5

It’s just before eight when we enter the neighborhood where Jarvis lives. It’s dotted with houses, many of which have massive fenced in yards. Every single one is at least the size of Dex’s. The amount of money generated by the entertainment industry never ceases to amaze me. The funny thing is that I’d bet many of the houses don’t even belong to actors or directors—it’s the producers and studio heads that really control everything in Hollywood.

“Is that it?” Rose asks.

I look at the house Rose is pointing at… the one with the cars overflowing from the circle driveway. It’s two stories, both of which are mostly glass. There’s people on both floors and they look like they’re already dancing and having a grand time—I guess the party got started a little early.

“It must be.”

I park in front of a house down the street and we get out of my car. Hopefully they won’t mind, but I also don’t anticipate we’ll be here long enough for the owner of the house to do anything about it.

Rose is walking fast and it takes me a few seconds to catch up to her once I lock my car and drop the key fob back into my purse.

“So, you excited?” she asks, looking over at me.

“Yes?”

“Why did that sound like a question?”

“Uh… yeah… I guess I’m excited. I just have a lot on my mind right now.”

That’s not the reason why I’m not looking forward to the party, but it’s still true—I can’t stop thinking about my time in Prague and how much I’ve been missing Spencer since I’ve been back. That and my focus has been on the filming of Day One.

“Oh… that makes sense.”

I glance at a few of the cars parked in front of the house as we walk toward the front door. I’m not even sure what they all are, but they are oozing status and wealth. It’s the kind of place where Dex’s Ferrari would look like it was among friends.

The door opens as we walk up to it. A guy and girl almost walk into us, but we manage to move over and let them though.

“I just don’t get it,” she says, with a venomous tone.

“Babe… nothing happened.”

“I saw you with her.”

“We were just talking.”

Their voices fade off as they walk toward the road and the music from inside reaches us. There’s a few dozen people in the entry way and what appears to be a massive living room on the other side of it. Almost every single person has a red plastic cup in their hand and seems to be enjoying the techno music blasting from the massive speakers on the far side of the room. As people dance, I catch a glimpse of a DJ in front of a table against the back wall. Crazy. I’ve never been to a party where there’s a real DJ performing.

“I’m going to get a drink,” Rose says, leaning close to me. “Do you want one?”

I shake my head vigorously. I wouldn’t even dream of it, especially since I’m the one driving. Rose looks at me for a few seconds and then turns to walk away. I lose sight of her she slides through the crowd. I guess I’ll just find her in a little while.

My first mission, and really my only one, is to find Jarvis and to say hi. Then I won’t feel pressured to hang out any longer than necessary and I’ll be able to leave once Rose has realized this isn’t exactly the fun time she imagined it would be. I have nothing against dancing to some music, but a bunch of entitled Hollywood brats having a house party isn’t my cup of tea, that’s for sure.

I notice a girl staring at me with a weird look on her face, so I quickly head into the crowd of people as I start my search for Jarvis.

I have no luck finding him by the time I reach the back of the house. There’s a pool out back with people clustered around the far edge, so I head out there. I did pass a set of stairs near the back door, but it was packed with people and I’d rather not push my way through that crowd if I can help it.

The door leading out to the pool is open, I guess to let the music flow out of the house. A guy tries to walk through while I’m already in the doorway and he bumps into me, almost knocking me over. I manage to keep my balance and turn to give him a dirty look, but he keeps walking and doesn’t even bother to apologize. I’m not sure why I’m surprised… that’s the exact kind of people I thought would be here considering where we are.

I see two girls standing off to one side of the pool and head in their direction. One of them glances in my direction as I approach, but quickly turns her gaze back to her friend.

“Excuse me,” I say, “do either of you happen to know where Jarvis is?”

They stop talking and turn to me in unison.

“Who?” one asks.

“Jarvis… this is his party.”

“Never met him.”

The other girl glares at me before turning and walking away. The other one follows her friend as they head for the other side of the patio.

Alright then… so much for that. Why would they come to this party if they didn’t know Jarvis? That seems kind of strange.

“Amy!”

I turn around just in time to receive a hug from Jarvis. I hold my arms out and wait for him to pull back.

“How are you?” he asks.

“Fine… you?”

“Great.”

He glances down at my hand.

“You don’t have a drink.”

“I’m fine, thanks.”

“Nonsense. Wait right here.”

I open my mouth to protest, but he’s already spun around and heading back inside before a single word can escape my lips. Ugh. At least I’ve seen him. I should see if I can find Rose to see how much longer she wants to stay.

