6

The moment my eyes are open, I reach for my phone—I assume that Rose called at some point, but I was fast asleep and it didn’t wake me up. Nope. No text from her either. What the heck? Now I’m really worried about her. What could’ve happened that she just never called me back? The only thing that makes sense at this point is that she lost her phone and… and I have no idea. I feel like she’s smart enough to make it back to the house even without her phone.

I get up and throw on yoga pants and a T-shirt before heading downstairs. Dex is sitting at the table, looking at something on his tablet. He glances up from the screen and smiles as I walk toward him.

“Good morning,” he says.

“Hey.”

“Late night?”

“Yeah… kind of.”

“Did you have fun?”

I shrug and sit down across from him.

“It was… whatever.”

“Did something happen?”

“Rose never came home.”

Dex sets his tablet down on the table and nods slowly.

“Didn’t you go to the party together?”

“We did,” I say, nodding. “She went to get a drink right when we got there. I couldn’t find her… and it was already eleven. I called her and sent her a text and still nothing.”

“Do you think something happened?”

“I have no idea.”

“Has she ever done something like this before?”

“No, I mean… not that I know of. She’s my friend, but we really don’t know each other all that well. We met in Chicago and spent a little time together, but I’ve been pretty busy since she moved out here.”

“Does she have any other friends or anything?”

“Not that I know of.”

Dex just looks at me for a few seconds, neither of us saying anything. I can tell he’s deep in thought as he tries to figure out some plausible explanation for the whole situation.

“What’s her number?”

“I’ll text it to you.”

I pull her number up on my phone and send it to Dex.

“Do you think she’s mad at me or something?” I ask.

“No… why?”

“Oh… I just thought because you asked for her number.”

“Ah… no, not quite. I know a couple of… people… that I’ve met over the years. They don’t exactly operate out in the open, but they might be able to track her phone.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah… but don’t go around telling anyone about this.”

“I won’t.”

“Let me see what I can come up with.”

“Thanks,” I say, smiling at him, “I really appreciate it.”

“Of course. I’ll be right back.”

Dex stands up from the table, takes his phone out of his pocket and walks into the living room. I can hear his voice as he starts to talk to whoever the person is, but I can’t quite make out what he’s saying… which might very well be a good thing.

I look down at my own phone and pull up Spencer’s number. It’s been almost forty-eight hours since I heard from him, but it’s not that surprising since he told me they would be traveling to some town in a remote part of Russia to shoot. I write out a text and hit send, not expecting him to reply… but at least he’ll know I’m thinking about him.

Hey, just checking in. Hope your day of travel went OK and that you’re getting settled in at your new location. Let me know when you come up for air. I love you and can’t wait to hear your voice.

I set my phone down on the table as Dex walks back into the room.

“OK,” he says, as he sits down. “I talked to my guy… and he’s going to look into it. He said that if her phone is on he should be able to trap her pretty easily and he’s going to call me back if he finds her.”

“Thanks… I really appreciate it.”

“Of course, no problem.”

“Do you think I’m overreacting? About Rose… I mean.”

“No… I think you’re right to be worried about her.”

I nod and glance down at my phone, hoping that the little green light will be flashing to notify me of a response from Spencer… but there isn’t one.

“Just try to not worry so much,” Dex says. “There’s a good chance she just met someone at the party… and lost track of time. She probably didn’t want to bother you.”

“I guess it’s possible… but why wouldn’t she just send me a text or something?”

Dex shakes his head and takes a deep breath.

“I’m not sure what to say… other than it’s been a long time since I was your age and things have changed. You know, I’m basically a dinosaur—we didn’t have cell phones… there was no texting.”

I laugh and Dex smiles.

“You’re not old,” I say, “but it’s weird to think about a time before cell phones.”

“Thanks. It was a simpler time… that’s for sure. It felt like life was slower… calmer. Oh well… it’s the times we live in, so there’s no sense in complaining about it.”

