Invisible(36)

“I believe the other ladies are expecting you in the main house in half an hour,” he said politely, which gave her time to shower and change if she needed to. She washed her face, brushed her hair, changed her shoes, and walked up to the main part of the house in a navy cotton skirt suit that looked businesslike, and navy pumps with low heels. She looked like a secretary in a bank, or an attorney. She could always dial it down later, but she wanted to start out more formally until she met the others. She pinned her long blond hair up in a bun, with a few soft wisps around her face that she could never control. They made her look younger and a little sexier, although she wasn’t trying to achieve that effect.

    There were two women sitting in the living room drinking wine, when the now-familiar houseman let her in. She could hear British accents, and they both turned their heads when she walked in. One was wearing black slacks and a white silk blouse, the other jeans and a crisp men’s shirt. Antonia’s outfit wasn’t totally off the mark. None of them had the sexy, casual style typical of L.A. They looked professional and clean. Both had long hair smoothly pulled back, little makeup, and no jewelry. The younger of the two smiled and stood up when Antonia walked in, and walked over to shake her hand.

“Hello, I’m Margaret. I’m the lesser half of the British team. This is Brigid, the senior member of staff, she’s been with Hamish forever, and we all work for her.” She grinned and the slightly older British woman laughed.

“I think it’s the other way around most of the time,” Brigid said after shaking Antonia’s hand, and they invited her to sit down in the elegant living room. “We all work for Hamish, he’s the boss and we do everything we can to make his life easier.”

“And I’ll do whatever I can to help you,” Antonia volunteered. “It’s an honor to work for you, and for Mr. Quist.” Antonia was very quiet and humble, as she always was, with no inclination to show off. She was very grateful for the job and it showed.

While they were talking, another woman came down the stairs from the upper hall. She was six feet tall, had dark chestnut hair and dark brown eyes. She seemed to take in everything at once. She had a wide smile, and was all American. She smiled at Antonia, and sat down with the rest of them.

    “I’m Angie, local talent,” she said to Antonia, “to help everyone find what they need in L.A. I’ll be doing the troubleshooting on the set, while Brigid and Margaret work more closely with Mr. Quist. They’re his familiar team. We ought to be able to cover any and all problems, and solve them, between the four of us.” She included Antonia on the team and she was flattered. Antonia looked more grown up these days, she was turning twenty in August, but she was decidedly the youngest member of the group. She felt for a minute as though she were being interviewed by Charlie’s Angels, one of her favorite television shows growing up, but it hadn’t been on in years. The women who formed Hamish Quist’s team of assistants were smart, beautiful, well dressed, and looked as though they could handle anything. It really was an honor to be hired to assist them.

“When is Mr. Quist arriving?” Antonia asked politely, not sure if he already had.

“Tonight, around ten, on his own plane. We start meetings tomorrow, with the writer, the actors, to get the bugs out of the script, and any technical problems we need to address. We’ll probably be in meetings for two or three days, and he’ll meet with the insurers. We’ll handle all that,” Brigid said confidently as the head of the group, “but some of it will filter down to you. We’ll keep you informed when we need you. He likes to move fast, but he’s a kind man to work for. He’s the best.” She smiled at the others and Margaret nodded. Angie hadn’t met him yet, but the women who worked for him raved about him, which counted for a lot. Brigid said he wasn’t a diva, he was reasonable, brilliant, unassuming, modest, and drove himself very hard.

    Brigid and Margaret got up after a while to start getting his papers ready for him, and Angie left them to make some calls, to set up appointments that he wanted and had already requested. They told Antonia that she had nothing more to do that day, but to be ready for a tsunami the next day.

There were three cars for their use, and they said they didn’t think Antonia would need one, but she thought it might be smart to have one if they needed her to do a quick errand, so she went back to the place where she’d rented the Ford the year before, and got one again.

She got back around dinnertime, and there was a spread set out in the dining room of the main house. This was very luxurious living, which she hadn’t expected. She thought it would be more rudimentary. But what she had seen so far was far from that.

She heard a car drive to the house across the street that night, around ten-thirty. She peeked through her blinds and saw a tall thin man leap from an SUV and hurry into the house carrying a briefcase. All she could see was salt and pepper hair, a safari jacket, and jeans. The luggage went in through the garage, and she was sure it was her new boss.

She was ready the next morning at eight, fully dressed in white slacks and a man’s striped shirt, and fancy sneakers in case she had to do a lot of errands. She walked up to the main part of the house, and all three women were dressed and ready. Hamish Quist walked in three minutes later, although he wasn’t expected. He was wearing almost the same thing as Antonia, and shook hands with all of them with a warm smile. He had a handsome, chiseled face and deep blue eyes.