HDU (17 page)

“I’m sorry, excuse me,” she finally uttered to the
table, standing and doing some sort of girlish curtsy before dashing off for
the bathroom.
 
She could hear Liam
laughing through his confusion and offering some sort of charming explanation
to the table.
 
The last thing she
heard was their collective “
aww
”
before pushing through the bathroom door.
 

“Good Lord, woman,” she said to herself as she examined
her reflection.
 
At least there
wasn’t a stray flake or booger in her nose.
 
She smiled, baring her teeth at herself.
 
No spinach either, not that she’d eaten
any.
 
Gasping in Dylan Hardy’s face
certainly hadn’t been her ideal first meeting with him, but at least she looked
halfway decent – meaning her hair wasn’t unraveled, her nose and teeth
were clean, and she didn’t have any mascara gunk in the corner of her eye.
 
Not
great, but could’ve been worse
, she reasoned.

“Oh, you look adorable,” a feminine voice suddenly seemed
to read her mind.
 
Amanda jumped,
unaware that anyone was in the bathroom with her.
 
She turned to the doorway where the voice came from, seeing
there yet another familiar face – perhaps the most familiar one thus
far.
 
She gasped, covering her
mouth.

“Oh my God, hi,” Amanda breathed, immediately
laughing sheepishly at her own awe.
 
Standing just a couple feet away from her was Casey Mulreed, a wildly
talented actress whom she had been watching since the age of twelve –
when Casey herself was just fourteen.
 
She came from a family of Hollywood royalty and nabbed her first Oscar
nomination at the young age of sixteen.
 
Now at twenty-four, her career was already en route to becoming
legendary.

“Hi, I’m such a creeper,” Casey giggled, holding her
hand out for Amanda to shake.
 
“My
friend Jaime said that Liam brought a Missourian and I just had to introduce
myself.”

“So you followed me into the bathroom?” Amanda giggled.

“Shamelessly too.
 
I’m so embarrassing,” she drawled, shaking her head.
 
Amanda laughed, giddy as well as amused
by the idea of Casey Mulreed being any kind of embarrassing.
 
Aside from one or two box office flops,
she hadn’t made any missteps in her ten-year career.
 
Her script selections were impeccable and her public image
was spotless, hailed for being low-key and unaffected by Hollywood life.
 
Even HDU members had nothing bad to say
about her, the worst insult they could come up with being “so perfect it’s
boring.”
 
To top it all off, her enchanting
but modest style selections made her a pixie-like fashion icon.
 
Simply being in the same room as Casey
made Amanda feel elevated somehow.

“So how are you liking New York from Missouri?” Casey
asked, brushing a short lock of wavy blonde hair from her face.
 
She perched her petite body against the
marble sink of the restroom, indicating that she was content with the location
for their chat.
 

“Oh God, well, it’s been… the coolest and scariest
thing of my life,” Amanda answered, still wearing a big, cheesy grin.
 
“I mean, I love Merit for being the
place I grew up, but I think I needed a change after twenty-two years.”

Casey nodded gravely, her pointy face suddenly devoid
of expression.
 
“Yeah, I think I
made that decision too early on in my life, but I can’t have regrets about it now.
 
But I always feel like a part of me is
still there.”

Amanda shook her head and squinted, swept with
confusion.
 
“You grew up in
Missouri?” she asked.
 
Casey’s father,
aunt and grandfather were all famous for a number of things – being actors,
writers, directors and unfortunately, substance abusers – but they were
most famously New Yorkers.
 
They
were longtime owners of a large TriBeCa production company, two of the city’s
hottest restaurants, and Knicks and Yankees tickets so good that the teams’
players called them friends.
 
Being
a Mulreed, Casey had naturally inherited the public image of a lifelong New
Yorker.

“I lived here until I was six but after my parents
split, my mom moved us to Missouri because she wanted me to have a decently
normal life.
 
And, of course, she grew
up in Columbia,” Casey explained, pursing her small lips.
 
“But I’ve always been more like my
dad.
 
And I wanted to be just like him
and conquer every aspect of show business,” she laughed.
 
“So I moved back here when I was thirteen.
 
But I’ve always been curious as to how different
my life would’ve been had I stayed there.
 
Less complicated, probably.
 
More relaxing.”

Amanda nodded, though she felt nothing of the
mysticism that Casey seemed to attach to Missouri.
 
It was the last place she’d expect anyone to fetishize.
 
But if she thought about it, she could
certainly see Casey’s fascination considering what a different life she lived
in New York.

“Poor thing, you’re looking at me like I’m
crazy.
 
Is it because I’m telling
you my life’s story in the bathroom of The Strathorne?” Casey asked with a
laugh.
 
She nodded towards the
door.
 
“Come on, let’s go outside.”
 
Amanda followed without
hesitation.
 
Before they made it to
the bar however, a forty-something woman with a cameraman stopped them.

“Casey, love!”

“Wendy! Hey, doll,” Casey smiled.
 
She leaned over and kissed her cheek
before doing introductions.
 
“Wendy, this is Amanda.
 
Amanda, this is my good friend Wendy Krentz.
 
She’s the editor-at-large at June.”

What’s June?
Oh, June Magazine
! It took a second for Amanda to remember where she even
was.
 
“Oh, hi! Nice to meet you,”
she said, remembering to extend her hand for a handshake.
 
She silently congratulated herself for
her most graceful act of social normalcy all night.

“Oh, who needs introductions? I know you –
you’re Liam’s new girl!” Wendy exclaimed with excitement, throwing her arms out
in the air.
 
Amanda awkwardly
shuffled, unsure if she was being asked for a hug or something.
 
It turned out she wasn’t.
 
