Pellegrino, then, thanks. So tell me, what’s it like, having cameras around all the time? Living a new lavish lifestyle? Hanging out with celebrities? Et cetera.”
Kate padded into the room with two tall glasses of sparkling water. “Well, a lot of it is amazing,” she said. “I mean, I’m going to record at Swing House Studios. Do you know how long it’d take me to pay for one hour of their time with just my old paychecks? Probably the rest of my life. I can get into any club I want. I got this haircut for free because it was part of the Madison-fixes-the-hick plot so the salon will be prominently featured in the episode. And every month I get a paycheck that’s more than anyone should make for ad-libbing in front of a camera, but it’s helping me get out of debt, so . . .”
She knew she was focusing on superficial things, but she didn’t want to rub her new friendship with Carmen Curtis in her old friend’s face. And Luke? Well, she’d get to him later. “And I’m getting used to the cameras. I hardly even notice them anymore.”
“That’s great,” Natalie said. “Who knew you’d be such a natural?”
“Yeah, right?”
“So, do they actually follow you around twenty-four/seven? Are there cameras in this apartment?”
Kate laughed. “You’d know if they were here, trust me.” She readjusted herself so she was sitting cross-legged on the couch. “No, I usually talk to the producer, this woman Dana, and let her know what I’ve got going on, then I get a schedule at the beginning of every week, telling me what my ‘reality’ will be. Some of it is stuff I’m actually doing that they want to film—like they filmed me at work the other day, which was of course fascinating”—she rolled her eyes—“but a lot of it is stuff they set up for me, like the studio time and going to dinner or lunch or clubs with the other girls.”
“That definitely sounds more fun than Draping and Garment Construction,” Natalie said. “I mean, you get paid to socialize and sit around and make up songs!”
Kate rolled her eyes. “Believe me, it’s not as fun as it looks.” Although she had made some improvements to her new song, so that was something.
“What about your castmates? What are they like?”
Kate thought about this for a moment. “Carmen is awesome—she’s totally not some spoiled celebrity child like everyone thinks. Gaby is sweet and kind of dumb. And Madison is . . . well, she’s complicated.”
“How tactful of you,” Natalie said. “What was her tagline for Madison’s Makeovers? ‘Beauty’s a bitch’?”
“Yeah, something like that. And it’s not exactly inaccurate. But look—she helped me pick out this top!”
“I thought you were looking a little less discount bargain-y,” Natalie said, and laughed as Kate pretended to take offense. “Well, it sounds like everything is going kind of perfectly for you.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Kate allowed.
“Really? What’s not perfect?”
Kate felt the sudden desire to whisper, even though there were no mikes around. She didn’t want to seem ungrateful. “Well, take this apartment. I feel like I’m living on a TV set. I keep waiting for someone to pop out of a closet and tell me to call my ex-boyfriend and tell him how much I miss him. You know, for romantic drama.”
Natalie raised an eyebrow. “Do you miss him?”
Kate smiled, thinking of Luke and the way he had surprised her the other day with a trip to the Getty to see an exhibition of Helmut Newton’s photography (“He’s a fellow Aussie,” Luke had said proudly). “No, actually.”
Natalie gave a little hop on the settee. “Oh my God, I know that expression! You have a crush on someone, don’t you?” she squealed.
Kate flushed but didn’t answer. “Let’s go down to the pool,” she said. “I’ll tell you there.”
And she wouldn’t say another word until the two of them were stretched out by the water, baring their fair skin (how un-Hollywood!) to the sunshine. Kate had brought her laptop in case the muse of song lyrics should choose to pay her a visit.
“All right,” Natalie said as she smeared SPF 45 on her arms. “Go.”
“So I met this guy,” Kate confessed. “At a club a few weeks ago. It was embarrassing, because Carmen had introduced us, but then ten minutes later I ran into him again, and it was like I’d never seen him before in my life.”
“Sounds like he makes a great first impression,” Natalie said drily.
“I mean, it was just all sort of hectic and crazy. But we started talking and we have all this stuff in common. He plays bass and he’s teaching himself the mandolin—”
“So he’s a musician?”
Kate bit her lip. This was the weird part: admitting to her friend that she was dating an actor who she now realizes is semi-famous. Someone Natalie might see in Stars—They’re Just Like Us!, putting gas into his motorcycle.
“He’s an actor, actually,” she said.
“Ooh, have I heard of him?”
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