Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 90598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
“Nope, nothing as of right now.” Abby can’t see my face, so she doesn’t know I’m lying through my teeth. I don’t have much of a poker face, but I can keep my voice steady.
Abby is quiet for a moment, deciding whether to believe me. She sighs. “I’m proud of you, Leila. Like I said before, you’re finally living it up in Los Angeles like I always wanted you to.”
I can’t help laughing. “That’s what you keep saying. I don’t know what it means, but I’m trying my best.”
“It means you should be doing fun things while you’re there!”
“I didn’t do fun things when I lived on the East Coast.”
Abby laughs, a sound I’ve missed since I moved away. My best friend and I made it a point to get breakfast once a week, no matter what, and I haven’t gotten that in six months. It’s one of the many downfalls of moving so far away.
“No, you didn’t, really, but I’m hoping you’ll start now you’re doing this fake dating thing. The Leila who lived here wouldn’t have even considered it.”
“I’m not sure why LA Leila is doing it.”
“I know why.”
“It has nothing to do with my childhood crush on Spencer.”
“I actually wasn’t going to say that. You want to be successful. The last time we really talked, you were almost ready to call it quits because it’s hard to break out in LA. Well, Spencer gave you the opportunity to keep going, and maybe finally get the breakthrough you wanted.”
“It’s already started. You should see the emails I’m getting. They’re going to Clementine, too. We might need to get a new employee if this keeps up for the next few months.”
“See! It’s good for you. And you get to hang out with a hot celebrity while you do it. Progress, baby.”
I laugh, and we talk for a bit more before Abby has to get going to run some errands. I hate hanging up with her; I wish I had a friend here. Maybe something else good will come from hanging out with Spencer. He’s the first human I’ve bonded with since moving to Los Angeles.
We may be fake dating, but I think we could become real friends.
Chapter Eight – Spencer
There’s no such thing as bad weather in Southern California. I don’t get how people in other places do it. There’s rain one day, then sun, and it’s sixty-five, then suddenly it starts to snow. I’m lucky that I grew up here where it’s consistently nice, although it sometimes gets pretty hot.
Which is why I called my buddy Mason up the second I woke up and walked outside into a blistering ninety degrees. I’m not complaining. I filmed a few movies up in Canada, and I can sincerely say I hate the snow, but that doesn’t mean I want to deal with the heat anywhere but next to a pool.
Lucky for me, Mason has a massive in-ground pool paid for by his successful tech company. He developed a dating app a few years back that is number one in the country and quickly expanding all over the world. The guy is swimming in money, and he lets me swim in his pool whenever I want. We became friends at a party years ago when we realized we had a lot in common. He and his girlfriend, Malia, are my closest friends.
I slide into my swim trunks and stretch my arms over my head. I have the afternoon off from filming after finishing my scenes up early this morning. I like movies like this, which give me more free time than I ever had on As We Grow. Randy reminds me all the time that when I start booking bigger films, I’ll have to deal with the schedule, but I think I can handle it. I’m just going to enjoy the relaxed days more now while I still have them.
I’m still exhausted from early mornings filming and late nights hanging out. It’s Sunday now, and I went out again last night, but I didn’t drag Leila along this time. I did make sure to avoid any other women while I was out. A few tried, but I’m staying true to my fake girlfriend.
We’ll have to get together again soon. Aside from a quick text yesterday letting her know I had a good time, I haven’t spoken to her. I’m not much of a boyfriend if I don’t talk to my girlfriend, right?
I pull out my phone to text her, but I don’t know what to say. I remind myself this is all fake, but it felt real on the dance floor the other night. That might be why I’ve been avoiding any long conversations.
The text thread with Mason, asking me to pick up a case of beer on my way to his house, is still up on my screen when I look at it. An idea pops into my head. I could bring Leila with me to Mason’s house. We’ll get photographed together when I pick her up, but then it’ll be more lowkey than going out on an actual date.