His Assistant - Alexa Land Page 0,19
country and pop charts, and he must be getting ready to go out on tour soon.”
“He’s actually about to shoot the pilot for a new primetime drama. Until he knows if the series is going to get picked up by the network, all touring plans are on hold.”
I muttered, “You’re kidding me.”
“Nope. He’s playing a sexy young doctor and volunteer firefighter who sweeps all the ladies off their feet in a small southern town. Didn’t he tell you?”
I dropped onto the couch and said, “No, but then I hadn’t spoken to him since Christmas, when we both went to visit our parents in Florida. It’s funny, when I saw how ripped he was a few minutes ago, my first thought was that it looked like he was getting ready to star in an action movie.”
“Maybe that’ll be next,” Noah said.
“Why acting? His musical career isn’t even close to plateauing, so this move doesn’t make sense.”
“He didn’t go looking for it. The show’s executive producer thought Dallas would be perfect for the part, so he spent months selling him on it. Your brother finally decided it sounded like a fun challenge.”
“It’ll probably be a huge success, even though it sounds like total shit,” I said, as I slumped against the back of the couch. “Everything Dallas touches turns to gold. I don’t think he could fail at something if he tried.”
“It must suck, since I know you have aspirations of a singing career. I can’t even imagine what that’d be like, watching your twin living your dream.”
“You’d think I’d have gotten used to it by now, since he got his big break over a decade ago,” I said. “But it still makes me feel like the biggest loser on the planet. The fact that my identical twin is a huge success should mean I have the skills to do the same thing. Besides genetics, obviously, we had the same music lessons and vocal coaches, but he was a total slacker while I practiced constantly. He’s basically been phoning it in since we were kids, and hey, turns out that’s the recipe for worldwide superstardom. Who knew?”
“It’s no wonder you hate him.”
I sighed and said, “I actually love Dallas, even if he’s turned into a douche. It’s just frustrating, because I was the one who wanted the musical career. He came along for the ride, because our mom thought the novelty of identical twins performing together would be the hook that landed us a record contract. Then Dallas got signed and I didn’t. I don’t mean to sound like a jealous, bitter asshole, but sometimes life seems incredibly unfair.”
“You don’t come across as jealous and bitter, although anyone in your situation has a right to be. You just seem disappointed.” After a moment, he grinned and added, “It could totally be the set up for a cheesy horror movie, one where the guy eliminates his rich, famous identical twin and assumes his identity. You should be commended for the fact that Dallas isn’t currently tied up in your basement.”
I laughed at that and said, “Yay, me. I might be a loser, but at least I haven’t gone totally psycho on my brother.”
“You’re not a loser, Phoenix. You just haven’t had Dallas’s success, which sounds like it was the result of dumb luck more than anything. You haven’t given up on your dream, right? You’re still writing songs and performing, so there’s still a chance for your big break.”
“I appreciate the pep talk,” I said, “but it’s hard to believe my ‘big break’ is still out there somewhere after all these years.”
“Yeah, but we have to hold on to our dreams. Without them, what’ve we got?”
“I hope you’re taking your own advice and still pursuing an acting career.”
“I’ll be chasing that dream ‘til the day I die,” he said. “It should be a little easier once I’m back in L.A., since acting auditions in the Nashville area are few and far between.”
“I didn’t think about that, but it figures that Dallas’s TV show would be filming in Southern California.”
Noah pointed at me and drew a circle in the air. “That pained expression is because you’re worried he and Harper are going to hook up once they’re living in the same city. Am I right?”
I nodded. “Back when they were dating, it seemed like the only thing standing in their way was their schedule. Dallas was in the middle of a world tour, so they were almost never in the same place at the