We sit there in silence for the next couple of minutes. My thoughts are drifting between Rose and whether or not I’m going to go visit my mom today. I feel like I should go see her, but I’d really like to just hang around here.

“So,” Dex says, shifting in his chair, “what else is going on with you?”

“Not much… just busy filming.”

“Is everything going alright?”

“Yeah… it’s tough… physically and mentally.”

“But you’re enjoying it?”

I nod my head and smile.

“I really am. It’s been such a great opportunity. Harriet is an amazing director and I feel very fortunate I was given the opportunity to work with her.”

“Good… I’m glad to hear it.”

Talking about the movie reminds me of the conversation I had with Nadia and I realize Dex is really the best person to ask.

“Hey… do you happen to know Nadia Selva?” I ask.

“Yeah… why?”

“Oh… well… she’s a producer and she came to my trailer to talk to me.”

“Hmm… it’s not that unusual for a producer to talk to one of the actors.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right… but it wasn’t just the film that she wanted to talk about.”

“Really? What did she say?”

“Basically… well… she saw that interview I did, on TV, and she was worried about how I present myself when promoting a film.”

Dex makes a fist and rests his chin on it while he thinks about what I just said. With each passing second that he doesn’t say anything, I’m starting to worry more and more that he might think she was right.

“Well,” he says, before trailing off and shaking his head.

“What?”

“I’m just… I’m not sure what to say.”

I take a deep breath and nod as I mentally prepare myself for what he’s about to say.

“You can be honest with me,” I say.

“It’s not even that… I’m just trying to figure out why she would say something like that to you. I think you were completely justified in how you acted and I wouldn’t have wanted you to respond any other way when you were being harassed.”

A wave of relief passes over me. I’m not sure why I thought Dex would feel any other way about how I handled myself—he has always had my back since the day I moved into his house.

“Thank you… it means a lot to hear you say that.”

“Of course. You’re a wonderful young woman who has a very bright future—try to not let these ‘old Hollywood’ people dissuade you from being yourself.”

I smile and look down at the table—I feel like I’m going to start crying if I look at him. Dex is really the kind of parent that I wish my mother was.

“You OK?” he asks.

I nod and take a deep breath as I try to get myself back together. He’s always been so good to me, but I think it means even more to me right now because of what I’m going through with my mom.

“Yeah,” I say, finally looking up at him. “It just… thank you for everything.”

Dex smiles and nods.

“Of course. In case you didn’t notice, I’m kind of fond of you and I think of you as the daughter I never had.”

I just sit there for a minute, a look of pure joy on my face as I look into the eyes of the only man, other than Spencer, who means anything to me. It’s kind of sad that my dad isn’t in my thoughts as much anymore, but I feel like that has more to do with how he treated me once my mom left than anything else. I loved him… I really did, but he wasn’t the same person after she left to be with Dex.

“Thank you… it… I’ll never be able to tell you how much that means to me.”

Gina walks into the kitchen. We both look toward her and she stops in her tracks.

“Sorry… am I interrupting?”

“No, it’s fine,” Dex says.

“You’re sure?”

“Of course,” I say.

“Good. Did either of you want something to eat?”

I glance at Dex and then turn back to Gina. She smiles at me and then turns toward the fridge. I’ve been so consumed with worrying about Rose that I just realized I haven’t eaten since lunch yesterday and even that was just a few bites of food at the craft services table. I guess there’s nothing else I can do about Rose until we hear back from Dex’s friend, so I might as well just go about my day.

---

Dex had a meeting this morning, so he left after we finished breakfast. He promised to let me know as soon as he heard back from his friend. I have no idea how long that’s going to take. I was really hoping he would call back by now, but I need to do something else or my entire day is going to be wasted.

I head back up to my room and sit down on my bed as I try to think of what I should do. I’ve been compulsively checking my phone to see if Rose has finally surfaced, but I still haven’t heard from Spencer. He’s busy, I’m sure, but it would have been nice to talk to him.

