I pull my bedroom door closed and walk down the hall. I knock on Rose’s door and wait, but she doesn’t respond. It’s possible she’s downstairs already… or she could be sleeping. I should just go down and check because I don’t want to just barge in her room if she’s getting ready.
Dex said he would be back in L.A. at around four, but it’s almost six and he’s still not home. Maybe his flight got delayed or something. I take my phone out of my purse as I walk downstairs to look for Rose. I pull up his number, but a text from him pops up on my phone before I get the chance to write him a message.
Sorry about the delay, the plane had a problem… long story short, but they had to get me another plane and we just landed.
I pause at the bottom of the stairs to write a response.
Did you want to delay dinner? We’re still at the house, but ready. Whatever you want to do is fine.
I walk into the living room and see Rose sitting on the couch, wearing her new dress... and still studying her script. She turns her head as I walk in and stands up.
“We ready to go?” she asks.
“Almost… Dex just landed… so I’m texting him to see what’s going on.”
“Okay.”
“The dress looks great, by the way.”
“Thanks… I think so, too.”
Rose smiles and looks down at the dress I bought for her earlier in the day. My phone vibrates and I look down to read the message from Dex.
No, it’s fine. Sorry I didn’t get back to you earlier… I was thinking about going to Xi’an, if that’s okay with you. I figured we could just meet there.
“He wants to just meet at the restaurant... and wants to go to Xi’an.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a Chinese restaurant over on Hollywood Boulevard.”
“Is that close?”
“Eh, like fifteen minutes,” I say. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yes.”
Rose rolls up her script and puts it into her purse as we walk toward the front door. I hold it open for her and close it behind myself. We get in the car, I put the address into my navigation and pull through the gate. I have a good idea where the restaurant is… Spencer talked about going there, but I don’t want to get lost on our way to meet Dex.
“So, how is Spencer doing?” Rose asks.
“He’s good… I guess. I haven’t talked to him today… we texted a little today, mostly me telling him that we’re staying with Dex, but he was busy and said he would text or call later. I never heard back from him.”
“I’m sure he’s probably busy.”
“Yeah… I’m sure he’s asleep now… it’s like a nine-hour time difference.”
“Crazy… that must make it hard to connect with him.”
“It does, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”
I turn left onto Santa Monica Blvd as we head toward West Hollywood.
“When are you going to see him?”
“I’m not sure. I guess I was thinking once I’m done shooting Day One… assuming that nothing else is going on… I’ll fly to wherever he is and spend some time with him.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah… I don’t have anything lined up after this, plus I wouldn’t mind taking a little time off.”
“I’m sure… you’ve been pretty busy,” Rose says.
I nod my head in response. It’s true, I’ve been crazy busy since the day I was cast in Dex’s film. It seems like time has flown by. It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a year since I graduated high school in Greenville. It feels like a different lifetime. The only thing that even really reminds me of my life there is the fact that my mom keeps trying to pull me into whatever trouble she’s trying to cause in a given moment.
“It’ll be nice to just chill out,” I say, “but I really do feel grateful for everything I have… and I really like to act.”
“So do I… it’s amazing. I always got this rush when we were on set… my heart would race… and it just made me so happy. I can’t wait to feel that again.”
I smile and glance over at Rose. I know exactly what she means and I still feel that way every morning when I walk out the door and head to wherever the set is located. Nothing in my old life, in Greenville or Salem, ever made me feel this way… and I hope that I never have to give it up. Life without that feeling would never be as good… as sweet… or as amazing.
“I know this is changing the subject,” I say, “but have you talked to your mom since you got here?”
It’s her business if she ever speaks to her mother again… and I feel like I probably shouldn’t have said anything. Her silence speaks volumes.
“Sorry… I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“It’s fine,” Rose says.
“I wasn’t meaning… I don’t know. I meant like… maybe you wanted to let her know you were okay… nothing more, really.”
I glance over and she’s nodding. I’m sure her mom, whatever her issue with Rose being an actress is, would still want to know that her daughter had made it here safely.
“That’s what I figured.”
