Page 35 of Reel Love

Mom follows my line of vision, turning and grinning and then standing to greet him, lightly grasping his upper arms and placing an air kiss to his cheek.

“Rex! How wonderful!” She exclaims as if she’s surprised. “Do join us. Alana, dear, how long has it been since we’ve seen Rex?”

“A year,” I deadpan. “Hey, Rex.”

“Alana.” He sits next to me, glancing over almost apologetically.

He doesn’t seem nearly as disturbed as I definitely am. Obviously my mother picked up on my hesitancy to commit to anything that perpetuated yet another fake relationship with Rex, so she took it upon herself to arrange for us to be seen out together.

“Please, Rex. Order some food and join us.” Mother beams at him.

“Thank you.”

He looks at me again. “You’re looking well, Alana. Rested. How have you been?”

It’s not his fault, I remind myself. “I’ve been great, hiding out, away from the madness.”

“That explains it. You look refreshed. I’m glad you’re well.”

“How is Ingrid?” I ask.

He purses his lips slightly. “We called things off last year. About six months after you and I broke up.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“It’s fine. She deserves better.”

“You do too,” I say, meaning every word.

We all deserve better in some ways. We are the privileged, the elite. Rex doesn’t elaborate as to what happened between him and Ingrid, but I can guess. Their relationship went the way of so many in our business.

“So,” Mother says. “Now that we’re all here.”

I shoot her a look that makes me feel like I’m thirteen again. I’m a grown woman. I turned thirty last year. I joke around with Joel and with this new water taxi guy. I treat Brigitte like a younger sister. But I’m an adult. And yet, my mother somehow seems to always reduce me to a rebellious teen.

She clears her throat. “I wanted to discuss the details of how this will play out this time.”

“Do I get a say in this?” I ask, shooting Rex an apologetic look.

He smiles compassionately at me. He gets it.

“Of course, dear.” Mother smiles a tight smile. “And keep your voice down, please.”

It occurs to me this setting isn’t an accident either. She knows she can make me behave here. Otherwise, the tabloids will run amok with stories of how I came unhinged on Roberts Avenue at an upscale neighborhood eatery.

Rex places a hand over my mother’s. “Let’s let Alana have a say.”

I could kiss him for standing up for me. Of course, me kissing Rex would end up being photographed. Not that I wouldkiss him, kiss him. I’d just plant a friendly kiss of gratitude on his cheek. Like I would a brother, if I had one.

Rex is drop-dead gorgeous. It’s an effortless beauty, but with much polishing and some slight augmentation over the years. If you didn’t know he was in film, you’d know anyway. He’s that beautiful. But I don’t feel anything toward him that goes beyond a workplace friendship. It would be highly convenient if we could feel something for one another. I could march along with the Graves parade right into my rightful place as the head of production with Rex at my side.

Instead, I’m that one trombone player, off-key and out of step. The one you notice because she can’t quite get with the flow of the rest of the band.

“All I want to say is this,” I take a breath and collect myself. “I’m fine being seen with Rex. Fine with some rumors starting—officially. If we plant the seeds for those—whatever—I’ll go along. But I’m not doing a whole year ofwe’re back togetherandare they getting married this time?A year is too long and it’s unnecessary. Our premier comes and goes, we break this off, amicably as we did last time. And then we never pull this sort of stunt again. For one thing, it’s not fair to our fans. They get all worked up over something that’s never happening. I don’t want to feed the machine.

“And secondly, what if one of us actually falls in love with someone, but the world thinks we’re with one another? It’s messy and inconvenient. So, for now, I’m glad to be seen with Rex hereand there. We can do the premier. We’ll go out a few times before that. But I’m not doing this for a year …” I pause, look my mom in the eyes and say, “And that’s final.”

Rex smiles kindly at me.

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