Alison

Alison would like to help Byron out, she really would. But he makes it damn near impossible, not even answering her calls, too busy with his new 'project'. She promised his friend Serena she'd be able to get him down to see her, but Alison is beginning to doubt she can do even that much at this point. The way Byron is about this Odessa woman, hanging on her, slavish in his devotion, Alison has never seen anything so disgustingly pitiful in her life....scratch that, Alison has seen it before, back in N.Y., one of her old girlfriends, Belinda, got this way for someone. Not for Alison, of course...but that's all the past & right now, Byron has it 10x worse than Belinda ever did. And he isn't some impressionable freshman, either, he's a grown & extremely experienced man. Maybe he's actually happy like this, Alison thinks as she sits heavily in the director's chair & calls out for someone to bring her coffee.....Maybe Byron doesn't need her help, maybe he's met a girl that rocks his world so hard he just doesn't give a crap about his stupid movie anymore...Alison would like to meet a girl like that someday, she thinks. And then chidefully reminds herself she has a really great girlfriend already, a really stable, easily maintained relationship she'd be a fool to toss away for the Odessa's of this world.

Whatever she can or cannot do for Byron's personal life, she can take care of his movie for him: the Byron she worked for & respects cared about this film once, cared about it deeply, and Alison's mission is to see it finished in his name. And it is indeed, in his name: Alison has been doing everything she can to keep the studio in the dark about Byron's absence from the set, keeping the production going, pretending that he's still in charge of it. She puts everything into it, everything she's learned in her years in the business, to make the movie Byron wanted to make. She came out here to make her own films, of course, and this is nowhere near that goal: Alison works with Byron because he is brilliant, she's seen him do incredible things with film. But his script selections...Alison never could get into the sci-fi weird stuff he always chooses, she wants to make real films about real people, real life. That was her dream, that was what was worth leaving New York for....what the hell happened to that? Alison wonders.

Alison still tries, she calls Byron & attempts to speak to him. But the bitch always answers & she won't let anyone talk to him. So it's a huge surprise when Byron does actually pick up his own phone one day. Alison was so used to being blown off, she was expecting it & called even though she had nothing to say, now that she has his ear. The last time she spoke to him, he told her if she couldn't handle the movie herself, he'd turn it over to Ruben...so Alison doesn't want to tell him anythng about what is happening with his production...Byron asks her about Gavin of all things, asks what he's doing these days. It seems an odd question: has he actually forgotten the Sandman is still in production? All Alison can do is answer the question, she tells him that Gavin & Astrid are a couple these days, and that Gavin is opening an art gallery, which is all Alison knows or wants to know about Gavin's personal life. More than she wants to know actually, since the gallery opening is an event she'll have to drag her unwilling ass to....Byron shows interest in the gallery, though. If Alison remembers right, he associates with some of the art hag set, like that hot blonde who came by the day he disappeared. So maybe he might actually come out for this thing. It's worth a shot anyway, and Alison gives him the date & time of the opening & tells him she hopes to see him there. Then she calls Serena to tell her about the opening too, explaining that there's a chance Byron will actually show up for it.

In N.Y., if you say something starts at a certain time, that's the time it starts...in L.A., late isn't just 'fashionable' it's the industry standard. So Alison shows up for Gavin's gallery opening towards the end of the event. Serena greets her as soon as she enters: the psychic has been here since the early hours of the event, and so far, no Byron. The psychic isn't blaming Alison, but she's clearly flustered, almost near tears. "Hey, I'm sorry, okay," Alison says, looking around for a way out of this conversation, feigns interest in the art. The name of the artist seems terribly familiar, but it takes Alison a mnute to discover the source of the familiarity, because it's a N.Y. name, not an L.A.one. But him, an artist? Well, it's a common enough name, it couldn't possibly be that Justin. Still, Alison scours the room for a familiar face, and sure enough, it is Justin...or an updated version of the Justin she remembers from N.Y. Now, Alison stares at him, not sure if it really is him, or he's just a similar looking guy, in a gallery showing art by someone of the same name. That's way too much coincidence...but it actually seems more probable than ever running into Justin again, under any circumstances. He turns Alison's way & catches her staring. Alison doesn't avert her eyes, but rather stares harder as his eyes meet hers, watching as he recognizes her in return. Alison clicks her tongue stud against her teeth as a she approaches him, remembering the day she got it done: Justin was with her that day, the only thing they ever did alone together, the only thing she never filmed. The pain was excruciating: Alison remembers reaching for his hand, the only hand available at the time, to grasp against the pain. Later, when she told Belinda about it, Belinda cried, jealous because Justin never let any of them touch him like that, never held any of their hands....

Alison's student film about the 'cult' her friends, including her girlfriend Belinda, had formed around this man, earned her a reputation in the school as 'cutting-edge' and it got her her job with Byron. It was easy to hate him, when he was staying in her apartment rent-free because her bedazzled roommates invited him. He drew people in, Alison never fell for it, but she made it work for her film. No one could see it & not be intrigued by him, not be left without that emptiness 'the Collared' all felt after he suddenly disappeared from the city. Seeing him again brings back a lot of memories: she mistrusted him & wished her friends could themselves out of his grip & him out of their apartment. But it was also a great time, she made her best film, her own film, the way she wanted to do it.

Byron never does show up to this thing. The bitch Odessa probably locked him up for the night.

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