Page 120 of The Holiday Fakers
“Have you seen my phone?” I ask Piper as we’re about to leave for Billy’s house.
“Not since yesterday. Have you lost it?”
“I know I had it in the family room when we got back here from the Locke Reserve. Your mom took it from me.”
We glance around the room and spot it tucked behind a photo on the mantelpiece. I change my number frequently, but anxiety always prickles my belly each time I look at the notifications. For my own sanity, I’ve switched off most of them, especially now that I don’t have access to my own social media accounts.
There’s a message from Cara.
Cara: Traveling to Bangor this afternoon to fly home. I’ll be online if you need anything. Please thank Piper and her family for how kind they’ve been to me, and thank you for the holiday. You’re the best boss (and don’t tell Marv that I said that, since he’s technically my boss)!
“Cara’s on her way home, but I don’t have anything from Marv,” I say to Piper.
“No news is good news?”
I rub my forehead. “I suppose I should be grateful for small mercies. It just feels weird when he’s not all up in my business.”
“He’s a good man.”
“I know. He drives me up the wall, but he’s never steered me wrong and always has my back.”
We bundle up and leave the house hand in hand, making our way toward the center of town.
“I know so many actors who get ghosted or dumped by their agents,” I tell her. “When they can’t land new jobs, or one doesn’t work out for whatever reason, they suddenly can’t reach their agent on the phone. Because they’re not making the agent money, they get deprioritized. Then it’s like they don’t exist anymore. They aren’t invited to the Christmas party or the Fourth of July barbecue. It’s brutal.”
Piper squeezes my hand.
“Marv may be a lot of things, but he’s not like that. He’s ferociously loyal. Like a pit bull.”
“I can see that.”
“You should see him at press junkets. Agents never come; it’s usually a manager or an assistant. But I don’t have one. I just have Marv and Cara. And if a journalist starts asking questions he doesn’t like, he goes at them like a rabid honey badger.”
Piper giggles. “I can imagine.”
“He’s a short king with a big heart. We don’t often get real with each other, but I know he thinks of me and Cara like the kids he never had.”
“So you’ve changed your mind about firing him, then?”
I stop in the middle of the street so I can gaze down at her. “How could I fire him when he brought you back to me?”
Piper’s gloved hand touches my face, her lips parting like she’s about to say something, but my phone interrupts with the theme fromThe Godfather.
“Speak of the devil,” I say, showing her the screen.
She snorts. “The Godfather?”
“It was either that or ‘Money, Money, Money’ by ABBA.”
I take the call as Piper cackles with laughter.
“That Piper? She good?” Marv barks. “You good?”
“Yeah. We’re on our way to visit Billy.”
“He outta the hospital?”
“Yeah, and Lucky’s back from the vet as well.”