Jarvis walks back outside, heading right for me, with a plastic cup in each hand. Right behind him is a guy who I would guess is about our age… and there’s something about him that looks very familiar. Have I met him before?

“Here,” Jarvis says, handing me the cup.

I take it from him just to be polite—he has to imagine that I’m not drinking, but I did notice the smell of alcohol on his breath when he hugged me… there’s no telling how much he’s already had and it’s still early. So much for him taking it easy and resting for the busy week on set we both know is coming up.

“Thanks.”

“This is Jeremy Everton… I wanted him to meet you.”

Jeremy smiles and holds out his hand. I shift my drink to my left hand and we shake. His name sounds familiar, but I still can’t place him.

“Nice to meet you,” he says.

“Yeah… nice to meet you, too.”

“Are you having fun?”

“We just got here.”

“We?” Jeremy asks.

“Yeah… my friend, Rose, came with me.”

“Where is she?” Jarvis asks. “I was looking forward to meeting her.”

One thing about Jarvis drinking is that he seems much more jovial and nice, which is a pleasant surprise. I always just assumed he would be rude and out of control.

“I’m not sure. She went to go get a drink and then I never saw her again.”

“I’ll go find her while you two get acquainted,” Jarvis says.

I turn to Jeremy and smile as I shift the cup back into my right hand. I feel kind of awkward just holding it, but there isn’t really anywhere for me to set it down. It’s strange that Jarvis wants us to get acquainted because he knows I’m married. Whatever. Maybe Jarvis is just trying to be nice or something.

“So, you’re shooting a movie with Jarvis.”

“Yeah.”

“How’s it going?”

“Fine… we’re getting there. A little behind schedule, right now, but we should be able to finish on time.”

“Is that because of Jarvis getting injured?”

“Yes.”

“He’s a bit of an idiot,” Jeremy says.

I chuckle and nod my head. I’m not sure how close of friends they are, so I’m not about to say anything about Jarvis that I’d regret.

“He calmed down after the first few days on the set… once we had a chat.”

“Oh… right… that was you?”

I raise an eyebrow and Jeremy starts to laugh.

“What?” I ask.

“He told me someone knocked him down and told him to get his act together. I assumed it was one of the other guys on set… not you.”

I smile and nod.

“It was me. You seem surprised.”

“I didn’t realize you were so… feisty… I guess.”

I smile and look back at the door to the house. I’m starting to worry about Rose a little. It’s not that she can’t take care of herself, but this is a very different scene from what she’s probably used to and I feel responsible for making sure she stays safe.

“You OK?”

“Yeah… just a little worried about my friend.”

“I’m sure she’s fine… it’s all good people here.”

“You sound so sure.”

Jeremy nods and looks around the pool area.

“I know pretty much everyone here and they are all cool.”

“What about those girls?” I ask, nodding in the direction of the girls who snubbed me when I first came outside.

“The one on the left is Jarvis’s sister, Mary… and the other one is her friend. Candy or Candice… or something like that.”

Jarvis’s sister? Why did she tell me she had never heard of him before? My best guess is that it’s some kind of sibling rivalry or something like that.

“So, how is Spencer doing in Europe?”

I turn my attention back to Jeremy. It certainly wasn’t a question I was expecting from him.

“He’s good… yeah. Just busy filming.”

“Tell him I said ‘hey’ the next time you talk to him.”

“Sure… of course. Do you know each other?”

“We go back. We were both in a low-budget TV ad when he first came out here.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It was totally cheesy and the production quality was awful.”

“That’s funny. He’s never mentioned it to me before.”

Jeremy laughs and nods.

“I’m not all that surprised. It’s not something either one of is particularly proud of.”

“What was it for?”

“Red Cliff deodorant.”

“Huh… I’ve never heard of it before.”

“I’m pretty sure they went out of business not long after the ad came out. Almost no one has seen the ad, thank goodness.”

“Is it on the internet or anything?”

“Let’s hope not.”

I laugh and glance at the door again. No sign of Jarvis or Rose. Weird.

“You seem distracted,” Jeremy says. “If you want, we can go look for your friend.”

“No… it’s fine. I’m just a little… worried.”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

“You’re right.”

I nod and smile. Maybe he’s right—I should just relax and try not to worry about her that much. I grew up in a small town and I sometimes forget that she’s from a big city. There’s no harm in just hanging out for a little while longer to see if she turns up.

