Free Secrets of My Hollywood Life: There’s No Place Like Home by Jen Calonita Page B

astronaut, and Sandra Bullock is his copilot.”
    Laney nods approvingly. “I’ve been telling Sandy for years she needed to do sci-fi. That and paranormal are so in.”
    “I get to be an astronaut?” I squeak. And work with Pitt and Bullock? EEEEEE!
    Seth grins. “Jim already likes you, but if he likes you when you meet, the part is yours. You’d be locked in for a trilogy,
     should the first film do well enough to warrant more.”
    Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod ohmygod!
    OH MY GOD!
    I feel like I might pass out. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d ever be offered a part like this. Me! Working with
     James Cameron! With two of the most talked-about actors of this generation! I can’t believe it. I really can’t believe it!
     I need to excuse myself so I can tell Austin and Liz. They are going to flip.
    “You’ve arrived, shining star,” Seth says, his eyes, I think, actually glittering with tears. I look at Laney. She is misty
     too. As is Dad. The four of us actually clutch hands. I look at Mom for approval.
    “There’s more,” she says, pulling a dog-eared script out of her bag.
    “Meg, I thought we decided to table the other offer till we know  Jim’s timeline,” Seth says lightly, but he looks peeved.
     If his eyes were lasers, the new script piled on top of my Cameron one would explode.
    Mom smooths her napkin. “I don’t want to table it.”
    Uh-oh.
    “Why does she have two offers and I only have one?” Matty whines.
    “I don’t even want to hear it,” I joke. “Nothing is better than working with James Cameron. I want to take this one!” Seth
     and Laney laugh.
    The waiter brings over our starters, and my yummy salad stares up at me begging to be eaten. I had lunch almost six hours
     ago, and I’m starved. As I take my first bite, I hear Mom’s reply.
    “Of course you’re going to do the James Cameron movie, but you’re going to take this one too.” Seth just looks at her. So
     does Dad. “What? This script is incredible. To pass it up would be insulting.”
    “Meg, every five minutes someone in Hollywood is insulted,” Seth points out. “This Cameron project is massive. There is no
     time to do both.”
    “You said yourself that we can make time if she wants to,” Mom reminds him.
    “ If she wants to,” Seth says and looks at me since he probably knows I’m confused. “Your mom is right that the other script is
     a winner too. Clint Eastwood wants you to play George Clooney’s estranged daughter in his new film, which he also wrote. The part of the mom will be played by Julia Roberts, and
     rumor has it they’ve confirmed Robert Pattinson as the boyfriend.”
    Whoa. That is pretty good too.
    “The film is shooting during hiatus, and it’s an intense six-week shooting schedule,” Mom tells me knowledgeably. “Clint’s
     people told me they’d be willing to work with Cameron so that you could squeeze in both.” Mom pauses, takes a sip of wine,
     and takes my hand. “Kaitlin, you’ve never had offers like this before. How can you pick just one? The Eastwood film could
     mean Oscar.”
    “So could the Jim project,” Seth reminds me.
    When Nadine said it, I thought she was joking, but now that Laney has mentioned it, and Mom and Seth have said it in all seriousness,
     I can scarcely breathe.
    “The screenplay is amazing,” Seth agrees. “I didn’t bring it to you first because I know you’ve always wanted to work with
     Jim, and that one is a trilogy offer and—”
    “Your job is to bring her all offers,” Mom reminds him.
    “Meg,” Dad warns. Matty and I look at each other.
    “Are you saying I’m not doing my job, Meg?” Seth’s voice is tight.
    “No, but—”
    “We shouldn’t overwork her.” Seth is firm. “I want her fresh when she goes back for season two of Small Fries .” He winks at me. “We know there will be one. I’ve put a call in to Eastwood’s people to check on start dates. Maybe if the
     Eastwood project is