Fortunately, Russell Savage was on hand to calm her down. ‘Ignore all that garbage you read in the papers,’ he said. ‘They’re a bunch of bottom-feeders, searching for a headline. Linc’s making a movie with the broad. It’s all about publicity.’
‘You don’t understand, Russell,’ she said, feeling lost because nobody really understood her dilemma. ‘He’s accusing me of something, when it’s obvious that he’s the one doing it.’
‘Honey,’ Russell said soothingly, ‘I’m sure you’re correct. Only right now you’ve got to forget about it and concentrate on selling our movie.’
‘I’m trying to,’ she said, realizing that, as nice as Russell was, his main interest was his movie.
‘You should be so proud of yourself,’ Russell said. ‘Mustn’t let this spoil things for you.’
Merrill’s warning came drifting back to haunt her. One way or the other he’ll try to sabotage you.
Was Linc purposely trying to ruin her moment of triumph?
Determinedly she sailed through the day, charming and composed. Only once did someone dare to ask the wrong question, whereupon Kara, who could be quite feisty for such a girly-looking girl, swept the journalist out of the room so quickly that the man barely had time to catch his breath.
At the end of the day Shelby found herself dreading returning to the suite. She had no intention of walking off her movie, or insisting that Pete got fired.
It was time for a long overdue confrontation. Linc had pushed her about as far as she was prepared to go.
Livid, because she couldn’t reach Tony all day, Lola embarked on a ferocious shopping spree accompanied by Selma. They covered Saks, Bergdorf’s and Barney’s. In a generous mood, Lola bought her sister anything she desired.
‘I didn’t come here to go shopping,’ Selma protested, loving every minute. ‘I came because Mama begged me to.’
‘Mama should stop trying to run my life,’ Lola insisted, signing an autograph for the salesgirl. ‘I’m a big girl, I’ve been out of the house for a long long time.’
‘It’s the family reputation she’s worried about,’ Selma said. ‘Mama’s upset with the things people are saying about you.’
‘I don’t notice her getting upset when they say good things.’
‘She keeps a scrapbook of all your clippings,’ Selma revealed.
‘She does?’ Lola said, surprised.
‘Yes, she clips everything, the good and the bad.’
‘Both come with the territory,’ Lola explained, picking up a white silk scarf and admiring it. ‘Look at other stars like Madonna, Jennifer Lopez and Britney Spears–they’re on the cover of some gossip rag every day. One moment they’re being called divas, the next they’re supposedly into drugs and having sex with multiple men, or they’re breaking up marriages. The papers make terrible things up. Mama has to realize that it’s all a game to them.’
‘I understand,’ Selma said, nodding. ‘But surely you can see that Tony is not a good influence on you?’
‘You have no idea who Tony is,’ Lola snapped. ‘You’ve never even met him.’
‘No,’ Selma replied, refusing to back down. ‘I’ve read about him, though.’
‘We’ll all have dinner tonight,’ Lola decided. ‘Then you can see for yourself what a wonderful guy he is.’
‘Dinner?’ Selma said unsurely.
‘Yes, dinner,’ Lola answered firmly. ‘You’ll fall in love with him, everyone does.’
When they got back to the hotel, Selma sat on the floor in the living room, surrounded by shopping bags. Lola picked up the phone to check out her messages, and automatically switched on the TV.
A pretty brunette newscaster was reading the five o’clock news. ‘Ex-world heavyweight boxer Tyrell White was badly beaten outside his apartment last night and robbed of several thousand dollars’ worth of cash and jewellery. Earlier in the evening Mr White was involved in an altercation at a club with film director Tony Alvarez, boyfriend of Lola Sanchez. It is believed Ms Sanchez was with Mr Alvarez at the time. Regarding the subsequent beating and robbery, the police have no suspects at the present time.’
Lola stared at the TV in total shock. Her hand flew to her mouth. ‘Oh, my God,’ she exclaimed. ‘Oh…my…God!’
Chapter Thirty
The original handwritten script of Wild Child was the first thing Cat started searching for. It meant a lot to her, and she was not leaving without it.
‘How can I help?’ Luanne asked, wandering around the spacious loft.
