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Copyright © 2020 by Edwin Betancourt
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Created in the United States of America
First Printing, 2019
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One Month Earlier…
“Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.” - Marilyn Monroe
*Episode 2*- #DALA
December 4th, 2019
The front entrance of the Golden Hotel was filled with Paparazzi and fans, all eager to snap a picture of the newest ‘It’ couple currently taking over San New City; model Lola Ferrari and Pop Star Damien Marx.
An anonymous tip on Twitter reported that both the Twenty something year olds checked into the Presidential Suite of the hotel for their first sit down interview with the Queen of Entertainment, Darlene Hart.
San New City may be full of celebrities who are rich and famous, but the city was known for the vultures that inhabited the streets watching from afar and waiting for just one slip up.
Those Vultures in question would be the Paparazzi- a group of people who take and sell invasive pictures of celebrities in the most embarrassing and vulnerable situations. While many of the San New elites found them to be very problematic and immoral, they weren’t breaking any laws. After all, it was their job to take the pictures and sell it to whichever magazine paid them the highest amount of money.
I parked my purple Mini Cooper a block away because I didn’t want to pay a valet.
I pushed my way through the crowd approaching the hotel’s golden glass doors, the door attendant opened it for me and I thanked him as I stepped foot into the lobby.
The lobby of the Golden Hotel was exactly what the namesake suggested. Furniture, light fixtures, staff uniforms, numbers, letterings, napkins and even documents were all painted Gold, a color that would make King Midas very proud.
The lobby was very spacious and it even connected with the designer Dulce Amorè’s new pop up shop, which had an entrance on the other side of the lobby, but I wasn’t here to shop or sight see; I was here to work.
All eyes stared at me as I made my way down the semi packed lobby of the hotel heading toward the concierge desk. I was seconds away from asking them what room the notorious couple could be found in, when I heard someone call out my name.
I looked over toward the elevators, which were to the right of me and found Tony standing in an open elevator holding a cup of coffee in his right hand.
“Oh good morning beautiful!” the sight of the coffee cup caused my heart to flutter.
I walked over to him, grabbed the coffee from his hands and entered the elevator. He pressed the number ‘36’, causing the doors to close and the elevator to ascend.
“Meryl Hopkins left another message. She really wants you to help her.”
I shook my head opening the lid to the coffee cup. “Yeah well as I told her many, many times before, I am not a marriage counselor. She doesn’t need my help. She signed a pre-nup and an NDA so this divorce, if she chooses to get one, won’t get ugly.”
The aroma of the light and sweet coffee tickled my nostrils and I didn’t hesitate to take a long sip enjoying the sweet warm and delicious taste that travelled down my throat.
“Maybe her and her husband will work things out.”
I swallowed that sip and shrugged at his words. “Eh, who knows. Love is freaking weird.”
There were a few seconds of silence before Tony started speaking again, “Did you attend that Gay single mixer Sheila invited you to?”
“Tony.” I said not wanting to hear another word about that damn single mixer our Mail Woman invited me to. She believed that I would find my Mr. Right at the event, but we both knew that wouldn’t be the case.
“Don’t you ‘Tony’ me.” My assistant stated. “It’s been months since you and Colton separated.”
“Divorcing.” I corrected which caused Tony to look at me in shock.
“Oh, wow. You two signed the papers?”
I nodded. “We have a mediator coming in this week, where we’re going to discuss how we should proceed with the divorce. Considering I made him sign a pre-nup and an NDA before we got married, there isn’t a damn thing that man can get from me.”
“Wow. I always thought you two would last. You were like Bonnie and Clyde…you know if Bonnie was a guy and they both didn’t go on a killing spree and got killed by police.”
“Yeah well, that’s what happens when your husband decides to tongue down his ex at a Gaa, you weren’t invited to.”
“I’ve seen pictures of Colt’s ex, that bloke is a gerbil.”
No matter how crappy my day could possibly be, I could always count on Tony to be there cheering me up.
I smiled and nodded. “Tell me about it.”
“But still, you could’ve went to the mixer and maybe had some fun.”
I glared at him as if he was speaking a whole different dialect that I didn’t understand. “Some fun? What exactly is fun to you?”
Tony shrugged. “I don’t know. Speaking as a Heterosexual man, my version of fun differs from yours. But maybe you could’ve went and had a guy buy you a drink.”
“Ugh! Why would I do that? I have my own money. I can buy my own drink.”
Tony looked at me in confusion, “Are drinks not a gesture of a possibly connection anymore?”
I shrugged, “Now, what can you tell me about Hollywood’s latest Romeo and Juliet story?”
“Okay, well Lola Ferrari is Twenty-two years old-”
“Please tell me that isn’t her real name.” I chimed in.
