cards.
Jeff stared at her, making her feel like she was twelve years old again and under the eyes of the social worker.
‘Jesus, you’re a bitch, Greene,’ he muttered under his breath.
‘Why?’ she challenged. ‘Because I want what I want? You get to be ambitious but I’m a bitch? I’m disappointed in you, Jeff. I thought you were better than that.’
Actually this was a lie. Jeff could be a misogynistic prick, whose three ex-wives would all testify to this fact, but Zoe wanted to give him a chance to dig himself out of his gender-biased grave.
To his credit, Jeff took a moment and then looked at Zoe,‘Yes, you’re right, that was unfair. You’re not a bitch, you’re just a pain in the arse.’
Zoe laughed, despite herself. ‘You have no idea how big a pain in the arse I can be.’
Jeff put his hand out over the table. ’You’ve got a deal,’ he said. ‘Bring yourself to my office tomorrow to discuss the terms.’
Zoe took his hand in hers, feeling the smooth skin of a man who worked behind a desk all day.
‘Thank you, Jeff, you won’t regret it. This movie is going be a huge hit.’
‘It fucking better be. If it’s not, I’m gonna blame it all on you and you’ll never eat lunch in this town again.’
Zoe smiled. ‘That’s okay, I don’t eat lunch anyway,’ she said, and without a backwards glance, she walked out of the room that everyone wanted to be inside.
Outside, in the crisp midnight air, she handed the valet parking attendant the ticket for her Jaguar and shivered not from the cold, but from the feeling that there was something exciting in the air.
She laughed as she got into the car and she thought about Jeff saying she was to old for him. The last thing she wanted to be the next Mrs Beerman, no, she wanted something bigger than that; she wanted to be the next Jeff Beerman.
After nearly twenty years in Hollywood, Zoe Greene had finally got the break she needed, and she wasn’t going to let anything stand in her way.
2
Maggie Hall was careful not to trip over the train of Penelope Cruz’s enormous silver ball gown as she maneuvered through the room to gain a better view of Zoe’s conversation with Jeff Beerman.
The room was buzzing with celebrities catching up, wait staff trying to keep up with the request for drinks and powerbrokers shaking hands and comparing egos.
Maggie was a people watcher, which was part of what made her a brilliant actress, but she wasn’t trying to play either Jeff or Zoe in a new role. She knew there was something going down, and – given Zoe was both her best friend and her manager - automatically assumed it had something to do with her.
But Zoe had already left the table by the time Maggie got a decent view and she was left talking to Gwyneth Paltrow about colon cleanses.
Damn you, Zoe, she thought, at least tell me which project Jeff wants me for so I can prepare.
Did she need to lose weight or gain it? Change her hair colour from blonde to brunette? Change her body shape with four hour a day workouts?
Transforming herself came naturally to Maggie - she’d being doing it for nearly thirty-seven years. It was being herself she sometimes had trouble with, she thought wryly.
‘Maggie?’ she heard and saw Will MacIntyre standing in front of her. His Spanish girlfriend, Stella, glared at Maggie as though she were the worst person in the world, which, to Stella, she probably was.
Will’s appearance had rescued her from more colon conversation with Goop about her poop, so she turned and smiled at him brightly. On paper they had been the perfect couple, but things had never been so easy behind closed doors.
‘If it isn’t William the Ex,’ she said archly.
‘You look beautiful,’ he said, his eyes scanning Maggie in her lilac strapless gown. For a moment she felt bad for Stella, whose face fell at Will’s words.
Stella was sexy, a tumble of dark hair, breasts and curves, but Maggie was tall and willowy, and often described as a
Jeff stared at her, making her feel like she was twelve years old again and under the eyes of the social worker.
‘Jesus, you’re a bitch, Greene,’ he muttered under his breath.
‘Why?’ she challenged. ‘Because I want what I want? You get to be ambitious but I’m a bitch? I’m disappointed in you, Jeff. I thought you were better than that.’
Actually this was a lie. Jeff could be a misogynistic prick, whose three ex-wives would all testify to this fact, but Zoe wanted to give him a chance to dig himself out of his gender-biased grave.
To his credit, Jeff took a moment and then looked at Zoe,‘Yes, you’re right, that was unfair. You’re not a bitch, you’re just a pain in the arse.’
Zoe laughed, despite herself. ‘You have no idea how big a pain in the arse I can be.’
Jeff put his hand out over the table. ’You’ve got a deal,’ he said. ‘Bring yourself to my office tomorrow to discuss the terms.’
Zoe took his hand in hers, feeling the smooth skin of a man who worked behind a desk all day.
‘Thank you, Jeff, you won’t regret it. This movie is going be a huge hit.’
‘It fucking better be. If it’s not, I’m gonna blame it all on you and you’ll never eat lunch in this town again.’
Zoe smiled. ‘That’s okay, I don’t eat lunch anyway,’ she said, and without a backwards glance, she walked out of the room that everyone wanted to be inside.
Outside, in the crisp midnight air, she handed the valet parking attendant the ticket for her Jaguar and shivered not from the cold, but from the feeling that there was something exciting in the air.
She laughed as she got into the car and she thought about Jeff saying she was to old for him. The last thing she wanted to be the next Mrs Beerman, no, she wanted something bigger than that; she wanted to be the next Jeff Beerman.
After nearly twenty years in Hollywood, Zoe Greene had finally got the break she needed, and she wasn’t going to let anything stand in her way.
2
Maggie Hall was careful not to trip over the train of Penelope Cruz’s enormous silver ball gown as she maneuvered through the room to gain a better view of Zoe’s conversation with Jeff Beerman.
The room was buzzing with celebrities catching up, wait staff trying to keep up with the request for drinks and powerbrokers shaking hands and comparing egos.
Maggie was a people watcher, which was part of what made her a brilliant actress, but she wasn’t trying to play either Jeff or Zoe in a new role. She knew there was something going down, and – given Zoe was both her best friend and her manager - automatically assumed it had something to do with her.
But Zoe had already left the table by the time Maggie got a decent view and she was left talking to Gwyneth Paltrow about colon cleanses.
Damn you, Zoe, she thought, at least tell me which project Jeff wants me for so I can prepare.
Did she need to lose weight or gain it? Change her hair colour from blonde to brunette? Change her body shape with four hour a day workouts?
Transforming herself came naturally to Maggie - she’d being doing it for nearly thirty-seven years. It was being herself she sometimes had trouble with, she thought wryly.
‘Maggie?’ she heard and saw Will MacIntyre standing in front of her. His Spanish girlfriend, Stella, glared at Maggie as though she were the worst person in the world, which, to Stella, she probably was.
Will’s appearance had rescued her from more colon conversation with Goop about her poop, so she turned and smiled at him brightly. On paper they had been the perfect couple, but things had never been so easy behind closed doors.
‘If it isn’t William the Ex,’ she said archly.
‘You look beautiful,’ he said, his eyes scanning Maggie in her lilac strapless gown. For a moment she felt bad for Stella, whose face fell at Will’s words.
Stella was sexy, a tumble of dark hair, breasts and curves, but Maggie was tall and willowy, and often described as a
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