said you’ve gotten a cook and housekeeping services to replace Consuelo and Maria and that you’ve come up with a terrific idea for a charity event.”
“The first two were pretty easy. We met with the cancer society rep this afternoon and made some great headway regarding the event.”
“He also told me that you had Breck and the poker pals wrapped around your little finger.”
She laughed. “Feed Breck and the man’s your friend for life. Same thing with those poker buddies. Stuff them with sandwiches and dip and tell a few stories and they’ll treat you like one of the boys.”
“Especially Zak Mercury?”
Cassie’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“You’re exactly Zak’s type. Pretty, smart, quick on your feet. If he hasn’t asked you out already, he will.”
She grinned. “He did after the first poker night. Walked me to the car and was ready to add me to his little black book.”
Carreen eyed her with interest. “You turned him down?”
“Of course. He’s very mercurial and I didn’t feel comfortable going out with a friend of my boss. That didn’t seem right. I needed this job too badly to mess things up like that on the first day.”
“Good for you. Most women would leap at a chance with Zak. He’s bright, he’s cute, and he’s going places.”
Carreen studied her a moment. Cassie wondered if the conversation up to this point had been the warm-up.
“What were you doing before you became Rhett’s assistant and moved into the gatehouse? Seems like everything happened pretty fast,” Carreen said pointedly.
Cassie didn’t mind Carreen’s blunt tone. In fact, she expected it since Rhett’s family was so close. It would be painful for her but Cassie knew she would need to open up and tell Carreen how her career plans fell apart. She had to be honest for Carreen to understand that she’d gone to work for Rhett for all the right reasons.
“I came to Hollywood with big dreams. I’d always been a reader and a writer, and I tore up the stage in Waco, Texas. Acted in every play I could—school, community theater. I was going to become someone.”
Cassie sat back, her eyes growing moist. “Hollywood isn’t really looking for good actresses. They want stars, women they can parade around that all look alike, sporting the same cutting-edge fashions that have double-sided tape which reveals the absolute right amount of boobs. Look at me, Carreen. I have a nice smile but I didn’t have thousands to get my teeth capped. I’m a decent height and weight but casting directors let me know I’d need to lose twenty-five pounds and get a boob job to have a glimmer of a chance.”
She leaned forward. “I know I’m not model gorgeous but they all wanted to reinvent me to be the same as the next clone. I wanted to act and I wasn’t willing to compromise who I was to do so.”
Her laugh sounded bitter to her ears. “Consequently, I didn’t land any parts. I finally decided with my knowledge of the business and organizational skills, I could be an agent. Unfortunately, it’s the same as many professions. You need experience before anyone’ll hire you. Doesn’t matter how great your ideas are. All they want to know is what your track record is.”
Carreen nodded, taking in Cassie’s words. “What did you wind up doing?”
She ran her fingers through her hair. “I found a third-rate agent who was down on his luck and became his go-to girl. I found auditions for his clients to go on, little ones at first, but then the offers gradually got better for most of them. That’s when Manny, the agent, went back to his former bad habit of snorting coke around the clock. The money was coming in again and he didn’t have to do anything to get it.”
Carreen shuddered. “Did you walk out?”
“I couldn’t. Too many people depended upon me and I needed the money. I ran everything after that. Manny let me do all the work while he raked in the cash and put it up his nose. If I could’ve pushed him out the door and changed the locks, I would have. I’d decided to make a clean break and try to land a job as Irv Stromberg’s assistant. I’d heard the position was open and Merriman Smith was taking off like a shooting star. I really wanted to be a part of something successful.”
Cassie shook her head. “That’s when I swerved to avoid hitting a frou-frou pooch and slammed into Rhett’s car.