Casting Debbie

Chapter 1

Lou stilled herself and slowly turned to Lin, glancing at him quickly before turning to the window again. Looking the woman up and down, her eyes widened. "She's gay?"

Lin smiled, feeling so proud of himself. "Perfect, right?"

Lou didn't reply.

"Lou?"

She gave him a nod. "Okay. I'll need a face-to-face before we make an offer."

"Well, as you can see, she's alone. Just don't get into any specifics until we have a signed non-disclosure agreement."

"Great," Lou replied. "I was ready to open with 'Hey good lookin' want to hear my publicist's half-cocked plan? Now I need another pick-up line."

"Cockblocker by day, publicist by night. Just doing my job!"

Lou shot him an indignant glare and then looked away. "I don't know, Lin. I'm having second thought about this."

"Lou." He put reassuring hand on her shoulder. "How many times have you told me you can't do this alone?" His tough publicist façade gave way to the face of a friend, because the truth was, he and Lou were friends. She trusted him more than anyone else in the business and with good reason. He'd been by her side through a very rough time. The last thing he wanted to do was break that trust. "You've always said you need someone on your arm when you announce it to the world."

"Always?" Lou scoffed. "I mentioned it once -after two glasses of wine, I might add. And then you came up with this crazy idea."

"It's not crazy, it's smart. This way, we control it." And the publicist was back, pushing every one of Lou's buttons. "We control the whole thing. And nobody loses anything."

Lou shook her head in disgust. "I can't believe I have to do this. I mean, seriously?"

"I still can't believe you're gay, and neither will the rest of the world. They'll think it's some sort of stunt to boost ratings, and then they'll hound you relentlessly until they got a photo of your girlfriend, so forget about dating for real, Lou. No woman would put herself through that. Not even for you."

"So, what you're telling me is, I have to live a lie, or the world won't believe me?"

Lin reacted across his client and opened her door. "Welcome to show business, baby."

***

"No, Danny. Nothing yet." Debbie rubbed her forehead. These daily phone calls from her brother were getting tedious.

"Yes, I used the security bar on my door." She sighed. "Danny, I grew up in New York. I think I can handle L.A."

Her eyes widened in surprise as she tracked a woman who had just made herself at home at her small table. "Hey, I have to go. Talk soon. Love you."

"Sorry for interrupting. I hope this seat isn't taken."

Debbie slowly shook her head. "No."

She'd had fans of her show insinuate themselves into her personal space before, usually to praise her for standing up to that TV husbands of hers, or because the desperately wanted to give her advice on how the storyline should go, as if she had any control over the sort of thing.

But this time, Debbie was pretty sure she was looking at Jordan Ellis. No, not Jordan Ellis. That was her character's name on that law show. She looking at... "Lou Miller."

Why the hell had Lou Miller just plopped down at her table? Was she a soap fan? Debbie reached across the table and took the offered hand.

"Debbie Ocean."