AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m hankering for a dirty martini myself,” I say.
That was the wrong thing to say, apparently.
“That sounds great, but I can’t order high-end drinks whenever I want. I don’t have Hollywood money. I’m just a simple Midwestern working mom.”
I’m no financial guru, but I’m pretty sure nurses earn enough for a splurge on a drink at a party. She’s being really loud. I glance around, hoping anyone in drama with me back in the day will spot me and come over. But I don’t see any of them. Maybe because they were bullied, too, and they wisely stayed away.
I want to ask how many of those skinny vodka tonics she’s had already.
“I’m not much of a drinker myself,” I say, trying to pivot again.
“Oh, I am sure not. What with your mom disappearing due to her drug problems. And, you know, the likelihood of someone who shot to stardom as quickly as you ending up in rehab is pretty high, isn’t it?”
“You’re a nurse, so I’m sure you know the data,” I say through my teeth. Yeah, I’m annoyed now.
Cian, bless his heart, steps in. “She’s worked very hard for what she has.”
I look up at him and smile. “ It’s OK, Cian.”
“If you call the casting couch hard work. But I guess one would, when one is such a goody-goody. Right, Hyman?”
I don’t dare look up at Cian because I know he’s about to pop a blood vessel.
“That’s a fucking rude thing to say, and I’ll ask you to apologize to my friend.”
“There a problem here?” Oh, great. Duane’s here.
This is not going to end well.
Cian clearly has not considered the repercussions of engaging in an altercation at a party with an off-duty police officer because he roars at the man’s wife. “Well? Are you going to apologize to Ms. Jackson?”
“Hey!” Duane shouts, seizing Cian under the arm.
Oh shit.
Anna howls with laughter, slurring her words. “Ms. Jackson? That’s adorable. And no. I won’t be apologizing.”
Cian jerks his arm from Duane’s grip but doesn’t escalate the situation further.
I keep my voice calm and steady. “Anna, I don’t know where all this hostility is coming from. But I wish you nothing but the best.”
With that, I turn and blink up at Cian twice, giving him the signal. But he’s not looking at me. He’s still looking at Anna with daggers in his eyes.
Duane closes in. “Are these people bothering you, babe?”
“She’s going to steal my thunder again,” she says.
What in the world? “I’m afraid to ask what you mean by that, but I’m asking out of morbid curiosity, Anna,” I mutter.
Now that we’re finally at the front of the line, Anna hands the empty glass to the bartender and orders a double vodka tonic. Then she turns back to me and slurs, “Grad night, you were supposed to give your valedictorian speech, but you had to fly off to LA to start shooting a movie. So, they had to have me, the salutatorian, give the speech.”
I stare at her, agog. “It was an audition. And that doesn’t make any sense. If anything, I gave you the platform by leaving town.”
Anna throws up her hands. “But all anybody could talk about that night at the grad night party was you. All anyone ever talked about was you and your Hollywood ambitions. And now, you’re here, with your fancy Golden Globes, and it’s happening again.”
I didn’t bring my Golden Globes with me in my overnight bag, but I see her point. “So you’re saying you were mean to me for four years because you were jealous?”
Duane cuts in, “My wife isn’t jealous of anybody.”
