a confident smile and finished unwrapping his cables with glorious precision. I turned fifty shades of red, and probably my signature purple, sidestepping to the garbage bin. What should I tell him? My heart pounded as if I had just sprinted the length of a football field. What should I say to the guy I think I slept with, who seemed really sincere, but I couldn’t be sure because I didn’t really know him.
Aside from a few awkward cafeteria encounters, we had barely talked since he’d seen my bare ass. He’d called a few times and left messages. But I purposely returned his calls when I knew he was working, leaving borderline whiny voicemails about my busy schedule and how I spent my downtime resting.
I wanted him to know now why I’d previously avoided him. How I felt like a tramp for getting so drunk and showing up at his door and God knows what else. How Alex had found me first and I was confused and perhaps even rebounding. How I couldn’t date two guys at once and shouldn’t have been dating even one guy—not on location, and not on the job. And that he was probably a better catch than Alex, but that none of that mattered because this show was a big deal for my career, and ultimately that was what mattered.
“So, Grant,” I said, ready to launch into an intimate moment amidst thirty gossip-loving crew members, and a half-mile band of 400 watt chimeras lighting the castle roof-top like a Christmas tree. A flock of very loud mechanical birds swirled above our heads, and a nasty breeze was blowing stray hairs between my teeth every second or so. “I wanted to tell—”
“So,” interrupted Grant’s smart-ass camera assist, “what’s the story, Miss Director? Where do you want us? Cause I got this big ole cameraman to take care of. Know what I mean?” The assistant chuckled. So did Grant.
“Oh, okay.” I was totally disappointed that I’d lost my private moment with Grant. “So, um, here’s the plan. . .”
I addressed Grant and his team—the camera assist and the audio guy—attempting not to sound like a sorority girl out for a good time. “We load into the chopper with Dagmar and Dominic. Just follow them in. Grant, roll on everything because Karl’s not going to give us time to set up our shots.”
“Got it,” Grant said, nodding his head, then suddenly looking annoyed.
“Hey, babe.” Alex grabbed my shoulders from behind. “Hey, guys.” He gestured to my crew.
Crap! Not in front of Grant! I inched away from Alex. Grant ignored my small gesture of devotion, unaware it was for him. He loaded a tape into his camera and found his position near the chopper.
“Have a good time,” Alex said as he winked at me. “It’s show time!”
Alex turned toward me as he walked away and signaled for me to call him. I nodded nervously, then scanned my periphery to see if Grant had noticed. Our eyes met. Busted! Grant plopped the camera on his shoulder with forced indifference.
Before I could internalize my unfortunate outing and run through the sorry details in my head, my phone buzzed with two new texts:
1. Yo JK: Something to tell you. + Met hot guy last night @ Hollywood bash. Actor dum-dum. Yours, Toni
2. Call me! Have to tell you something very important. And, surprise—Naomi got us tix to the Grammys! Did she tell you? Toni
“Hello?” I heard Toni’s groggy voice answer on the other end. She sounded far away.
“It’s Jane. I can’t talk long,” I said, over-enunciating, as if actually communicating from across an ocean. “We’re about to start shooting. What’s so important?”
After an earful of Toni berating me for getting my time zones mixed up (she had sent the messages two days ago) and calling her at three o’clock in the morning, she gave me the news. I kept my eye on Karl to make sure I wouldn’t miss anything. As it stood, we were waiting for the royals to make their exalted appearance.
“I was at a party with my friends from The Single Guy and Craig was there,” Toni began. “You’ll never believe this. He might be next season’s Single Guy! They’re actually considering him! They were testing him out at the party to watch him socially,” Toni said with disgust.
All of a sudden, my Grant/Alex drama seemed trivial. Soaked in a wave of despair, I silently considered the possibilities. He told me the break-up was about his career! Now he