Two Week Turnaround by Geneva Lee

schmoozing a table of sycophants. Her gaze wandered toward the entrance to the private dining room and her breath caught in her throat.
    Isaac stood, unmoving, in the doorway. His expression blank. One of the lesser known talents of actors was a fabulous poker face. He made no move to follow her and showed no sign of remorse. Sofia immediately felt stupid for insinuating that he could have been different to her father. He’d been in it for the sex and hadn’t that been the plan after all? A no-strings-attached distraction from his self-destruction?
    She turned away and walked past the crowd of reporters and out of his life for good.
    * * *
    â€œI need to get out of this business.” Sofia was thinking out loud. She wasn’t sure Belle would have much input, but it was nice to say it to someone who wasn’t in the industry. Insiders couldn’t imagine walking away. They were doing life sentences without the possibility of parole. It was a sickness.
    One Sofia suffered from.
    â€œYou love your job,” Belle reminded her. She wrapped an arm around Sofia’s shoulders and they rode in silence for a moment.
    â€œI did. I do,” she corrected herself. “But maybe I need a break. It’s getting harder to keep perspective and since perspective is the one thing my clients need most from me, I can’t afford to do that.”
    â€œIt can’t be easy to think clearly around Isaac. Women who’ve never met him can’t do it. I can’t imagine what it’s like for you.”
    â€œThat’s just it. I
am
thinking clearly.” Sofia hesitated, uncertain she could explain this to her friend. “It’s always hard to question your roots and my entire root system is in Hollywood, but it’s getting easier to see that I need to trim some branches from the old family tree. Maybe pull up and replant myself altogether.”
    â€œThat’s not always so easy.” Belle spoke from experience, and Sofia knew it. Her friend had endured a very public scandal when her father embezzled millions of dollars in a banking scam.
    â€œYou did it,” she pointed out. Sofia had watched with pride as her friend blew off the nasty looks and constant gossip that followed her through prep school. Her father had financially ruined several of the school’s most prominent families and Belle had faced a constant barrage of gossip, even after her father’s suicide.
    â€œAnd now I’m marrying back into the aristocracy.” Belle laughed humorlessly. “Maybe when it comes to our families, we’re all gluttons for punishment.”
    Sofia couldn’t help but think of her own father. She genuinely loved him even though he was often the most despicable person she knew. “I know a thing or two about turning a blind eye.”
    â€œBut that’s harder to do now,” Belle guessed.
    â€œNow that I know my father basically bribed my boyfriend to choose fame over me? Yeah, he’s definitely getting a shitty Christmas gift.” It hurt less to crack jokes than to seriously consider their betrayal—or the fact that Isaac hadn’t come after her.
    She’d walked into this situation with open eyes and she’d still been smacked up the head with reality. The whole thing was worthy of a Hollywood plot twist. Knowing her father, he’d probably write it into a script.
    The cab driver stopped in front of Belle’s building and her friend leaned in to give her a quick hug. She kept it short. No doubt remembering that Sofia wasn’t really the openly affectionate type.
    â€œWill I see you again?” It was a simple question, but it was a loaded one.
    â€œI think I need to get the hell out of London,” Sofia said apologetically. No part of her wanted to stick around here. Although she wasn’t sure that returning to Los Angeles was a better alternative. “Maybe I’ll find a beach and finally write my