Eliza Starts a Rumor(43)

“I’ve followed your career over the years.”

She was immediately embarrassed, sure he was going to bring up the infamous shampoo commercial that she’d starred in at the very beginning of her time in Hollywood. It had become a cult classic of sorts. For years she would walk into an audition and the casting people would mock her notorious line, “I can’t see you tonight, Tommy. I’m washing my hair!” By the time SNL did a sketch about it, she was barely castable. If it were now, she would most definitely be a meme. She braced herself for it. He surprised her.

“I loved what you did in Angelino Heights. It was the first time I had seen one of my protégées on the big screen.”

“Did” was a bit of a reach, she thought. Amanda’s first movie was a bit part in a Carson Cole film in which she played a waitress standing outside an LA coffee shop. She had to ask for a light for her cigarette without using words. She rehearsed what she considered to be an intimate act between strangers—placing your hand on top of theirs as they direct the flame to yours—over and over again.

Mr. Barr may have been the only one who remembered her for that, but she certainly remembered it well. It had been a direct result of meeting Carson. She’d been waiting tables at the Polo Lounge, a storied restaurant for Hollywood types. She’d stepped outside for a smoke, a habit she had only taken up for the break it provided. (At the time it seemed like anyone who didn’t smoke didn’t get one.) The charismatic Carson Cole came out, asked her for a light, and said, “I just read a script with this exact scene in it. You’re not an actress, are you?”

He probably had the scene written in after the fact, but at the time she was obsessed with romantic comedies and thought of it as their fateful, meet-cute moment. He gave her that small part and came to see it filmed. They started dating. During her second film, when Carson noticed the leading man take an interest in her, he made it official. They were married in Vegas that weekend.

Amanda recognized that it was an unbalanced relationship from the beginning. He was a big Hollywood producer and she was a struggling actress with two bit parts to her credit and one television commercial that did more harm than good. But Carson had a funny side to him that made her laugh, and a sweetness that he seemed to share only with her—until he no longer bothered to.

“Do you act anymore?” Mr. Barr asked, hopefully.

She didn’t. Carson felt very strongly that two parents in the business wasn’t good for the kids. She agreed with the decision. Truth was, she didn’t have the backbone for rejection and hated the alternative idea of Carson handing her a career that she didn’t deserve. The fallout from the shampoo commercial had really done a number on her.

“No, I haven’t acted since Pippa was born,” she answered without further explanation. “But I’m thinking about getting back into it,” she added, surprising herself.

“I don’t know if you read the volunteer form, but I’m looking for an assistant director. Any interest in getting back, behind the scenes?”

Interest is not the problem, she thought. She really wanted to say yes. It was just what she needed, being back in the theater, that is, not fulfilling a high school fantasy with her daughter’s teacher.

“If I remember, we collaborated quite well back in the day—things haven’t changed much since you played Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice,” he added, encouragingly.

“Pride and Prejudice: The Musical!” she corrected him.

“Of course.” And with his best attempt at imitating seventeen-year-old Amanda, sang, “Nothing rhymes with Darcy. I wish the British spoke Farsi.”

Amanda blushed. “I can’t believe you remember that.”

“Are you kidding me? You had to know you were one of my favorite students. You were such a good kid.”

Since it was obvious that her crush had been one-sided, clearly she could control herself and be his assistant. Other parent volunteers began to trickle in, and he amped up his plea. “It would be great if I can start off the meeting announcing my new assistant director. You can’t imagine how many parents falsely think they are qualified for the job. You’d be doing me a big favor.”

It would be wrong to say no to a favor, thought her brain and her libido.

“OK. I’m in!”

He smiled. She melted. They exchanged cell phone numbers, and it was the first time in a very long while that she found herself looking forward to something on her own behalf.





CHAPTER 25





Amanda & Eliza



Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!



Eliza read Mandy’s text and laughed out loud. She loved having Mandy back home. It was as if they had both regressed twenty years on impact.


What? What? What?


Why didn’t you tell me that Mr. Barr was still teaching drama at the high school?



Eliza laughed again.


Really? I kind of assumed you’d moved on.


Never!


Well, now’s your chance. I’m pretty sure he’s divorced.


Shut up! I’m coming over.



In what felt like seconds, Mandy was at the door. Eliza eyed her skinny frame. “Do you want a protein shake?”