Laguna Nights Read Free

somebody. He’s a has-been,” Madison said. “We should get back to work, here come some guests.”
    Madison headed for her office, leaving Chrissy at the front desk, busy with a couple who must have just arrived from somewhere where it was very cold given their many layers of coats and sweaters. Madison thought back to her college days in London and a damp chill spread through her. She had gotten away from Laguna by heading to Europe, but the perpetual chill in the air still lingered all these years later. Back in her office, Madison challenged herself to focus on something other than Josh and the fact he had appeared back in her life.
    She dropped into her comfortable leather desk chair and tapped her computer mouse to bring her monitor to life. The screen shot illuminated the famous Cabo arches. She’d just returned from a site inspection of their sister property in Mexico, enjoying two blissful days of sightseeing, whale watching on a small boat near the famous rock formations, and drinking far too many margaritas. She hadn’t been to Mexico since spring break of her senior year. On that trip, her name was Holly and she’d had a camera crew following her around. She was still amazed she’d participated in the show. She blamed her mom, she blamed the other kids who had talked her into it to make themselves feel skinnier and more popular.
    She shook her head, rubbing the back of her neck, as her office telephone rang.
    “Hey Holly, it’s Josh. I think we should talk. I can tell you’re still angry,” he said. And despite herself, her heart thumped in her chest as she pictured his dimple, his smile, his sparkling blue eyes. Stop it.
    “Look Josh, my name is Madison now, got it? I’m not that girl any more so there’s really nothing to talk about,” she said. She realized she had begun pacing her office and told herself to sit. She wasn’t about to let him get to her, not again, not ever.
    “Holly, I mean Madison, just meet me for coffee. I don’t have anything going on today, and we could catch up. I don’t want it to be awkward all week, you know?” he said. His voice was soft and calm, just like it had been on the show. Back then they’d all gotten used to being recorded by the little microphones they wore every day of filming, anytime they weren’t at school it seemed.
    “I’m working, Josh,” she said.
    “I’m your customer. I’m work,” he said.
    Madison took a deep breath. “ You’re a piece of work. Meet me at Mosaic Bar and Grill, by the pool, in half an hour. But I’m warning you Josh, I’m not the same person I was in high school.”
    “Neither am I, Holly, neither am I,” he said before hanging up.
    “My name is Madison now,” she said into the receiver, but all she heard was the dial tone. She and her mom had agreed that she should go back to her given name as soon as she started applying to colleges in the middle of her senior year. While many of the “stars” of Laguna Nights like Josh already had offers from high-profile colleges that wanted a dash of celebrity in their freshman class, Madison hadn’t. And she had decided not to even mention her two seasons on the show on any of her college applications.
    For work experience on her resume, she had listed helping her mom at the nail salon and babysitting. She had used Madison on the applications, instead of her middle name Holly that she’d gone by since she could remember. She’d been Holly on the show and a name change further distanced herself from that poor girl in high school. She had started her reinvention on paper before she could do it in real life. She had been, like the rest of the cast members, under contract for the whole year. Even after episode four aired the producers wouldn’t allow her to break the contract, even as she grew heavier and more miserable with each passing shoot, even as her humiliation played out on televisions across the country.
    Josh was and always would be the one responsible for her