Spotlight (12 page)

Daniel sent her an e-mail while waiting on his flight, asking about her Christmas plans. All his friends would be in Los Angeles, and for the first time in several years, his whole family would gather at his parents’ home in Malibu. The idea of spending the holidays on a beach in mild weather amused Lily. Christmas just wouldn’t seem like Christmas without roaring fireplaces, snow on the ground, and matching ridiculous (but warm and cozy) holiday sweaters.

As they talked over e-mail, Lily learned that Daniel found DVD release interviews easier. He didn’t have to explain the plot or talk about his character, he just had to remind people to go buy it. The pressure was off, and the interviews often centered on his experiences during the making of the film rather than the film itself.

Later that afternoon, when they met for coffee, Maggie asked Lily if she’d seen Daniel’s appearance. Lily had missed it—she had the day off and had been battling shoppers at Toys“R”Us for gifts for her niece and nephews with her mom early that morning—but Maggie was more than happy to pull it up on her phone.

“What was the one thing you’ll take with you from the time you spent on Borderlines?” one too-perky-for-early-morning host asked.

“Hmm.” Daniel thought for a moment. “I think the friends that I made during the filming . . .” he paused for a second before adding “ . . . and the press run.”

Lily’s surprised eyes met Maggie’s amused pair when the video clip ended.

“Come on, you know he was talking about you,” Maggie insisted.

Lily rolled her eyes. “No, I don’t. I doubt I’m the only media person he’s friendly with. Hell, he’s supposed to be ‘friendly’ with all of them!”

Maggie wouldn’t be deterred. “Believe what you want. I saw the smirk when he said it.”

Lily laughed. “If you say so, Mags.” They talked about New Year’s Eve plans as they finished their gingerbread lattes.

She didn’t check her e-mail again until the day after Christmas. She grinned when she saw what was waiting for her.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Happy Holidays

Lily,

Just wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas. Enjoy the time with your family, and I hope you get everything you want.

DB

She typed out a quick response before heading to her brother’s house for babysitting duty.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: RE: Happy Holidays

Daniel,

Thanks! I’m sorry it took me a while to respond. I hope yours was just as good as mine was. Have a great New Year’s Eve, too. Be safe!

Lily

Five days later, the girls went dancing again to welcome the next twelve months. In many ways, the sweat that poured off her that night felt like a form of baptism. It was the beginning of something new. She couldn’t explain it, but she tasted change in the air.

The year would be the one that defined the rest of her life.

The e-mail she received a couple of days later got her thinking about how she wanted to spend the next twelve months.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Happy New Year

Lily,

I hope your new year is off to a great start! Did you have fun ringing it in? Nate dragged Anthony and me to some bar so he could schmooze with some power players, but we ended up having a good time drinking way too much scotch and smoking too many cigars. It was fun to spend some time with them laughing at Anthony’s antics and giving Nate a hard time about his uptight attitude.

I think that will be my resolution for this year—spend more time with my friends and family.

How about you?

DB

Lily thought of her own resolution. She wanted to focus on her career. It’s not that she wasn’t focusing on it before. She just believed there were bigger and better things for her than writing for a small newspaper in Nashville. She loved being close to her family, and she had many friends in town from her childhood, but Lily felt restlessness creeping into her bones. It was a slight twinge that made her legs twitch every now and then. Usually, that was cured by traveling. Seeing—and more important, experiencing—some place new energized her in ways a new story just couldn’t. Lily had lived in this town, with the exception of college, her entire life.

It was time for the next adventure.

Lily’s mother, however, not-so-secretly thought her daughter’s priorities were in the wrong order. As far as Anne was concerned, Lily’s career was settled. Now it was time to focus on romance. She didn’t hassle Lily about it, opting instead for subtle reminders. On more than one occasion, Lily had been excited to tell her mom how much writing she’d done at her favorite coffee shop, Dolce. But her mother’s consistent response made Lily simultaneously laugh and roll her eyes.

“That’s great, honey. So did you meet anyone there?”

Lily knew her mom just wanted her to be happy.

But work made Lily happy. Writing features—telling the amazing stories of her community—still gave her a thrill, although, she could feel that same restlessness seeping into her work as well. Writing for FilmInsanity.com helped. It was something she did for fun, and she enjoyed having a place to channel her love of pop culture into something professional. If she had an opportunity to do it full time, she would jump at the chance.

As winter faded into spring, Lily settled into a routine. Work during the day. Check journalism job postings online at night. She applied for a few positions but found that anything in bigger cities—Atlanta, Chicago, New York—was too competitive. It frustrated her that she wasn’t being considered when she knew she could do those jobs. She eventually asked her mentor—the communications professor she had worked under during her assistantship in graduate school—for some advice.