What makes the most sense, thinking about what I should do today, is to head up to visit my mom. I really should go now and that way I can get back before it’s too late—I’d like to have an early dinner and get to bed by nine. Even thinking that makes me feel lame, but I don’t even care… being rested for this coming week is what I’m shooting for.

I get changed, brush my teeth and grab my purse before heading downstairs. It’s still early, just after ten, which means there shouldn’t be more than the normal L.A. traffic on the road.

I’m roughly halfway through the drive when I hear my phone chirp from inside my purse. I glance over at it, but know that reaching for it would be stupid—let alone trying to read a text message while driving. I was right in my guess, there isn’t that much traffic… but still enough that taking my eyes off the road for more than second could be enough to cause an accident.

I start looking for somewhere to pull over and see an exit less than a mile up the road. It feels like time slows down as I turn on my signal and pull off the road—I really hope that the text is from Rose.

The exit loops under the highway and heads back toward the water. There’s a gas station, so I decide to pull into their parking lot. I take my phone out of my purse and enter my unlock code. It’s a text… but it’s not from Rose or Dex. It’s a text from Spencer and I’m actually a little disappointed that it’s from him, which is an incredibly weird thing to feel. It’s certainly not something I thought would be possible, but here I am.

Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner… it was a crazy day and I’m pretty beat, but I’m at my hotel now. It’s kind of a strange place… I’m not so sure you’d like it here. I’m just glad you visited when I was in Prague, that’s for sure.

I look to my left and stare at the ocean. I take a deep breath, in an effort to get over my disappointment, before writing a text to Spencer and hitting send.

Hey. I’m glad you made it there. I’m heading to my visit my mom right now, so I pulled over to text. I was actually expecting to hear from Dex or Rose. We went to Jarvis’s house last night, for his birthday party, and I lost track of her. She went to get a drink and then she never came back. I gave up eventually, but I still haven’t heard from her. Dex called a friend of his who is supposed to be tracking her down and I’m waiting for Dex to message me when he hears from the guy. Sorry… I’m rambling. I’m sure this is the last thing you wanted to hear about right now.

I set my phone down on the passenger seat while I wait for him to respond to my text. Ugh. I’m feel like crap for the way I just talked to him… well… for the content of my message. That was the last thing he was expecting when he sent me a text—I’m sure he was thinking we could just have a quick and pleasant chat before he heads to bed.

With each passing second, I feel guiltier. I reach for my phone as I try to think of something to say to him… anything… just so that he doesn’t feel like I’m making everything about me. Before I can even start to write my message, I get a text back from him.

That’s sounds like a pretty crazy day… sorry about that. I wonder where Rose could have gone. I’m sure she’s probably fine, but it’s still kind of rude for her to take off like that and not let you know where she was. I’m glad you told Dex about it and that he’s helping to find her. Let me know what happens. I love you. Have a good visit with your mom. Talk to you soon.

I sigh and smile. I’m not sure why I would expect anything other than a sweet and kind message from him—it’s exactly who he is. I write out a response and hit send.

Thanks, baby. Sorry to dump all that on you, it’s just been stressful. Anyway… have a good night. I’ll let you know what happens with Rose. I love you.

I put my phone in the cup holder and start the engine. I’m feeling a little better now about the whole Rose situation—and I’m glad he didn’t get upset by the tone of my first text.

I’m back on the highway within a minute and heading toward the treatment center. I know she hasn’t been there for very long, but I do hope that she’s started to make some progress. They didn’t even really mention her time table… how long she’ll have to be there, so I guess I need to talk to someone and find out. It would be nice for her to get better so she can leave there, but I can’t help thinking about where she would go.

The last thing I need today, when I’m supposed to be resting, is to worry even more about my mom. I’m better off just trying to have a nice visit with her, enjoying the view from her room, because it’s not as though she’ll be done with her treatment anytime soon.