The bright sunshine felt warm on her skin after the cold air-conditioned plane, and the sky was bright blue.
‘Miss Abbott,’ said the chauffeur as he held the door for her. He was huge, and was probably more like a bodyguard than a chauffeur. ‘I’m Frank.’
Once they were all settled in the luxurious back seat, Frank turned around and said, ‘I hope you don’t mind, folks, but Mr Harker has asked me to show you some of the sights.’
Olivia clapped her hands. ‘A private tour!’ she squealed.
‘It seems we would like that very much,’ said Mr Vega.
Frank set off, winding the mammoth car around the city streets. As they drove away from the airport, the scene changed from rundown houses to wide streets with plush green lawns and leafy trees.
‘Most people think Hollywood is where all the glamour is,’ Frank said. ‘But actual Hollywood ain’t pretty. The stars all live in Beverley Hills and that’s where we are right now.’
The houses were huge and there were palm trees everywhere.
‘Is this like your house?’ Ivy asked Lillian.
‘Ha!’ Lillian replied. ‘I have a teeny apartment on the other side of LA. These properties are for the mega-rich.’
Soon, they were driving past rows of stores.
‘Oh, my pom poms!’ Olivia squealed. ‘That’s Serendipity Fashion! And that’s Kevin Greene! We’re on Rodeo Drive!’ She knew Ivy wouldn’t be as excited, but she was glad to see her sister still smiling.
‘Beverley Hills is six square miles of shopping, eating and luxurious living,’ Frank went on. ‘There are no hospitals and no cemeteries in the city limits, which means that, technically, no one is born or dies in Beverly Hills.’
‘And that’s not even counting the vampires,’ Ivy whispered.
Olivia giggled. She wondered how many of the undead were wandering about in this town.
‘Look at that dress!’ Ivy declared, pointing out of the window at the Asante couture store. The dress on display was layers of rainbow colours with a huge u-shaped cut-out in the skirt – just like Spencer’s creation.
‘That’s a rip-off of your skirt from the premiere,’ said Lillian. ‘And that girl there is wearing one, too.’
‘Except no one had to spill latte on them, to make them look like that!’ Olivia joked.
‘Where Olivia goes,’ Ivy teased, ‘the rest of the world follows.’
Olivia took a deep breath. It was almost like an unintended welcome. She could feel it; something big was going to happen this weekend.
‘Why would anyone need three sinks in one bathroom?’ Ivy asked.
‘Why don’t you just enjoy the luxury?’ Olivia suggested.
Ivy sighed. The suite was so over-the-top that it made her feel uncomfortable: marble floors, floor-to-ceiling windows and an enormous bunch of fresh flowers in every room. All Ivy needed was a warm coffin somewhere to snuggle into.
Mr Vega and Lillian were in a meeting with Mr Harker about how his girls would be treated during filming. Ivy and Olivia were waiting for Frank to come and pick them up and take them on some mystery Hollywood adventure.
‘I just want to say,’ Olivia said, perching on the floral print chaise longue in the suite’s sitting room. ‘All this craziness isn’t what it’s about for me.’
‘I know,’ Ivy replied, taking a sip from her fluted glass of milkshake.
‘Don’t get me wrong, all this nice stuff is great.’ Olivia grinned. ‘But I want to do this because I think acting is the thing I’m really good at.’
‘It is,’ Ivy agreed. ‘And that’s why all these amazing things are happening for you. I’m just the black fly in your soup.’
Olivia sighed and Ivy felt that familiar pit of doom in her stomach.
‘Harker’s going to hate me the minute he gets me on set,’ Ivy said. ‘He doesn’t realise that I’m no good. We’ve got to make him understand!’