“I’m a silent partner, remember? I’m just there for the wine, and the advice on how to stock my wine cellar.”

Penny laughed at her.

“Oh please. You’re also here for being able to say ‘You know, when I was last at my winery,’ as you lean back in your expensive chair with a glass of port in your hand.”

Anna liked the sound of that.

“In that vision, I seem like some sort of James Bond villain—is that what I’m playing? I’ve always thought it would be way more fun to be the villain than to be one of his women.”

Also, she wished she had a glass of port in her hand right now, instead of this sparkling water.

“I was actually picturing you in a Nancy Meyers movie, hanging out in a gorgeous kitchen as you pull a bottle out of the rack by the back door and pour wine into two enormous goblets that a very handsome older man hands you, but a James Bond villain sounds great, too.” Anna could hear Penny take a sip of her wine. “You should wrangle yourself into a role like that after that Rebels thing comes out.”

“Vigilantes, not Rebels,” Anna said.

“Same difference,” Penny said.

“But, ugh, speaking of Vigilantes—I still have no idea what my role is actually going to look like in the final cut of the movie. After all the fanfare about getting cast in it, how humiliating will it be if I get cut to a bit part? Oh God, I can only imagine what a nightmare the premiere will be if that happens.”

She shuddered to think about it.

“Well, this is an easy one,” Penny said. “You just won’t go to the premiere if that happens. You’ll have a prior engagement, preferably on a beach somewhere with me, drinking cocktails.”

God, did that sound amazing.

“That’s a perfect backup plan—you’re brilliant. The only problem is that sometimes—most of the time—no one bothers to tell you about these things in advance. They haven’t reached out to me about doing press for the movie, which makes me anxious. However, Simon texted me this morning that he had a ‘very good meeting’ with one of the directors. I don’t know what that means yet; it could mean nothing, we’ll see.”

“Nah,” Penny said. “Simon never bullshits you. Oh, also, what’s going on with that other role you told me about?”

Anna got up and pulled a bottle of wine out of the mini bar. This wasn’t a conversation for sparkling water.

“No news on that yet. From what Simon told me, the director really likes me, but the studio is leaning toward someone with a ‘bigger box-office draw.’ That’s probably code for a white actress, but I’m not giving up yet. I want to fight like hell to get this role, but I just don’t quite know how to do it. It’s frustrating, because I have a whole plan for what I want the rest of the year to be: this ad campaign will go great, Vigilantes will come out and I’ll be a hit in it, I’ll film the Varon movie, it’ll come out next year, and boom, back to the Oscars I’ll go.” And then she would finally be able to take a deep breath. “I don’t want the studio to fuck up my whole plan, Penny! I need to talk to Simon about this; maybe he’ll have a strategy to get me that role that I can’t think of.”

Simon usually had a strategy she hadn’t thought of, actually.

“I bet he will,” Penny said. “I have faith that between the two of you, you’ll manage to get you this role. And I have faith that between the two of us, we’ll manage to get you this man.”

Anna rolled her eyes.

“Number one, I thought we were done with that part of the conversation. Number two, let’s be clear, the issue isn’t whether I can get this man, but whether I should get this man, and the answer to that question is no.”

Penny cackled, and Anna laughed, too.

“See, this is what I like to hear! I rely on my famous big-city friend who snags men by the collar with a mere crook of a finger for all of my wish fulfillment. I’m just a small-town girl who sees the same boring men and annoying tourist types over and over again—even if I did find them attractive, they wouldn’t say the same about me, since I’m in wine-stained overalls most of the time.”

Anna rolled her eyes. When she and Penny had first become friends, Anna had been a shy twenty-three-year-old who was scared of dating and convinced men had never found and would never find her attractive. Penny picked up both men and women with ease, and Anna had watched from the background with awe. Then she’d started taking notes.

She’d been a quick study. The first time she’d left the bar with a guy, Penny had cheered. The rest was history.

“Sure, Wonder Girl,” Anna said. “Wasn’t that what that one guy called you?”

“It was Super Girl, I’ll have you know, and also fuck you.”

They both laughed.

“I’m just saying,” Penny continued. “I know it’s been awhile. And I understand why—last year was awful, you didn’t want more complications, I get it. But you’re back on your feet now. Right? So maybe you should do a little panty throwing. You know. To celebrate.”

Anna laughed again, but she knew Penny was saying this as much for reassurance as she was for encouragement.

“I am back on my feet, Penny. And yes, I plan to do some panty throwing as soon as I can, don’t worry. But I don’t want to fuck up my career just when I’m feeling together. I promise, though: as soon as I throw my panties at someone, I’ll let you know.”

Anna went across the room to grab another bottle of sparkling water. She opened her underwear drawer as she walked by. Just a big pile of practical black panties. Some of them were thongs, but still. She might need to do something about that.

“You’d better,” Penny said.

Five

A few days later, Anna sighed with relief when someone handed her a can of sparkling water during a break. It had been a long day of filming all over San Francisco. This crew had made it a lot of fun—she’d laughed a lot all day, especially at Ben’s ridiculous jokes—but she was worn-out.

“Thanks,” she said, without looking at who had given it to her.

“No problem,” Ben said. Her head snapped toward him. She saw him grinning at her, and she grinned back.

“Tired?” he asked her.

She nodded.

“A little,” she said. “Today has been an adventure. It’s been fun, though.”

They’d spent the day racing around; she’d run up and down a series of stairs all over the city, talking on the phone and getting it knocked out of her hand repeatedly. She was hot and tired, but in a good mood, despite all of that.