Lucky Star: A Hollywood Love Story (35 page)

“Thank you Shanna. That means a lot to me,” I said, not wanting to appear ungrateful for her lovely compliments. “It’s hard though, you know, being with someone who looks like Cameron. There are … certain expectations.”

“I don’t want to hear you say that ever again. Has that man ever given you any reason to doubt how hot he is for you? Does
he
think he should be with a different sort of woman?”

“No, I don’t think so.” In fact, these past few nights had reminded me just how much Cameron cherished my womanly curves, loved my voluptuous body.

“Well, then there you go. Enough about that.” She paused long enough to gather a breath, and then launched into her next topic. “What I
really
want to talk about is
your
job.”

“My job?”

“I told you I was going to give you to you straight. Broderick can’t fire Cameron but I’m afraid there’s been some backlash against you,” she said, not with pity but with anger. “I’m afraid you no longer work for Gramalkin.”

For the second time during our conversation, Shanna’s words struck me speechless but this time it wasn’t with wonder. Instead I felt anger and shame.

“Once he had a chance to simmer down, Broderick admitted you didn’t do anything
technically
wrong, but he has partners and investors and the blame for this fiasco had to be laid somewhere. You were nominated as the sacrificial lamb.”

“I see.”

And I did, truly. We’d wasted a lot of the studio’s time and money by revealing our relationship and now we had to pay. Well, technically
I
had to pay. I wasn’t thrilled, but I hadn’t been thrilled with my job lately either so all things considered, the only thing I would miss out on was Broderick’s payout.

“I’m not sure you do,” Shanna said, interrupting my internal monologue. “Well, not entirely.”

“What am I missing?”

“I’d like you to come work for me.”

While the offer was generous, going back to being her personal assistant wasn’t what I wanted to do at this point in my life. With Cameron assured of continued work, maybe it was time for me to retire from Hollywood altogether and focus on the plans
we’d
come up with a couple of months back – spend my days painting and my nights making love to my husband until I found myself knocked up with his babies.

“Sarah?”

“I appreciate the offer, Shanna. Really I do, but I’m not sure that’s the best thing for me at this point in my life. I respect you, but—”

“Oh, I should have been clearer.” She sighed impatiently, more at herself than at my response. “I always do this. Jump straight to the ask when I haven’t set up the scenario. What I
mean
to say is I’m starting my own production company. I want to make movies for women, by women. I’m tired of people believing only men can make good movies and I think you have a lot of experience that would be beneficial to this venture.” She paused dramatically, letting her words sink in.

I didn’t respond right away. How could I? The offer was entirely unexpected. Shanna was driven and ambitious, but if you’d asked me back when I was working for her coordinating parties and philanthropic events if she’d follow in her husband’s footsteps I would have said no. Shanna had absolutely no patience for dealing with sycophants and prima donnas and it was precisely those types of people who made up the majority of Hollywood. Broderick could barely hold it together in meetings and he was much more used to people trying to kiss his ass in order to curry favor. Picturing Shanna tell a bunch of brown-nosers to get their faces out of her ass made me giggle like a twelve-year-old little boy.

“Did I say something funny?”

Shit, I’d offended her, something I absolutely did not want to do. “No, not at all. I was just picturing you telling a room full of sycophants to get their brown noses out of your ass.”

She laughed with me then. “Yeah, you might have a point. Still, this is what I’ve decided to do with my time.”

When she continued, her words held a hint of irritation. “People don’t see women in their fifties doing anything beyond throwing parties for their more successful, powerful husbands and frankly, I’m sick of it. I have an MBA from Wharton and I’ve raised
millions
of dollars for other people. Hell, I’m the reason Broderick was able to strike out on his own to begin with.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt you’re capable, it’s just … and I don’t say this to be rude … but I don’t know if you have the patience to deal with the type of people that cross Broderick’s path every day.”

“Yes, well. I can be much more diplomatic than he, don’t you think?”

I didn’t know if she was asking me rhetorically or expected me to answer but either way I stayed quiet. Of the two of them, Shanna was the one you
never
wanted to cross. Broderick was an asshole used to stomping around until he got his way, but Shanna would cut a bitch and not even blink. While Broderick threw temper tantrums and moved on as quickly as he’d erupted, Shanna never forgot a slight.

“I don’t want to be offensive, but I still think the fact that you don’t suffer fools gladly could prove problematic. Don’t get me wrong, it’s one of the things I love most about you, but if I’m going to work for you I need to know you’ve thought this through. I mean, really done your due diligence and know what it is you’re getting into.”

She snorted and I knew if it’d been anyone but me saying this she probably
would
have been offended.

“I know what I’m doing and I know what role I want you to play in this enterprise. I’m hitting send right now on an email that has more information and I’ve overnighted some additional paperwork for you to go over – a full contract, payment information, healthcare … that sort of thing.”

Interrupting her, I said, “Can I ask you something?”

“I’d be concerned if you didn’t,” she responded matter-of-factly.

“Are you doing this because Broderick had to fire me and you feel bad, or do you really want me to come work for you?”

“I had paperwork drawn up well before news of your relationship with Cameron went public. I’ve been threatening Broderick for weeks I was going to hire you out from under his nose just like he did to me. While I’m sad it had to come to this, his loss is my gain. At least I hope so.”

I had no doubt Shanna would have helped me find a job once Broderick fired me if I had asked her to, but knowing she wanted me on her staff even before the proverbial axe had fallen went a long way to boosting my self-esteem.

