He was indeed a good friend. There was no way I wanted to have dinner with Pam and Cora’s father. I still couldn’t believe that I’d let my team talk me into hiring him to help me with the civil case against Zander. Speaking of which, I hadn’t heard any update on that. I would have to ask my dad when I saw him.
“Then, no.”
“After dinner, we’re headed up to Berkeley to see Sandy. Thanks for doing this today. They tell me this might be the last one you do,” Devin said.
“I’m booked all summer and fall doing movies, and then I start college next January. I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate what you and Sandy have done for me. You gave me my break into the business.”
“That was mainly Sandy. She has a good eye,” Devin said.
“I think we’re even. You helped me meet this guy,” Cora said.
I wanted to apologize for that one, but Devin looked happy, so I let it go. We promised to keep in touch.
◊◊◊
When I walked out front, I found everyone waiting for me.
“Sorry, I had to say goodbye to Devin and Cora.”
“You should invite the cast from your movie over for dinner. I’m sure they’re looking for something to do,” Tyler suggested.
“We would need to stop at the grocery store. We don’t have enough food on hand to feed everyone,” I said.
“You also need more booze,” Adrienne told me.
“I’m going to go broke,” I grumbled.
“No, you’re not. Devin paid you for a full gig, even though it was only a day. It was his parting gift to you for all you’ve done for Range Sports,” Tyler explained.
“Now, I feel bad about bailing on going to dinner with them.”
Well, not really.
I sent out text messages to my dad and my J-drama castmates to tell them about dinner. We decided to go to the pricey grocery store in Malibu. I picked that place because I figured they had most everything we required premade. We picked up a variety of steaks, chicken, and seafood. The house where I was staying had a large outdoor kitchen with a built-in grill.
In the liquor section, Adrienne picked out several wines she wanted to try, while Tyler grabbed some vodka and gin. I spotted the scotch Dad had drunk when we met the shoe company representative. At $200 a bottle, I now understood why Dad was impressed. I got him his regular Dewar’s but now knew what to get him for Christmas.
◊◊◊
When we got home, Tyler kicked me out of the kitchen and told me to go relax before dinner. I went to my room and called Brook.
“I have a confession: I kissed two girls today,” I said, acting like I’d been a bad boy.
“That’s okay, I spent time with my secret boyfriend, Darius,” Brook said as a comeback.
“Did you, now?”
“He’s such a nice young man. So polite, and he would never kiss other girls.”
I snorted at that. Dare wouldn’t kiss
“What did you and Dare do today?” I asked.
“He had his drone class with your mom while I got some flight time in.”
“I think I’m jealous. I was forced to try on clothes all day.”
“You poor thing. What gets me is you model, but you hate to go shopping. I bet Darius would go with me,” Brook teased.
“I bet if you promised him a pretzel at the food court, he would be your pack mule. The kid might be a genius, but he’ll do anything for food.”
“Good to know. Who did you kiss?”
“Tyler and Sarah,” I said and then explained how, on long days, you could lose your focus with the repetitive nature of a photo shoot.
“I’ll let you tell Wolf that you made out with his girlfriend.”
“We didn’t make out. It was all for the art,” I said in my most snooty voice.
“Just like hooking up with Halle would be a Christmas present to her.”
“I’m so glad you understand.”
I think her body language was giving off clues that she didn’t really ‘understand.’ Then again, it might have been that she gave me the finger.
There was a knock on the door, and Sarah stuck her head in.
“Dinner’s ready,” she said and then spotted Brook. “Hey, I can’t wait until we’re all out here. You are going to love this house.”
I handed Sarah my tablet and went down for dinner. I was hungry, and who knew how long those two would talk?
◊◊◊
When I came downstairs, I found we had a houseful. It was comforting to see so many people. It was much better than the alternative, where it would have been just Dad and me staring at each other. Not that we hadn’t done that before, but I enjoyed having people around.
Dad and Fritz had manned the grill. It looked like Manaia had left. I was amused that Fritz picked the best duties for himself. Of course, if I were the boss, I would do the same. Tyler and Lexi were putting out all the sides. Adrienne appeared to be in charge of drinking wine and entertaining my J-drama castmates. It looked as though all the cast and Mr. Otsuki, our director, had shown up. The one person I didn’t see was Ai. I found Misaki and asked what was up with the wayward one.
“She’ll be here in a bit with your friend. She’s decided he’s the one. I’m a little worried that they might be moving too fast. Will your friend treat her right?” she asked.
