Thursday, March 26th, 9 AM

Belmont

Callie

Robo-shrink wasn’t her usual sunshiny self. Callie noticed the tension in Sophie Choi’s jaw as they worked through the physical exam. The way her forehead creased whenever she checked her cell. When the doctor whacked her knee with a reflex hammer, it really hurt.

“Ow!” Callie jerked away. “What’s your deal?”

“Sorry.” Choi forced a smile. “That was a little stronger than I intended.”

“Seriously. Don’t beat the patient.”

Choi let out a fake laugh, then picked up her iPad to jot something down. “You seem to be feeling better this morning.” Her gaze shifted to the easel, which still displayed an empty canvas. “How’s the artwork going?”

“Really well.” Callie mimicked the faux-cheerful tone. “I’m experimenting with this trendy new medium called invisible paint. What do you think?”

When Choi tapped more notes into her iPad, Callie wondered if the woman was actually humorless enough to take her seriously. That was the problem with shrinks. Crack the wrong joke and they might put you on an anti-psychotic to treat hallucinations.

“You know I’m kidding, right?”

Choi set aside the iPad. “Humor’s good, Miss Perrin. It’s a coping strategy. One that I notice you use quite a lot. But humor can also be a way to avoid some hard truths. That’s something we should dig into later. Maybe you can start by–”

Robo-shrink’s cell buzzed to interrupt the thought. Bad news, judging from the way her cheeks flushed as she read the message. She fired off a quick reply text, then looked away and muttered “Unbelievable” through clenched teeth.

“What’s wrong? Boyfriend being a dick?”

Choi shook her head, the redness now reaching her ears. “Your mother showed up this morning. Unannounced and demanding to see you, right away. She’s refusing to return during visiting hours. Our nurses can’t reason with her.”

So that explained the attitude. Elin had that effect on people.

“She’s being disruptive,” Choi continued. “It’s totally unacceptable.”

“Yup. Sounds like Elin, all right.”

Choi’s nostrils flared. “Apparently, the rules don’t apply to you celebrities.”

“Hey! Don’t lump me together with that bitch! Make her wait, for all I care. Better yet, send her ass back to LA. I’m not seeing her.”

“That’s not an option. Mrs. Perrin-Berg is your legal guardian.”

“But I’m twenty-one!”

“Right. However due to” – Choi paused to consider her next words – “recent events, your mother has been designated your power of attorney.”

“What? That’s total bullshit!”

“You can appeal the court ruling, but that usually takes weeks. Of course, when you’re ready to be discharged, you’ll regain full autonomy.”

“And when will that happen?”

“Soon, hopefully. But recovery has no timeline, Miss Perrin.”

“Great. So Elin’s in charge.” Callie jumped up from her bed and started to pace, still barefoot and in her pajamas. “Way to look out for my mental health, Sophie. How do you think I wound up here in the first place?”

Choi met her gaze, an unexpected flicker of real sympathy in her eyes. “There’s never one reason, Callie. If your mother’s a stressor, we’ll help you manage the negative emotions she stirs up. But she has the legal right to see you.”

“Fine.” Callie crossed the room to her closet, which had a mirror but no door. “Guess I’ll get dressed then.”

“Take your time,” Choi said. “Visiting hours aren’t until one. Your mother will have to wait.”

“No, she won’t.”

She had to give Robo-shrink credit for the moxie, but it didn’t matter. The doctor might not bend to Elin Perrin-Berg’s will, but those above her would.

They always did.

When she was alone again, Callie pulled on a pair of gray sweatpants her roommate Maya had sent her, along with an oversized Brown sweatshirt. Just the kind of sloppy outfit good old E.P-B would hate.

Perfect.

To distract herself as she waited for Elin, she strutted in front of the ceiling-mounted camera, mouthing an occasional kiss to whoever was watching. Probably some middle-aged perv in a rent-a-cop uniform. It was only a matter of time before a stolen video clip made its way to the tabloids, so she may as well have some fun with that reality.

