A-List 10: California Dreaming by Zoey Dean

Author:Zoey Dean
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: JUV014000
ISBN: 9780316049245
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2008-11-16T05:00:00+00:00

Bali High

Tuesday afternoon, 3:37 p.m.

“Anna?”

Anna looked up to see a tall, striking young woman just a few years older than herself, with thick dark hair that swung around her shoulders, crystalline blue eyes, and a tall, willowy figure smiling at her. She wore a nipped-waist jet black Givenchy jacket and trousers, and black patent leather booties. She wouldn’t, Anna thought, have been out of place at a publishing house near Rockefeller Center.

“I’m Anna, yes.” Anna was glad that she’d dressed similarly, in a simple gray cotton Ralph Lauren skirt that ended just above her knees, and a pale pink cashmere button-front cardigan. Her shoes were vintage Chanel cherry red suede peep-toe pumps her grandmother had given her after a shopping spree in Paris.

“I’m Caresse, Carlie Martin’s assistant. Carlie’s really looking forward to meeting you. Please follow me.” The assistant’s easy manner melted away any nervousness Anna still felt.

It was just past three-thirty in the afternoon; Anna’s meeting with Carlie Martin had been scheduled for three fifteen. Fifteen minutes of waiting wasn’t bad at all by Hollywood standards, especially for a woman as busy as Ms. Martin. Anna sat a simple waiting area: low-slung couches and a TV monitor tuned to whatever CBS show was on at the time—a talk show that Anna didn’t recognize.

Carlie’s office was in the Television City complex of CBS, located in the Fairfax District near the Grove shopping area and farmer’s market. Anna had been to the Grove many times—there were great restaurants and a multiplex movie theater—but she’d never set foot inside the looming studio complex that was the home of CBS.

All that had changed this afternoon. She’d taken her Lexus through the white gate on Beverly Boulevard just east of Fairfax and checked in at the guard booth, where a man with a thick moustache and a friendly smile printed out a parking pass for her and a stick-on badge, and then directed her to the artists’ entrance and visitors’ parking. The CBS buildings loomed on her left as she made her way to the parking lot; they were low, white, and sprawling.

The guard had told her to go to the artists’ entrance, just past the game-show entrance, where an endless line of tourists in funny getups, each wearing a number, were waiting to get in to The Price Is Right with its latest host, Drew Carey. One woman carried a sign that read MARRY ME, DREW!

“These are all the new shows,” Caresse pointed out as they walked a long, poster-lined corridor; the posters featured actresses and actors from various CBS shows. Then they were on the studio floor, with Caresse explaining that the Young and the Restless soundstages were to the left, The Price Is Right was to the right, and that if Anna wanted to see either of these shows taping after her meeting, Caresse would be happy to play tour guide.

“Thanks, that’s very nice of you, but it won’t be necessary,” Anna said politely as they walked east through the cavernous hall and then stopped at a small elevator.

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