Jay dropped me off at the condo, having ‘errands to run’, and we parted on a relatively civil note. I couldn’t help but think about all the motley crew that were on his payroll. It had planted a seed in my mind, one that I really didn’t want to water and blossom.
Nope; with each determined step I took up to the condo a new resilience built within me. I would take acting lessons, I would work on my accent, I would go on a health kick and run up all the hills and drink all the water. I would start my integration into the #LAfamily scene and I would completely fake it till I made it, showing them all back home what I was made of. And if that meant taking snapshots, chucking on a heavy filter and making out I was living the dream until I really was, then so be it.
My dreams weren’t going to end up on the scrapheap for the likes of Jay Davis to sweep up. If anything, his tales had only made me more determined to prove him wrong, to be different, to make it. I wasn’t just some naive wannabe – I came from good Aussie stock and I knew a thing or two. And I knew exactly what I needed to do now.
First things first; I got out my cell and, fighting against every fibre in my body, I texted.
Hey Sienna, so great catching up today, sorry I had to go. Wanna catch up for a happy hour sometime? We can paint the town red, or whatever colour you want xoxo
Ugh, hitting send felt like selling my soul, but I also knew Ziggy was right. Making connections was vital in LA. I’d known that before I’d even stepped off the plane. I barely had enough time to unlock the door when my phone beeped in reply.
Hey Gurl, it was SO amazing seeing you today too, could have hung all day. We totally have to do happy hour together! What are you doing this Thursday night???
Nooooo, my brain screamed in protest, but I had to follow through. I had to get out of my comfort zone – that was all there was to it. I put my bag down on the kitchen counter, then collapsed onto the leather lounge. I waited a few minutes, wanting to appear casually cool, not desperate, then, with a nod of encouragement and a deep breath, I eventually replied:
Thursday – can do! Send me the deets … can’t wait xx
Send and grimace.
Sienna responded straightaway; no waiting for her. Her enthusiasm was off the charts.
Yay! I’ll text you the deets for your official #LAfamily outing. Woohoo!
This was it – this was the beginning of my life here, the path I was destined to tread, and there was no going back.
Just as I was about to text back another series of woohoos and kisses, my phone beeped again.
P.S. Bring that gorgeous man of yours! No excuses!! Xx
Oh God.
I chucked my phone to the ground, recoiling at the words I read on the screen.
‘My man’ – hah! Jay wasn’t ‘my’ anything. As soon as Billie came home I was going to kill her. I was all about acting, make-believe was kind of my jam, but as far as Jay being my ‘special friend’? Well, that was a bridge too far.
I thought back to his smile in the car, the boyish grin that lined his lush mouth. I found myself smiling again, and quickly shook the image from my mind.
‘Okay, time to shut that shit down,’ I said adamantly, slapping my hands on my knees and moving to stand. No more midday lounging, no more Netflix binges – and risking seeing another Sienna Bailey banner – no more dirty takeaways or pool lounging. Initialisation phase for Abby Taylor: Version 2.0 was about to commence, and I was pretty bloody excited about it.
The look on Billie’s face said it all. The moment she walked through the condo, placing her bag next to mine on the counter, she looked at me with a mix of trepidation and wonderment, like a tourist spotting a lion on safari. ‘W-what are you doing?’
I knew very little about yoga, but I believe I was attempting the awkward, and utterly unattractive, ‘downward dog’ pose. Had the blood not been rushing to my head I would have told Billie exactly that; instead, I snapped.
‘What does it look like I’m doing?’
Billie edged her way closer, leaning against the open door to the balcony, where I had my yoga mat rolled out; well, if you could call the boho floor rug I dragged out from the lounge a yoga mat.
‘Wow, one lunch date with Sienna and you’re donning activewear and putting a twist of lemon in your drink bottle.’
‘Oh, shut up,’ I said, collapsing to the mat and reeling at how unfit I truly was. ‘I’m having happy hour with her on Thursday.’
‘What? Are you serious?’
‘Yep!’ I pulled myself to sit cross-legged and reached for my water, popping the bottle with my teeth. I sipped and looked at Billie’s horrified expression. ‘Some place called the Skybar?’
‘Wow, fancy.’
‘Really?’ I tried not to sound too excited.
Billie didn’t elaborate, she simply straightened from the doorway. ‘Well, I have to work that night, so you’ll have to come up with your own escape plan this time.’
‘Ah, yes, about that – Sienna also wants me to bring my gorgeous man with me.’
Billie grinned. ‘Oh my God, that’s hilarious.’
‘No, it’s not,’ I said indignantly.
Billie’s eyes brightened in that wild way they did whenever she had a great idea. ‘You should totally ask Jay to go with you.’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘Oh, come on, it would be hilarious. Sienna will rock up with Leon and God knows who else; believe me, you do not want to go into the LA Family snake pit alone, and Jay would be the perfect plus one.’
‘And how did you possibly come to that conclusion?’
‘Because Jay doesn’t buy into the Hollywood bullshit, and there is no chance of him ever being starstruck.’
‘I am perfectly capable of navigating these waters on my own, thanks.’
Billie turned, making her way back into the condo. ‘Okay, but remember those waters are shark-infested.’
I rolled back onto my elbows, shakily posing in some form of made-up, butt-in-the-air, semi-planking position, mumbling, ‘Tell me something I don’t know.’