City of Mirrors Read Free Page A

don’t see it.”
    â€œYou don’t have to. Zaitlin asked me to talk to you. Find out if you’re on drugs.”
    â€œDrugs? Is that what he thinks? Oh, God, something’s wrong with Jenny, it must be drugs,” she said, imitating a stupid worried parent.
    â€œHe’s trying to figure out why you, who has a role other actresses your age would kill for, are such a fuck-up.” I flung the wig aside
    Offended, her lips pursed, and her checks flushed. “Is that what he called me?”
    â€œNo. That’s what I’m calling you.” I held her gaze, glad that I didn’t have children of my own.
    â€œWhy isn’t he here telling me all this? Is he afraid of me?” She seemed pleased that a big time moviemaker like Zaitlin couldn’t control her.
    â€œI think he’s at his wit’s end with you. So he asked me to help because he knows I need this movie to go well.”
    â€œHe’s such a manipulator.”
    â€œThat’s what producers do, Jenny. So why are you fucking up?”
    Thinking for a moment, she spoke with an unnerving honesty. “Because I don’t want to be an actress. I don’t get make-believe. I don’t get pretending. I don’t get any of it. I get reality. I get doing what you need to do to attain what you want. But why play dress-up and imagine you’re not who you really are? I mean, I never even did that when I was a child.”
    â€œThen why did you read for the part?”
    Her expression hardened and she fell silent, staring down at her hands.
    â€œDoes your mother want you to be a movie star?” I edged forward, resting my elbows on my knees, trying to create some kind of intimacy between us.
    â€œMy father.” She didn’t look up at me.
    I nodded. “Well, the problem is not your father at this point. The problem is, you are in a movie and you happen to be good.”
    â€œReally?” Surprised, she lifted her chin.
    â€œReally. You’d be fired by now if you weren’t.”
    â€œI doubt it.” She moved back in her chair, crossing her legs.
    I wondered why she doubted it, but I let it go. “Okay, here’s the deal. You go clubbing tonight. And I’ll see you tomorrow morning at ten o’clock to go over your lines with you.”
    â€œNo way. I won’t be up.” She tossed her head, flipping her hair back from her shoulders.
    â€œEleven o’clock then.”
    â€œThree . Sometimes I wish I did want to be an actress.” She looked away, momentarily letting her guard down. “It’d make my father happy. He’s such a dreamer, at least about me. But I know exactly who I am even if he doesn’t.” Her defenses were in place again.
    â€œWell, maybe you’ll want to act after you know your lines and start behaving like a professional.”
    She lifted her chin. “Maybe I’m more capable than you think I am.”
    â€œOh, I’m sure you are. Where do you want to meet?”
    â€œMy place.” She dug around in her bag and came out with a crumpled cocktail napkin and a pen that had specks of face powder and a stray strand of her auburn hair stuck to it. She blew at the pen until she was satisfied that it was clean, then wrote her address on the napkin. We both stood and she handed it to me. “It’s a condo on Beverly Drive near the Four Seasons Hotel.”
    I took the napkin. “Nice shoes.” She was wearing black peep-toe pumps with high, shiny, chrome-like heels. They were as pricey as her purse and her clothes. “They remind me of the god Mercury. Silver wings on your feet.” I winked at her. “See you tomorrow at three o’clock.”
    Grabbing my wig and stepping down out of the trailer, I turned back to close the door and glimpsed her standing stock-still, arms crossed against her chest, green eyes narrowed to slits, watching me with a cold calculating suspicion. I didn’t