Not Famous in Hollywood (Not in Hollywood Book 1)

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

The next morning the first thing I did was to contact Eleanor's management and try to put forward my case, in the strongest form possible, that Eleanor attending Ryan Hendricks's funeral was a disaster waiting to happen. As usual though, Eleanor had made her decision and there was nothing that anyone could do or say that would change her mind. That was why I was standing at the church in black pants and flat shoes, because if things went to hell, I was prepared for it. Eleanor, of course, was dressed in a wildly inappropriate deep red dress which had a thigh split leaving very little to the imagination.

"It was Ryan's favorite dress on me," she would impart in a breathy whisper to anyone who looked at her strangely. Today, Eleanor's manager and publicist had also chosen to accompany her, in the hopes of averting a repeat of the Bliss incident. In my opinion, considering the dress she was wearing, I wasn't holding my breath. Adam Hendricks was dressed in a black suit, his face appropriately somber. He was at the front of the church and appeared to be consoling Emily Saunders, who was leaning heavily on her sister, Jennifer. Jennifer looked drawn and seemed to be holding up Emily. The tears streaming down Emily's face seemed to have a devastating effect on her sister and I could see Jennifer was whispering into her ear throughout the service.

Adam Hendricks gave a eulogy which leaned a little too heavily on how much he had sacrificed so that his brother could shine. A little self-serving for my tastes but in a town where even a funeral was considered a networking event, it was pretty much standard. Keeping Eleanor and Emily apart at the funeral was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be and everyone made their way to Ryan Hendricks's house for the wake. Of course, this was not the house he had died in. No, that would have been tacky. This was Ryan's main house, the one used by tourist buses to point out the glamorous lives that actors led. Adam was at the door greeting people as they came in. It seemed he was running the show as Emily was nowhere to be seen.

"How are you holding up, Elly?" he asked solicitously, as he hugged Eleanor for just a few moments too long to be entirely appropriate.

"I'm trying to be strong," she sniffed delicately, "but it's so hard."

She was also trying very hard not to slap him. Calling Eleanor Channing, Elly, was considered a mortal sin right up there with providing her with the wrong coffee.

"I know." Adam shook his head sorrowfully. "I still keep expecting him to walk through the door and tell me it was all simply a hoax."

For a second I stopped. Could it have been? I'd heard worse, but then I stopped and realized, no, it wasn't possible for it to be a hoax. I was there. There was no way that Ryan Hendricks was still alive. I hadn't been that freaked out that day. Once I had managed to ensure that Eleanor was sequestered in a corner with her manager and publicist, I decided to look around and see what information I could glean from the people attending the wake.

The best part of my job is that I can wander around a party and no one realizes that I'm even there. Some would call it slightly unethical. I just call it being aware of my environment. Wallflowers get the best information and sometimes that information could help me do my job. Today though, most of the gossip was centered on the fact that Ryan had been with Eleanor when he died. Cheating on your fiancée was not necessarily considered to be a great sin. Dying while with the other woman was considered to be a bit of a social faux pas.

"You look as bored as I am," said Jennifer Saunders as she sidled up to me.

"I'm here for work," I said.

"I know the feeling," she replied.

I looked at her strangely.

"Ryan was Emily's fiancée," she said as if in explanation. "I'm here as support for her."