Read Online Secrets of My Hollywood Life: There’s No Place Like Home by Jen Calonita - Free Book Online Page A

between studio A and B.”
    “We should really get this dinner going.” Dad nudges me. “Seth has somewhere to be at nine thirty.”
    That means dinner won’t be super long and I can make it to A Slice of Heaven to see the others. “Why don’t you tell everyone
     I’m here, and I’ll get Mom.”
    “Sounds good,” Dad tells me and heads toward the restaurant. He winks at me. “Try to keep her from talking on the phone too
     long.”
    “Tuesday?” I hear Mom say, and then she’s rustling through papers. “Well, I can try to move a few things around, I think…
     um, I have a meeting at eleven, a lunch at twelve thirty, Matty’s fitting at two… wow, this day is packed! Kaitlin’s at four,
     but maybe if I… no, no, no! It’s not a bother. I want to do this. The Daisies are very important to me.”
    Mom is quiet as she listens to the caller on the other end. She looks stressed. That’s how she looks all the time lately.
     I wait a few minutes more hoping she’ll wrap up.
    “I can fit it in,” Mom insists. “Nancy, you’re being ridiculous! I missed one meeting. Okay, two. That doesn’t mean… ​if you’d
     just… don’t worry how . I just will.” Long pause. “I can make this work, sweetie. If you’d just… but… just… think about it. Please? Don’t make this
     decision yet.” Mom starts flipping through papers again frantically. “Tuesday at eleven forty-five AM Pacific time! Yes. I
     can talk over my whole proposal then. Yes. Fifteen minutes is all I need, I swear.” Mom’s face breaks into a small smile.
     “GOOD! Thank you, darling. Talk to you then.” Mom hangs up and I see her rub her temples in a circular motion. It’s something
     I do myself when I’m worked up. Maybe I should book Mom a massage.
    When would she have time to go?
    “Mom?” I question. I feel like I’m interrupting a very private moment. “Is everything okay?”
    “Oh, hi, honey,” Mom says and quickly composes herself. Her makeup is flawless, but her green eyes are cloudy. “Everything
     is fine. That was Nancy Walsh on the phone. She’s very close to getting the chapter off the ground, you know, and things are
     very hectic to say the least.”
    When we were in New York this past summer, Mom worked with Nancy Walsh on a bunch of charity projects, but her favorite was
     this group called the Darling Daisies Committee. They beautified the New York landscape by planting—you guessed it—daisies
     all over the city. Nancy adored Mom and said she was a shoo-in to run their new Los Angeles division. But that was before
     managing Matty became a job of its own—his under-sixteen status means there are a lot of laws to navigate. Now she’s so busy
     with him I don’t see or hear from her as frequently and, secretly, it’s been kind of nice. Plus, Matty has gotten so popular
     with the tween set that he’s getting cover offers from Teen Vogue and J-14 and every teen book out there. Mom can barely keep up with his requests.
    Not that she’ll let on that she’s swamped. She snaps constantly, but she’s always telling us she has everything under control.
     The only time she seems relaxed is when she’s doing something for the Daisies.
    “What’s happening with the president position?” I perch myself on a nearby tufted ottoman with gold legs and watch as Mom
     gathers up her things. First she drops her BlackBerry and the battery pops out, then she drops a pen, then her notebook. It
     shouldn’t be a biggie, but Mom actually yells something loudly that I shouldn’t repeat. “Mom?” I ask worriedly.
    “She’s giving the job to someone else,” Mom says flatly and scoops everything up and drops it in her oversized Louis Vuitton
     bag. “She didn’t say that exactly, but I know she is. She doesn’t feel I have time to devote to the Daisies.”
    “Oh, Mom, I’m so sorry.” I reach out and touch her wrist. She wasn’t this crushed when I lost out on that Steven Spielberg
     movie.
    “She’s