guess.”
“You bought your girlfriend a car? Wow. That’s a pretty serious gesture. I think I’d settle for flowers or maybe a new coffeepot, even a gift certificate to Starbucks. You buy a car.”
“Yeah, I hadn’t intended to but she was a little demanding. She dumped me for someone more interesting. One of our actors. Then she had a fleet of vehicles. I kept the car when she left just to piss her off. Not that she really cared. She was a woman with a plan.”
“Sounds like a pretty big one too.”
“I guess. Funny thing is, her actor traded her in a year later on a younger model. She called me up and was all apologetic, said she’d realized her mistake and wanted to come home.”
“Really? What did you do?”
“We represent the guy so we knew he’d sent her packing. That’s the bad part of the entertainment business. An agent has to know all the sordid details of their client’s life in order to control their image. We know who does drugs and how much, which ones are alcoholics, the violent sides, their sexual preferences or twists, all that stuff. We make money from their image just as much as their talent so what you don’t know can hurt — not just you but the business.”
“That’s sort of callous. And creepy.”
Grant shrugged. “It is what it is.”
“So, you took her back?”
He shook his head. “Hell, no. I told her it’d be a cold day in hell before she set foot in my apartment, or this car, again. It gives me great satisfaction to drive this little thing. I never would have bought it myself, but it’s actually a lot of fun. Want to try it?”
“No, thanks.”
“Just try it please? It’s pretty fun. Let me pull over.” When she gave in, he eased the car off the freeway at the next intersection, and then whipped into a parking lot. She had second thoughts when they rolled to a stop.
“Really. I’d rather not. I’ve had two glasses of wine and one champagne. I shouldn’t.”
“You drank it over a four-hour period. You’re as sober as a judge. Although I know a couple of judges that are serious alcoholics so I never quite understood that phrase.” He strode around the car and opened her door. “Slide over.”
“No.”
“God, you’re hard-headed. Come on. Do like Nike says and ‘just do it.’ You’ll like this. Are you seriously going to make me force you to drive this thing?”
She slid into the driver’s seat, mainly because he shoved her there. Grant gave her brief instructions on where to find the controls. Jenny whirled the car around the parking lot a couple of times then gassed it onto the freeway. “Okay, it’s a great car.”
“Yeah.” He laughed and leaned back in the seat. “Hey, where does David live? You want to go get
your
car?”
“So, you made me drive this and now you can’t wait to get it back?”
Jenny had an epiphany at that moment. She’d known David a year and had never been to his house. Well, she’d been
to the house, but never in it.
He always came to her, or she picked him up and dropped him off. He never invited her in or asked her to stay. She didn’t even know what kind of furniture he had. In truth, she probably knew more of that about Grant, than David, simply because Grant told her.
Did she want to go there and risk finding David with someone from the party? A part of her wanted to confront him. Find out for sure what this pseudo-relationship really was. Another part feared the outcome.
She deliberated briefly. “No. I’ll worry about that in the morning. Can we just drop me off?”
“You sure about that? Aren’t you gonna need the car tomorrow for work?”
“Yes, but — ” She grimaced. “Look, I hate confrontations. I avoid them at all costs. I’m really not up for that right now. I’ll come get the Mercedes tomorrow, or maybe he’ll drop it by. It doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter. Or at least it should to you.” He put his hand over the seat behind her and rubbed her neck softly with his
“You bought your girlfriend a car? Wow. That’s a pretty serious gesture. I think I’d settle for flowers or maybe a new coffeepot, even a gift certificate to Starbucks. You buy a car.”
“Yeah, I hadn’t intended to but she was a little demanding. She dumped me for someone more interesting. One of our actors. Then she had a fleet of vehicles. I kept the car when she left just to piss her off. Not that she really cared. She was a woman with a plan.”
“Sounds like a pretty big one too.”
“I guess. Funny thing is, her actor traded her in a year later on a younger model. She called me up and was all apologetic, said she’d realized her mistake and wanted to come home.”
“Really? What did you do?”
“We represent the guy so we knew he’d sent her packing. That’s the bad part of the entertainment business. An agent has to know all the sordid details of their client’s life in order to control their image. We know who does drugs and how much, which ones are alcoholics, the violent sides, their sexual preferences or twists, all that stuff. We make money from their image just as much as their talent so what you don’t know can hurt — not just you but the business.”
“That’s sort of callous. And creepy.”
Grant shrugged. “It is what it is.”
“So, you took her back?”
He shook his head. “Hell, no. I told her it’d be a cold day in hell before she set foot in my apartment, or this car, again. It gives me great satisfaction to drive this little thing. I never would have bought it myself, but it’s actually a lot of fun. Want to try it?”
“No, thanks.”
“Just try it please? It’s pretty fun. Let me pull over.” When she gave in, he eased the car off the freeway at the next intersection, and then whipped into a parking lot. She had second thoughts when they rolled to a stop.
“Really. I’d rather not. I’ve had two glasses of wine and one champagne. I shouldn’t.”
“You drank it over a four-hour period. You’re as sober as a judge. Although I know a couple of judges that are serious alcoholics so I never quite understood that phrase.” He strode around the car and opened her door. “Slide over.”
“No.”
“God, you’re hard-headed. Come on. Do like Nike says and ‘just do it.’ You’ll like this. Are you seriously going to make me force you to drive this thing?”
She slid into the driver’s seat, mainly because he shoved her there. Grant gave her brief instructions on where to find the controls. Jenny whirled the car around the parking lot a couple of times then gassed it onto the freeway. “Okay, it’s a great car.”
“Yeah.” He laughed and leaned back in the seat. “Hey, where does David live? You want to go get
your
car?”
“So, you made me drive this and now you can’t wait to get it back?”
Jenny had an epiphany at that moment. She’d known David a year and had never been to his house. Well, she’d been
to the house, but never in it.
He always came to her, or she picked him up and dropped him off. He never invited her in or asked her to stay. She didn’t even know what kind of furniture he had. In truth, she probably knew more of that about Grant, than David, simply because Grant told her.
Did she want to go there and risk finding David with someone from the party? A part of her wanted to confront him. Find out for sure what this pseudo-relationship really was. Another part feared the outcome.
She deliberated briefly. “No. I’ll worry about that in the morning. Can we just drop me off?”
“You sure about that? Aren’t you gonna need the car tomorrow for work?”
“Yes, but — ” She grimaced. “Look, I hate confrontations. I avoid them at all costs. I’m really not up for that right now. I’ll come get the Mercedes tomorrow, or maybe he’ll drop it by. It doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter. Or at least it should to you.” He put his hand over the seat behind her and rubbed her neck softly with his
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