SLEAZE: A Hollywood Comeback Story (Book #1)

Chapter 61

When my dad had his heart attack, it felt like my life had ended. 

On top of the stress that came with not knowing if he'd be alright, the thought of spending a year away from school and my friends was overwhelming -- more than overwhelming. Paralyzing. Even though I wouldn't have admitted it back then, it seemed like my entire world was spiraling hopelessly out of control but that all changed the day I got my internship.

In spite of the fact that I was working in an industry I knew nothing about and dealing with people who were unlike any individuals I'd ever met before, interning with Michael helped me in ways I hadn't expected. By the time my contract at the agency ended in June, I'd learned how to think differently -- to anticipate the unexpected and to accept that things went wrong... And things went wrong often. Most importantly, though, I learned not to let the setbacks stop me from pushing forward. I had a lot to thank Michael for but that was definitely the lesson I'd remember forever.

I felt like a completely different person from who I'd been nine months before and I knew that, in addition to Michael, I had Sophie to thank for that, too. After the first day that I went to see her at the clinic, Sophie spent three more weeks in an inpatient treatment program and, true to my word, I visited her every single day that she was there.

As she got healthier, Sophie's eyes shone brighter and her smile grew wider. We talked constantly -- about everything. Nothing was off limits anymore and the tension that had grown between us while she'd been sick disappeared seemingly overnight. Our relationship wasn't perfect but I knew it never would be. Neither of us needed perfection, though; we were more than happy with what we had.

Although it surprised me when she told me, I was the first person Sophie confided in about her plan to go public about her bipolar disorder. According to her, Sophie's last step in recovering from her manic episode was to accept that her mental illness wasn't something to be embarrassed about after all, and, after years of hiding it, she was ready to make it known to the world in a big way.

"I agreed to film a documentary with Kelly's independent production company," Sophie told me a few days after she'd been cleared to go home. "About, like, the last few months, my treatment."

"Really?"

Sitting together on her living room couch, we flipped through a booklet of paint swatches while she tried to decide which shade of white to re-paint the room. Sophie cast a glance at the putrid green walls that surrounded us and shuddered, clearly mortified by her attempt at home improvement. She'd asked me how I could let her destroy her house like that, but we both knew that I wouldn't have been able to stop her even if I'd tried.  

"Yeah, I feel like if I want to move past everything, then I need to keep talking about what happened... But it's not just about me," Sophie added quickly, as if worried that I'd accuse her of publicity seeking. "You know, while I was in a group therapy session, I realized that I'm really lucky--really, really lucky."

"Why do you say that?"

"I have you, for one," Sophie said, squeezing my knee. "I have my dad. You both love me, you both are there for me. One woman on my floor has been in treatment six times in the last eight years and she never had any visitors while I was at the clinic. Can you believe that?"

"What was she there for?" I asked, genuinely curious. 

Sophie's stories about the people she'd met at Crystal Pines were always interesting, if somewhat depressing. I had no doubt that there was a great screenplay waiting to blossom from her experiences, but I had no interest in being the one to write it.

"She has schizophrenia. It's sad because her parents were some of the first billionaires in Silicon Valley but she spent most of her twenties living on the streets." Sophie shook her head, clearly affected by the thought of what the other woman had been through. "She stopped taking her meds while she was in college and ended up dropping out a few months later."