Chasing the Dream: Dream Series, Book 3 (46 page)

She nodded and smiled weakly at me. “If there’s anything you need, please ask. I admire you, Phoebe.”

The rest of the day flew by as I got back in the groove of the files. I decided that I preferred files to being a PA. After work, Jenny and I met up for dinner with Ankur. All day long, my phone would ding with texts from Charlie. I still had the Twitter app silenced.

At home, I fired up the DVR and watched Charlie’s appearance on
Ellen.
When she asked him about me, I tensed. Nothing about the doctor’s visit, just his relationship status. “Well, Ellen, you know how when you meet the right person, it changes how you see the world? Well, that’s what it was like when I met Phoebe.” I squealed and fell back on the sofa, rewound it and listened to it again. And again. And watching
Access Hollywood
the show started with Charlie’s new movie that was premiering tomorrow. The interviewers did ask just a couple of quick questions about me, and Charlie answered them respectfully, and keeping things still private. “She’s the sweetest thing in my life, and I would do anything for her.”

That night, I couldn’t sleep. Nervous about flying to L.A. for the premiere, so I called Charlie and we watched his appearance on
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
together. Of course Jay made a big to do that
Chase
was off the market. He even went as far as asking when Chase was “gonna put a ring on it.” Charlie looked straight into the camera, and said, “I’ve tried Jay, but she’s got big dreams, and a ring isn’t one of them.” The crowd gave a resounding “Awww,” and Charlie played along with them giving a sad pouty face. “But it’s okay. I’ll wait for her. She’s worth it.”

“It’s true,” he said into my ear. “I’ll wait.”

“I know,” was my reply.

The next morning I woke in a panic. I realized I hadn’t even tried on the gorgeous dress Charlie bought me.

I scrambled out of bed and found the high-end garment bag/shopping bag hanging in my closet. I noticed for the first time that the dress was from Bergdorf-Goodman’s. I recalled the afternoon my mom and I walked through the swanky store on Fifth Avenue. Carefully I unzipped the bag and pulled out the deep purple, beaded gown. The dress was heavy, simple and extremely sexy.

I piled my hair up on top of my head and slipped into the backless number. Initially I was worried about the backless construction with my C+ girls, until I realized that there was built in support. And I was thrilled that the dress had a fair amount of spandex in the material, making it cling to my body and made me feel very sexy. But how did I look?

I lifted the intricate skirt and walked over to the full-length mirror to take in the full effect. My breath was taken away. It was the same color purple as the morning glories on his mother’s gazebo, and set off my peachy skin and blonde hair stunningly. The top was sort of like a tank top, encrusted with clear and purple beads, the sides were accented with cream, although not beaded, so my arms when resting at the sides, weren’t scraped at, and accentuated my waist, making me look practically tiny. The purple of the top flowed into the skirt, where there were several cut outs up to my upper thigh, but instead of exposing skin, there were cream-colored insets. The dress was truly reminiscent of a morning glory.

I turned and looked at the back of the dress in the mirror. It was cut down to the top of my lower back. I thought about my mother’s necklace with the two pendants, one in front and a complementary one for the back. I rummaged through my modest collection of necklaces to see if I could come up with something similar. When I saw the pieces, I knew.

I pulled out the short strand of pearls I had gotten for my sixteenth birthday that had a “P” medallion worked into the front, my silver heart pendant, and a simple clear crystal bracelet I picked up at an art festival in Napa. I clipped the clasp of the bracelet onto the loop on the heart, and worked the loop on the bracelet into the clasp on the pearl necklace. I looked in the mirror and the effect was actually quite elegant. The feel of the heart pendant as it hung six inches down my back was very sexy.

Just then, my phone rang. Expecting it to be Charlie, I didn’t even look at the screen. I answered the call with, “I love this dress. It fits perfectly. How did you know? I can’t wait to stand on the red carpet wearing this with you tonight. I just need a pair of shoes.” I said looking at the floor and noticing how the dress puddled slightly.

“I might have a pair. What does the dress look like? But I’m sure I don’t have any red carpet events on my calendar tonight. Does Chase know?” The voice threw me for a minute, before I realized it was my mom.

“Oh,” I laughed. “I thought you were Charlie,” I explained. I went on to tell her how I was going to be jetting to L.A. in just a couple of hours for the premiere of Charlie’s film,
Book Ends.
She told me to send her a photo of the dress and she’d see what she had in her closet, since we had the same size feet. She said she could bring them over, and take me to the airport in style with Jack’s limo service.

When we got off of the phone, I snapped picture of me in front of the mirror wearing the gown and sent it to my mom. In a minute flat, she sent me a text with a photo of the perfect pair of shoes. Beautiful, “lacy,” “booties” made with crystals in a scalloped lace design. In a word they were stunning and thoroughly red carpet worthy.

I couldn’t wait to see Charlie.

