Chapter 27: Tinseltown

Over the next three weeks, they interned at various places. Ashley had picked the ad agency Marsha was using, getting an idea of what graphic design was all about. Helen spent the same three weeks in the office of Jerome Washington, Irina’s attorney, where she got a little taste of family and estate law. Danny volunteered for an unpaid position in a small organization that helped to jump start small businesses, providing them with planning support and help with incorporation.

At the end of her internship, Ashley was not quite sold on graphic design as a career path, but Helen had enjoyed the time in the small law office. Danny also found the work in the volunteer organization interesting. The problems and solutions were quite diverse, and not everything had to do with numbers. He actually contemplated returning during his next break.

By the time they finished, the start of their senior year was only two weeks away. They were having a late breakfast on Sunday, when Helen’s smartphone purred. She picked it up with an apologizing look at the others, but then she smiled.

“Hey, Lucy! Let me put you on speaker. We’re having breakfast.”

She pressed the button, and they heard Lucy on the speaker.

“ ... that you are all there. You guys are probably getting ready for classes, but I had sort of promised you to invite you over to Burbank, so I can show you around and have you visit the set. I’ll have seven scenes in the episode we’ll be filming this week, and it would be great if you guys could come and visit. It would be Wednesday to Friday, if you can find a flight. I can put you up easily in our house since my roomy is up in Seattle for two weeks, so it would be just the flight. Are you guys up for that?”

A collective smile was spreading on their faces. This was vintage Lucy, a deluge of words and information.

“Hi, Lucy,” they all chorused.

“Give us a sec, please,” Ashley added, turning to the others. “I could, but what about you, darling?”

“I’m game,” Danny answered and got slugged by Lynn.

“She meant me, you klutz! Lucy, I’m afraid I’ll have to beg off. I just started on my job four weeks ago. I mean, Marsha and Tyler would probably give me the days off if I asked, but I don’t want to get special treatment, especially this early in my training. I’m okay, though, if the others go.”

“Danny and I can make it,” Helen followed. “I don’t know if we can park Larissa with my grandmother, but we can try. If not, it would have to be all three of us.”

“Oh, shit! Lynn, I didn’t think of your new job. Of course, I understand. I wouldn’t want you to do something that would make you look bad. I just thought it would be great to have you all here. It’s the first episode where I get co-star billing, and...”

“Hey, Lucy, un-bunch your panties!” Lynn laughed. “Ashley can come, and Danny and Helen will also make it work. Three days alone here won’t kill me. I’ll make them go.”

“Would you? It would really mean a lot to me, you know, after my screw-up last year, if you guys could show up. I can get you studio passes, and you can meet the others. We can have dinner at a nice restaurant. Can you try?”

Danny had been consulting his tablet. “We could arrive Tuesday evening at 7, your time, and leave Saturday afternoon at around 3. Would that be okay?”

“That would be awesome, guys! Can you fly into Burbank? I can pick you up there. I live in North Glendale now. There’s four of us sharing a house, and we can chill on the deck when you get here.”

“Not LAX?” Danny asked.

“Not if you can help it,” Lucy answered. “Burbank is much smaller and has easier access. Plus, it’s much closer to where I live. So, Lynn, how’s work?”

“Right now, we’re only doing scutwork while we’re being handed from one department to the other. There’s also daily presentations by department heads and such. I’m still on track to take over the whole company in five years.”

“Yeah, right!” Lucy laughed. “You’ll be the embodiment of micro management!”

Lynn did not catch the pun immediately, but when everybody was laughing, she got it.

“Short jokes, really? Who writes your material these days?” she shot back.

“I do. That’s why we have professional writers for the show. Okay, can you guys give me your ETA and flight number soonish? I’m really looking forward to seeing you. Have a nice Sunday! Oh, girls, bring your credit cards! I’m gonna show you Rodeo Drive.”

“What about me?” Danny asked.

“Sure, you can bring your credit card too,” Lucy laughed back. “I just don’t think you’ll find a single store where they sell 501s. Gotta go now. We’re having a brain-storming round with the writers at eleven. Ta-ta!”