‘If you can deal with my clothes and shoes that would be great,’ Cat said. ‘Although maybe I should throw some stuff away.’
‘This is no time to start sorting through things,’ Luanne said firmly. ‘We must concentrate on getting everything out of here.’
‘Okay, okay. I’ll keep looking for my manuscripts and stuff like that while you organize my clothes.’
‘What about photographs, CDs and—’
‘All I want are my personal photographs. He can keep everything else.’
‘You’re sure?’
‘Absolutely,’ Cat said, unable to forget the graphic tape of Jump having sex in their bed. ‘I can’t believe he did this to me,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘The whole time we were together I was totally faithful to him.’
‘And since you split?’
‘Still totally faithful. I’m too busy directing my movie for anything else.’
‘You need to have a revenge fuck,’ Luanne said. ‘It’ll work like a charm.’
‘For who?’
‘You. Try it, you’ll see.’
When the professional packers arrived, Luanne steered them into the bedroom and put them to work packing up the clothes from Cat’s closet.
Half an hour later there was the sound of a key in the door. Oh, shit! Cat thought. The last thing I need is to see the cheating asshole.
Instead of Jump walking in, a girl appeared. A tall, skinny redhead, wearing tight jeans, a white peasant blouse and Cat’s Fendi leather jacket–one of her most prized possessions.
‘Oh,’ the girl said, nonplussed. ‘What’s going on? Where’s Jump?’
‘Who are you?’ Cat asked.
‘Miranda,’ the girl said. ‘More to the point, who are you?’
‘This happens to be my home,’ Cat said. ‘And you happen to be wearing my jacket.’
‘Excuse me,’ Miranda said. ‘This is Jump’s place, and he gave me this jacket as a present.’
‘Newsflash,’ Cat said. ‘Jump is my husband, soon to be ex. This is our place, soon to be his. And that’s my jacket, so kindly take it off.’
‘I don’t get it,’ Miranda said.
‘Obviously,’ Cat retorted.
Luanne emerged from the bedroom. ‘What’s the deal?’ she asked, staring at the girl.
And then they both recognized her–even though she’d changed the colour of her hair.
She was the girl from the tape. The Jump-having-sex-on-their-bed tape.
After the press junket, Shelby went downstairs to the bar with Russell, Beck and Kara. They sat around talking about the movie, the reviews and the upcoming premières.
Shelby was glad that nobody was getting into anything personal, because once she went upstairs, she knew she’d have to deal with Linc, and she was dreading it.
When she finally got up to leave, Russell took her to one side. ‘Look, honey,’ he said, in a low voice, ‘I know things have been tough for you. But remember, you shouldn’t let anyone push you around–it doesn’t matter who it is.’
‘I know,’ she said, nodding. ‘I have to be strong.’
‘And you will be,’ Russell said. ‘There’s no doubt in my mind that you’ve got it in you. So get rid of that goddamn English reserve and go for it–exactly like you did in our movie.’
Kara came over and gave her a hug. ‘It’s been amazing working with you,’ she said, funky glasses slipping off her nose. ‘You’re a real pro.’
‘Thanks, Kara,
it was nice working with you too. I liked the way you handled the journalist who got out of line.’
‘I wasn’t about to take any crap from him,’ Kara said. ‘Who do they think they’re dealing with? I might look young, but I’ve been in this business for five years.’
‘You’re still a baby,’ Beck said, affectionately taking her hand. ‘Sit down and have another drink.’
Kara did so. There was a twenty-year age gap between her and the actor, but it looked as if things were going well.
‘How about you, Shelby?’ Russell asked. ‘You’re sure you won’t stay for another one?’
‘No thanks, Russ, one martini’s given me enough strength to get this over with.’
Russell gave her the thumbs-up sign. ‘Linc’s a good guy. We all get caught in compromising positions. It’s these damn locations. If you want your marriage to work, never leave an actor alone on location.’
‘Yeah,’ Beck agreed. ‘Location equals temptation. The last actress I married ran off with the focus puller!’
‘Don’t listen to him,’ Russell said. ‘He knows nothing.’
