“Lydia?” I stood up, sure I was hallucinating. “Oh, thank god!”
I ran to her, wrapping my arms around her neck and holding her to me. My little sister was home and safe. She was fine.
“What in the world is up with you?” Lydia asked, gently pulling away. She looked at me like I’d lost my mind. She turned and instructed the man behind her. “Just put my bag inside here, Jeeves. Thank you.”
I watched as a uniformed man lugged her massive suitcase inside the door. I hurried to grab him a tip which he gratefully accepted before nodding his head and heading back down to his car.
“We were so worried about you,” Jane told her, running over to hug Lydia as well. I was glad to see she’d left the scrub brush at the sink.
“Worried about what?” Lydia scoffed. She threw her hair over her shoulder, just like I imagined a Hollywood actress would.
“You went to California,” Jane replied. “With Wickham. And you didn’t call.”
Lydia sighed like we were the ones being dramatic. “I didn’t have time to call. I have a real agent now,” she told us. “There’s no way I don’t become a star now.”
“A real agent?” Jane repeated. “I don’t understand. What happened with Wickham?”
“He’s old news,” she said, waving her hand through the air like we should have already known.
I stared at her, my mouth open. Jane quickly came over and took Lydia’s elbow before I smacked her.
“How about you come sit down and tell us what happened?” Jane asked, smiling and pulling her toward the table. “I’m afraid we aren’t well-versed in Hollywood.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t expect you to be, Jane,” Lydia replied. She smiled and sat at the head of the kitchen table. I stood off to the side with my arms crossed near the window.
I looked out the window just in time to see a limo drive away from our building. It had the Oceanic Airlines’ logo painted on the roof. More questions swirled in my head as Lydia cleared her throat.
“So, I told Wickham that I wasn’t an heiress,” she began. “You would have been proud of me, Lizzie. He didn’t care, but he did tell me that he had just gotten a new idea for me.”
“Right after you told him you weren’t rich?” I clarified.
“Yeah, but the timing was just coincidence. It had nothing to do with the deal he was about to set up for me.”
I managed to keep from rolling my eyes, and let her continue.
“Anyway, he brought me out to Los Angeles,” she continued. “I was supposed to meet with this big producer tonight in his hotel room.”
“Wait a second,” I interjected, unable to contain myself any more. “You were meeting with a producer in his hotel room? At night?”
Lydia rolled her eyes. “Yes. It’s very normal, okay?” She looked at me like I was the crazy one.
“If you say so,” Jane said, pacifying the situation. “Please continue, Lydia.”
“Anyway, it was about lunchtime yesterday when Wickham went off to set up some more meetings for me. He said he had other producers that were interested in my talents,” Lydia continued.
“I’m sure they were,” I muttered under my breath. Lydia didn’t hear me, but Jane glared at me.
“I went for a walk out in the California sunshine. I have to say that my hair and makeup were on point,” Lydia continued. “I looked good. So, I was just standing by the side of the road, minding my own business, when this limo pulls up. The window opened, and no joke, it’s Abram Jones.”
“Who’s Abram Jones?” I asked. Lydia rolled her eyes and glared at me.
“Who’s Abram Jones?” Jane repeated in a much gentler tone. Lydia patted her hand and smiled.
“He’s just the biggest agent in Hollywood,” she told Jane with a small chuckle. “He has all the major stars signed to him. Actors wait years just to be introduced to him, and he pulled up and asked to be introduced to me.”
She giggled and looked around the table. Apparently, we were supposed to be in awe.
“Oh, wow,” I replied. Lydia sighed, obviously unimpressed with my lack of excitement.