“Tom deserved them,” Jenny said with finality.

“No,” Anna said quietly. “To John.”

After a pause, Jenny said, “He screwed up too. You deserve to be angry.”

“I was angrier at John. I expected more from him. I thought I was more important than his work.”

“He messed up, but it sounds like you kind of were...” Jenny responded tentatively. “He tried to break the contract, and he had no idea Tom was doing all this to screw with you. Tom doesn’t mind collateral damage if it gets him what he wants.”

Their time together played backward, like a movie in reverse, until it stuttered to a stop at the premiere party: Anna in her black designer gown, John in his ridiculous uniform, both of them confronted with each other. She’d been dismissive and rude, letting her nerves get the best of her. Of course John had taken the opportunity to pitch to Tom Melton. Hollywood was littered with ex-wives and ex-husbands. She was not unique in that regard. Of course he hadn’t wanted to tell her.

When she thought about everything that had happened, she realized John was right. She’d shut down every conversation he’d tried to have with her. She’d been so worried about what the press would say. She hadn’t stopped to think about his perspective.

“I think I need to make it right. He lost his movie because of me.” Anna rummaged through the box in front of her, needing something to do.

She pulled out the poster for The Castro, the one she and Jenny had worked so hard to make. She contemplated how many shifts she would need at the roller-skating diner to buy the movie back from Tom, not that he would sell it to her. She would be waiting tables in a wheelchair before she made enough money.

“He’s not going to let it go easily, now that he’s won,” Reed said.

Anna pictured the smug look on her ex-husband’s face. She would do anything to wipe it off. She found a box of tickets. Tom had made fun of her for saving small mementos from each flight and trip they took together. She didn’t take it for granted, the life that making movies gave her. Tom liked to pretend he’d been born into it, but she knew the truth. Anna remembered all those trips to New York, even if Tom had forgotten.

“He’s going to be an asshole about the whole thing,” Jenny agreed. “He needs a taste of his own medicine.”