Chapter 4 : Working, Girl

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After dropping off Piper's Porsche at her estate, Ines got changed into a shirt and jeans, and swap out contact lenses for her eyeglasses before driving home in her little Honda. She usually worked Saturdays but luckily she wasn't needed until Monday. Except, of course, Piper had decided yesterday she had several movie scripts she couldn't be bothered to read herself so would Ines be a dear and read it and describe it to Piper?

"Hey, Andrada, get over here!"

Ines smiled and waved to Caprica O'Neil. The tall brunette was standing over a barbecue grill with a glass of wine in one hand and a pair of tongs in another. Around her, a pool party was in full swing. Music blared from speakers on the far end of the deck, and people were chatting and drinking.

"Hi Caprica," Ines said, walking over. She adjusted the strap of her heavy messenger bag to keep it from slipping off her shoulder. "Looks like the party started early today."

The residents of Casa de Palmeras usually held a party in the courtyard every Saturday, but it usually didn't start till five. She had thought she would be able get some work done before that, at least, because it was hard to focus focus with the loud music. The pool and courtyard was right in the middle of the two four-storey apartment buildings.

"Honey, I couldn't stop them," Caprica said. "I think Casey and Chad are celebrating getting guest parts in a pilot."

"Oh, that's great!" Ines smiled. The two young men lived one floor below hers. They were stand-up comics from New Jersey, and they'd been trying to break into television for almost a year. "I hope it gets picked up."

"Hey Ines, you want a beer?" Jimar White said. He sat on a lounge chair behind her, holding up a can of Heineken.

"Uh thanks, Jim," she said. "Maybe later."

"Put down that bag, sweetie," Caprica said. "You want a steak?"

Ines grimaced. "Can't, sorry. I have to get back to work." She'd have to listen to Mozart on noise-cancelling headphones, but that was the only way she could get any writing done that day.

"What's in that thing, anyway?"

"My weekend read. It's a bunch of scripts. Piper needs me to read them so I can tell her what they're about."

"Scripts for what, a remake of The Lord of the Rings trilogy?" Caprica eyed the brown leather pack. "You look like you're carrying five pounds."

"I got six iPads in here. It's like nobody sends print scripts anymore."

"Well, if you finish early, we'll probably be here till late tonight."

"Thanks. See ya later."

After waking up in a car that morning, it felt good to be back home. As soon as Ines walked through her front door, she realized she was desperately in need of sleep.

Unsuccessfully stifling a yawn, she set her bag down. There was no time to rest. The weekend was the only time she had to write, and she had to make the most of it. She went to her desk to switch off her wifi router. There. No distractions.

As she made herself a large pot of coffee, she wondered idly if she ought to look up Jamie Kilborne on the internet. It was something she really ought to have done before the meeting, but Mikey had texted her about meeting Kilborne just as she and Piper were getting ready to leave for the party. Piper was barking orders at her stylist and Ines, and had changed her outfit four times before deciding on what she was going to wear.

But then, there was really no point Googling Kilborne now. Apparently she had no meeting with the producer. Mikey had made a mistake.

However ... it wouldn't hurt, would it? The man was a grade-A beefcake. Smoking hot. As gorgeous a specimen of a man as she'd ever seen — and she'd seen her fair share of gorgeous specimens, being Piper's assistant.

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