Author's Note: Thanks for having supreme patience in the time it took to get this chapter out. I try hard to not make the big party scenes too repetitive, and there are also some important plot nuggets here that will come to fruition soon. The next several chapters I've essentially positioned well with what occurs here, and they should flow like water. Please enjoy!
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Rita did have a plan. I immediately objected because I thought it was too risky. Jess was on-board with it immediately, showing so much enthusiasm that it was as if a light bulb had gone off when Rita articulated it. Kat, more measured, pondered it for a day, but she concluded it was as close to a sure-thing as we would find. Katie, still finding her footing with the group, wanted to go along, but she also was sharp. She asked several blunt, insightful questions before getting on board. I figured all of our brains put together would come up with an elegant solution to the issues presented by Manny and Kayla's purported coup at Daydream.
In the end, I believe Rita's plan did just that. If we played our hand right -- and the plan would rely heavily on Jess and Rita, along with the common sense of the other Daydream actors -- the production company might well end up in a stronger position than where it was, even after its extremely strong start through two movies.
But there was one issue pending before we could fully devote our attention to that plan. We needed to have a house-warming party. At least, Juliet wasn't going to let us get away without having one. And she had taken matters into her own hands to ensure it happened. The Daydream plan needed several days to come together and coordinate moving parts, so it was nice to spend a Saturday night celebrating our grand new home -- even if the party was next door.
Juliet wouldn't spill even the tiniest bit of information about the party. It was a total and complete surprise, except for the 8 p.m. start time and the location at her house. We were also under strict instructions not to pre-party. All of us were curious what was going to go down.
So it felt weird to strictly adhere to Juliet's instructions and, at 8 p.m, sharp, show up to her house dressed to the nines in cocktail attire and completely sober. Juliet and Melanie greeted us at the door, each wearing a stunning, short dress. They embraced everyone in hugs, then stepped aside to reveal the entryway table that Juliet usually kept covered in a large vase of fresh flowers. Today, however, in place of the usual floral display stood a beautiful, ocean-blue glass staircase. It had a larger, rectangular base, and rising from the edge of that in a semi-circular pattern were a series of smaller rectangles that acted as the "steps." On each of them sat two long, thick lines of cocaine. There were eight pairs in all. The base was covered in a strikingly perfect mountain of the powder.
"Welcome to the party, neighbors," Juliet said, beaming. "Might I invite you to borrow some sugar?"
Melanie almost doubled over in laughter, and I could tell it must have been a planned joke. They were so pleased with themselves. Juliet, her eyes smoldering with desire, passed a similarly blueish glass straw to Rita. The exchange lingered a moment too long, enough to make me wonder if I had missed something between Rita and the movie star.
"We were so good, Juliet," Kat said. "We didn't even have a single drink before coming over."
"Good!" she said.
"We wanted everyone on the same trajectory," Melanie added.
"And we're about to take off," Juliet finished.
As if on cue, Rita inhaled a line from the bottom stair. She quickly followed it with a second, then popped up with an electric look in her wide eyes.
"That's so lovely," Rita said. "Like, really lovely."
"We got a beautiful brick," Juliet said. "And, when we ground it up, we added about five-percent molly to it." She giggled.
"Tonight is going to be a total fuckfest," Melanie said breezily.
The girls each took a turn, moving up the staircase as they went. Katie looked lustfully at the four lines that remained after everyone had their turn.
"Go for it, girl," Kat said, noticing her stare.
"I don't want to be greedy," Katie said demurely.
"It's a party," Juliet said sweetly. "If you don't do it, someone else will!"
Katie grinned.
"I kind of feel like going 100% tonight," she said.
"Go for it," Rita urged her.
Katie didn't need to be told again. She made two more lines disappear like magic, her tits nearly spilling out of the top of her low-cut dress. She closed her eyes briefly, savoring the moment, and rubbed her nose. Her eyes fluttered open and found mine.
"Your party girl is back, I think," she said.
I smiled at her.
"This is almost too pretty to do lines off of," Jess remarked.
"Come on, girl," Melanie said. "You will do lines off literally anything."
"And I have," Jess said with a laugh.
She bent over and did the final two, just as Juliet explained the origins of the cocaine staircase.
"It was actually a couple years ago when I was shooting a movie in New Orleans," she said as Jess took two long snorts in the background. "There was this amazing restaurant there that served caviar on this. I fell in love with it, and just couldn't get the idea out of my head that it would be the perfect way to present coke."
"It's amazing," I said.
"Now, come on," Juliet said. "Let's get to the party."
Melanie and Juliet led us through her living room, which was dimly lit and subdued. They brought us to the back patio, which was really nothing more than an additional living room, and we were startled to find a litany of friends shouting, "Surprise!"
Our jaws dropped simultaneously. I shook my head in disbelief as I tried to process all the familiar faces I saw. Jason and Crystal. Petey and Alix. Bryce and Nicole. Kelly and Jamie. Johnny and Shelly, which was a great surprise. And there were a few additional guests who were known to us -- but only by reputation. Juliet had invited a half-dozen of her most intimate Hollywood friends. I noticed that mingling with the new faces were a few Infinity girls -- Christy and Serena from LA, along with Caitlyn and Nicolitta from Vegas. So despite how the party started, a civilized and happy reunion among friends, I knew the end point would be something quite different.
After a brief moment as we all processed everything and everyone that stood before us, we became surrounded by a sea of bodies. There was a tangle of limbs combined in hugs, shrieks of excitement and happiness, and a jolt of energy igniting the party.
