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"First I've heard of it," he said
"I left you a e," Tammy said, as if her efficiency had been offended Call her baby Forget her nas, but don't accuse her of being unreliable That here Tammy at Poindexter-Stone drew the line
"Well, I never got a" He looked at his answering ht and yelled, "Shit!"
"Be there by nine fifteen, and don't forget the head shots," Taood-bye
When she left the studio, Julia got a cab The publishers had offered to have a car at her disposal while she was in New York, but hailing a cab was theshe could do, and she wanted to do it as o home to Oklahoma for Cassie's birthday
"Where to, lady?" the cabbie asked, and Julia loved the sound of it Ah, New York, she thought It's good to be back
"The Ritz," she answered, and the car pulled away froent, the ent who held the key to the city of starving actors and, one by one, decided ould get out and ould go home with a bus ticket paid for with Western Union --the unfortunate feho had just enough talent to reht as he pushed the elevator button, he was going to meet the ates But like his career up until that point, he ran up against a brick wall as soon as the elevator doors slid open
Chaos filled the hallway Young, athletic action-hero wannabes leaned like bookends beside ed men who looked custo lines pinged off the tight walls and crashed against Lance, nearly pushing him back into the elevator with cries of Hamlet and Tennessee Willia room at the insane asylum-- at that moment, Lance wasn't quite sure which
"Lance," a fa at his arm and turned to see a face he had seen at every audition he'd been on in the last tenat the paunchy rateful that God had granted hie metabolism He looked quickly away, toward the mayhem of the hall "This is crazy," he said
"Yeah," To into semiretireonna have"
"Open calls?" Lance said, re Ta favor on his behalf
"Well, yeah I mean, they've requested soh the hall, seeing a face he likes, and htly and turned as the elevator doors opened and another h the crowd "I' Lance's dazed expression, he explained: "I' west in three weeks"
"Yeah?" Lance asked "Things going that well for you?"
"Well," Tonized the tone of a so-so actor who had the sense to knoas also a so-so liar "Not really But I've been hopping at the Ritz and the tips are good, so I can afford the move"
"Really?" Lance asked
"Yeah"
"The Ritz?"
"Welcome back to the Ritz, Ms Jaer said as Julia approached the desk Just the way he stood there, serenely perfect and ready to serve, ame she liked to call Ridiculous Ritz Request She'd never had the courage to play out loud of course, but secretly, she wondered ould happen if she asked the pristine eous-- it would take for hiuessed he'd be knocking at her door in less than an hour, ferret and hat in hand
Tees instead
"Of course, e" He removed a small brown envelope and handed it to her across the counter "Will there be anything else,on the address label "This will be all," she said just as her cell phone started to ring She turned from the counter and strolled across the i in her purse for her phone
"You were on TV," a little voice exclaimed before she'd even said hello
An immediate smile lit Julia's face "Was I really?" she teased
"Mommy and Grammy and Nicky and I all watched you!"
Julia didn't have to strain to iine her niece's serious expression as she explained the facts exactly as they were Cassie was a genius, Julia was sure She was also the perfect child So pretty So sweet In fact, if Julia hadn't been present at her birth, she would have sworn the little girl had been purchased at Pottery Barn
"Well, how did you like seeing me on TV?" Julia asked
"It was okay," Cassie said, giving it serious consideration "But I like you being here better"
"You knohat?" Julia asked, ho there better, too"
Then Julia heard a scuffle followed by static and finally Caroline's breathless greeting "Julia?"
"Yes?" Julia said, drawing out the word, waiting for the shoe to drop, certain that her sister wouldn't have taken ti board/vacuum cleaner trifecta that sed her days like the Berle unless there was a favor in her future