* * *
—
In the end, Olympia got her wish. Fred got her first part in a movie for her as soon as she graduated from high school at seventeen. It was a small part, but a good start. And he signed her as a client. She was thrilled.
It was a grueling part, and a challenge for a young, inexperienced actress, but she managed it beautifully, and Antonia was proud of her when she went to watch her on the set. She knew the director, and they chatted for a few minutes when she dropped by.
She was a very tough director who guided Olympia perfectly and got the best possible performance out of her, and didn’t put up with any nonsense. Olympia wouldn’t have learned as much from her mother. Antonia knew the other director handled her a lot better than she could have, and she was glad that Olympia was having the experience of working for a stranger who set high standards and expected Olympia to meet them. And she hadn’t let her down.
Olympia’s second role was in one of her mother’s movies, and they celebrated Olympia’s eighteenth birthday on the set. The whole cast sang “Happy Birthday” to her and she absolutely glowed. She thrived on a movie set. It was home to her. There was nothing shy and retiring about Antonia’s daughter. She loved the attention and being center stage. She loved everything about acting that her mother had hated. Antonia was infinitely more comfortable behind the camera, just as she had told Hamish so long ago. He had tried to send her in another direction, but it hadn’t lasted long. It had taken her forty-three years to find her place, her voice, and the role she knew was right for her, pleasing herself, not someone else. She had come into her own.
* * *
—
She had a new assistant director working with her on the set of her latest movie, Boden Locke, and he handled Olympia better than Antonia did too. He had a gentle, firm way about him. She was happy to have him with her. He’d been helpful and resourceful so far, but she wasn’t used to him yet. Her old AD had moved to Europe a month before. She’d been lucky to get Boden through a producer she knew.
“She’s got an incredible talent,” he whispered to Antonia after a particularly difficult scene of Olympia’s, which she handled masterfully.
“She must have gotten it from her grandmother, not from me.” She smiled at him, remembering Fabienne’s visit. She had never returned.
“I’ve seen all your movies. We both know where she got it from,” he said. He was forty and looked like a boy to her. He had a youthful style and energy, and couldn’t believe his good luck to be working with her. She was one of the best directors he’d ever seen. And no matter how difficult she was, Olympia had talent too. And time and life might soften some of her sharp edges.
Olympia held up well during the filming, and watched the other actors intently during their scenes, which was also a good way to learn how people worked. Antonia was pleased with what she saw her do.
And Boden had proven himself to be an able assistant, who tried to anticipate her needs, and understood a lot about camera angles, and how she liked to work. She was grateful for his help, and was coming to trust his eye and his suggestions. He was profoundly respectful of her talent as a director.
* * *
—
They wrapped the film just before Thanksgiving, and as they left the set, something occurred to Antonia, and she turned to Boden with a smile. She thought he had moved to New York recently from Boston or Chicago, or some other city, and she wondered if he had anywhere to go for the holiday.
He looked mildly embarrassed when she asked him, and he felt like a loser but decided it didn’t matter.
“Actually, no, I don’t,” he admitted. “My parents moved to Florida last year, and they don’t want my brothers and me home for the holidays. They go on cruises instead now. My brothers live in Montana, in a place that’s murder to get to. And I just moved to New York. So, the short answer to your question is no.”
“Then why don’t you come to my place? We always have a mixed bag of friends over for Thanksgiving lunch.” She noticed he looked like a cowboy himself, tall and lanky with an easy style. She wondered if he came from Montana. He was grateful for the invitation, and accepted with pleasure. He liked being with her.
When Dash came home from UC Davis for the holiday, he told his mother almost as soon as he came through the door that he was going to South Africa for six months on a special project for school. Four students had been chosen, and he was leaving in January. She was happy for him, he was following his dream, which she had encouraged him to do.