Life in a fishbowl. The only thing she and her birth mother had in common.

*

It took Elin less than fifteen minutes to force her way past Belmont Springs’ defenses. She rapped on the door twice, then barged into Callie’s room without waiting for an invitation.

“My sweet girl!” She wrapped her arms around Callie in a smothering embrace. “I’ve been worried sick.”

Callie squirmed away from the overpowering scent of jasmine and cigarettes. “Jesus, Elin!” She coughed and fanned the air between them. “Perfume much? You’re giving me an asthma attack.”

“Don’t start.” Elin tossed her Louis Vuitton bag onto the desk, like it was a sack of grenades she had just lugged with her to storm Omaha Beach. “You have no idea what kind of nightmare I just went through to see you. This is like a third-world hospital. That rude Chinese girl kept –”

“Her name’s Doctor Sophie Choi,” Callie cut in. “She’s my psychiatrist. And she’s from Cherry Hills, New Jersey.”

“Whatever. Let me look at you.” Elin’s button nose crinkled with distaste as she inspected Callie’s outfit. “Lovely. I see they’re dressing you like a teenaged boy.”

“Sorry. Left my Dolce & Gabbana in the hotel room. You know, the place where I OD’d a few days ago.”

“How could I not know?” Elin blew out a sigh through overly plumped lips. “The news is everywhere. Such a silly thing to do. Always with the melodrama. Inherited that from your father, I suppose.”

Callie bit the inside of her cheek but said nothing. There was no point with E.P-B. The woman hadn’t even bothered to show up after the last suicide attempt. No doubt she was here now because she wanted something.

She dropped onto the edge of the bed, letting the six-foot-tall, former fashion model tower over her. Suddenly, all she wanted to do was sleep. To crawl under the covers and disappear. “Why are you here, Elin?”

“What kind of question is that? My daughter tries to kill herself.” She choked off a sob. “So I drop everything and race home from Maui. Then I take a red eye to this cold, miserable place where it snows in late March. Why do you think I’m here?”

Callie noticed the ash-blonde hair and tan. The ski slope tip of her nose, which had a new diamond stud. The unnatural fullness in her cheeks and chest. More plastic surgery, all financed by Dad’s estate. From Callie’s inheritance, not that she’d ever need the money.

“You want something.”

Elin perched on the desk chair and crossed her long legs. “Of course, I want something! I want my daughter back! I’m here to rescue you from this insane asylum. Look at this place. It’s like a set from a horror movie.”

Callie rolled her eyes to the ceiling. This was way more Elin than she could handle.

“Don’t give me that look. You’ll come home to LA. I’ve already booked a stay at the Sunrise Retreat in Palos Verdes – same place as last time. Take a week or two to get your shit together. And then…” Elin’s frown flipped into a smile. “Here’s the best part.”

Callie braced herself. Big news from E.P-B could only mean one thing.

“Bridget called yesterday to tell me about an interesting meeting with Netflix. Get this: they want a new season of Prodigy! Once you’re healthy again, of course. We’ve got the green light!” She shrieked. “Can you believe it?”

There it was. Callie swallowed the knot in her throat. Twenty-one years and a small, pathetic part of her still clung to the hope that this woman who had brought her into the world actually gave a shit about her.

When will I ever fucking learn?

“Why didn’t Bridget call me?” she asked in a flat voice. “She’s my damn agent. I’m the one who pays her.”

“Because I wanted to deliver the news. You’re a star, Callie. It’s time to let some light back into your life after all this” -- She motioned to the walls around them -- “darkness.”

Callie stood up and walked to the window. Outside, low black clouds had spread over the horizon like a dirty blanket. Wind whipped the treetops and blew sleet against the windowpane. The ominous sound made her think of a rattlesnake.

“Actually…” She turned to face Elin. “I want to stay here for a while. At least until things level out. Then maybe I’ll go back to Brown and finish my thesis. I can make up some classes over the summer. Try to graduate next fall.”

Elin’s jaw dropped. “All that stress is what put you here in the first place! How could you even think –?”