“Sorry… let’s talk about something else.”
“Amy… it’s okay… I’m not irritated with you or anything. I was just thinking about her… and what I’m going to say to her when I finally work up the courage to call her.”
“Well,” I say, “if you do want to talk about it… or need help figuring out what to say to her… you can always bounce ideas off me… or whatever.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
I glance at the navigation screen and see that we’re within a block or so of the restaurant.
“Let me know if you see a spot,” I say.
I try not to slow down as we look, but there isn’t anything around. We drive by the restaurant and keep going for another three blocks before I pull a U-turn and drive back. Maybe we’ll get lucky and someone will have left, but I’m not going to hold my breath.
A quick glance in my mirror as we get close to the restaurant reveals a large distance between me and the closest car, so I take the opportunity to slow down and look for a spot. A car pulls out from directly in front of the restaurant and I smile. Perfect.
“Nice,” Rose says.
“I know… that was lucky.”
I pull into the spot and we get out of the car. As we walk toward the restaurant, a young guy walks out from behind a podium and extends his hand. I stop and frown as I try to imagine what he could possibly want from me.
“Keys?” he asks.
“Sorry?”
“That’s the valet spot....”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
I turn around and see the sign, which clearly states that fact. I guess I was so excited about getting such an amazing spot that I didn’t even notice it. Whoops. I’ve never used a valet before, but considering the parking situation it’s probably a good idea. I drop my key into his hand and he gives me a ticket in return.
“Thanks,” I say.
He nods as he walks toward the driver’s side door of my car and gets in. I don’t love the idea of some random guy driving my car, but I guess it’s his job… and there really isn’t anywhere around here to park.
“Ready?” Rose asks.
“Yeah.”
We walk inside and head for the hostess, who is currently on the phone. She hangs it up, grabs two menus and smiles at us.
“Do you have a reservation?”
“Uh… I’m not sure. We’re meeting someone here, but he didn’t say if he had a reservation or not.”
I glance around the restaurant as I talk to her. It looks pretty full and I don’t see Dex anywhere, but he has a longer drive to get here than we did… so it’s not that surprising.
“What’s his name?” she asks, as she looks down at her list of reservations.
“Baldwin.”
She looks up and nods.
“Mr. Dexter Baldwin?”
“Yeah.”
“Yes… he called. We have a table for you, but he’s not here. Did you want to sit down or wait here for him?”
“We can wait at the table.”
She nods and walks toward the dining room. We follow her through the packed restaurant to a table in the back corner that is set for three people.
“Thanks,” I say, as we take our seats.
She nods and sets down the menus in front of us before retreating back toward the front. I look around the room as I pick up the menu and flip it open. I’ve had Chinese food plenty of times before, but this seems really nice… not exactly what I was expecting. It seems like most Chinese restaurants are kind of hole-in-the-wall places, but this is noticeably more… Los Angeles. Not really a bad thing, just not what I was expecting when Dex suggested this as a place to eat.
I look down at the menu and start to scan the appetizers. A quick look confirms this isn’t a typical Chinese restaurant—the prices, even for appetizers, is what I would describe as sky-high. I suppose they are in line for any nice restaurant in this city. I sigh as I set the menu down. I’m always worrying about how much things cost… even though I’m making really good money. I guess part of me is frugal, because of how and where I was raised and it’s something I’m sure will be with me the rest of my life. It’s not a big deal, but I don’t want to miss out on anything in life because of it, especially since I can afford to enjoy things that would have never been within reach had I stayed on my planned life path.
“You okay?” Rose asks.
I blink a few times and nod as I look at her.
“Yeah… I’m good.”
“You looked really far away.”
I smile at her and nod.
“I was just thinking about how much my life has changed in the last year… it’s kind of crazy.”
Rose doesn’t get a chance to respond as Dex walks up to the table and pulls out his chair.
“Ladies… how are you?”
“It’s good to see you,” I say.
“Hello,” Rose says.
Dex extends his hand and shakes hers.
“Nice to meet you,” he says.
