suppose that is one option.”
“And the other?”
“I really like you, Evelyn.”
I looked at her sideways.
She laughed at me. “I know that’s probably not something most actresses mean in this town, but I don’t want to be like most actresses. I really like you. I like watching you on-screen. I like how the moment you show up in a scene, I can’t look at anything else. I like the way your skin is too dark for your blond hair, the way the two shouldn’t go together and yet seem so natural on you. And to be honest, I like how calculating and awful you kind of are.”
“I am not awful!”
Celia laughed. “Oh, you definitely are. Getting me fired because you think I’ll show you up? Awful. That’s just awful, Evelyn. And walking around bragging about how you use people? Just terrible. But I really like it when you talk about it. I like how honest you are, how unashamed. So many women around here are full of crap with everything they say and do. I like that you’re full of crap only when it gets you something.”
“This laundry list of compliments seems to have a lot of insults in it,” I said.
Celia nodded, hearing me. “You know what you want, and you go after it. I don’t think there is anyone in this town doubting that Evelyn Hugo is going to be the biggest star in Hollywood one of these days. And that’s not just because you’re something to look at. It’s because you decided you wanted to be huge, and now you’re going to be. I want to be friends with a woman like that. That’s what I’m saying. Real friends. None of this Ruby Reilly, backstabbing, talking-about-each-other-behind-our-backs crap. Friendship. Where each of us gets better, lives better, because we know the other.”
I considered her. “Do we have to do each other’s hair and stuff like that?”
“Sunset pays people to do that. So no.”
“Do I have to listen to your man troubles?”
“Certainly not.”
“So what, then? We choose to spend time together and try to be there for each other?”
“Evelyn, have you never had a friend before?”
“Of course I’ve had friends before.”
“A real one, a close friend? A true friend?”
“I have a true friend, thank you very much.”
“Who is it?”
“Harry Cameron.”
“Harry Cameron is your friend?”
“He’s my best friend.”
“Well, fine,” Celia said, putting out her hand for me to shake. “I will be your second-best friend, next to Harry Cameron.”
I took her hand and shook it firmly. “Fine. Tomorrow I’ll take you to Schwab’s. And afterward, we can rehearse together.”
“Thank you,” she said, and she smiled brightly, as if she’d gotten everything she’d ever wanted in the world. She hugged me, and when we broke away, the man behind the counter was staring at us.
I asked for the check.
“It’s on the house,” he said, which I thought was the dumbest thing, because if there is anyone that should be getting free food, it isn’t rich people.
“Will you tell your husband I loved The Gun at Point Dume?” the man said as Celia and I got up to leave.
“What husband?” I said as coyly as possible.
Celia laughed, and I flashed her a grin.