Sugar and Spice_ An L.A. Candy Novel - Lauren Conrad [52]
The Knife Assassin’s Revenge logo was everywhere: on signs, posters, even on the cocktail napkins. Jane nodded, satisfied. She and Hannah had worked overtime to get every last detail of this party perfect. Madison, who was supposed to help out, had done the opposite, distracting everyone with her on-camera drama. But it didn’t matter now. Jane and Hannah had somehow pulled it all together, and it was going to be an amazing night.
“Guests are starting to arrive.” Hannah’s voice crackled over the earpiece. “Oliver’s checking people through. Oh, and guess what? The Marley twins’ publicist just called and said they’re coming!”
“Ohmigod, awesome!” Jane said. The celebrity head count was really starting to add up. “Oh . . . hey . . . can you make sure that my friend Caleb Hunt is on the list? I think I put his name on, but it’s been so crazy. Oh, and Naveen Singh, too.”
“Your boyfriend and his friend? No problem,” Hannah said, giggling.
“He’s not my boyfriend! I mean, we just started dating again.” Jane wasn’t sure she was ready to call Caleb that in front of the entire world just yet. She was glad that the PopTV cameras were still setting up and that she hadn’t been miked yet. She hoped Hannah hadn’t been miked yet, either. “Speaking of boyfriends . . . yours has been really helpful with this party. That DJ he recommended is awesome.”
“Yeah, right? We should definitely use her in the future.”
Jane noticed that Hannah didn’t say, He’s not my boyfriend! about Oliver. Things were obviously getting serious between them. Jane was happy for Hannah. She didn’t know a lot about Oliver, except that he was a communications major at UCLA and loved dogs (which in Jane’s opinion was an asset in any guy). And he was super-nice and good at his job.
As Jane talked to Hannah, her gaze fell on a bare table across the room . . . a table that was supposed to be piled high with small black-and-silver totes. Crap! Where were the gift bags? “Is Madison here yet?” she asked Hannah.
“I haven’t seen her. She was supposed to bring the gift bags, wasn’t she?”
“Yeah. I’d better . . . no, can you call her on her cell and see where the hell she is?”
“I’m on it!”
Hannah signed off. Just then, someone touched Jane’s arm. “Um, excuse me? Aren’t you that actress from that show? I looooove you so much!” said a high-pitched voice.
Jane turned around, wondering what strange fan was stalking her now . . . but it was just Scar, munching on a celery stick. With her were Deb Rafferty, their trainer from the gym, and a familiar-looking brunette.
“Ha-ha, very funny, Scar,” Jane said, giving her a quick hug. She smiled at Deb. “Hey, how are you? I’m sorry I had to cancel today. Things were kind of nuts.”
“No worries, we’ll just go twice as hard tomorrow to make up for it,” Deb joked.
“This is my friend Chelsea, from school,” Scarlett said, indicating the brunette. “She’s super-smart, so make sure you use really big words when you talk to her.”
Chelsea playfully hit Scarlett on the arm. “Stop it, Scarlett.”
Dana approached the group, waving her clipboard in the air. “Jane! Scarlett! You need to get miked right now! We have to film your entrances before too many people show up,” she said, fidgeting with her earpiece. “Deb and Chelsea, right? I need you two to see Alli—that’s the girl over there in the black shirt—so you can sign releases and get miked, too.”
Deb and Chelsea took off, and one of the sound guys came by with a couple of packs for Jane and Scarlett. Jane noticed Trevor near the bar (talking to that awful editor from Gossip magazine, Veronica Bliss, and some woman in a leopard-print dress) and wondered: Was Trevor here tonight as a guest or producer—or a little of both?
As Jane and Scarlett slid their respective mike packs under their clothes, Dana said, “So you guys know Gaby’s back from her vacation, right? She should be here any minute. She might already be on the red carpet. Anyway