Tony shrugged his shoulders. “Your guess is as good as mine. She is supposedly in a relationship with Pop Star Damien Marx. To the media, they were outed as being in a relationship last week because they were spotted together leaving a restaurant. In reality, Damien and Lola are not dating at all but Jordan Seaze has decided to create the illusion as if they are dating because he manages them both.”
I rolled my eyes at the mention of Jordan’s name, he is the reason so many young Hollywood stars go from being rich to binging on drugs years later. To him, his clients are nothing more than moneymakers rather than actual human beings. “Where is that sleazeball anyway?”
“He called and said he’s running late due to traffic. But anyway-”. The elevator took a small bump causing us both to look at the digital screen and saw we were passing the ‘30th’ floor.
“ – Your job is to prep them for the interview with Darlene Hart. You of all people know she can sniff a lie from a mile away.”
Which is ironic since the ‘Queen of Hollywood Gossip’ had no idea for the past eighteen years, her husband was playing ‘Hide the Pogo Stick’ with their house cleaner.
I shook my head calming myself down as the elevator made its way toward the ‘35th’floor.
“This sounds like a piece of cake. I don’t know why Jordan hired me. This is amateur work.”
Tony answered my question, “I don’t know, maybe you should take it as a compliment.”
I scoffed at Tony’s words. “A compliment
from Jordan Seaze’s mouth is disgusting.”
The elevator came to a slow stop and the doors opened. “Okay Tony, let’s go fake a Hollywood relationship.”
We both walked out of the elevator to be met with a golden colored rug and I almost wanted to puke at the coloring. Who the hell thought this color-that looked a lot like urine- was cute to decorate the place with?
“They’re in the VIP room; it’s the last door on the right.”
“VIP? These new Hollywood younglings sure do get treated better than the legends, I see.”
Tony walked in front of me and led me down the long hallway, which honestly felt like the hall was stretching with every step we took.
In what felt like forever, we finally reached the VIP room, which was actually just the Presidential suite and Tony knocked on the door lightly.
The door opened and a young man with thinly arched eyebrows, pale white skin, light blue eyes and straight white pearly teeth, smiled at the sight of me. “Hello, you must be Samus Solìs. Welcome and please come in.”
I took the verbal invitation and entered the spacious and beautiful suite. The details would make the other hotel occupants jealous, but I wasn’t here to bask in the beauty of the luxurious suite and quite frankly, I didn’t care for the details.
“We don’t have enough time to prep before Darlene and her brainless cohorts make their way up here. Should we go over anything specific?” I asked turning around to face Damien who closed the suite’s door after Tony entered.
“Not that I know of. What about you, Lola?” Damien called out.
I was born in the late eighties and I remembered growing up with male Pop Stars who had gimmicks that differed from each other. From Michael Jackson’s one glove to Prince’s ass less chaps, each artist stood out from the rest. But for some reason this new generation of male Pop Stars looked identical to one another! They had the same thinly arched eyebrows, short brown hair that they would flip back whenever they were flirting with someone and they all wore very, very skinny jeans. Was anyone original anymore?
My concentration on the male was cut short when a young woman walked out of the bathroom with a smile on her face. “What happen, babe?”
Lola Ferrari looked exactly like her modelling headshots. She didn’t have any pores, moles, birthmarks or even a blemish on her porcelain like face. Her baby blue eyes were round, as if she was an anime character. Her hair was duel colored. The right side was lavender and the left was a light pink.
She wore her hair up in a sleek neat bun. She also wore a floral green dress, which flowed with every move she would make. Her teeth were brighter than Damien’s- hell it was brighter than even Tony’s teeth or mine!
Damien passed me by and made his way toward Lola, “This is Samus Solìs, and he was hired by Jordan to prep us for the interview. Do you have any questions for him?”
Lola shook her head smiling widely at the Pop singer and turned her attention over to me. “Not at all. You see, when you are in love like myself, you don’t need to be prepped on anything. Every and any word that comes from my mouth actually comes straight from my heart.” She turned over to Damien and ran her fingers through his hair.
Tony and I exchanged looks as if we could telepathically send messages to one another. It didn’t take a genius to see how uncomfortable Damien was with Lola touching him. In addition, the fact Lola was oblivious to his state of uneasiness meant she was in denial about the plan their manager created to boost their careers.
“Tony. Can you please take Damien out in the hall for a few minutes while I have a talk with Lola?” My tone sounded like an innocent child wanting an expensive toy from my parents. Tony knew there was a motive behind this and he didn’t bother to ask.
“Of course. Come on.” Tony opened the door and as if a fire broke out in the bathroom, Damien ran out leaving just Lola and I in the suite.
I waited until Tony closed the door and I turned on the heels of my combat boots to face the oblivious love struck girl.
“What exactly did Jordan tell you about this plan?” I asked.
The young model looked at me if I was asking the question in a completely different language. “What plan?”