“Ta-ta?” Danny asked bewilderedly.

“That’s Jennifer’s bad influence. She’s English, and they have this weird dialect. Bye!”

The connection broke and the four looked at each other.

“Ta-ta?” Danny asked again. “That’s a word?”

“Our Lucy isn’t the same anymore,” Ashley nodded. “Wait until she tells us to stow our luggage in the boot.”

“Another thing to worry about: Lucy driving us,” Danny quipped.

“Oh my God, you’re right. Still, let’s find us a flight!” Helen commanded. “We’ll use your credit card. Ours will get their workout when Lucy will show us Rodeo Drive.”

Finding a flight for the three of them was easy enough. Ashley called Marsha, and Marsha called the travel manager at Westbrook. Being a high volume customer, Westbrook got special rates and priority treatment. The only direct flights from Philly to the Los Angeles region landed at LAX while connections to Burbank had one or two stops thrown in, taking over three hours longer. They decided on six-hour nonstop flight arriving at LAX by 2 p.m., with a bus transfer to Burbank.

Larissa would spend 5 days with Trudy, Charlotte, Irina and Marsha. Danny and Helen had a bit of a bad conscience about that, but it would be no fun for a little girl of Larissa’s age to spend those days with them. Therefore, Tuesday saw the three of them on the mid-morning flight out of PHL. Ashley had insisted on business class, and even the frugal Danny admitted that the additional leg room was a decided boon, especially given the large rebate the travel manager had gotten for them.

By early afternoon, they touched down at LAX after a rather fun flight, with the three of them bantering nonstop. They had to wait at the luggage carousel for a spell. Helen and Ashley had insisted on bringing along a large suitcase for their planned purchases, and it took only 20 minutes until the trolley case made its appearance. Another 20 minutes later had them sitting in a FlyAway express coach heading for Burbank Airport where they arrived just after four p.m. Stepping from the bus they saw Lucy waving at them excitedly, and a few seconds later, they were in a group hug with her.

“Oh, this is great!” she gushed. “We’re going to have so much fun. Let’s get going. The car is over there.”

They walked a relatively short distance to reach the short term parking, while Lucy was chattering excitedly and incessantly. The friends knew of course that this was simply a part of her personality and took it in stride. They all did a double take when they saw what Lucy had chosen as her mode of transportation. The car was run down, that was certain, and its once fire engine-red color was badly bleached. Yet, it was undeniably a classic Ford Mustang convertible. She giggled seeing her friends’ looks.

“It runs, and it is fun to drive,” she explained. “The previous owner had engine and gearbox replaced. Brakes and such are new too, but the poor man died before he could have it repainted. His widow sold it to me for a song.”

She popped the trunk, and they loaded their luggage into it. Danny and Helen had to sit on the rear bench, and Ashley slid the passenger seat forward to give Danny some legroom. Lucy started the engine and backed out of the parking slot.

“This is the tame version with six cylinders, but let me tell you, it’s cheaper to rent a helicopter the way it guzzles gas,” she laughed.

Leaving the parking lot, she merged onto San Fernando Road, heading for I-5 which she followed until hitting the Ventura Freeway. Traffic was heavy and moving along slowly. They all felt the heat in the open car, but at least there was a noticeable breeze that cooled them a little. Lucy exited at N. Pacific Avenue, heading north for a bit before she made a right turn, followed by two lefts. She stopped in front of a nondescript two-story house and killed the engine.

“Home, sweet home!” she grinned, getting out of the car. “Wasn’t that a great ride? I’ve wanted a ragtop car ever since our French vacation.”

The others followed her out and picked their luggage from the trunk. Lucy then led the way along a short concrete path and opened the front door.

“Janey and I have the ground floor bedrooms. The second floor belongs to Lucia and Ernesto. They have their own kitchenette and two large rooms, so Janey and I usually have the ground floor to ourselves. This is Janey’s room. I thought Helen and Ashley can share it. Danny can bunk with me.”