“Who am I kidding, I got sucked into
the Amanda-monium – I’ll admit it! And, lady, I have been rooting my
butt
off for you,” Wendy squealed,
clapping her hands.
 
“I love seeing
those big ol’ Hollywood hunks with one of us regular girls,” she said giddily.
 
Amanda blinked with confusion.
 
Status aside, she wouldn’t have thought
to categorize Wendy as “regular” in her haute couture and precious jewels, but
perhaps she was referring to the fact that she didn’t have the face of an
actress or model.
 
Wendy touched
Amanda’s sleeve.
 
“And this dress,
by the way? This is a very Casey Mulreed pick.”

Amanda blushed, flattered.
 
“Oh gosh,” she smiled shyly, simultaneously asking herself,
did I just say ‘Oh gosh
?’ “Well, it’s
like, a dream to be mentioned in the same sentence as Casey in any regards to
fashion, so.”
 
She nodded, though
it was more so a bow of the head.
 
Did I just end my sentence with the word
‘so?’

“Amanda, I can’t handle it.
 
You are just too cute.”

“Isn’t she?” Casey giggled.
 

“Like, precious,” Wendy said, causing Amanda’s cheeks
to burn.
 
She felt a bit like an
animal at a petting zoo – albeit a very flattered one.
 
She laughed shrilly, the attention
making her nervous.

“I don’t know, no one really uses the word ‘cute’ to
describe me actually, and I was definitely having one of those bloaty days
before I arrived, so it’s nice to hear that!” she said, her voice at a much
higher register than usual.
 
Wendy
threw her head back and laughed.

“You are too funny! You remind me exactly of me when
I first got to New York – before I married
my
big Hollywood hunk,” she said.
 
Off Amanda’s curious look, she explained.
 
“Tom Vogel’s my husband!”

“
Ohh
.”
 
Amanda nodded.
 
Tom Vogel was a former actor best known
these days for writing and producing some of the hottest shows on primetime and
premium cable television.
 
She knew
that he was working on a highly anticipated new TV show, and that he’d dated
some of Hollywood’s most beautiful women before apparently finding Wendy.
 
“Cool.
 
That’s… awesome.
 
That you’re married,” Amanda said, not knowing what else to say.
 
Oh
my God, just stop talking
.
 
“I’m sorry, I’m so awkward,” she said hastily.
 
Holy shit, really stop
.
 
Wendy cooed.

“Once upon a time, I was awkward too.
 
You’ll get over it! But don’t worry,
I’ll move onto Casey now,” she surrendered, though not before giving Amanda’s
side a little pinch.
 
“Okay, Casey,
be a doll and give us a few words about
What
Was Lost
– we’re hearing great things and we can’t wait to see it.”

The title of the movie rang a bell in Amanda’s head
as Casey answered.
 
Of course it
did – it was already a frontrunner for Oscar contention before even being
released.
 
But not only that, Dylan
Hardy was in it.
 
He had a small
role as a fellow rehab patient of Casey’s character.
 
But it still counted.
 
Casey and Dylan were co-stars.
 
They knew and spent time with each other.
 
Oh my God
, Amanda
thought.
 
By the transitive property, I’ve hung out with Dylan Hardy
.
 
She was still in awe of that fact a
good twenty minutes later as she sat at the bar with Casey and Jaime, the
latter of whom nudged and prodded her for dirt on Liam.

“We all should have guessed that a non-model would
crack him,” Jaime said with a giggle.
 
“They obviously weren’t working for him, right?”

Casey only laughed at her friend, rolling her eyes at
her to Amanda.
 
Jaime continued
unfazed.

“I can’t help it, I just love this story,” she
sighed.
 
“It’s like Cinderella.”

“Oh my God, Jaime, stop,” Casey snorted, glancing
apologetically at Amanda.
 
Amanda
only laughed it off as she quietly sipped on her martini.
 
She was too busy recounting the events
of the last hour.
 
Even in her
daze, she was coming to the realization that she was perhaps a bit of a novelty
to everyone – a starry-eyed girl in the big city, the humble nobody who
was somehow the apple of a playboy’s eye.
 
Amanda wasn’t sure if that kind of attention should offend her or not,
but then again, how could it? It was the exact response that she and Liam had
hoped to have on the general public.
 
He was supposed to have fallen in love with her for being different,
uncomplicated.
 
A plain Jane.
 
It was the basis of their entire
act.
 
They simply hadn’t
anticipated it to have a real effect on non-fans, on people actually in the
industry.
 
They were all following
the story too, rooting for her like the quirky lead in a romantic comedy.
 
The affection was somewhat odd and just
a little condescending, but Amanda realized that it was actually a good thing
for her to work with.
  
A
great
thing.
 
All she had to do was be herself to enthrall everyone.
 
Watching her awed discovery of their
glamorous world was a total feel-good story for them.

“Doll, give me your phone?”

Amanda blinked and looked up to see Casey holding out
her hand.
 
With some sheepishness,
she handed it over.
 
Jaime burst
out laughing.

“Wow.
 
This
is a true relic, I love it,” Casey said as she flipped open the old phone and
began typing away.
 
She handed it
back before glancing over Amanda’s shoulder.
 
“Your man is coming to get you, but I put my number in your contacts.
 
Call me so we can all get drinks this
week.”

With that, Casey and Jaime hopped off their barstools,
smiling at Liam before walking away.
 
Amanda turned to see him behind her, furrowing his brows with both
confusion and amusement.
 
He
narrowed his eyes at her.

“
What
did
you do?”

“I made friends,” Amanda replied with a smile and a
shrug.
 
He shook his head as he
held out his hand and helped her off of the barstool.

“Just don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he said.