Chapter 11




And the winner is…

Marissa held her breath. . .

Nicole Kidman!

Marissa let her breath out with a disappointed sigh. Ryan conveyed a look that expressed sympathy for her. It was amazing how one look could say everything with out actually talking. Seth really should take lessons. It might make him shutup once in a while.

When Nicole Kidman was droning on in her acceptance speech, Seth leaned over. "Marissa don't worry! She's been a great actress, since… forever! Don't worry, you have a brilliant career ahead of you. Plus, next year if you get nominated again, I'll bribe the committee with money and some shares."

Marissa chuckled. "Thanks Seth." She gratefully replied.

She felt much better.

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Much later…


The kids had already yawned off. They were lulled by the speeches of everyone. Now, it was the big part of the night for everyone. Best Picture was presented.

And the winner of Best Picture is:

Dreamland!

Rounds of applause echoed through out the theater.

Omg. Really??? Marissa couldn't believe it. Ryan nudged her to join her fellow cast. Marissa clambered up. She never realized how hard it was to climb up the stairs in her stilettos. Fortunately, her co-star Jason helped.

"Here, I'll help you get through the long, treacherous journey." Jason whispered.

"Guys have it so easy. They don't need to wear these things. They're killing my feet!" Marissa whispered back.

Jason smiled.

They reached the podium. She hugged everyone. Sophia Coppola took the stage.

"I was nominated so many years ago, and I remember that was the first time an American woman got nominated. And now, I'm standing here getting the award! This is truly amazing."

And Marissa felt truly amazing. Standing there with everyone in the audience beaming down at her, she smiled. She felt like she won too. It edged all of her disappointment from the previous lost away.

The end of Sophia's speech brought Marissa's reverie to a halt.

"And now that we're done! It's time to party!"

Marissa beamed and was ushered to the little opening near the side of the stage. It was time to party!

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(The Vanity Fair Afterparty)

"Time to let go of your Oscar stress and just flow!" The DJ boomed.

Marissa and Ryan were having a great time on the dance floor. Ryan really liked the party since everyone was a celebrity and they all treated everyone as equal. It was really amazing because he talked with all the A-list celebrities.

Seth looked over at Ryan and Marissa and sighed. He was on his cell phone making some last minute deals and changes. He sat in his solitary booth looking over everyone dancing. His glass of wine sat in front of him. The pounding and all the business numbers were really giving him a huge headache. He clapped his cell phone shut and leaned back into the cushion of the seat. Not one for dancing, he always sat out, waiting until everyone was so tired and ready to go home. Seth looked at the love his life Summer. She was holding the girls, talking with Paris Hilton. It was quite odd, since a couple of years ago, Seth remembered her dancing on the tables at every club hot-spot. Now she was holding here two daughters. Who would have thought about it? Seth chuckled slightly to himself. Ethan let out a small snore. Seth looked over at his son sleeping on the cushions. Thank god the seats came with comfortable wide seats with many throw pillows. Seth didn't see how it was humanly possible to fall asleep with all the noise. He shrugged. Ethan could probably fall asleep anywhere or anytime he desired. Seth got a bit frightened thinking how his son might have that disease which made the person fall asleep at any time. He heard it could cause brain problems. Or just make the person seem really odd. Like that guy in Rat Race. Seth chuckled once more.

"Having a good time?" P. Diddy stood before him.

"Wow, hey Sean, what's up?" Seth stood up and did the weird celebrity handshake.

"Nothing, how are you? You should really party more, you know?"

"I can't I got to stay in an area where I can hear the phone… just in case some urgent business comes up." Seth pointed to the silver cellphone that was next to his glass of wine.

"That sucks man. I'll talk to you later."

Seth waved.

Seth couldn't believe his life. It was amazing that just a few years ago, he watched T.V. with Anna and marveled at the stupidity of celebrities. They each vowed to each other that they would never get involved with either those people or the entertainment industry. Now, here he was, at one of the biggest parties, sitting in the hot spot of the celebrity world. Anna wouldn't be proud. Seth thought that Anna would make a perfect best friend. It would've been an epitome of a platonic example. The kind where they weren't ever attracted to each other, just great friends. When they were puzzled about the opposite sex, they could just ask each other. Come to think of it, Seth would probably be the one asking all the questions. And, about Summer. He looked over to where she was sitting. She looked up to meet his gaze. Seth motioned for her to come. Summer waved goodbye to Paris, talked a bit more, probably about a play date, and she dragged Emma and Madison towards the table. Emma looked ready to drop out. She looked at Ethan enviously. Madison on the other hand was ready to party.

"Sweetie, will you go get Ryan and Marissa please?" Summer asked the girl.

"Sure." Madison exclaimed. She bounded off. Even at 3:30 a.m., she had a lot of energy in her. Summer and Seth started packing and clearing everything. Summer helped Ethan and Emma into coats. Marissa summoned the bodyguards, who were lounging, to come over. Marissa and Ryan came, beaming from the great time.

"Sum, you really should've danced more!" Marissa berated.

"Coop, I'm a mom now. I've had enough fun in high school for a life time." Summer replied.

 Marissa rolled her eyes.

They all walked out of the party. Downtown L.A. looked pretty deserted. Ryan was a bit creeped out. All of a sudden, camera flashes came out of nowhere. Ryan nearly jumped from shock. Seth, Summer, and Marissa strolled along. Marissa, suddenly noticing Ryan's hesitance giggled.

"It's only the paparazzi." Marissa whispered.

"Oh." Ryan was a bit freaked out by this stalkerish behavior. But, he did feel kind of special.

They continued to walk until they got to a big, black escalade that was meant for the bodyguard to drive to escort them.

"Hey, Joe, why don't you go home? I'll take my car, you can go back home." Seth reassured the burly man. Oh, and tell the wife I said Hi.

The man just grunted and smiled in a friendly way.

They all clambered in. The kids fell asleep almost immediately after getting in.

Ryan was amazed by all the gadgets the car contained. "Wow, Seth, I didn't know you owned a black escalade."

Seth laughed, "I own tons of cars. Like millions. Summer is the one who wants to buy a car every time we pass a dealership. And every time we always go in and buy some sort of car."

Ryan was baffled. "Are you that whipped Seth?"

"Maybe…" Seth smiled sheepishly at Summer.

Ryan gave one of his classic looks.

"So what you can't ever have enough cars." Summer exclaimed.

"Summer, honey, I think you have way too many cars." Seth said. "I mean to give you an example, Ryan, she has every single color of the Mercedes convertible. Blue, black, silver, yellow, red…"

"So what?" Summer asked. She pouted.

Everyone except Summer laughed.

They drove the rest of the way silent.

When they arrived at the hotel, they got everything settled, and carried the kids to their beds. Everyone retired to bed. Ryan was the last one to use the shower. He got out and went to his room. His cell phone was ringing. He picked it up.

"Hello?" Ryan asked.

A crying voice came on, "Ryan…it's Cindy."

What does Cindy want? Review and I'll finish faster!