Shelby left the bar, got into the elevator and travelled upstairs.
Once more she was exhausted from doing a day’s worth of press, and a heated confrontation was not something she was looking forward to. Deep down she hoped that Linc wasn’t there.
Why couldn’t things be okay between them?
Why was he all over his co-star?
Why hadn’t she told him about Pete as soon as they’d bumped into each other?
No excuse, really, except it had been so nice spending time with someone she didn’t have to watch all the time, someone who wasn’t constantly criticizing her. The few days Linc had spent at the Malibu retreat were useless, and they both knew it. There was nothing worse than an alcoholic who would not admit that he had a problem. Lately she’d been closing her eyes to a lot of things. Now she had to be strong.
Much as she loved Linc, it was time to consider her future.
Lola finally reached Tony on the phone. ‘What did you do?’ she whispered, horrified. ‘How could you?’
Tony sounded calm. ‘What did I do about what?’
‘Tyrell White.’
‘Didn’t do nothin’. Why? What’s goin’ on?’
‘Don’t snow me, Tony, I’m no fool. It’s all over the news.’
‘What is?’
‘Somebody beat the crap out of him, and I know who that somebody is–it’s you.’
‘You flatter me, babe. I’m sitting here in my hotel with a split lip. Haven’t left the room.’
‘You arranged to have it done, didn’t you?’ she persisted, certain she was right.
‘Don’t even know where the dude lives,’ he said casually. ‘The guy must have a lot of enemies.’
‘Tony—’
‘Yeah, I’m one of them, only that don’t mean I arranged to have him beaten.’
‘Are you telling me the truth?’
‘Sure.’ A pause. ‘What’re you doin’? Wanna come over an’ join me in the Jacuzzi?’
‘My sister flew in from L.A.’
‘Your sister? I never met her. What’s her name?’
‘Selma. She’s the nice one.’
‘She look like you, babe? ’Cause if she does, maybe the three of us should get our freak on.’
‘Don’t be bad, Tony. Selma’s a good girl.’
‘Who likes good girls? I like ’em sexy an’ hot an’ naughty, like you, babe.’
‘Selma’s none of those things.’
‘Damn!’
‘I was thinking that we could take Selma to dinner. But only if you promise to behave yourself.’
‘Does Selma dance?’
‘Of course. She’s my sister, isn’t she? Fine dancing runs in the family.’
‘I’m down with that.’
‘You should see my mama, she used to dance professionally–she’s the best.’
‘Maybe I should see your mama. I heard you can tell what a girl’s gonna look like by checkin’ out her mama. I’d better check out yours, huh, babe?’
‘And why would you want to do that?’
‘Y’know, in case we decide to spend the rest of our lives together.’
‘Is that a proposal, Tony?’
‘You’d like that, wouldn’t you?’ he said, with a sly smile.
‘You’re such a bastard.’
‘An’ that’s what you love about me.’
‘Can we take Selma to dinner or not?’
‘Yeah. Get your hot ass downstairs at nine thirty, the limo’ll be waitin’.’
‘Thanks, Tony. And you will be good, won’t you?’
‘Baby, I’ll be as good as it gets.’
Lola went into the spare bedroom where Selma was happily unwrapping her packages. ‘We’re meeting Tony for dinner,’ she announced.
‘You’ve bought me far too much,’ Selma said, holding up a leather Gucci purse. ‘I’m giving half of these things to Mama and Isabelle.’
‘No,’ Lola said. ‘Everything’s for you. They didn’t fly out to see me, you did.’
‘Mama sent me,’ Selma said. ‘Everyone cares about you, Lucia.’
‘Do me a favour tonight, do not call me Lucia. My name’s been Lola for the last five years. The world knows me as Lola, so why do you all persist in still calling me Lucia?’
‘Because it’s your name.’
‘It’s not my name any more. I’m Lola, understand?’
Selma looked unconvinced.
‘Now, what are you going to wear?’ Lola said. ‘You have to look gorgeous. After all, you are my sister.’
‘He never told me he was married,’ Miranda kept on repeating, looking quite crushed.
‘Seems he didn’t figure it was that important,’ Cat said bitterly.
