Killing Monica by Candace Bushnell Read Free Book Online Page A

at each one before he said, “Lala Grinada would never be right for this. Whose bad idea was that?” He tilted back in his chair.
    “The agency,” someone said.
    “Actually, there is someone I’d like to see,” Pandy interjected. “She looks right for the part, anyway.”
    “Looks are something,” agreed one of the other executives—a second- or third-in-command, Pandy guessed. “Who is it?”
    “Her.” Pandy laid out the array of magazines, turning to the pages that featured The Girl in a variety of ads—lingerie, fine jewelry, and perfume.
    “ Her? ” someone asked incredulously.
    “Is she the one with the—”
    “The name? Yes. That ridiculous name that no one can remember.”
    “SondraBeth Schnowzer.”
    “How would that look in the titles?”
    “Terrible.”
    “What kind of name is that, anyway?”
    “Austrian, maybe. Like Schwarzenegger.”
    “ Schnowzer ,” someone said in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s voice.
    There was benign laughter around the table.
    “Sorry, darling,” someone said to Pandy.
    “Hold on.” PP raised his hands from behind his head as his chair’s front wheels dropped to the floor. His dark eyes caught Pandy’s.
    “It’s not that crazy,” PP said, addressing the room. “I happen to know she’s taking acting classes. Roger?”
    Roger quickly looked down at his BlackBerry and tapped out a message. In a moment there was a light rap and the blond wood door opened a crack.
    “Come in,” PP answered.
    “I just wanted to give this to Roger,” a young woman said, making herself invisible as she handed Roger a piece of paper.
    Roger scanned the document, then raised his sparse eyebrows as if impressed. “She has some real credits here. Mostly indie movies, but lots of them.”
    “Indie movies. Meaning she’s a relative unknown. I love that.” PP pushed back from the table and stood up. “Interesting. Okay. Go,” he said, shooing them all away with his fingers.
    Pandy lingered a moment as the others left the room.
    “Thanks,” she said.
    “You are just terrific!” PP suddenly exploded, and before Pandy had a chance to react, he embraced her in a bear hug.
    *  *  *
    Roger was waiting for her on the other side of the door.
    “That was it,” he said, walking her down the hall. “You got the hug.”
    “The hug?” Pandy asked, clutching the magazines to her chest.
    “It’s a sign. PP likes you.”
    “And that means what, exactly?”
    “You’ve got a meeting with SondraBeth Schnowzer.”
    Pandy stopped and stared at him as he paused to hold open the heavy glass doors that led to the elevator bank.
    “I don’t even know what that means.”
    “You’ll meet her, get to know her a little. If you still think she’s right, PP will make sure she gets an audition.”
    “Wow,” Pandy said. “That’s it? It’s that easy?”
    “Hollywood is an easy place when you know the right people.”
    “Great!” Pandy enthused. “So when can I meet her?”
    “Right now,” Roger said, pressing the button for the elevator. “The car will take you to a salon near the Chateau. SondraBeth will be there. She wants to get her hair done or something.”
    A disturbing thought occurred to Pandy. “Is she high-maintenance?”
    Roger shrugged and gave an exaggerated smirk. And in that moment, Pandy’s heart sank. She suddenly understood that this so-called meeting with SondraBeth Schnowzer was merely an indulgence, the studio’s way of making the author of the book feel special. When the meeting led nowhere—as they apparently suspected it would—the studio would go back to doing whatever it was they planned to do from the beginning. They would do it with impunity, and they wouldn’t think twice about doing it without her.
    As Pandy got into the elevator, she decided that wasn’t going to happen.
    *  *  *
    The salon was in a small shopping center on Sunset, a few blocks from the hotel. When the car pulled up, Pandy spotted SondraBeth on the sidewalk, head bent