The Unidentified Redhead (Redhead #1)
Author: Alice Clayton

Chapter 1

You do realize I have seen you naked before, right?” Holly shouted through the bedroom door.

“Yes, love, but it’s been awhile. I don’t think you’re ready for this.”

“Is this an ‘I don’t think you’re ready for this jelly’ situation?”

“Did you actually just say that to a half-naked girl? Seriously, you should know better. You’ll give me a complex. Asshead.”

“You’re making this too hard, Grace.”

“That’s what she said,” I muttered.

“Wow,” I heard her say as I laughed quietly to myself. I was in the process of trying to get my ass into a new pair of low rise jeans that were so low they might be illegal.

“That’s it,” Holly announced. “I’m coming in. Suck it in, Grace!” She came barreling through the door, stopping short when she saw me struggling on the bed. I was laid out flat on the sheets in a charming lacy peach bra, half way in and out of the damn jeans that she had convinced me to buy, even though I knew I was in no way young enough to work them in the way they deserved to be worked. Holly had always had a way of getting me to do things she wanted me to do (under the guise that she knew what was best for me). And mother of pearl, she was almost always right.

“Sweet rack,” she said, acknowledging my bra. “Do I need to get a set of pliers and pull the zipper up myself? Didn’t we see that done in a movie once?” she mused, getting off track.

“Yes, yes we did … a little help? I’m giving a full salute here. I’d like to get the girls back under wraps,” I answered, struggling to stay on the bed at this odd angle.

“I can see that. OK, hold your breath,” she warned and grabbed the buttons of my jeans,. I pulled with all my might as the zipper finally closed, leaving me breathless.

“Holy Lord. I think my uterus just left. Yep, there she goes.” I moaned.

I couldn’t believe how tight these jeans were, although I was damn proud to be wearing them. I felt a thrill of “you go, girl” roll through me, but it could have also been the lack of oxygen from the band of denim now restricting my air supply.

Do people even say “you go, girl” anymore?

I really might need to rethink that one.

Holly helped me climb off the bed, and I turned to admire the way I looked in these badass jeans, thinking that maybe I could actually pull them off. I still caught myself examining the mirror at times and having to look twice to make sure it was really me. She saw me checking myself out and chuckled

“You’re looking sassy there, my friend. I would totally f**k you.”

“That’s charming, Holly. Thanks.” I smiled back at her as I continued to pose in the mirror. I began to Vogue and got to giggling.

“Grace. Settle down. Vogue-ing is just, well, it’s wrong. There’s never a good enough reason.” She laughed, giving me one last thumbs up as she left the room.

I had recently shed quite a bit of weight. In fact, I was actually in better shape now than when I was in college. Holly was proud of me and made sure to tell me often.

Holly Newman and I met in college. While we both majored in theater, she knew early on that she preferred the behind-the-scenes world, especially the business side, while I was a major drama queen. The entire time we were in school together we made plans for when we would conquer the entertainment world.

She would have her own agency and manage only the best talent, working with artists that shared a similar creative vision. I, however, had stars in my eyes and wanted to be famous, famous, god damned famous.

She made it out to the coast six months before I did, and when I finally got there, she was already working her way up as a junior agent at one of the major firms in town. She had a real knack for artist management, knowing when to be tough and when to coddle. She knew when to really fight for her artists and when to lay the groundwork for future projects. When I arrived, she’d gotten me a job temping in the agency, and I watched in awe as she maneuvered in what was, then, still very much a man’s world. With Holly’s perfect golden hair, fantastic figure and stylish sensibility, she was asked all the time why she was working behind the scenes rather than in front of the camera. The girl was a knockout. But she would always laugh and say, “It’s just not for me,” and then work harder than everyone else to make sure she earned her stripes.

I loved L.A. when I first made my place there. I’d moved in with Holly, started taking acting classes and worked at the agency with her, all while waiting tables at night in a restaurant in Santa Monica. I really felt like I was living that Hollywood lifestyle I had been dreaming of since I could remember.

After about six months, Holly had convinced her boss that I should come in for a reading and be considered for representation. I was prepared, I read well, my pictures were flawless … and then I waited. And waited. And then waited some more. Finally, they agreed to take me on if Holly agreed to sign me personally as sole representation.

She began sending me out on auditions. I auditioned. Hell, I auditioned all over that f**king town. I was damn good. But so was everyone else.

I didn’t book a single job.

What they don’t tell you when you grow up in the Midwest, light years away from L.A., is that when you move to Hollywood, everyone is the next Miss Hot Shit. We all think we’re the prettiest, we all think we’re special, we all think we are the only one that truly has what it takes. We all think our talent is genuine and true, we all think we have something to share with the world, and we can’t understand why we are not booking jobs all the time.

The thing is, in L.A., you can’t just be a pretty face, because you can airbrush that. You can’t just have a fairly good bod, because everyone else is nipped and tucked in places you don’t even want to dream of. You can’t just giggle and toss your hair and be the punchline, because someone else already has that job sewn up. For all the people who move to L.A. each year, just as many leave, limping back to their hometowns like pretty little sad sacks, telling their “I lived in California” stories over cocktails with their old high school friends.

I became one of those sad sacks—I only lasted in Los Angeles for eighteen months. I limped away, feeling like a failure for the first time in my life. I let the city and the industry beat me.

But now I was back. It took me ten years to make it back and this time … I wasn’t going anywhere.

Holly was having a party at her house to celebrate the launch of her new management company. She had recently left a very high profile position with a major agency and had invited her close friends and several of the actors and actresses she represented. There were a few that had chosen to stay with the other agency, but she was so good at crafting a career, particularly with fresh new talent, that many had followed her.