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“Come on, spill. What are they like?”
He merged onto a highway, then said, “Emma Rosen is nice. She tends to keep to herself on set, which may seem standoffish, but she’s just a private person.”
“What about the three male leads?”
“Taylor Keefe and Jack Ito are starting to believe their own press, so their egos are definitely inflated,” he said. “As for Harper Royce, he’s a total asshole. I know that because I worked for him for almost a year. Steer clear of him at all costs.”
“Why’s he an asshole?”
“He’s just completely full of himself and doesn’t care about other people. I don’t even know how I lasted as long as I did when I worked for him. The last straw was when he started dating my brother. I never should have introduced them! Can you imagine how weird and awkward it was to send flowers to my twin from my employer, complete with mushy little love notes?” Phoenix shuddered, while I wondered if he’d secretly been jealous.
I said, “I didn’t realize Harper Royce and Dallas Jaymes are gay.”
“They’re actually bi. That isn’t a secret, but they both tend to be more public about the women they date.”
“Anyone else I should know about on set?”
“Don’t let the director ruffle you,” he said. “Gage Lang is a perfectionist, and he’s going to demand a lot from all the actors. Try not to take it personally if he asks you to do a million takes and doesn’t seem satisfied with any of them.”
“Thanks for the information. I feel like I’m in way over my head, and it helps to know what I’ll be dealing with.”
“Sylvia mentioned you were feeling a little anxious, but just remember, I’m here to help. I’ve spent a lot of time on movie sets over the last few years, and I won’t let you down.”
“I appreciate that.”
We chatted about what I could expect over the next few days, and then he said, “So, tell me a bit about you. Is there a girlfriend back home who’s going to be jealous you’re doing a love scene with Emma Rosen?”
“I’m gay, so no. I’m also doing a love scene with Harper Royce, but I doubt Lorenzo will be jealous of that.”
“Is Lorenzo your boyfriend?”
“No. He’s—” I had to stop and think about a way to define what we were, but all I came up with was, “He’s someone very important to me, but we’re not actually dating.”
“Sounds complicated.”
“It is, partly because this job sprang up right when we made the move from friends to something more.”
“Well, hopefully he’ll be able to come up and visit during filming, and you can pick up where you left off.”
“I hope so. I already miss him like crazy, but we both held back instead of making plans to see each other soon. Why the hell did we do that?”
Phoenix thought about it before saying, “If this is brand new and you guys have been friends for a while, maybe you felt you needed some time to process the change in your relationship.”
“That actually makes sense.” I glanced at him and said, “You should add ‘therapist’ to your resume.”
He grinned and told me, “It’s implied in the job description.”
* * *
It took about two hours to reach the place originally rented for Trent Chambers. My home for the next four weeks turned out to be a massive, pale gray, Cape Cod-style house with white trim, which sat on a bluff overlooking the ocean. I was awestruck.
Phoenix punched in a code to get the key from a lock box. After he let us in, I turned the cat loose in the spacious living room, and we took a quick look around the ground floor. The interior was gorgeous, with a soothing gray and white color palette, a subtle nautical theme, and lots of windows that probably provided a great view when it was light out.
I went back out for my luggage, and Phoenix brought in a cooler and some shopping bags. While he moved some groceries to the refrigerator, I set up a new litter box and said, “I wonder if Trent had planned to travel with a huge entourage, given the size of this place. It’s total overkill for just you and me.”
“Actually, this is just for you. I’ll be sharing a hotel room with a friend of mine, who’s an assistant makeup artist on this movie.”
“Would you please stay here instead? Your friend is welcome to join us, too.”
Phoenix stopped what he was doing and asked, “Are you sure?”
“Definitely. I’d be lonely in this big place by myself. Plus, it seems wasteful to pay for a hotel when there’s so much room here.”
He smiled at me and said, “Okay. I’m sure he’s asleep by now, but I’ll invite him to join us in the morning.”
The cat strode through the kitchen, as if she was inspecting the place, and I told Phoenix, “Why don’t you take a look at your options and pick out a bedroom?”
