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Lara had been honest. She’d said she was still finding her feet, but that she was confident that in another few months, she’d feel better. Charlotte hadn’t pressed her further, because she couldn’t get that dramatic pause out of her head when she’d asked Lara about it at Jessica’s party.
Charlotte had asked her if she loved it, being an agent, and the silence had been telling. As difficult as Charlotte’s journey as an actress had been, if anyone had asked her at any point in her career if she loved it, she wouldn’t have hesitated. Yes. Of course, she loved it. She lived and breathed it.
And clearly, Lara didn’t feel that way about being an agent.
Charlotte just hoped that Lara would figure that out for herself and that she wouldn’t trudge through the next few years, struggling to find ways to like a job that she wasn’t passionate about.
But at least Charlotte could confidently say to Ada that Lara did seem to be okay. In the short-term, anyway. Charlotte imagined it wouldn’t take long for Lara to burn out if she wasn’t as addicted to this business as the rest of them were.
7
Lara thanked Charlotte as she topped up her glass of wine. She’d been drinking slowly, conscious of the fact that if she got drunk, she’d more than likely be unable to hide her attraction to Charlotte.
But she had been at Charlotte’s house for hours, and she’d just opened their second bottle of wine, so even drinking slowly, Lara was tipsy.
“Hey,” Lara said when the commercial break came on the TV. “When was the last time you saw Tracy Carrington?”
Charlotte frowned. “Tracy?” She blew out a breath. “God, it must have been at Ada’s wedding.”
Lara stared at her, taking a second to remember that Ada had been married to a man, a fellow actor, and that he’d died in a car accident. That was so long ago. And Ada’s life was so drastically different now. She was going to be marrying Sydney next year.
“Yeah,” Charlotte said as she took a sip of wine. “I haven’t seen her since then. I wonder what happened to her. She never got the credit she deserved.”
“I ran into her the other day.”
“Really?”
“Hm.” Lara took a drink. This wine was too good, the rich cherry flavor with hints of chocolate making it so easy to drink. Dangerously easy. “I asked her if she was happy with her representation.”
Charlotte arched an eyebrow. “And is she?”
“She’s not in the business anymore,” Lara said with a shrug.
Charlotte laughed softly. “You’re gusty. I like that about you.”
“Thank you, I think. But it was a strange conversation though. I felt like she had so much more to say, but obviously, she wasn’t going to tell me. I’d just met her. And she was skeptical that I knew who she was, that I’d watched her show.”
“But you did. That’s how you recognized her.”
“Yeah. That’s when I became a fan of yours,” Lara added without thinking, feeling the heat coming to her cheeks, although she could have said a lot worse. That’s when I realized I was gay.
Charlotte turned to face her, a quizzical look on her gorgeous face, but before she could say anything else, there was Ada on the screen, with Sydney sitting beside her, both of them looking radiant as the presenter listed all of the nominees.
Charlotte leaned forward to put her glass on the coffee table, her knee bouncing.
“Wow, you really are nervous,” Lara said, and Charlotte shushed her.
Lara mirrored her actions, leaving her glass down, sitting forward slightly, her hands on her thighs as the presenter went through the rest of the nominees.
Lara pushed herself off the couch, pacing the carpet before she even realized what she was doing. She could joke all she wanted with Charlotte about how nervous she was, but she really was full of anxiety, on so many different levels.
This was the first major award Ada was up for since Lara had become her agent. Yes, the movie had long been completed, and Kerri had helped secure the part and the paycheck for Ada, but Lara was the one representing her now, and she had this sinking feeling that Ada’s or Sydney’s careers could start to unravel now that Kerri was gone, now that it was up to her to do the best she could for some of Hollywood’s most famous actresses.
She stopped pacing when she felt warm hands on her hips. Lara didn’t have time to react to Charlotte standing behind her, both of them facing the TV, Charlotte’s fingers digging into her shorts.
Lara could hear Charlotte inhale a sharp breath as the presenter broke the seal and opened the envelope, adding a dramatic pause before leaning towards the microphone. “Adelaide Atwood!”
Lara exhaled in relief, her legs wobbly, and she wanted to sink to her knees, but Charlotte’s hands were still there, spinning Lara around, wrapping her arms around Lara in a tight embrace, both of them swaying as Ada started her speech.
