Secrets of My Hollywood Life #2: On Location (3 page)

"You almost gave me a heart attack!" I clutch my chest and Drew laughs even harder. He opens his arms wide and
waits for me
to hug him. I want to vomit. He's GOT to be kidding.

Seeing Drew in the flesh makes me queasy. I knew this day would come, but I thought it would have happened a long time ago. Hutch didn't have the two of us screen test together, even though we're playing the romantic leads (I thought it was odd, but Laney said Hutch goes with his gut on casting, even if that means hiring someone, as she said, "much less famous" for my counterpart), and our table read isn't until Wednesday. That means today is the first time I've actually seen Drew since the night we broke up. Can I call it breaking up if we only went on half a dozen dates? It doesn't matter. Even if it was short-lived, the truth is, I fell hard.

I had seen Drew from a distance at parties and read about his rising film career. He had a knack for picking small parts that stuck out, like a daredevil leukemia patient in
Heart strings,
but still hadn't found a role that gave him the fame he craved. But we didn't actually meet till Drew appeared on
FA
for a four-episode story arc last fall. He played Sam's hot Latino pizza delivery guy. I loved the episode when the two made waves because Sam showed up at the Summerville Hope Charity Ball with a seventeen-year-old high school dropout on her arm. Of course, this being
FA,
there was more than a class issue at stake. It turned out Ricky was quick with his fist and desperately in need of anger manage ment counseling. Ashamed, he wound up leaving Sum merville in the middle of the night without saying goodbye and writing Sam a letter about his unhappy childhood. It was Sam's first broken heart--and mine.

"You didn't think we were exclusive, did you, Katie Bear?" I remember Drew asked when I found him sucking face with Lila Tompkin. Drew had just wrapped his last episode and we were supposed to celebrate the ten-day anniversary of our first kiss at a KISS-FM concert. I was running late from the
FA
set that night and told Drew I would meet him backstage.

When I saw them liplocked, I walked right up to Drew and Lila without thinking. "How could you do this to me?" I stuttered naïvely, biting my lip to hold back the tears. "You said I was your world."

"You were! You changed everything for me, Katie Bear," Drew said, giving my right hand a squeeze as his other hand rested on Lila's shoulder. "If I hadn't been seen around town with you, I never would have gotten an audition with Brett Ratner. That's where I met Lila," he added, motioning to the tall, Asian beauty who was beaming stupidly. "She's in his next project. Besides, my
FA
part is over now. It's time for me to move on." His nonchalance contrasted with my trem bling legs and dry as sandpaper mouth.

"You used me," I realized aloud, feeling stupid as I thought about the dozens of roses he had sent to my film premiere that we attended together, the serenade he treated me to in front of a packed restaurant at Mr. Chow's, and the passionate kisses he always pulled me in for when he saw the waiting paparazzi. Come to think of it, we'd never really spent time together in private.

"Katie Bear," he said. "This is Hollywood. You're supposed to use people. That's how you get places." Suddenly I noticed that his brown eyes weren't warm and soulful. They were glittering and calculating like a cobra.

That's when I slugged him and ran out of the Staples Center without looking back (it was quite a hike, let me tell you, especially in Gucci stilettos). I had Rodney take me straight to Liz's so that I could sob on her shoulder and nurse my throbbing punching hand while we watched
Legally Blonde,
about another woman scorned. Like Elle, I swore to change things. But in my case, it wasn't about winning back my man; it was about avoiding the trap of others who might use me for my fame. I hadn't dated anyone else till Austin.

I cringe at the sharp memories. Seeing Drew again is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I take a deep breath and ex hale slowly. Okay I'm a lot smarter and more confident now.

"Good to see you, Drew," I say stiffly and give him a quick hug. But Drew holds on tight. When I manage to pull away I can't help but stare. I'll admit it, Drew is still impossibly gorgeous. That tanned complexion, the black hair, his tall, buff bod...it's no wonder
Entertainment Nation
dubbed him the Latin George Clooney.

"You've missed me, I can tell," Drew coos. I snap out of my trance immediately. "I've missed you too. I never should have let you go, Katie Bear."