‘Weren’t you even a little bit curious when you noticed a closet full of women’s clothes?’ Luanne asked.
‘He said they were his sister’s,’ Miranda explained. ‘I believed him, I had no reason not to.’
‘Sorry to disillusion you,’ Cat said. ‘He’s a lying, cheating asshole.’
‘I know that now,’ Miranda muttered.
‘I’m only here today ’cause he threatened to throw my stuff out on to the street. I guess it was that or give it all to you. I’m sure that was his plan.’
‘Sorry about the jacket,’ Miranda said, shrugging it off. ‘We happen to be the same size.’
‘You can keep it,’ Cat said.
‘Didn’t you used to have blonde hair?’ Luanne asked, staring at Miranda.
‘Yes,’ Miranda said. ‘How did you know?’
‘The magic of film,’ Cat murmured.
‘What?’
‘Nothing,’ Cat said. How could she be mad at the girl, when Miranda obviously had no idea Jump was married? It was Jump who was the serial cheater. What a jackass he’d turned out to be.
The packers were finished, and all of her personal things were out of the apartment. Time to move on.
‘Give Jump a message from me,’ she said to Miranda.
‘After I’ve given him one of my own,’ Miranda replied. ‘I’ve never been so embarrassed.’
‘C’mon,’ Cat said, almost sympathetic. ‘It’s not your fault.’
‘What’s your message?’
‘Tell him never to contact me again. If he’s got anything to say, he can talk to my lawyer. That’s it.’
‘I’ll be happy to tell him,’ Miranda promised. ‘Right after I say goodbye.’
Outside on the street, Cat gave Luanne a big hug, then hailed a cab to take her to the airport.
Mission accomplished.
She was now ready for a revenge fuck.
Once more, Linc was not in the suite. Shelby paced around, rehearsing what she would say. Either he listened to reason and stopped giving her ultimatums–or she was catching a flight back to L.A. She called the airport to check on times. There was a ten o’clock she could be on if things
didn’t work out.
When Linc finally arrived, he was definitely drunk. He had that glittery mean look in his eyes, the look she’d grown to dread.
‘You made a decision?’ he demanded, marching into the suite. ‘What’s it gonna be? You walking off the movie? Or does my dear old pal Pete get the boot?’
‘Neither,’ she said, facing up to him.
‘Quit with the I’m-not-going-to-do-what-my-husband-says crap,’ he said roughly. ‘You’re not a fucking feminist, you’re my fucking wife. Now what’s the deal?’
‘I told you, Linc, neither. You cannot continue treating me with such a lack of respect. You say things to me that nobody should say to anybody. You insult me and call me names. It’s not right, and I don’t intend to accept it any more.’
‘You deserve it,’ he said, his voice filled with animosity. ‘Act like a moron, an’ I’ll treat you like one.’
‘Linc,’ she said, determined not to cry, ‘this is serious. I am not fooling around.’
‘Interesting choice of words,’ he sneered. ‘Fooling around.’
‘I wasn’t going to bring this up,’ she said, ‘but how do you explain the photos of you with Lola Sanchez?’
‘For Crissakes,’ he snarled. ‘They’re taken from the set.’
‘No, they’re not. You’re kissing her outside a restaurant.’
‘Are you tryin’ to turn this around?’ he screamed.
‘No, Linc,’ she said, standing up to him for once. ‘I’m merely stating the facts.’
‘Do not fuck with me, Shelby. I want Pete off your fuckin’ movie. Understand?’
‘I’m not doing it, Linc.’
‘Yes, you are,’ he said fiercely.
‘No, I’m not. And stop telling me what to do.’
‘Fuck you, Shelby. If you don’t do it, I’m divorcing you. Understand?’
Suddenly she felt a calmness overcome her. It was almost as if she was in the eye of the storm, and everything seemed very clear. Linc was damaged goods, and she wasn’t capable of mending him. It was time to stop trying. ‘If that’s what you want,’ she said quietly.
‘It fucking is!’ he said, quivering with rage.
‘Then I’ll leave now.’
Hollywood Divorces • Hollywood Wives: The New Generation Page 72