Page 34 of And They Had a Great Fall

“Oh no, do you hate me? I’m sorry to drop this on you … it seemed like the right time,” Emily said, breaking Kat out of her fantasy world.

“Of course, I don’t hate you. Iadmireyou, Emily,” Kat said. “You know what you want out of life, and you’re refusing to compromise. That takes a lot of courage. I always knew you were smart. But it’s more than that. You are very wise.”

Emily laughed. “Kat, since you think I’m so wise, can I giveyouone piece of advice about Jake?”

“Yes, please,” answered Kat.

“Being loved and loving someone back is rare and special. Don’t reject it because it’s complicated. Some of the best things that happen in life don’t make any sense.”

Once they hung up, Kat sat with Emily’s statement for a minute. She was envious of Emily’s conviction and her willingness to step aside and let her career take a back seat to her life. If only shecould’ve done the same earlier in her career or before she became responsible for another human.

Her texts chimed. It was Jake. He’d been gone less than an hour. She smiled at her impulsive Jake, already reconnecting them after only a short time of being apart.

J: Hey, want to come to set? I will be late tonight. A long schedule of night shots.

J: I miss you.

She immediately typed her response.

K: I can’t. I have work to catch up on.

As soon as she hit “send,” she felt a knot in her stomach. Her conversation with Emily played over and over in her head. Yes, Jake was complicated, but he was also exciting, and she missed him too. Before she could convince herself otherwise, she tapped out a follow-up reply.

K: Yes. I want to come. Is nine too late?

J: 9 works. I’ll send a car. Someone will meet you.

Kat marked his last text with a thumbs-up.

chapter fourteen

Just after nine, Kat received the notification telling her a car had arrived. She ran downstairs to the waiting car, opened the door, and did a double take when she spied someone sitting in the back seat. She glanced down at her phone to check if it was the right car, until the person spoke.

“Hi! I’m Savannah, Jake’s PA on set. I think I met you, kinda, earlier.” She flashed her pass and a warm smile. “He wanted to make sure you got on the set okay. Security is tight, especially at night.” She motioned for Kat to get in.

She slid in the car and shook Savannah’s hand. “Hi, Savannah, I’m Kat, nice to officially meet you,” she said, returning the smile. She felt her cheeks redden, recalling their earlier meeting when Savannah had come to get Jake outside of his trailer. Kat looked out the window as the car maneuvered through the twinkling city lights.

After a few minutes, she turned from the window to face Savannah. “How long have you been a PA?” She knew so little about the people who surrounded Jake on a daily basis and wanted to know the business better. She didn’t understand his life and was curious about the life he lived on set.

“A few years. This is my third job with Jake,” she replied.

Kat hadn’t realized he had consistent PAs, but it made sense that he would want people around who understood how heworked. Savannah was Jake’s Famous Emily. The thought made her laugh. “Wow, I didn’t know you’d done three films with him,” Kat replied. “You travel with him to each shoot?”

“Yes, he’s the best,” she gushed. “I work off and on for a lot of actors, and I can honestly say, he’s the easiest.”

“How so?” She had never heard anyone describe Jake as easy.

“I don’t want to go into it—privacy and all,” she said. “All I will say is that he comes on set to work, and I help make his day go as smooth as possible—get him coffee, help him with his schedule, escort him to different parts of the set, charge and monitor his phone when he’s actively shooting, all that stuff. When I get a chance, I help with the actual production. But he never asks for anything weird or becomes difficult or mean.” Glancing down at her phone, she continued, “I’ve had some crazy requests before, but Jake isn’t like that. He’s serious, and he respects me. That means everything in this business.”

It was fascinating to hear the perspective of someone else who was close to him. She was reminded that film sets were where Jake felt most at home. Kat appreciated how Savannah kept Jake’s privacy intact. She took a mental note that he was respectful to the people who worked with him.

She watched Savannah rapid-fire type on her phone and could only imagine the amount of activity that went on during a film production. When her furious typing slowed, Kat asked her next question.

“Okay, but can you just tell meonecrazy thing a celeb has asked you for?” Kat pried. “I don’t even want to know who, nothing identifiable, just tell me what they asked.”

Savannah looked up, her face brightened, and said, “One person asked me to FaceTime their dog. Like, two or three times a day. And not like, for a second. Like full ten-minute conversations to make sure their dog didn’t get lonely.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Come to think of it, I was goingthrough a breakup at the time. Talking to that dog was pretty cathartic.”

They both laughed, and Kat tried to imagine canine dating advice.

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