PLAYER!
I want to scream.
You just want to hook up again to get more face time in US Weekly!
Instead I look at Laney and she motions for me to sit down. She's already lectured me about being nice to Drew to avoid any publicity nightmares. Drew takes my silence as a good sign and plops down on the leather couch next to me.

"Missed doesn't describe what I'm feeling," I hiss through gritted teeth. But before I can say anything else, the Coach satchel I bought at their charity dinner this spring begins to vibrate. I grab it and eagerly pull out the Sidekick.

WOOKIESRULE: Guess who?

My heart catches in my throat. That
Star Wars
screen name is pure Austin!

Drew watches me curiously his deep brown eyes taking in my every move, and I smile nervously. "This will just take a second," I say ignoring the loud sigh from Mom, who never understood why I stopped seeing Drew. ("You're young. You should date lots of boys--and this boy should be one of them. He's going places, Katie-Kins.")

PRINCESSLEIA25: Do I know U?

WOOKIESRULE: BURKE! R U kidding me???

PRINCESSLEIA25: LOL. U figured out how 2 work the Sidekick, huh Meyers?

WOOKIESRULE: You're my first email. Like my screen name?

PRINCESSLEIA25: Y.

Drew clears his throat. "Sorry." I try not to smile. Austin has that effect on me.

PRINCESSLEIA25: Got 2 go. Mtg starting. TTYL?

WOOKIESRULE: Y. May the force B w/you.

As I put the Sidekick safely back in my bag, Drew's team noisily enters the room and starts chatting with mine. I can hear Drew's publicist rattling off her clients' names to an unimpressed Laney. I look up in time to see Nadine leaving. (She doesn't sit in on my meetings.) She crosses her fingers before disappearing.

"Making this movie should be fun, huh, Katie Bear?" Drew puts a hand on my knee. I quickly remove it. He reeks from musky cologne I don't recognize. He better not think he's wearing that stuff during our kissing scenes.

"Definitely. But you know that's
all
we're doing, right, Drew? Making a movie?"

"We were so good together," Drew protests. "How can you not want to try again?" I open my mouth to protest. "You can fight it all you want," Drew says with a wink. "That will just make my conquest more fun."

"Fight it? Are you crazy?" I whisper hotly. I'm dying to spill the fact that I have a boyfriend, but I hold back. Austin isn't ready to face the wrath of a Hollywood party boy who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

For now, I have bigger things to worry about, like the fact that Hutch just walked in the conference room with a scowl planted on his face.

Yep, I'm convinced: I'm about to be officially unemployed.

THrEE:
Meet Cruella De Vlit

While Hutch's partner Daniella is all smiles as she enters the meeting room, Hutch looks positively grim. He pushes his long, dirty brown hair off his face to reveal dark bags under his eyes.

"Hello, stars," Hutch croaks as he takes a seat in the recliner next to Drew and me. He's wearing his classic uni form: a concert tee, faded denim jeans, and combat boots.

"Hutch, my man," Drew says, shaking our director's hand gruffly. "I'm looking forward to our start date. It will be good to work with my girl again." Drew gives my arm a squeeze.

"Did he just call me his girl?" I joke, trying to break the ice.

Hutch barely cracks a smile at either of us. He just leans back in the chair and stares at me with a frown on his face. I'm even more worried seconds later when I get my first glimpse of Carol Ingram, who enters the room just as a bolt of lightning flashes across the window.

The woman is practically a giant! Seriously, she must be around six one, because she towers over everyone. As she stomps towards Hutch, Drew, and me in her knee-high black boots, Carol stares down the rest of the room. Even Laney looks nervous. With a long, pale face, short black hair, and a tight scowl on her thin, bare lips, Carol reminds me of a cross between Cruella De Vil and a vampire. Yep, one thing is certain: Carol looks the part of one of the most pow erful women in Hollywood.

"You must be Drew," she says, shaking his hand. "You're just as handsome in person as you are on the big screen, and that's saying something." Drew laughs a little too loudly. I give him credit for being wise enough not to crack a comeback.

Next, Carol turns to me. "And Kaitlin. I've been dying to meet you," she says as she grabs my hand firmly and gives me a sly smile. I expect her teeth to be pointy. "You and I have
a lot
to talk about."

As Carol brings the meeting to order, I can barely hear what she's saying over the loud thumping of my strained heart and the rain hitting the roof of our two-story building.