Being in Los Angeles for a movie premiere was
incredible
. Charlie expertly brushed off the rude paparazzi and their intrusive questions, and only paid heed to the popular press like
Entertainment Tonight, E!
and
Access Hollywood.
We talked to representatives from various talk shows and movie review houses. I even got to answer the famous
“Who are you wearing?”
question. It was funny to have to go back to calling Charlie “Chase,” but I managed well enough.

I met Charlie’s co-star, Sydney Young, who apologized for any inconvenience her comments might have made for
Chase
and me. Sydney was really sweet and I think given the opportunity, we’d be good friends.

The movie, an adaptation of an erotic romance book, was handled well, even if it was difficult to watch my, now, boyfriend tangled on the giant screen with an amazing body like Sydney Young’s, especially knowing my own body, which had never been the most slender would be changing dramatically over the next several months. The after-parties were insane, meeting celebrities every time I turned around, cameras everywhere and amazing gift bags. By the end of the night, my face hurt from grinning non-stop.

I
waited anxiously for Phoebe’s plane to land. It was her first time in L.A., even though she’d grown up in California. But more exciting was that I was getting to share a red-carpet with someone who meant the world to me. In the past, I’d always gone with co-stars, and that was nice, and really did mean a lot, but to share the experience with someone who gave you strength in life was exhilarating. Sydney brought a date, another actor. The guy was new on the scene, and I didn’t know much about him, but he seemed nice enough. I got the feeling he was genuinely interested in her, and that she was comfortable around him. I was thrilled that Sydney was looking for ‘happy’ instead of ‘status.’

As wonderful as it was to see Phoebe at the airport after not seeing her for three days, seeing her in the morning glory purple gown was the highlight of my life—until I saw her walk down the aisle in a wedding gown…one day. Hopefully sooner than later.

She’s one dream that I wouldn’t let get away.

O
ver the remainder of the summer, the adoption paperwork was set up and we, Charlie, my mom, Jack, and I, started a search for an adoptive couple. It was a terrifying prospect, choosing the couple that would be best. People look good on paper, but you just never know, do you? I had no idea that there would be a couple that would present and be just perfect. Charlie was amazing and strong. Jack arranged for private doctors visits at
his
company, which was just down the street from Dr. Mora’s office. It certainly made for less notice by the paparazzi.

The paparazzi, however, did start following me somewhat regularly. Recalling advice from early on as Charlie’s PA, I learned to stand proud, keep my “head down, and push through.” And as Valerie and Michael counseled, Charlie and I didn’t confirm or deny my ‘condition.’ I wore clothes to hide it as best I could, but the articles about my ‘weight gain’ were so harsh. One article nearly did me in when it compared me to Kim Kardashian saying “at least Kim has confirmed
her
pregnancy.” Charlie was, once again, amazing with his support. He showed me pictures of before and now, pointing out only few changes to my face, and he was right. The doctor confirmed that my weight gain was perfect. But once you’re sensitive about your weight, every ounce ‘counts.’

My internship was, ultimately, a truly rewarding experience. Jade and Emma tried desperately to become my best friends once they realized that
Chase Smythe
and I were serious, and that
Jack Stevens
was my mother’s significant other. They were convinced it was their ticket to fame and glamor. I was polite with them, but often found ways of avoiding them.

Jenny and I got together a few times a week for dinner and catch up. She introduced me to her other friends and we all got along really well. They of course ribbed me because I was going to NYU and they were, for the most part, Columbia students.

Jenny and Ankur married in early August and it was a magnificent three day extravaganza of parties, bright colors, and touching ceremonies. The ceremonies
did
get me thinking about marriage, but I was still way too young, and had way too many things to do. Jenny was twenty-four, and Ankur was twenty-six. Jenny had an apartment of her own for two years, and was responsible for her own bills, even if it was based on an allowance from her parents, she had still worked very hard at her studies.

The most fun of the wedding festivities was the night before the wedding. That night, Jenny and Ankur had the most amazing and intricate the henna tattoos ‘piped’ to their hands and feet. The artist worked in Ankurs initials into Jenny’s work and Jenny’s initials were worked into Ankur’s. Jenny wanted her friends to have similar experiences with the henna, so we all got to choose a small henna design for our hands or feet. This was not traditional and while Jenny’s mother supported it, Ankur’s mother was not entirely successful at concealing her displeasure with the break in tradition.

All in all, I couldn’t have been happier with my decision to move to New York and chase a new dream.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

T
he sky was an incredible blue, and the weatherman on Eyewitness News 7, Amy Freeze (what a great name for a weather person!), predicted the high to hit mid in the eighties.

Charlie wanted to make the day extra special for Phoebe because he knew that she was feeling nervous about with all that was going on this particular Tuesday. He started by making Phoebe a stack of his famous, fluffy buttermilk pancakes with a side of bacon, extra-crispy, as was Phoebe’s preferred style of the salty treat, and fresh-squeezed orange juice. He loved cooking in the impressive kitchen of his high-rise condo. He placed all these items on a tray, accented with a giant sunflower lying above the plate of pancakes and a small box with a deep purple, glass-blown morning glory affixed to the top tucked under the bright petals of the real flower.