I snap a screenshot and paste it into an email.
From: [email protected]
Date: Mon, Jan 1, 2019 at 11:09am
Subject: Congrats!
Hey Mollson—
Happy New Year! I just saw your news. Congratulations—I loved her on Headlands!
BOXOFFICEGOSS.COM: Golden Globe winner Margot Tess attached to rom-com from producers 6FiftyX
Tess, who took home Best Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Rhathselda in the sweeping historical epicHeadlands, has signed on to star in and executive produceDaughter of the Bride.The rom-com, about a woman searching for love at her own mother’s wedding, was written by Molly Marks. Simon Larch is attached to direct.
I should absolutely end this email here—keep it casual, let her either write back or not. But I’m happy for her, and I want to let her know that she deserves to be proud of herself. I suspect it’s not a feeling she indulges in often. So I add:
I have to confess something: after the reunion I went back and watched (okay, you got me, rewatched) your movies. I love how I can relax and not worry someone is going to tragically die and tear my heart out. And I can always hear your voice in them—that sarcasm that lets me know a foul-tempered wretch is responsible for all the happiness on-screen.
Congrats, champ. You’re doing God’s work.
Hugs.
—Seth
I hit send and then freeze.
Hugs?Why did I write that?
I spend a few minutes poking around to see if my email app has some sort of “I regret sending that please delete before the recipient sees” function, but no dice.
Oh well. Hugs!
CHAPTER 13Molly
I wake up at 1:00 p.m. on the first day of this blessed year with a hangover and acute postparty anxiety. I brought in 2019 at Margot Tess’s annual bash at her estate in Los Feliz. She’s a big deal right now, and the crowd there was glitzier than the industry people I usually hang out with. Consequently, I networked my face off and am now a crumpled ball of emotional toilet paper.
My relationship with parties is complicated. I dread going to them, because I’m an introvert who prefers to spend her time alone or—once socially starved—with the same four to six close friends. But since so much of my job is reliant on networking, and social and business relationships are so intertwined in LA, I do have to force myself out of the house when the occasion arises.
And then, I’m like that guy fromThe Mask.I glam myself up and walk into a room and remember that I’m attractive and funny and good at banter. I dole out compliments, offer favors, introduce people, fetch cocktails, and collect numbers until I’m in a fizz of party energy and don’t want to go home. I am the girl who ends up at the after-party bumming cigarettes and slinging take-it-to-the-grave gossip with the die-hards. By 4:00 a.m., I have eight new best friends.
But then—then—I wake up in the morning (or, in this case, afternoon)and second-guess every single thing that I did. Was it rude of me to introduce myself to that producer? Did my manic energy make me seem drunk, or crazy? And, oh God, what do I do with all these numbers I collected? Should I follow up with invitations to coffee or drinks? And what on earth will I do if my new acquaintances say yes?
I drag myself out of bed, grab a sugar-free Red Bull from the fridge (an unparalleled hangover cure), and settle myself on the couch to reread my texts from last night in hopes of remembering who I ensnared in my web.
Seven people. Sob.
I brace myself and check to see if I did any more damage by email.
Seth’s name is at the top of my inbox.
I didn’t expect to hear from him again after my deranged decision to contact him over Christmas. I open it, and it’s a sweet message about my new movie.
I consider not replying. As someone who had no business contacting him in the first place, I really don’t want to give him the wrong idea. But the gesture is so kind that I owe him at least a quick response.
From: [email protected]