"Hi, everyone, I'm Carol Ingram, Wagmans' new head of marketing. First of all, let me say how pleased I am that my first assignment as VP at Wagman is to work on Hutch's film." Carol flicks a speck of dust off her black power mini skirt. Everyone in the crowded room applauds, including Laney. "And I couldn't be happier that Kaitlin and Drew are the stars," she adds, upping the charm quotient.

Maybe I'm not getting canned? I can feel myself turning purple as I hold my breath in anxious suspense.

"We'll have no problem getting advance buzz on this picture with you two young, beautiful stars on board," Carol coos. "But of course, I'm just here to observe the artiste in action today. So now I'll turn the meeting over to Hutch." Carol smiles sweetly at my bored director before turning her attention back to Drew and me. "My office will be call ing your people to talk about a production publicity tour," she practically whispers. "This is a new initiative here at Wagman, which I'll be starting with your film. I think you'll like it."

Did she just say production publicity? HOLLYWOOD SECRET NUMBER THREE: Most actors' film contracts detail their pub licity requirements. While every star handles press differ ently--some will only do talk shows, some prefer print interviews, still others only talk to the foreign press--everybody is required to do something to promote the film they've signed on to. If you renege on that promise, it could derail your career. My girlfriend Lara skipped out of a Euro pean press tour due to "exhaustion." She hasn't been able to get a meeting with the studio, let alone the producer of the movie she screwed, ever since.

I've heard of directors like Peter Jackson allowing press on film sets, or keeping a production blog, but a production publicity tour is new to me. With such a hectic shooting schedule, how are we going to find the time?

"Thank you, Carol," Hutch says gruffly "I'll keep this meeting short, as I'm sure my stars have plenty of work to do before we start production in two weeks. I know I do." I'm about to laugh, but I stop when I see Hutch's serious expres sion. "I actually called you all here to talk about a little sur prise I have."

"Don't keep us in suspense, dude." I can hear tension in Drew's voice too. "Spill it."

"I've actually made some additional changes to the script that I think you'll all be pleased with." Hutch cracks a small smile. Before I nearly black out from fright, I notice the gap between his two front teeth. Hutch motions us to pick up the binders from the coffee tables.

I wonder how my role has changed now, if I'm even still playing it. My character's parents went from huge roles to supporting players, and my character Carly's best friend has been rewritten more times than I can count. Originally, Carly had an older sister who was a superhuman rebel; then the part was changed to a neighbor. In the last draft, Carly is betrayed by a scheming younger brother, which Matty just snagged. Please don't tell me they're doing away with Matty's part! It will crush him.

"Of course, the script alterations are nothing anyone in this room should be worried about," Hutch adds. "What I've tweaked does not affect the gravity of Drew's and Kaitlin's parts."

I'M NOT GETTING FIRED! I'M NOT GETTING FIRED!THANK GOD! The pounding noise I've been hearing in my chest starts to fade and I flop limply in my seat.

"If anything, the addition of this third major character will beef up Drew's and Kaitlin's roles immensely," Hutch adds.

Third character?

"She was a minor player in the original script, but after this talented young lady auditioned for me, I couldn't get her out of my head," Hutch says. "While she wasn't exactly Carly, I realized she'd make a perfect Regina. With this sensi tive, generous young actress filling the role, the play will be even more darkly ominous. I'm incredibly grateful for her insight on Regina's evolution. Thanks to her, I recognized that Regina instead of Carly's brother should betray Carly and Donovan."

Drew and I look at each other in a moment of solidarity. Who did Hutch hire?

"Drew, Kaitlin, I want you both to meet your characters' new nemesis." Hutch stands up and motions to the empty doorway. "Sky Mackenzie, you can come in now."

My heart starts throbbing again. Did he say SKY MACKENZIE???

Unfortunately, my hearing is fine because in walks my troublemaking
FA
costar in the flesh. At least I
think
she's Sky. Since our fiery last encounter after my Sidekick-stealing ac cusation, Sky's bleached her long dark locks white blond. Against her orange faux tan and her waif figure, the effect is both horrifying and mesmerizing at the same time. Sky struts across the room in hip-hugging cream fabric pants and a matching camisole. She perches on the arm of Hutch's recliner.