"Ash! Lorelei!" Julia Endo calls as she makes her way toward us through the crowd in The Pink Door's dining room where we're seated in the back corner. The famous actress doesn't appear to be walking so much as floating across the floor. Lorelei has shared that her nickname is the Empress. It’s clear why. She definitely gives off an air of royalty, especially with her entourage behind her.
Julia’s wearing a gorgeous blush suit that goes perfectly with the pink tones of the restaurant's charmingly romantic decor. She planned this, of course, or her stylist did.
On her shoulder is a small, neat, slightly darker blush handbag. One of her own designs, I'm sure. I hate to admit it, but I studied her Instagram feed last night. She apparently spends just as much time on her line of purses and accessories as she does on acting projects.
Rune, Lorelei, and I all stand as if we're receiving a visiting dignitary. This means we can see the reaction of the crowd, some of whom recognize Julia with happy excitement, and others who simply admire this vision of loveliness.
"Isn't this a lovely surprise?" Julia says, beaming up at Rune before they air kiss each other on each cheek in European style. She shows no evidence of annoyance that I've been sprung on her, "It's a party!" she exclaims as if entirely delighted.
A team of four twenty-somethings trails her. They're not quite so stylishly dressed but close, including a strapping young man all in black who appears to be a modern-day Samurai. He must be her bodyguard, but who are the other three? Does she really need three assistants for lunch?
One of the young women hands her a white gift bag filled with light pink tissue paper (of course!). Then she and another sit at the table behind us, two at the table next to us. They all take out their phones and start busily texting, except for her bodyguard, who keeps scanning the room.
Ah. I get it. What a smart setup to keep fans from getting too close and disturbing lunch. Julia hands the gift bag to Lorelei with both hands and makes a slight bow, the way I've seen Japanese people do in movies.
Lorelei mimics her, bowing back, and says, "Thank you."
"A little bird told me you're into scrapbooking now," Julia tells Lorelei, focusing all her attention on the girl, "I thought I'd bring you some Japanese scrapbooking tools."
"I am. Thank you!" Lorelei says excitedly, "Shelby's even teaching me how to sketch for it."
"Shelby," Julia draws out my name in a way that makes it sound like the most charming one in the world, "What a pleasure to finally meet you," she shakes my hand and uses her other hand to support mine as if this is indeed an important meeting.
Finally? Okay, Rune admitted he talked about me. This should make me feel good. It doesn't. I feel like an awkward giant beside this petite piece of graceful perfection. I'm grateful we quickly sit down.
"What a treat!" Julia says, settling into her seat next to Lorelei, across from Rune, facing the restaurant, "Thank you all for making time for me."
She smiles prettily as our waiter comes around with menus and asks if we'd like sparkling or still water, "Sparkling, don't you think?" She asks us all, and of course, we nod in agreement. After all, we've already had the still, flat, boring tap water while waiting for her. Rune was right that she’d be late.
If it's possible, Julia's even more beautiful in person. She's elegance personified in her gorgeous suit, tasteful but expensive jewelry, and her long black hair worn in a shiny, elaborately twisted braid over her shoulder. I'm so glad I have this new outfit, haircut, and fancy bright lipstick, or I'd be a pathetic country mouse. I'm not sure I fully understood what great armor the right outfit can be. No wonder Rune became a clothes horse when he got famous.
"Can I open my gift?" Lorelei asks eagerly.
"Why don't you figure out what you want to eat first?" Rune suggests.
"Oh, right!" Lorelei picks up the menu, glancing over it hurriedly.
"I hope you don't mind; I had my assistant order a few appetizers to start us off," Julia says as two servers set down an array of platters in front of us, "as a sushi lover, I had to try their tuna, crudo."
"Shelby has family in Lake Como," Rune tells Julia conversationally as he reaches for a piece of crostini on one of the plates, "She speaks Italian fluently."
This is a slight exaggeration, though I do speak it well. I'm surprised he remembers.
"Lake Como!” Julia exclaims, “Did you ever see George Clooney?" Her eyes are wide in a way that reminds me of what Rune does when he wants to disarm someone, "Rune, remember when we saw him at that party in the Hollywood Hills. We chickened out of saying hello," she laughs, switching to his first name easily.
"We were way too starstruck," Rune agrees, filling his plate with more appetizers.
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"I saw him zip by with his friends in a speedboat once," I tell her, which is actually true. Julia looks impressed. My tight stomach relaxes a smidge.
"I'm so jealous," she says, glancing at her menu, which I'm pretty sure she studied ahead of time as well, "do you go to Italy regularly?"
"My parents go every summer, but I haven't been in a few years," I tell her, "My dad's family is from Milan, but they have a house in the tiny mountain Brunate, right above Como."
"We took a tram up there when we went, didn't we?" She asks Rune, who nods over his appetizers.
"It's much nicer to take the funicolare straight up the mountain than drive the stomach-twisting car trip," I agree, using the Italian word for mountain tram. Rune squeezes my knee under the table, but I'm unsure if he's cheering me on for language dropping or warning me to be careful.