Helen was already drawing a breath when Lucy giggled. “Gotcha! Don’t worry, you can share with Danny while I’ll have to fight off Ashley.”

“I’ll have you know that I’m a married woman!” Ashley huffed for show, but then she laughed too. “Maybe I’ll get that nookie you promised me and Lynn in Paris.”

“Oh, my God! That’s true. Well, if you get grabby, I have Lynn on speed dial, so you better behave! Guys, let’s all shower and freshen up. We’ll have a barbecue in the backyard starting at seven. I invited a couple of friends, so they can meet you.”

Danny and Helen moved into ‘Janey’s room’ while Ashley followed Lucy into hers. The two rooms shared a small bathroom, but Lucy insisted that Danny and Helen went first. They saved time and freshwater by showering together, and were out just fifteen minutes later, with Helen’s hair wrapped in a towel. While Ashley was next, Lucy showed them to the kitchen which opened to a small deck overlooking the small backyard.

“Have a seat. The fridge is stocked with beer and soft drinks, so help yourself. If you want to snack, there’s half a pizza in it. You can nuke it in the microwave if you’re hungry.”

“This is a nice place,” Danny acknowledged. “You split the rent four ways, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s still almost a thousand per month, and that’s only because it belongs to Lucia’s aunt. At least, heating costs are low.”

Helen laughed. “I believe you. What about AC?”

“That’s a bitch, but we’re a little higher up here, and that helps. When I am at home reading scripts I do most of it here in the backyard. The others are gone to work during the day, so I don’t want to burn electricity when it’s just me. It’s actually nice outside, and I can sit in the shade.”

“Great job if you can get it,” Danny quipped.

“You can bet your ass it is!” Lucy laughed. “Seriously, it can get chaotic, especially on the set. Sometimes the writers dream up a new piece of dialog five minutes after we started shooting, or one of the guest stars throws a fit over something. Tomorrow may just be one of those days. We’ll have a real prima donna as guest star, Hugh Dumont.”

“Wasn’t he demoted from the show?”

“Yeah, but he’s being represented by Elise Jordan who also works for Damon Bedford. If we give Dumont a handful of lines this week, we’ll get Bedford for two connected episodes. That’s a huge boost for us, so we decided we can stomach Dumont for an hour or two. Jennifer will probably tear him up again anyway, so it might be even fun to watch.”

Just then, Ashley joined them, and Lucy made for the bathroom. Danny got them soft drinks and they settled on the deck chairs. They sat together companionable sipping sodas and exchanging their impressions until Lucy reemerged with her still wet hair hanging down to the small of her back. She grabbed another round of drinks, and the four talked for an hour, mostly about Lucy’s adventures in television.

It was time to start the grill then, a task for which Danny volunteered, while the girls helped Lucy with the other preparations. Another folding table was placed on the deck and folding chairs were retrieved from a small shed. The girls set the table with plates, forks, steak knives and glasses. Bottles with ketchup and BBQ sauces were placed in the center of the tables, together with baskets of French bread. Bowls of freshly chopped tomato salad, coleslaw and a delicious-smelling pasta salad were brought out next, and Danny could now report the grill ready.

The sound of car doors being slammed could be heard from the street before four people, one male and three females entered the backyard through a wooden gate at the side of the house. Two of them, Danny recognized as Jennifer St. David and Ricky Ryder, star and co-star of the sitcom Utilities Included. They looked to be in their mid-thirties and were dressed casually. The second woman was in her early forties, with reddish-brown hair in a curly mop and horn-rimmed glassed. She introduced herself as Sharon, and she was the show’s executive producer. The third woman was perhaps a year or two older than Danny, with dirty blonde hair in a pony tail and bright blue eyes.

“Hi, I’m Brenda-Lee. I’m a writer on the show.”

“Hi, folks. I’m Danny. Lucy and I have been friends for years.”

“Oh, she told us of you,” Ricky grinned.