---

I make two rounds through the house before I give up. The only place I didn’t check was down the two hallways upstairs, but that was because they were roped off and had signs that said ‘Please respect our personal privacy’. Rose doesn’t strike me as the kind of person who would wander off down a hall and disobey that kind of request, even if she had a couple of drinks.

Jarvis wasn’t around either, but I’m chalking that up to him getting distracted by whatever famous person showed up at the party after the last time I talked to him. The music is loud enough in here that I can barely think and all I want to do is get out of here and go home.

I sigh and take my phone out of my purse in the hope that Rose decided to text me and let me know what happened to her. Holy crap… my phone says that it’s almost eleven. Did that much time really go by while I was talking to Jeremy? Crazy. There’s nothing on my phone and I just shake my head. Where the heck did she disappear to?

I’m not sure how it’s possible, but there seems to be even more people crammed into Jarvis’s house than when we got here, which didn’t make searching for Rose any easier. I’m not sure what else I can do at this point… call her and hope for the best, I guess.

It might be easier for me to think and to figure out what to do next if I head outside. Pushing my way through the throng of people takes a minute, but I finally make it to the front door. I feel like I can breathe again as I step into the cool night air. I sigh, shake my head and look down at my phone. I’m assuming Rose is still here, but she’ll never hear her phone ring if I call her. I’m not sure what other option I have at this point, though.

I dial her number and hold my phone up as it starts to ring. She doesn’t answer after three rings, which is what I was expecting, and my call rolls over to voicemail.

“Hey, Rose, it’s me. I’m out front of Jarvis’s house. I hope you’re OK… you never came back when you went to get a drink. Call me as soon as you get this.”

I hang up my phone and shake my head as I drop it back into my purse. I’m not really sure what to do now. Should I just wait until she calls me back? I have no idea how long that could possibly take, but I’m not sure what other option I have at this point. I sit down on the front steps of the house and just look into the sky. It’s still weird to look up and not see any stars. I’m not sure it’s something I’ll ever get used to.

I stand up after five minutes of waiting—my butt is getting cold from sitting on the concrete and I’m starting to feel impatient. Should I go back inside and look for her again? It seems like she’d call me, or something, if she was paying attention to the time. It would have been wise of me to suggest a time for us to leave… that or at least agree on sticking together at the party. I guess it’s too late for that now.

I check my phone again, with the hope that Rose called me and I just didn’t hear it ring. Nothing. No call or text. Ugh. It’s eleven now and I’ve got things to do tomorrow. I was planning to go see my mom and I still need to get a good night of sleep. The possibility of both of those things happening seems to be slipping away with each passing moment.

Five minutes later I’m still standing in front of Jarvis’s house, but I’m done. I start to walk toward my car and glance over my shoulder one last time. I guess I was thinking Rose might choose this moment to come running out of the house, apologizing profusely as she hurries toward me. No such luck.

I take out my phone and write her a quick text. I hit send, get in my car and start the engine.

I’ve been trying to find you, but I don’t know what happened. I’m heading home. If you want a ride later just call me and I’ll come and get you.

I feel like a terrible friend. It’s not helping that I sort of hope she doesn’t call once I’m asleep. I don’t think I’d normally be so bothered by her disappearing, but it’s just been such a long week and the conversation I had with Nadia is still weighing on my mind. I’m not really sure who I can talk to about her. I could tell Spencer about it next time we talk… I just don’t want him to worry about me while he’s focusing on his own film. Brian, my agent, might be a good resource—there’s a decent chance he’s come across Nadia before and he could have some advice for me.

Rose still hasn’t called or texted me by the time I get back to Dex’s house and now I’m feeling super guilty for leaving. Part of me wants to get in the car and drive back over there, but I’m not sure it would accomplish anything—I went through the whole house twice and there was no sign of her.

The house is dark when I head inside, which isn’t that surprising considering it’s almost 11:30. I’m sure Dex has been asleep for hours. I take the stairs on the far side of the house from his room, just to make sure I don’t disturb him, and I go into my room. I sigh as I sit down on the edge of my bed. I write out a text to Rose, but delete it before hitting send. I’m a little irritated with her, but I don’t need to be mean or rude, which is exactly what I was about to do.

I obsessively check my phone as I get ready for bed and brush my teeth, still expecting to get a text from her at any minute. I even take my time and brush my hair twice before climbing into bed.

I give up.

I turn the ringer up on my phone and close my eyes. I’ll still go get her if she calls, just because I’m worried about the possibility of her doing something she might regret… but if she’s going to take off and not call me there’s not really much I can do.