“And just so we’re clear Sarah, I’ll never ask you to hide or be anyone other than who you are. You’re a smart, talented, wonderful woman and I’d be lucky to have you come work for me.”

I knew Shanna meant what she said and regardless of what some PR person might tell her was best for her actors or actresses, she would never heed their advice if it meant hurting someone close to her. That was the difference between Shanna and Broderick. He cared about people in so far as they could help him while his wife actually went out of her way to protect and uplift those she valued. Not for the first time I wondered what kept their marriage on solid ground. Broderick must have some hidden depths those who worked for him weren’t privy to. I’d gotten as close to the family as an employee possibly could and I still didn’t have it figured out.

“Alright Shanna, I’ll tell you what. I’ll talk this over with Cameron and if he’s on board and everything looks good, then I’m in.”

“Yes!” She shouted, and despite her high level of polish and sophistication, I could picture her dancing around whatever room she was in, hand thrust high into the air in a sign of victory. Shanna liked to win.

Putting her mantle of sophisticated businesswoman back on, she said, “I think you’ll find the paperwork in good order, and if there’s anything you have a question about, don’t hesitate to ask. I want this to be mutually beneficial. I don’t want you to feel like you’re taking something because you have to. Remember, I wanted to hire you before any of this got out.”

“Got it,” I responded. “And thanks Shanna, I appreciate it.”

“No problem kiddo,” she said. “Talk to you later.”

The phone went silent and I did a little victory dance of my own. In the span of thirty minutes I’d gone from
persona non grata
with the tabloids, to fired, to hired by someone I admired and respected. There were worse ways to start the day.

“You are not going to believe this!” I shouted to Cameron as I made my way up the stairs to our bedroom.

After I communicated Shanna’s plan to him, we looked over the email she’d sent and were surprised to see that not only would she be bringing me on in a fairly senior position, but the pay was significantly more than I would ever make working for Broderick (bribe money notwithstanding).

When he finished reading through the document, Cameron had a strange, confused look on his face. He shook his head and it cleared. “Is this what you want to do?”

“That’s the funny thing. If you had asked me two hours ago, I wouldn’t have given it the first thought, but the fact of the matter is I’m officially unemployed and I have to do
something
. The more I think about what Shanna wants to do with her studio, the more intrigued I am by how it could play out.”

He looked away, and several seconds went by before he turned back to me. “I’m trying to think how to say this without upsetting you.”

“You don’t want me to do it.” It wasn’t a question. Now that he’d dropped his mask, I could tell he wasn’t as thrilled with Shanna’s offer as I was.

“It’s not that. Not really.” Cameron ran his hand through hair that was still rumpled from sleep. “Promise you won’t be mad?”

Given he’d prefaced his statement like this, I figured there was a very high likelihood that was exactly how I’d feel once he told me what was on his mind. But since we’d finally gotten to a place in our relationship where we were being completely open and honest with one another, I didn’t want him keeping his true feelings inside any more than I wanted to do that myself. So even if what he said made me angry, I’d do my best to reign in my reaction. “Sure.”

“Okay. I don’t want you to take the job.”

I waited to see if he’d elaborate and when he didn’t I climbed up next to him, placing my back against the headboard and my head on his shoulder. “You’re going to have to give me more than that Cameron. This is a big deal. I just got fired and Shanna is offering me an even better job than the one I lost.”

He fidgeted with the end of the sheet. He was naked under that thin layer of cotton but I tried not to get too distracted by the thought as I watched him bunch and release the material. The action gave me frequent – if fleeting – views of the trail of dusky blonde hair that led to one of my favorite parts of him. 

On a beleaguered sigh, he started to speak and then halted while I continued to wait in silence. He obviously had something important to say and I wanted to know what it was. Never again did I want him feeling like I’d made unilateral decisions about something that affected our relationship without hearing him out first.

“I don’t know why I’m having such a hard time saying this. I guess I don’t want you to see me as some male chauvinist pig or something.” He shifted so that his body faced me, his right leg brought up against him. “It’s just that a few days ago, when we talked about what came next for us you never mentioned wanting to pursue anything like this. I thought we were on the same page. I’d make the money and you’d …”

He trailed off but I knew exactly where the statement would have landed if he’d continued. He’d be the breadwinner while I’d stay home to take care of him and our eventual family. Maybe not too eventual though since the longer we waited to get starting on the baby making part of our plan the harder it might turn out to be. That said, I didn’t see why I couldn’t have a job like the one Shanna described and still had kids.

I reached over to still his fidgeting hands. “You’ll make the money while I make the family is what you meant to say. The thing is, when we talked about us starting a family, that was in the future.” I tried to keep my words neutral so he knew I wasn’t angry at him for having the thought. In truth, there was a decided lack of any strong emotion going on in my head or my heart, which told me perhaps I wasn’t quite as excited by Shanna’s job as I had first thought. I think the issue I struggled with the most being used to doing what I wanted, when I wanted it, and having to consider how
my
plans impacted
our
life would take some getting used to. But again, neither of us were getting any younger and decisions needed to be made sooner rather than later.

“Sarah …” I heard the frustration in that one word but let it slide.

“I know, I know. I’m thirty-three. Trust me, my advanced age is not lost on me. But when we made those plans it was under an entirely different scenario. The first movie would be a big hit, you’d be a huge international star, we’d finally get married, and then I could step away to paint and raise our family. I don’t know about you, but in my head that wasn’t for a few years yet.”

He leaned back in bed and brought me with him, and tucking me up against his body I rested my head in the crook of his neck.