Now that Harker had outed himself as a vampire, Ivy could tell that all of the suits at the table were vamps and she wondered for a minute if Hollywood was run by vampires.
She hated it when people stared and the people round this table had absolutely no hesitation in evaluating her from her ponytail to her lace-up boots.
One man on the opposite side of the table put down his fork and said, ‘I’m not sure about the hairstyle.’
Ivy’s hands flew to her fringe. ‘What?’ she protested.
‘The fashion is current,’ commented another, like Ivy was a store mannequin.
‘You know it,’ Ivy retorted.
‘What about the nose?’ muttered a third.
‘Hey, now,’ Ivy started, ready to let them have it, but Harker interrupted.
‘Forget all that.’ He waved his hands. ‘This is Ivy Vega, the edgy opposite of her twin, the sugar-sweet Olivia Abbott.’
‘Ooooh.’ That seemed to impress the group.
I’ll have to tell Olivia that! Ivy thought.
‘And Ivy’s going to be just as good!’ Harker gave a thumbs up.
Ivy was starting to get a little panicky. She needed Olivia to come and deal with all the attention.
She looked over her shoulder through the open doorway and caught sight of Olivia in the main area, practically concealed behind the glass Eiffel Tower with Jackson.
Even if I did a cheerleading routine on the table, she wouldn’t notice, Ivy thought. I’m on my own.
‘There’s more,’ Harker went on.
Please no, Ivy thought. She wasn’t sure she could handle more.
He grinned and grabbed a leather messenger bag from under the table. ‘Just this morning, I closed the deal for the option on the hottest book series in town.’
Harker pulled a hardback out of the bag and held it up. The woman closest to Ivy, in a red off-one-shoulder blouse, gasped.
Ivy recognised the book from posters in bookstores and even on billboards. It was a dark, paranormal romance called Eternal Sunset about an immortal vampire girl and her sister who fall in love with two reincarnated boys once a century. Totally dumb and of course it had sold a gazillion copies.
‘And we need some really special actresses to play Carmina and Belinda, the two immortal vampires . . .’ Ivy started to see where Harker was going. ‘Carmina is a girly-girl, just like Olivia, and Belinda is edgy and dangerous, just like Ivy!’
‘I should tell you –’ Ivy started.
But Harker was so excited that his shaggy hair was bouncing up and down with every other word. ‘Two sisters in real life, plus a great vampire actress on the big screen. What’s not perfect?’
To Ivy’s horror there was lots of nodding around the table.
‘But a debut?’ said the woman in green, sceptically. ‘I’m not sure we should go with someone untested.’
Ivy wanted to kiss the woman. ‘Actually, I –’
‘But don’t you see, Jennifer?’ Harker insisted, as he leaned over the table to grab a dumpling from one of the plates. ‘The wider public don’t know that Olivia has a twin sister. And if we can keep it that way, we can build up a whole mystery about who we’re casting. It’s a publicity dream!’
Jennifer frowned. ‘But that all falls apart the minute a pap gets a shot of the two of them together.’
Harker nodded. ‘Yup, that’s why I’m telling Ivy all this.’ He turned to her. ‘You two will have to stay on the down low.’
Don’t tell everyone that I’ve somehow been roped in to star in a blockbuster? Ivy thought. You’ll get no argument from me there.
‘If the news gets out before then,’ Harker said, ‘it just won’t work for the two of you.’
The gathered suits murmured like a mantra, ‘Just won’t work.’
Ivy started to see it clearly now.
Jennifer crossed her arms. ‘That’s low risk, then.’ She raised an eyebrow at Ivy. ‘Got that?’ she said. ‘If there’s a news leak, your sister and you are out.’
Ivy felt like it was almost a challenge.
‘What do you think, man?’ Harker prompted Ivy. ‘Can you do this for me?’
‘Er . . .’ Ivy didn’t care about her film career, but she knew how much this would mean to Olivia. She’d just have to try her best at this acting game. After all, weren’t there loads of actors and actresses out there who weren’t exactly brimming with talent? She could be one of them! ‘It’s an amazing offer,’ she began.
Jessica and Charlotte appeared in the open doorway, smiling brightly.
‘What are you all doing, hiding back here?’ Jessica said, her eyes flashing when she saw Ivy.
Charlotte piped up from behind. ‘Is this girl bothering you?’
Harker didn’t reply and the suits were tight-lipped. But Jessica was not about to take the hint.
Ivy realised she had the perfect opportunity to annoy Jessica. ‘Actually,’ she said to the group. ‘I’d love to take the role.’
‘Dude,’ said Harker appreciatively. The suits offered a smattering of applause.
Jessica looked like her head was going to spin around in a full circle. ‘What role?’ she asked through gritted teeth.
‘Now, now, Jessica,’ Ivy replied. ‘That would be a secret!’
‘That’s my girl,’ said Harker, popping another dumpling in his mouth.
Jessica opened her mouth, then closed it. ‘Well, I hope you break a leg,’ she said with sickly sweet venom, and then flounced away, Charlotte trailing behind.
‘There is nowhere I’d rather be than with you,’ Jackson said into Olivia’s ear, ‘but I think Amy will kill me if I hide in this corner for the whole party.’
Olivia smiled. She didn’t mind doing a circuit of the room on Jackson’s arm.
As they stepped out from behind the coloured glass, Olivia caught sight of her parents chatting to another couple near the ice sculpture of Jessica and Jackson. She steered Jackson in that direction.
‘Who are my parents talking to?’ Olivia wanted to know.
‘That’s the third wife of the studio’s financial guy,’ Jackson whispered as they approached.
The woman barely looked older than Camilla’s college-age sister and was wearing the largest diamond necklace Olivia had ever seen. ‘And he’s the financial guy,’ Jackson added. A short, balding man was ranting about accountants.