All things considered, lunch is going well. Julia is that consummate professional conversationalist who asks questions as much as she talks. The food is excellent. Lorelei eats over half her meatball sandwich before returning to all of her new scrapbooking swag. I'm enjoying my Summer in the Northwest Risotto with fresh seafood and seasonal vegetables.
"Rune," Julia asks casually, "how are you? I'm not used to seeing you quite so svelte and red gold, but it works on you.
"That's his natural hair color," Lorelei says quickly before Rune can respond. I'm still ruminating on Julia’s back-handed ‘it works on you’ compliment.
"Yes, sweet, I know you're twins that way," Julia smiles patiently at Lorelei, "you're both lucky to have such distinctive coloring," she turns back to Rune, "You're sleeping better?" She tilts her head in concern, "And those other unpleasant side effects from all the stress have cleared up?"
Her voice sounds concerned, but there's something behind it that seems like she's also trying to land a dart. Rune's comments about having a united front on the Ferry come back to me as he shifts in his seat and presses his calf against mine.
"We're both sleeping much better," Lorelei cuts in again with her impeccable timing, barely glancing up from her phone, "Aren't we?"
"We are," Rune gives Lorelei a wink, then rests his arm across the back of my chair, squeezing my far shoulder gently. I turn to him. He's gone totally Asher Dillion. His green eyes are hooded and lazy. His gaze is so one for being alone in the bedroom a blush rises in my cheeks. He glances down at my mouth for a beat before turning back to Julia.
Holy guacamole. I've never smoked, but I feel like I need a cigarette. I wish he hadn't made me blush on purpose. I turn such an unappealing bright red.
"How's Ben?" Rune asks, turning back to Julia and naming her rockstar boyfriend, the one she starred in the music video that Rune directed, the one she left him for.
"Quite well, thank you," Julia says a little too brightly, "we're looking for a project we can work on together. He wants to branch out from music, act more, and stop touring so much. I've been getting a little lonely and bored working such long hours in Vancouver and Seattle on this new pilot project."
Ah. So lonely and bored means it's time to reach out to Rune, who is only across Puget Sound right now. The project she's talking about is her newest possible TV series. Rune told me it was a spin-off of her top-rated show about a young Japanese American woman making it as a game designer in Silicon Valley. Rune played her wealthy tech wiz on-again-off-again boyfriend from Austin for two seasons.
"We may have just the thing," Rune says as he texts on his phone, "If you can help me out on a project I'm working on, I think we've got a very promising IP for you."
Julia opens her dainty little purse and picks up a pink iPhone, "Do you really want to be involved in such unpleasantness?" She asks after reading with a small sigh.
"Yes, I think it's finally time that I face it and tell my side of the story. Your support would be extremely valuable," Rune says, low but firm as he types more. Julia reads his next text. She looks up at him again, her face now schooled in a pleasant expression, but her words are serious.
"If I say yes to this, I'll be closing the door to the movie with Franklin, and the backlash against you could get worse," she tells him, "I know he doesn't want that. He wants to make peace."
Wow. She’s admitting there is a backlash against Rune, and Franklin has something to apologize for.
"Leaking to the press that I'm in talks to star in the movie version without talking to me isn't the way to start that process," Rune tells her, "Especially since I didn't just direct the music video, I wrote the script and our production company owns the rights."
"That was some writer overhearing us talk at a party, not Franklin's doing," Julia winces a little, then waves her hand dismissively, "It's just at the talking stage, but yes, we'd love to have you onboard."
"I'm not going back to acting right now," he tells her, "Shelby and I have other projects we're focused on producing."
"Rune, our fans are getting so excited about this possible project. You know they've been asking for it for years. For me personally, it's still an uphill slog to get Hollywood to let Asian actresses star in movies."
"All the more reason to seriously develop your own projects beyond handbags," Rune says in a lecturing tone, setting down his fork from the Cassarecce alla Genovese, long twists of pasta with green beans, roasted potatoes, pesto, and pine nuts.
"Rune, this movie could be brilliant if you were on the creative team. Franklin is still a powerful producer," Julia leans forward, her voice sweetly encouraging, "Why don't fly down to L.A. and set up a meeting with him? Tell him everything you need to say face to face."
Rune leans back, a mulish expression on his face but she continues doggedly, "You were both going through a terrible time during that filming," she continues, her voice now soothing, "Covid was such a nightmare, and then your mother's abrupt passing after she was doing so well. And Franklin had such a dreadful time with that director. She was an absolute disaster that he admits he was drinking heavily at the time."
Something about how Julia says this last bit reminds me of how my mother responded to my challenges with Pamela. It's off-putting. It doesn’t place responsibility on the one who did the harm. I put my fork down. My pasta's no longer appetizing.
"Isn't one of the 12 steps to take accountability for your own bad behavior?" Rune asks Julia pointedly. Good for him, but oh boy, here we go. Under the table, Rune presses his full leg against mine as if seeking solidarity. I squeeze his knee encouragingly. "AA isn't for him," Julia wrinkles her perfect nose in distaste, "he went to a private program."
"I'm not going to call him Julia, I'm not flying to L.A." Rune tells her, "I hope he’s working with you on an actual film after he strung us along about Shōgun for years when he never had the rights to the book. If he wants to apologize, he can email me, and I'll consider whether or not I'll have actual conversation with him."