I glance over at Rose and she looks a little star struck by meeting him. It’s cute. I sometimes forget that people are excited to meet Dex… he is, after all, a famous director, but I’ve spent enough time with him over the last year that he just seems like someone I’ve known my whole life.
He sits down and turns his eyes to me.
“Sorry I’m late.”
“No worries,” I say. “We just got here a couple of minutes ago and just started to look at the menu.”
“Good. I was worried that I might have kept you waiting.”
I shake my head and smile.
“Nope, it’s all good.”
All three of us turn our attention to the waiter as he walks up to our table.
“Are you ready to order?” he asks.
“I think we need a couple of minutes,” Dex says.
“Sure.”
Dex looks back at me as the waiter retreats from the table.
“I guess we should figure out what to eat and then we can catch up.”
I nod in response and look back at the menu. Every time I think I’ve decided what to order, I see something else that looks even better. By the tine our waiter comes back to the table, I’ve finally settled on something… I think.
“Are you ready?” he asks.
“Yes,” Dex says. “Can we get a dim sum platter for the table… and I’ll have the grilled sea bass.”
The waiter nods as he writes down the order before turning his gaze to me.
“The seared Wagyu beef, please.”
“I’ll have the Peking duck, thanks,” Rose says.
Our waiter smiles, turns and walks back toward the kitchen.
“So,” Dex says, “what did you ladies do today?”
“Rose had an audition… and then we just read scripts at the house until it was time to get ready.”
“How did your audition go?”
“Pretty well,” Rose says, “they said they would let me know… but I got the impression I was on their short list.”
“Awesome… hopefully you get the part.”
“Thanks… I hope so, too.”
“What about you, Amy?”
“I’m just plugging along on Day One.”
“How is it going?” he asks.
“Good… Harriet is awesome. Jarvis is… tolerable, most of the time.”
Dex chuckles and shakes his head.
“Yeah… that’s what I’ve heard about him.”
“Whatever. It is what it is. Working with Harriet makes it worth putting up with him.”
“From everything you’ve told me about him,” Rose says, “I don’t think I could last a day around him.”
“That’s kind of what I thought when we first started. He’s definitely not easy to work with, but I can deal with him for the sake of the film. Harriet is doing an amazing job and I have a good feeling about how the film is going to turn out.”
“Awesome… I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks. What about you?”
“Oh, I was just scouting some locations near Vancouver.”
“Cool,” I say. “Are you shooting a film there?”
“That’s the plan. The script is still being written, but they want to knock it out as quickly as possible and get the whole thing shot this summer.”
“That seems quick.”
“It is… but the main roles are already cast and everything is set.”
“Oh,” I say, “I didn’t know you’d been working on this for that long.”
Dex shakes his head and leans back as the waiter sets down a plate in front of each of us and then puts the dim sum platter in the middle of the table.
“I wasn’t planning on it, but their director dropped out last week… so the studio called me in a bit of a panic and basically just threw money at me to take the project over.”
I smile and shake my head. I’m happy for Dex, he seems like he’s doing really well. I kind of want to ask him how things are going with Brenda, but I’m not sure if this is an appropriate place for that conversation… or if it’s something he’d want to talk to me about at all.
I reach into the middle of the table and grab a dumpling from the platter. I glance at Rose and then at Dex. It’s nice to be having dinner with two of my favorite people. My only regret is that Spencer isn’t here and I can’t do anything about that. I take a bite of the dumpling and look around the room while I chew.
“You okay, Amy?” Dex asks.
I blink a few times and nod as I turn my head to look at him.
“Yeah… I’m fine.”
“You had a very serious look on your face.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I was just thinking about Spencer.”
“How’s he doing?”
“Good… working hard.”
“Where is he right now?”
“Somewhere in northern Europe… Norway or Sweden… I’m not sure.”
“Give him my regards next time you talk to him,” Dex says.
“I will.”
I smile and pick up the dumpling from my plate. It makes me happy to be here with Dex… it’s really nice. I know we’re both busy right now, but I hope that we get a chance to at least share a meal every so often while I’m staying with him.