“Well, well, well. Isn’t this fucking sweet!?” Every head within twenty feet turns in our direction as Lucas shouts our arrival. “Look at you all, nothing but a bunch of fucking puppets dressed for the ball!”
Jesus Christ!
My whole face purples as I try and fail not to burst out in nervous laughter.
Stunned, I keep up with his long strides as he saunters toward his target in full swagger introducin
g me to his ex-girlfriend, Laura Lee. Grappling with what just happened, we exchange pleasantries as I shrink a little standing next to her flawlessness. I’m fumbling with words trying to figure out why he would make such a show in front of her. Had he planned this? Was I some sort of means to get back at her? Furious, I try to rip my hand away, and Lucas keeps a tight grip as his eyes trail down her form, his expression openly hostile as she compliments my dress. She’s in the midst of making more polite conversation which I’m thankful for when he interrupts her.
“You really shouldn’t have gotten that nose job.” A gasp escapes my lips and a few others behind me as well. I immediately start stuttering in both scorn for Lucas and apology to Laura. Ignoring me, Lucas smirks down at her, and her face pinches briefly in annoyance before she cracks a grin. “Dear God, Lucas, what did you take?”
“Nothing,” he says flatly. “But looking at you now, I’m so glad you were a fucking phase.”
The corners of her mouth lift higher. “What are you up to, Walker?”
“Better things,” he replies, pulling me tighter to him as I glare at the side of his face. I want to sink into the carpet beneath us, but I don’t have any time to plot any sort of escape because in seconds I’m being dragged past her and some heavy hitters who all try and fail to get his attention. He’s just snubbed Sean Penn when he approaches a man I don’t recognize, whose eyes are trained on the both of us. “Lucas, what the hell are you doing?” I hiss as he jerks me front and center.
“Hey, Dobs, I want you to meet my new girl. She was raised on a grape farm and believes bottles are magical. Isn’t it cool?” He widens his eyes as he says it. “A little naïve but she’s pretty nice to look at, right?”
I glare at him openly as he shakes the man’s hand. Every good feeling I had minutes earlier washed away by the fact that I’m seeing red.
“I’m Mila,” I interject before Lucas has a chance to do it.
“Nice to meet you, Mila. Is this—”
Lucas rudely interrupts. “This your party, Dobs? Food is shit, wouldn’t you agree?”
The man smirks.
Lucas claps him roughly on the back. “You should call me, but if you’re this cheap, I’m not sure you can pay my bill. Though I’ve seen your wife, not bad, maybe you can have her work some overtime.”
“Lucas,” I hiss. Trust him. Trust him.
“Maybe you’ll hear from me,” Dobs says with an amused grin. “Try not to strangle the waitstaff, Walker.”
“I’ll do my best,” he says snidely. “But I think we both know you picked them off Skid Row and called it charity for the cheap labor.”
He’s a man possessed as he cuts the conversation short and abruptly walks away with me in tow. When he’s gripped by the shoulder by one of his Cairo co-stars, I seize the opportunity, nodding my hello before breaking away. Face on fire, I stalk to the closest exit, one of several small terraces. Fuming, I pace on the veranda while a man puts out a cigarette after reading my expression and leaves me to smolder alone. It’s barely a minute later when Lucas joins me. I can see his grin before I fully face him. I’m burning hot, my face flaming as I down my champagne and try not to throw the glass at him.
“Well done, you just alienated half of Hollywood,” I snap. “I’ll be leaving you here to you know…” I jut my chin toward the balcony, “you can go on and take a flying leap because you just committed career suicide. Hope it was worth it.”
He smirks down at his champagne. “Pretty sure it was.”
“What the hell is wrong with you? You know what? I don’t want to know. The land of grapes? I’m pretty sure I hate you. Take me home this instant!”
“I may have a lot to learn about squishing grapes, but you sure do have a lot to learn about performance.”
“Oh, that, ‘I’ll be right back?’ I got it about halfway through. I’m not impressed. What in the hell was the point of that?!”
“There’s a part coming up that I want to read for and Dobs didn’t think I was a good fit.”
“All that was to show you could play an obnoxious asshole? Are you serious?”
“Desperate times,” he winks.
“And you think those people will forgive you?”
“They already have. Every person I spoke to knows.”