tuned out, already having collected Joanna’s pearls.
She eyed Chase’s booth, where it looked like he and Shawn were already best friends, and felt a surge of rage. She realized she was so worried about having to lie that she was hardly participating in the conversation. And there was Chase, laughing it up with the Lakers’ star rookie.
He was not going to take her promotion from her. She was not going to blow this lunch pitch for fear of opening her mouth.
She felt honesty surging up her throat, and before she could try to stop them, words came flying out. “Listen, Lily. This town is tough. There’s someone waiting to take your place if you let up for even one second. Whatever you want to get out of your career, you have to want it with everything you’ve got, and you have to fight for it. And you need the right people on your team. You need people who share your vision and ethic, people who understand your value and will fight for you, because success doesn’t just happen. You make it happen.”
Lily blinked at her, shocked, and Lucy didn’t even realize she’d cut off Joanna until she saw her mouth hanging open mid-sentence.
“Sorry,” Lucy muttered, her face burning up. “That’s... what I wish I knew when I was younger.”
Their waiter, bless him, chose that moment to come and take their orders.
Joanna and Lily’s agent, Francine, went with salads. And Lucy knew there was no reason to even pretend she would order anything other than the burger layered with three kinds of cheese.
What she didn’t expect was Lily’s gaze to follow her every move when she handed the waiter her menu, for Lily not to even glance at her own menu, and for her to smile at the waiter and say, “Same,” when it came time for her to order.
Lily then turned her attention to Lucy, even rotating in her chair and propping her chin on her hand. “So, Lucy, who else is on your client list?”
Lucy tried to wipe the shock off her face. Never did she think a cheeseburger would be the way to a Hollywood starlet’s heart, but she wasn’t going to question it with Lily looking at her like she’d whipped Wonder Woman’s lasso.
“Well, I work primarily in our stage and screen division, but I do represent a few authors and musicians.”
“Cool,” Lily gushed. “And what’s your publicity strategy for them? Does it differ by industry?”
Lucy felt herself slide into the easy comfort of talking about work. For all intents and purposes, Lily was interviewing her, and she was nailing it. Words flowed effortlessly, and she had no need to lie about anything. She slipped eyes at Joanna a few times to make sure she wasn’t angry about being cut off, and all she read on her face was pride. They casually worked their way through the strategy pitch, and it didn’t feel like pitching at all. It was a comfortable conversation over lunch that happened to involve someone who’d soon be a multimillion-dollar movie star.
Lucy was halfway through the first cheeseburger she’d had in three years when Joanna excused herself to take a phone call. She took the opportunity to glance at Chase and Shawn.
She didn’t even care that they were still chatting like old chums because she was absolutely killing her date with Lily.
May the best publicist win.
Her swelling optimism took a hit when Joanna came back to the table looking bilious. “Lucy, can I have a quick word, please?”
To see Joanna slip—at all—meant something serious had happened. Lucy could only imagine it was an A-list scandal of epic proportions. Whatever the drama, she was not about to make a scene in the fishbowl of industry power lunches. Someone was watching, she just knew it. She politely dabbed her lips with her napkin and excused herself.
Joanna walked her out of earshot, and Lucy couldn’t help feeling Chase’s eyes on their conversation. “Something has come up. A bit of an emergency. I have to head back to the office right now. I’m sorry to walk out, but I trust you to close this.”
Lucy knew Joanna was being vague on purpose. If she wanted to give her more details, she would have. “Sure, Joanna. I’ll take care of it.”
Joanna nodded before she marched back to the table, smile on her face, and apologized to Lily and Francine for having to leave. She promised them they were in good hands with Lucy and all but ran out the door like her skirt was on fire.