“The plan involving you and Damien. The plan where you two pretend you have been dating for a long time to fool the public into thinking you’re some kind of Hollywood royalty. Thus, getting endorsement deals, make-up lines and bookings at whatever shows cater to lonely teenage girls hoping to find their Mr.Right.”
Lola shook her head at me as if I was lying. “That isn’t true. You’re just saying that to get me mad. I know how all you Publicists work.”
Apparently, a Deity spent more time on her looks rather than on her brain.
“You are clearly mistaken here. Or delusional- eh either way, I blame all that on the countless bleach you put in your hair.” I stated placing the coffee cup on a dresser that was also colored with a Golden coating. “You and Damien aren’t really a couple. Whenever there are cameras present, you two have to get all lovey dovey for the public. But once you are both in private, you and Damien are just mere pawns in this sad, yet cliché, faux Hollywood romance.”
The words that came out of my mouth caused Lola to clench her teeth together angrily. Her sweet girl demeanor somehow disappeared and she stormed over to me as if she was going to slap me, but she stopped a few feet away and just glared at me. “Listen to me you sad pathetic Fag-”
I rose my eyebrows at the young girl as if she had just lost her mind but I didn’t feel the need to defend myself against the porcelain young model. I just crossed my arms across my chest and listened to every word, clearly entertained by the tough façade Lola was putting on.
“-I don’t know what sad or twisted things are going through your mind, but Damien is my man! My man! He and I are not acting nor are we pretending. So I’d advise you to stop trying to break him and I up because you have a crush on him. Because if you even lay one of your ugly manicured fingers on him, I will kill you and get away with it. Do you understand me?” The fire in Lola’s eyes grew stronger as did her state of insanity. You would think her threat would make me scared or nervous to be around her…you would be wrong.
“Are you done?” I asked impatiently because clearly Lola threatening me bored me to death.
The young model was baffled by my reaction.
“Now understand me sweety. I am not interested in your “man” because you don’t have one. Damien isn’t interested in you either on an emotional level, just a financial one because apparently to your manager, Jordan, dating you could open many doors to his future. But if you ask me, I would’ve rather faked him being Bisexual and dating that Pro Golfer who just came out the closet last week. Lastly, you may want to watch your tone with me, wannabe Kylie Jenner, because I will not only destroy you and watch your career burn down in flames. I will destroy you and make you relive the horror every single day of your life. Do I make myself clear?”
Throughout this speech-or threat depending on how you want to look at it- I was calm and collective. I had anger yes, but I did one hell of a job not letting that anger show in my tone. It was then that Lola realized I wasn’t like most of the people she came across. It was also then she realized just how scary I could truly be.
Before Lola could respond or take another gulp, the suite’s door opened and Tony stood in the doorway looking in and catching my attention. “I don’t mean to interrupt but Darlene is exactly five floors down.”
“Great!” I said changing my tone to a more sweet and innocent one. “Now Damien, I need you and Lola to hold hands but not too tightly. Whenever one of you speaks, it is imperative that the other person takes a lingering glance; it shows just how in love you two truly are. Also do not forget to mention that you guys have been in a relationship for six months.”
Damien entered the room and lowered his perfectly arched eyebrows, “Why six months?”
I turned toward the Pop singer and addressed him. “A week l
ong romance makes it obvious to the public that this relationship is nothing but a publicity stunt. In order to make the public accept this façade is real, we have to go with six months. It makes it sound forbidden, raw and those scavengers will get even hungrier to know why you two have chosen to keep it a secret for this long.”
Damien understood what I meant and he was probably happy Jordan called me.
“Now any questions before the Wicked Witch of Day Time enters?”
Damien shook his head and he glanced over at Lola who had a look of sadness and regret on her face. She didn’t bother making eye contact with me and quite frankly I didn’t care.
She just shook her head slowly looking down at the floor.
Tony saw Lola’s reaction and he knew that something took place in the room. He glanced at me and I nodded my head at him, letting him know that everything was better now.
A girl unstable as Lola could ruin the entire plan; I secretly prayed that wouldn’t be the situation here.
“Okay!” I clapped my hands together causing all three people in the room to flinch. “It’s show time!”
________________________________________________________________________
The next section is the interview conducted by host of ‘Hart2Hollywood Star’ Darlene Hart.:
(DARLENE HART mid 30s- early 40’s is seated on a chair smiling as she gazes into the camera)
Darlene: “Hello and good morning San New City! I am your host Darlene Hart and I am beyond thrilled to be interviewing the couple that has taken the world by storm since last week. Damien Marx and Lola Ferrari.”
(We watch as DAMIEN and LOLA wave at the camera smiling. They’re both seated. LOLA is holding DAMIEN’s right hand as they both looked like a couple who were happily smitten with each other.)
Hollywood Fixer Page 1