“Because that’s what I want! Why the hell would I go to Palos Verdes?” She laughed. “That rehab is a joke. It’s basically, like, summer camp for filthy rich druggies. They won’t help me there.”

Elin crossed her arms. “At least you’ll be living in a gorgeous bungalow. By the beach. Feeling the sunshine on your face. Just look around you. How can anyone feel better in such a cold, gray place? I’ve only been here a few minutes and I’m already depressed.”

“I’m not you, Elin. Besides, they won’t just let me leave.”

“I’d like to see them try stop us.”

“Doesn’t work that way. They’ll get a court order and have me committed.”

“I already have a court order! It says I’m your guardian, and I’m taking you home.”

Callie sprawled out on her mattress. There was no point in trying to reach this woman. “Can we talk about this later? I need to rest.”

“I’m not surprised, with all the poison they’ve forced into your body. Poor girl. Look what they’ve done to you. You can barely keep your eyes open.”

Callie’s temples throbbed and her stomach churned with battery acid. She’d been feeling this way since they pumped the pills out on Friday, but the gnawing had finally subsided. Now it was back with a vengeance.

“Don’t worry.” Elin hovered over her. “They can’t keep you prisoner here. I’ll take care of everything. If you want, we can drop by the SoHo Gallery in New York before flying home. Bridget says your exhibit is drawing mad crowds. Lines around the block. Tickets sold out for months. You’ve never been bigger. It’s –”

Someone knocked on the door to interrupt Elin’s rant. Three cheerful taps that Callie recognized immediately.

“Come in!” She bounded across the room to let in Ethan before her mother could scare him away.

“Good morning.” He stood in the doorway, taking in Elin’s surprise appearance before shifting his gaze back to Callie. “I didn’t know you had company. Should I come back?”

“No!” She tugged him into the room. “Your timing’s perfect. Elin… this is Ethan the Med Student. Ethan, meet my” – She forced herself to say the word – “mother.”

“Ethan Chase.” He shook Elin’s hand. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Ditto,” Elin replied, taking her time to let go. “Now I get what my daughter sees in this place. So, you’re a medical student?”

“For the rest of the month. Then I’ll be starting my internship in New York.”

“You should take his card,” Callie suggested. “He’s going to be a plastic surgeon.”

“That explains it. You don’t strike me as the usual doctor type, Ethan. Bet you’ll look great in Armani.”

He laughed, cheeks blushing. “Suits aren’t my thing, but thanks. I’ll be wearing scrubs for the foreseeable future.”

“That’ll work too. Bet you look good in anything.” Elin played with her hair in a way that made Callie cringe.

“Ew,” she muttered under her breath.

“Anyway, I’d like to thank you for helping my charming daughter over here. Looks like you’re the only ray of sunshine in this gloomy place.”

“Thanks. Callie’s doing great, but I can’t take any credit. She’s working with the best psychiatrists in the world. I mean, Doctor Grieves literally wrote the book on treating bipolar disorder. And Doctor Choi… she’s pretty intense, but brilliant.”

Callie grinned at the way he’d just fumbled for something nice to say about Robo-shrink. A few days ago, that sort of thing would have annoyed the crap out of her but now, it just seemed sweet.

“Gotta love that Sophie,” she teased.

Elin didn’t share their humor. “I’m not sure I’d call pushing pills and drugging my daughter out of her mind brilliant care.” She walked to the blank canvas and lifted it from the easel. “This is what they’ve done to her.”

Ethan’s smile faded. “Callie’s art will come back to her, Mrs. Perrin.”

“Perrin-Berg,” Elin corrected.

“Right. Your daughter will paint again when she’s ready. When she’s healthy. I’m sure you realize that’s got to come first.”

Elin thinned her lips. “Of course. That’s why I’m taking her home. In LA, we have wellness centers that are bright and cheerful. Places that heal the spirit instead of breaking it. So different from this” – She eyed the simple furnishings in the room as if they were crawling with cockroaches – “institution.”

