Party Girl_ A Novel - Anna David [42]
That makes sense, I think, as I try to suss out if Karen and I are going to be friends or if she’s going to be resentful over Holly’s clear preference for me. “Great,” I say. “Can I fax you my résumé?”
“Oh, there’s no need,” she says. “But I’m meeting with people today. Can you come in around three?”
After making the appointment, I gaze into my closet and try to figure out what outfit would impress Holly the most. My eyes dart quickly from tank tops to dresses to jeans and I realize then that I’m quite wired and should probably chill out on the coke until after the interview. I can’t very well be ducking into Holly’s private bathroom—I’m somehow positive she’ll have one—for a bump if I start to come down during my interview. I pick out a conservative brown dress, but can’t stop staring at my closet once I notice how fucked up the paint job around it is. It’s the same off-white, cruddy color that decorates the rest of the room—and, in fact, the entire apartment—but while repainting the apartment has always sounded entirely insurmountable, repainting my closet some cool, dark color sounds absolutely within the realm of possibilities. If I get the job, I decide, I’ll celebrate by painting my closet tonight. Feeling more motivated than I have in ages, I decide to hit the gym for a long workout and then a steam—which will surely deplete all the drugs from my system—before heading over to the interview. I should get fired more often, I think, as I open my exercise clothes drawer. It does wonders for my motivation level.
Wow! Absolutely Fabulous magazine! Are you serious?” Karen asks, widening her eyes. “That’s so cool! Why would you ever want to stop working there?”
Karen, a slightly overweight Valley Girl, is, I quickly determine, no match for me. Before I’ve even handed her my résumé and explained my desire to start working part time so that I can dedicate the rest of my time to my screenwriting, she’s telling me how perfect I seem for the job. When I mention that I recently left my writing gig at Absolutely Fabulous, the girl practically has a conniption fit.
“I want to be one of the people doing things, not one of the ones who writes about them,” I say. When she nods sympathetically, I make a mental note that I should remember this line for future challenging conversations with Mom and Dad.
“I totally hear you,” Karen says. “But working at Absolutely Fabulous would have to be, like, so cool and, like, a dream job. So I totally admire you for leaving that to do, like, this.”
I feel my nose starting to run as I smile and tell her that this sounds like a dream job.
“Well, before you decide that, let me tell you about it, she says. “You’ll be taking care of all the details of Holly’s personal life: food shopping, picking up dry cleaning, and walking the dog. Walking the dog is, like, the main thing, actually. Her boyfriend gave her this Doberman pinscher and she was so excited, but then she’s at the office 24-7 and never has time for it! I was finally like, ‘Holly, man, you need another assistant.’”
I nod at Karen and smile, knowing that Holly’s not going to need Karen’s inane advice anymore now that she can have mine. Holly’s life sounds stressful and glamorous and since I plan to make part of her life my own, I decide that I like everything that Karen’s saying. I figure, groceries today, scripts tomorrow. I keep nodding, while Karen tells me about how I’ll get $10 an hour and I should invoice Holly once a month and walk the dog at least every day and the whole time I’m wondering why she’s talking to me like I have the job when I’m not even sure we’ve started the interview. I’m tired so I zone out a little bit while Karen rambles, and I allow my eyes to fixate on her fleshy cheeks as she explains how Holly likes things done. The cheeks stop moving at a certain point and it takes me a second to snap out of the zone I’ve gotten into.
“So that’s it,” Karen says, looking at me kind of strangely. “Could you start today?”
“Today?” I ask, positive that I missed something