Read Online American Blonde by Jennifer Niven - Free Book Online

have to take a chance on them.”
    Zed called out, “The movie that much of a sinking ship, L.B.?” Some of the other reporters laughed. “And what do you say to the other Revolutionary rip-offs? I hear Warners has Flynn and Olivia de Havilland suiting up for
King’s Mountain
, and got Zanuck’s Tyrone Power as Benedict Arnold and Betty Grable as Abigail Adams. Sounds like they’re giving you a run for your money. The question is if
Home of the Brave
and Metro are up for that kind of challenge.”
    Mr. Mayer narrowed his eyes in Zed’s direction. “
Home of the Brave
is going to blow all other ships out of the water.”
    After the press conference was over, Miss Lloyd dropped her smile and air-kissed me on either cheek. “Best of luck to you, Kit, and do let me know if you need anything.” She nodded at Mudge. “Barbara,” she said, and her tone and look were cool.
    “Ophelia,” Mudge replied in the same exact voice. Miss Lloyd went tapping off, followed by a small army of assistants.
    I shadowed Mr. Mayer as he shook hands all around and then walked off with Howard Strickling, who stuck close by him. As they opened the door to the Thalberg Building, I ran up the stairs after them, in time to hear Mr. Mayer say, “Never again. If I so much as see his fat, stupid—”
    “Mr. Mayer?” He turned, blinking at me as if he were trying to place where he’d seen me before. “I want to thank you for your belief in me, but I’m not ready to be in a film. I’m afraid I’ll only make a mess of things and make a fool of you, and I don’t want to let anyone down, least of all myself. It would be like taking a plane up before I’d learned to fly.”
    “Nonsense. Your test was one of the best I’ve seen in years. I want to put you on screen while that face of yours is still fresh in the public’s mind. Did you see those people out there? The cameramen and reporters? Well, now those people are out there”—he pointed toward the street, toward Los Angeles—“and it’s burning a hole in them to tell your story. Let’s don’t ruin that for them.”
    He ducked inside, Mr. Strickling on his heels, the door swinging closed behind them. When I walked back down the steps, Zed Zabel was waiting. “Not getting cold feet, are we, Kit?”
    Mudge blew cigarette smoke in his direction. “Go home, Zed. Don’t you get tired of coming to parties you’re not invited to?”
    “Not on your life.”
    She steered me away from him, toward the soundstages. “You have to be careful with reporters, Hartsie. You’ll need to watch out for Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons. They’d sell their own children if it meant a good story, but if you’re nice to them, they’ll be nice to you. But don’t trust men like Zed Zabel. He hangs around the nightclubs and the studios, trying to gain entry, just so he can unearth dirt to print in his filthy column.”
    I was barely listening. “Mudge, this movie is enormous and important. I’m not an actress. I’m not ready.”
    “Think of it as going up in a plane for the first time. At some point, you had to take the controls and fly it yourself. You can do this, and I’ll be there.” We paused in front of Stage 15. “Let’s face it, girls like us don’t get a lot of opportunities in this world. We
make
our opportunities. Never forget why you’re here.”
    I felt like I had to keep moving
, I’d written to my family the night before
. Until Lowell Grann came walking up our mountain, I’d never thought twice about being an actress or coming to California, but now that I am, I can see it was the right thing to do. I’ve never forgotten Darlon C. Reynolds telling me to get out there and experience every type of music, and I think he also meant every type of life.
    I hadn’t heard a word from Johnny Clay since I left North Carolina, and I hoped that, wherever he was, he was okay, and that he was also finding his place.

    Later that morning, I was on my way to drama class when I ran