Lauren Frederick always had a soft spot for Lily. She saw a lot of herself in Lily—she still nurtured that same enthusiasm and passion for journalism while wearing the many coats of professor, wife, and mother of two young children.

“It’s a tough market right now,” Lauren reminded her. “And, to be truthful, you know the best way to get something in any of those cities is to have an address there.” She believed in being upfront with her students and reminded them often that finding a job was not as simple as e-mailing a résumé.

Lily had some savings, but not enough to move to New York or even Atlanta without a job. And she held close to the adage that it was easier to find a job when you were already employed.

Even more encouragement came from an unexpected source. She and Daniel still e-mailed each other, and when he detected a note of discord in Lily’s messages, he asked what was wrong. At first, she played it off as nothing, giving him a generalized “tired and stressed” excuse. But when she thought more about it, she realized he was perhaps the one person she could talk to about these life changes objectively. She supposed they were friends at this point—that he would want what’s best for her.

And it turned out that Daniel was pretty good at giving advice. He reminded her to be patient and that she was good at what she did.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: RE: Something Else

Lily,

You’ll find something, don’t worry. You’re too good not to be snatched up by someone. Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know.

In the meantime, keep doing what you’re doing. You’ll know when the right thing comes along.

DB

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: RE: Something Else

Daniel,

Your faith in me is probably undeserved, but thank you. I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate it. And in case you were wondering, I feel the same way about you and your work. I’m going to see your Oscar acceptance speech on TV one day.

Thank you for letting me vent. I promise to return the favor if you ever need it.

Lily

When the weather warmed up, so did Lily’s spirits. Maybe it was just the idea of spring being in the air, but things seemed brighter. She had worked hard on a couple of stories for work, adding two great pieces to her clips. And her stories for FilmInsanity.com—even the ones that didn’t mention Daniel Brighton—continued to draw in readers. She still applied for open positions but didn’t panic when she didn’t get responses back.

In March, an interesting opportunity presented itself via e-mail.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Some Professional Advice

Lily,

So I wanted to get your thoughts on something.

Vanity Fair contacted Nate at the beginning of the year. They want to profile me in the October issue—just before the Borderlines sequel, Life Saver, comes out. Nate, of course, agreed to it. He thinks it will be a great kick-off to the press tour.

But Nate just found out a couple of days ago who will be writing the article. And I don’t like or trust this writer.

Any advice you can give me on doing interviews with someone you don’t like?

DB

Lily was more than a little flattered that the tables had turned and Daniel was asking her for advice.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: RE: Some Professional Advice

Daniel,

Sure, I’ll help however I can.

If you don’t mind my asking, what is it about this writer you don’t like? Perhaps if you could find a way to avoid that topic, characteristic, bad habit, whatever, you might feel more comfortable.

In general, I’d say to remember that you don’t have to answer any questions or talk about subjects you don’t want to talk about.

I hope that helps!

Lily

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: RE: Some Professional Advice

Lily,

Nate said the same thing—just don’t comment.

Here’s the problem: The writer is Brian Mason. He profiled me two years ago for the same magazine, and it was less than a pleasant experience. His piece turned out to be nothing but speculation about my relationship status. I dodged as many questions as I could, but the way he wrote it made it sound like I had something to hide. I can handle the insults, but he shouldn’t have brought other people into it.

I’m not looking forward to going through that again.

DB

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: RE: Some Professional Advice

Daniel,

Now that you mention it, I vaguely remember reading that article and thinking that it had a less than polite vibe to it. Maybe he’s changed?

I truly do wish I could more to help.

Lily

A couple of weeks passed before Lily heard from Daniel again.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: RE: Some Professional Advice

Lily,

You know what? Maybe you can.

I’ve really tried to shake these reservations about Mason, but I just don’t want him to write this. I know they hire freelancers to do some of their stuff, so when I thought of that, I asked Nate to find out if it would be possible to have you write it. We just got word that they agreed. So it’s yours if you want to do it.

Basically, the interview will need to be done in early May, and the copy will have to be turned in by June 5. You’ll fly out here and spend some time with me in Los Angeles. Nate gave the assigning editor your e-mail address, and they’ll be making all the arrangements—flight, hotel, etc.

Lily, please say you’ll do this for me.

DB

Lily stared at her screen in shock. Her? Writing a piece for
Vanity Fair
? About Daniel Brighton?

She just wasn’t that lucky.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: RE: Some Professional Advice

Daniel,

You’re kidding me, right? This is unbelievable. Seriously! If you’re sure you want me to do this, I gladly will. I’ll need to run this by my bosses, but I think it should be okay. Do you have any idea what this will mean to my career? I cannot thank you enough.