guy. I’m a flapjacks guy. It was not at all helpful, but maybe what she deserved, to be haunted by one of the lowest moments in her life, reminded of it over and over. She poured a cup of coffee she didn’t have the stomach to drink. I’m a flapjacks guy.
She sat outside next to her pool without a coat because she needed to let the cold pelt her in punishment. The empty hotel room had been a wake-up call. She saw the parallel now between her behavior over the last few years and her behavior toward Lauren. She seemed to think everyone would wait for her. Lauren most certainly had not, and why should she have? She’d never let Carly get away with her bullshit. It was one of the many things that was so great about her.
Carly called again. Nothing. She walked through each room in her home, alone with her thoughts that she sorted through one at a time. She needed a sounding board, and she knew the one person who would give it to her straight.
“How’s your day looking?” she asked, when Fallon picked up her call.
“Pretty slow around here. I was thinking of knocking off early.”
“Want to go out for a cocktail and knock me around a little? I’ve earned it.”
“Hmm,” Fallon said. “A cocktail and beatdown could make for a nice afternoon. Where should we gather?”
“Somewhere low key where people won’t take our photo.”
“So the Chateau Marmont, then?”
“Very funny. What about that place The Varnish? Reminds me of a speakeasy, and that dim lighting might be what I need to blend.”
“Done. See you in an hour?”
“Prepare yourself for sad and guilty.”
“Good Lord.”
“I know.”
Ninety minutes later, and Carly had a whiskey sour and Fallon sipped a candy-apple martini that came with a chili rim. “So what are we going to do about it?” Fallon asked.
“Do about which of the many issues?” She had laid out everything that had gone wrong as soon as they’d arrived, sparing no detail.
“Well, I think you have a lot of things going on. Some old. Some new.”
“I can agree.” She claimed the cherry from her drink and watched the bartender restock the sugar. “This morning was definitely rock bottom for me. I can admit that.”
“Career first. So you have Family Feud coming up this week?”
“No, it’s the pyramid one.”
“Right. So your financial prospects aren’t dead. They’re just not what they once were. No one pays you millions to offer clues to paralegals.”
“Not even close.”
“Well then, let’s figure out your priorities, shall we?”
“Please.”
Fallon took out a pen and grabbed a spare cocktail napkin for diagramming. “We need to figure out what you can and cannot live without. Let’s start with your house.” She wrote it down.
Carly considered the question. “I love where I live, but I could be happy with a much smaller, more modest space. In fact, that’s probably the most practical choice.”
“All right, so the materials can go.” She crossed it off and continued to take notes. “The luxury cars?”
“Just a bonus. I don’t need them. I can drive a Nissan.”
Fallon nodded and adjusted the list. “Carly in a Nissan. This is going unexpectedly well. What about your celebrity? How important is it that people see you as a high-status star in Hollywood?”
“I’ve loved that part of my life, but if you ripped it away, I’d still be standing.”
Fallon nodded some more. “What about acting?”
That one was harder. Things weren’t going so well in that department these days. She loved her job and would sorely miss it if she had to take up another career. “That one would be a big loss. I’d rather not give up acting, but I understand it may not happen at the same pay grade I’m used to.”
“Would you be happy doing a smaller project, like a TV show or another regional play somewhere?”
Carly had never been happier than during the run of Starry Nights, which was maybe why her current existence seemed like such a steep fall. “That’s actually not such a bad idea.”
“Got it. Acting is a keeper, but it could happen in a variety of forms. Now, what about Lauren? If things don’t work out there, will you be okay?”
“I don’t want to think like that.” She couldn’t, in fact. The idea of going back to her life before Lauren felt hollow, cold, and unimaginable. “No.”
Fallon held up a finger. “Okay, see, that’s interesting. I think we’ve made an important discovery here.”