Hate the Player: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romantic Comedy(43)

“Where in the fuck is she?” Tawny’s voice fills my ears, and I look up from my phone to find her pacing the trailer.

“I’m sure Cara will be back soon,” Maureen chimes in over the hair-dryer she’s still using on my locks. “It’s no easy feat, trying to get the director in here while he’s busy, you know, filming the movie.”

“I don’t give a shit if he’s busy. He should know I’m a priority.” Tawny scoffs, and I can’t stop myself from letting my own personal peanut gallery in on the dramatics.



Me: Now, she’s arguing with my hair and makeup girl about how our director should know he’s supposed to drop everything because she’s a priority.



Rocky: Oddly enough, this is making me miss Hollywood just a teensy bit. I mean, the best people watching revolved around witnessing actresses like Tawny have meltdowns. Feel free to send video clips of her temper tantrums my way. Harrison just taught me to do edits for TikTok. I’ll keep this one to myself, though, promise.



Billie: LOL. Why does Harrison know how to TikTok?



Rocky: It doesn’t matter. Let’s focus on the footage.



Me: Very funny. Like I’d even risk recording her. She’s like the Regina George of Hollywood. No doubt, I’d face some kind of evil retribution.



Billie: So, other than your diva costar throwing a shit fit, everything’s going well?



Me: Yeah. So far, so good.



Clearly, having to deal with Andrew isn’t exactly my favorite thing in the world, and dear God, he makes me so freaking mad pretty much all the time, but right now, while I’m sitting in this trailer and he’s nowhere to be found, I feel good.

Great, even. I’m already halfway through my first day on set, and I haven’t screwed anything up or resorted to any sort of violence. All in all, I’d say that’s a win.

Now, Tawny Rose, on the other hand, I think she’d strongly disagree that this day is going well.

Fortunately, when Maureen finishes with my hair and starts touching up my makeup, Tawny gets tired of waiting for Cara to get back and storms out of the trailer on the warpath. And the last words that leave her lips are “Fuck this!”

Once she’s gone, Maureen lets out a deep sigh. “Man, she’s a real joy to be around, huh?”

I grin at her in the reflection of the vanity mirror. “Yeah.” I snort. “A true gem.”

“Poor Cara is going to have to deal with her bullshit for the next several weeks. I’m torn between feeling bad for her but also thankful that awful woman is not my problem on this movie.”

“Have you ever worked with her before?” I ask, and Maureen flashes a knowing look my way.

“Girl, you have no idea,” she answers without hesitation and pats some powder across my nose. “I have stories for days.”

I grin at that. “That bad, huh?”

“Whatever you’re thinking about her right now, multiply that by about a million, and you’ll get close to how bad she can be.”

“Day-um.”

“Exactly,” Maureen answers as she switches to my eyes, gently brushing eye shadow against one of my closed lids. “My best advice to you? If you see her, go in the other direction if you can. And when you’re stuck working with her, just take everything she says with a grain of salt and don’t feel the need to play nice if she gets out of hand. Also, if you do get the golden opportunity to smack her, hit a little harder for me.”

“Yeah, I think I’ll try to avoid the whole smacking bit, but I’ll definitely keep it all in mind.” I smirk and keep my eyes closed.

“Knock, knock!” A male voice fills my ears, and the sound of knuckles rapping against the trailer door echoes inside the room. “Is Birdie in here?”

“She is!” Maureen calls back.

“Can I come in and talk to her for a minute?”

“Sure thing!”

The door swings open, and Maureen lifts the brush from my eyes so I can open them.

And Johnny Johnston stands at the threshold.

“Hey there,” he greets and flashes a friendly, warm smile my way. “I wanted to come in and see how you’re doing.”

“How I’m doing?” I ask and lift an incredulous brow.

“It’s your first day on set, Birdie,” he explains. “And since you seemed pretty nervous this morning, I wanted to make sure everything was going okay for you.”

“Oh,” I respond, surprise evident in my voice. “Well, thank you. That’s really sweet. And I’m doing pretty well. So far, so good, I should say.”

“Have you eaten anything yet?”

I shake my head. “Haven’t had any time.”

Normally, my assistant Samantha would be here with me and make sure I have everything I need, but she was delayed a little in Nashville because of a family emergency. Her dad is in the process of getting moved in to a nursing home, and there was no way in hell I was going to make her follow me out to LA before she felt reassured that he was all settled in.

And Neil, my manager, had to take an important meeting with my label on my behalf, so I’m kind of a lone woman swimming in the Hollywood deep end today.