“And she didn’t lie; you’re a good looking bloke!” Jennifer laughed, making Danny blush a little. “Oh, dear, he’s blushing. Where are the others?”

“Coming!” Lucy called from the kitchen door. “Hey, guys! You’re all here. You’ve met Danny already, but this is Ashley, his sister, and Helen, his bird! Girls, you probably recognized Jennifer and Ricky, but the redhead is Sharon, our producer, and that’s Brenda, my favorite writer.”

“Lucy, stop with the fake English. Bird? Maybe in the swinging sixties,” Jennifer scolded her. “Nice to meet you girls. I have to ask, does he blush often?”

Ashley actually cackled looking at her brother.

“Occasionally. Lynn, my wife, can make him, Helen can of course, and now you. This will be fun.”

“I think it’s adorable when he blushes,” Lucy stated, stepping close to him and giving him a hug. “Don’t worry. He’ll be his cocky self in no time.”

“Take it easy, man,” Ricky told Danny. “Jenn sometimes makes me blush. It’s her thing, but it’s far better than when she’s tearing into you.”

“I’ll get over it. By the way, I am to say hi from my mom.”

“Your mom?” Ricky asked, a little bewildered.

“She says she remembers you from when you started in the biz.”

“The ... hrhm! ... adult biz?”

“She claims she showed you the ropes back then. You remember Iris Angel?”

“Oh, my God! Iris? How is she? I haven’t heard from her in ten years or more. She’s still in ... the trade?”

“Oh, stop the pussy-footing, Ricky!” Jennifer laughed. “Danny, is your mom still performing?”

“Nope. She got out about six years ago. She’s an executive in the management of a retail chain owned by Ashley’s mother. She’s doing great. She’ll be graduating next year with a BBA, too.”

“Yeah, she and my mom are great friends. Hell, we’re all a big, happy patchwork family,” Ashley added. “She and my dad had a one-night stand before Dad was married to my mom, and I got a brother out of it.”

Danny held his smartphone showing a picture of Irina. Ricky and Jennifer both looked at it.

“Now I’m worried,” Jennifer stated. “This woman looks great. How old is she again?”

“Forty-one,” Danny answered,

“She looks even better now,” Ricky said. “Retail must be good for her.”

“And she’s a granny,” Helen added with a smile. “I love her to bits.”

“Well, Danny, give her my fond regards. She was indeed one of my first partners, perhaps the second or third I had. She was really nice too, but she also was — I don’t know — harried, worried. We worked together a few more times, but the last must’ve been ten years ago or more. I’ll have to tell a few of the others that she’s doing well. Too many of the women run into bad luck.”

Danny nodded to that, not willing to talk about the infernal luck Irina had had.

“Money was always tight back then,” he explained instead. “She was always working, trying to give me a good home.”

“And she did great raising him,” Helen affirmed. “I envy Danny for his mom.”

“Well, that was a blast from the past,” Ricky laughed. “Brenda, you’re not taking notes, are you?”

Brenda-Lee gave them a sheepish look. “I just had this idea of your character needing something, like a bank loan or something bureaucratic, and you run into a former performer who made a post-porn career and is in charge.”

Ricky wagged his head. “Maybe that has potential. She could’ve financed her way through grad school doing porn, always wearing a wig and contacts, and now she’s worried about being outed.”

Brenda-Lee nodded excitedly. “Good one, Ricky. You try to put her at ease, even giving her a signed non-disclosure affidavit, but once she’s got that, she shoots down your application. You know, I have the last two dialogue lines: He: ‘So I end up with egg on my face?’ She: ‘Karma’s a bitch, Ricky’.”

Ricky rolled his eyes. “Why do I have to end up with egg on my face all the time?”

“All those facials coming back to bite you?” Danny blurted out. At least four people were shooting soft drinks through their noses and Lucy clapped his back.

“Told you he wouldn’t be shy for long,” she laughed.

“Thanks a lot, Danny,” Ricky sighed.

“You and your mouth, Danny,” Ashley sighed shaking her head.