6
The premiere for I Used to Know Her was held in September at the Chinese Theatre. Zack, Kira, and the other cast members did the red carpet, along with all of the VIPs Maddy had asked Steven to invite on her behalf. Sharoz was in Austin on an independent thriller, but Kira had flown in from New York with her new girlfriend, Reggie. Reggie wore cat’s-eye glasses and a geisha dress, and Maddy liked her immediately. Dan came with the screenwriter Oded Zalinsky; he and Rachel Huber had broken up.
Maddy walked the press line with Steven, less nervous than she had been at the Housing Project USA event that spring, now that she’d had more practice. She wanted the film to do well because she believed it deserved to, and she knew Steven’s presence would ensure maximum publicity. All the reporters wanted to see her engagement ring and wedding band. The press had dubbed them “SteMad,” and some reporters even called out the name, which she found bizarre. Steven was game on the press line, indulging but never overshadowing Maddy, standing behind her. The questions about the movie were the usual idiotic ones, but Maddy had learned how to answer them. You had to be brief and positive, and you had to act like each was being asked of you for the very first time.
The after-party was at a club called Havana, on Ivar, in Hollywood, a big, decadent place with multiple levels and banquettes. There was a table reserved for the cast, and Maddy found herself sitting opposite Dan and next to Steven. She kept waiting for Steven to show hostility toward Dan, but he was so convivial that if you didn’t know she and Dan once lived together, you never would have guessed.
Kira couldn’t keep her hands off Reggie. They kept nuzzling and smooching and petting, which seemed inappropriately showy at first, but it was clear Kira was besotted and it soon became cute.
At the table, the cast reminisced about the shoot. Bridget and Steven were uncharacteristically quiet, unable to chime in. Since moving to L.A., Maddy had been socializing in Bridget and Steven’s world. Now they were in hers. For the first time, they seemed old to her, too rich, too successful, and too smooth.
Dan asked Maddy if she had liked working with Walter Juhasz, and she said quickly, “Walter was amazing to work with. He hasn’t lost a step.”
“That’s what I’ve heard,” Kira said. “But you didn’t like him, did you, Steven? I feel like I read that somewhere.”
His face was unyielding. “It was one of the best professional experiences of my life,” he said. Maddy was shocked to see the ease with which he lied. It was as though he did it professionally, which, in a sense, he did. “The press likes to make movie sets seem more exciting than they are. As I’m sure you’re aware.”
“This is the first film I’ve done that’s gotten press,” Kira said evenly, “so I really wouldn’t know.”
“Do you guys have a release date yet?” Zack asked.
“Next fall, in time for the awards circuit,” Bridget said. “Maddy is unbelievable in this.”
“I think you mean she’s believable, Mom.”
Bridget pursed her lips at him and went on, “I mean she is just stellar. Even though her character is unfaithful, you’re rooting for her. You’re going to be biting your nails and turned on at the same time.”
“That reminds me of a hooker I once went to,” Zack said, and everyone laughed. Maddy felt he was trying to make sure everyone got along, to bridge the gap between old and young.
“So what have you been working on, Kira?” Maddy asked, clearing her throat.
“I did a couple days on Freda Jansons. The Tim Heller film. I just had a small role. Lael was fucking awesome. I played a babysitter to the boy. A day’s work, but supposedly, Tim Heller really liked me and wants to find me something more substantial.”
“Kira just booked another movie, actually,” Zack announced. “It’s a black-and-white indie called Rondelay. She plays a modern dancer with a bad love life.”
The title rang a bell. Bridget had sent Maddy the script, but the salary was SAG minimum and Bridget felt strongly that it was too small for her. Bridget had said that the director, Deborah Berenson, had a mixed track record. She was said to be mercurial and to have trouble getting projects off the ground. One of her scripts, a girl-girl buddy comedy, had been in turnaround for ten years, Bridget said.
“My girlfriend’s going to be very famous someday,” Reggie said, running her fingers through Kira’s hair, which had grown down to her chin.
“You’re only saying that because I sleep with you,” Kira said.
“No, I’m saying it because I think you’re the most talented woman in the universe.”
“What do you do for a living, Reggie?” Steven asked.
“I work at a domestic-abuse crisis center?”
“She’s the real deal,” Kira said. “She couldn’t give a shit about money. She just wants to help women and girls.”
“And how did you two meet?” Steven asked.
“At a bar on Avenue B,” Kira said. She held Reggie’s face and said, “Is this not the cutest girl you’ve ever seen?”
A celebrity DJ had been hired for the party—it was possible that the party had cost more than the film—and as a heavy bass cranked up, Reggie and Kira got up to dance. Oded was already on the dance floor, acting goofy. Zack followed the women, and Maddy was left with her ex-boyfriend, her manager, and her husband.
“Why don’t you stay here without me, sweetie?” Steven said. “I have that six A.M. call tomorrow. You’ll have more fun with just your friends.” She pretended to be disappointed, but she was relieved. It was complicated to have to be Mrs. Steven Weller and Maddy Freed at the same time.
Bridget said she was going to walk out with Steven, and as she headed off to the bathroom, Zack decided to seize the moment. When his mother came out, he was waiting. “Have you had too much to drink?” she asked. “Do you need a lift back to your hotel?”
“I wanted to talk to you for a second.”
“Not near the restrooms. Never talk business near shit.” She steered him to a back corner of the room. “This can’t wait until breakfast?”
“I have to cancel. I’m going back first thing. I have a commitment in New York.”
“But I was so looking forward to sitting down with you. I never see you. Why don’t you move back here? You’re wasting time with those theater people. It’s a dying industry.”
“I like it there. This isn’t the only city where deals get made.”
He was looking at her so heavily that she almost suspected he knew. She’d had only one meeting, sneaked off for a few days to Connecticut, but it was going to happen. A few weeks more and Steven would be catapulted to the top of the A-list. He was doing a good job of keeping it quiet, and she was, too. But it would be bad if it leaked. She was about to become executive producer on a multimillion-dollar franchise that would change everything for her client and for her.
“I want to ask you about Maddy,” Zack said, and Bridget opened her mouth so her exhale wouldn’t sound so loud. He knew nothing. He would read about it in the trades like everyone else.
“What about Maddy?”
“I heard you didn’t send her Freda Jansons.”
“I knew it was you who told her. Spare me your guilt trip. The best thing I’ve done for my client since I signed her was not send her that script.” Bridget lowered her voice. “I hear it’s terrible. The screenplay was a mess, and Tim Heller was rewriting every day on set. The actors made up their own lines.”
“That’s not true. Not one thing you just said is true.”
“Whatever you say.” She was looking off in the distance, as if she saw someone more important. It was a look he had seen many times.