“But she’s made so much progress here.” Ethan turned to Callie. “Are you really thinking of leaving?”

Before Callie could open her mouth, Elin stepped between them and cracked open the door. “I appreciate your concern for my daughter, but she needs to rest now. We have a long flight ahead of us.”

Callie noticed the concern in Ethan’s eyes. The way he kept glancing back at her as Elin led him into the hallway. She felt a sudden urge to sketch that expression. To capture true kindness before she forgot what it looked like.

“Hey, Ethan!”

He poked his head back into the room.

“I need to straighten out some things with Elin, but that shouldn’t take long. Meet me in the rec room in half an hour, okay?”

“You mean –?”

“I’m not going anywhere. Besides, I hate LA.”

When he smiled, her heart soared like a bird that had just been released from its cage. She recognized the unexpected emotion with a burst of wonder.

Happiness.

*

If happiness was a fluttering bird, then Elin was the cat that loved to kill it. Alone again with her mother, Callie retreated to her bed. She’d hoped for a surge of defiance to carry her through this confrontation. Instead, all she felt was exhaustion.

Elin sat in the desk chair, silently scrolling through her iPhone. They stayed like that for five minutes before she finally looked up at Callie, mouth opening as if she were surprised to find they were still in the same room together.

“Just answered a text from Zach.” She held up her iPhone screen. “He’s been asking after you. His new single drops next week, and he wanted to know if you could make it to the release party.”

Callie covered a yawn. She’d met Zach during her second rehab stay, the one in La Jolla. After that, they’d shared a few months of drugging, sex, and nothing more. But ‘Zacky B’ was famous. Pop songs. Movies. Millions of followers on Insta and YouTube. He had a mansion in the West Hills and drove a Maybach. That was all that mattered to Elin.

“We broke up, like, two years ago. If you’re still so into that poser, then why don’t you try to hook up with him?”

Elin put down her cell, gaze shifting back to Callie. That twinkle in her eyes never meant anything good. “Funny. You have a type and you don’t even know it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Zach and this med student.” She grinned. “Ethan. He’s like a clean-cut version. Take away the tattoos. The bad boy attitude. The fame and money. Everything interesting.”

“To you, Elin. Everything interesting to you.”

“That boy is basically vanilla Zach,” she continued with a laugh. “He’s nice to look at. Cute face. Hot body, but let’s be honest. He’s not really your type.”

Callie sat up, cheeks burning with a sudden rush of anger. “And what exactly is my type? You think I’m into womanizing druggies like Zach? God, Elin! A normal mom would be telling me to find someone just like Ethan. Someone who’s sweet and intelligent. Someone who actually gives a shit about me. But you’d rather pimp me off to some auto-tuned douchebag with a fan base of, like, a billion twelve-year-old girls.”

“Fine.” Elin stood up, heels clacking on the floor. “You like this boy? Go ahead and screw him. Try out the boring doctor if that’s an itch you’ve gotta scratch. But believe me, you’ll be sick of him in less than a week.”

She snatched up her handbag and marched toward the door.

“Ethan’s just a friend!” Callie shouted after her. “We’ve known each other for less than a week, but he already cares about me more than you ever did. How pathetic is that?”

“What’s pathetic” – Elin made a sweeping gesture around the small room – “is that you’re choosing this. Life in a nuthouse. Crazy pills and the quacks who push them. I’m glad Noah’s not alive to see what you’ve become.”

Callie balled up her fists. “Don’t you dare mention Dad! Like he was some kind of role model! Is that what upsets you? That he managed to kill himself, but I keep failing?”

Someone pounded on the door. Elin huffed, then jerked it open to reveal Sophie Choi, who was standing outside with a beefy-looking security guard.

“Mrs. Perrin-Berg,” Choi said with ice in her voice. “You need to leave. We’re here to escort you off the property.”

“I know the way, bitch.” Elin gave Callie one last withering look, then shoved her way past the guard and Choi. “And you’ll be hearing from my lawyer.”

***

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