The Hollywood Waitress

Chapter 3

                                              

 My head felt like a dead weight against the pillow.  I’d just finished a late shift- yep, you guessed it Mark had gone AWOL on us again, and I didn't get in until around 2am. Poppy and I had to get the place ready for our annual inspection the following week, and we spent the evening knee – deep in grease and dirt.  It was becoming quite normal for me to work fourteen hour days and I was nothing short of exhausted.

Of course, my pay packet didn’t reflect the changes, so I was living off watercress salads and hope.

Not able to take the ringing any longer, I dove under the sheets searching like a mad woman to find the ‘off’ button on my IPhone – but I only went and pressed the green button instead.

'Hello.'

‘Jennifer bloody Flynn, where have you been? I've been ringing you all morning!'

‘Hi, Izzy.’ I yawned,

Izzy was my agent of three years – an eccentric woman in her early forties who’d not long left her husband for an extra. You could say she was a little odd (but who in the industry isn’t?). She had this strange way of glaring into my eyes and it was hard not to notice the thick eyeliner on the bottom of her lids and believe me this did little justice to the rest of her badly applied makeup.

'You did it doll! You got the part!'

 'You’re kidding me,' I said, trying to stop the phone from sliding between my wet - palm.

'They frickin’ loved you! You’re meeting with the director tomorrow, how exciting?! I’ll email you the details, gotta run!’

'Wait a minute! Izzy, Izzy?'

 Rehearsal

 The next morning consisted of only two things – jelly legs and hot sweats, in fact the whole nine – yards, I was totally crumbling! And who could blame me?

Things like this never happen to normal people like me – a former cow – milking, double denim wearing girl from Kansas. Yes, people KANSAS - red-neck central! And there I was walking down the legendary corridors of Shadow Productions which was only the most sought after company in the whole of Hollywood!

Whatever I’d eaten the night before was regurgitating inside me and every so often I had to -- take a deep breath to stop me adding to the colourful art on the walls.

Feeling a sudden tug on my left arm, (which at first I thought was a myocardial infarction) - I was pulled against my will into a small room.

'Izzy, what the hell?!’

'You're late!'

'No I'm not. The email said to be here at 10.30am!’

'Listen to me very carefully Jen because I’m only going to say this to you once if a memo tells you to be here at a certain time you arrive nothing short of an HOUR before said time is that clear?!’

I’d never seen Izzy that nervous before and it only exacerbated my own anxiety. I was just about to run to the nearest loo when I felt an even bigger tug coming from the back of my head.

'Ouch!’ I said realising she’d pulled out the ponytail from my hair.

'You’re about to meet one of the most powerful theatre directors in Hollywood and you turn up looking like Martha frickin’ Stewart!’ she scraped her fingers through my hair, forcing it into long waves. ‘That’s better.’ She said, cupping both hands on my chin and giving me the ‘look’. ‘This is a very shallow business doll I just hope you have what it takes.’

Before I had a chance to respond the door behind me swung open and Izzy’s expression morphed from neurotic mad woman to a tamed lion. I felt her pinch my right arm which I took as a cue to turn round.

Only to discover it was the ‘mystery man’ from the cafe.