She Sins at Midnight

by Whitney Dineen

  Lila stammered, “Those were my friend Jilly’s children.” Then she asked, “And how about your friend?” She stressed the word friend. “Did she have a nice day at the pool?”

  Creigh immediately took her tone, “Yes, my goddaughter Katrina and I had a lovely time. Thank you for asking.”

  His goddaughter, what great news! Lila was more turned on than ever. Good lord, if she didn’t walk away from this man soon, she was afraid that she would make a scene. Johnny chose that moment to announce that the Montgomery’s table was ready.

  Will shook Creigh’s hand and invited, “Why don’t you join us Creigh? We’d love to have a chance to catch up with you.”

  Creigh declined stating a previous engagement. Giving Lila another approving look, he added, “But I would love to have the opportunity to catch up with all of you later. Why don’t I give you a call, Will and we’ll set something up?”

  Lila wasn’t sure how she even managed to walk to into the dining room. The thought of seeing Creighton Ashwood again both thrilled and petrified her. She was relieved that the girl at the pool wasn’t his girlfriend. But she had never reacted so strongly to a man as long as she had lived. It was very disconcerting.

  Then Lila remembered the bimbo on the plane. She wondered what the chances were that she was another of his godchildren. Oh hell, she didn’t even want to think about it. Why not just add that to the growing number of things to ignore? She mentally made a list. One: forget that you wrote a graphically sexual romance novel. Two: forget that said novel has been nominated for a prestigious award that if it wins, will out you to everyone you know as a pervert. Three: forget that the most gorgeous man you have ever seen is a blazing womanizer. At the rate she was going, there wouldn’t be that many things to bother remembering. This was not the simple trip home she anticipated.

  * * * * *

  Meanwhile, in the ladies’ room, Melinda unbuttoned her blouse two extra notches and pulled the turbo strap on her wonder bra so her boobs were even closer together, enhancing her already astounding cleavage. She rolled the waistband on her skirt three times so the hem rose considerably and flipped her hair about twenty times so if would be full and sexy. Then she added more eye liner and put on a darker shade of lipstick. Once she was satisfied with the outcome she walked out to meet Creigh with thoughts of a little seduction of her own.

  Johnny raised his eyebrows when he saw Melinda’s transformation and asked her to follow him. He led her through the blue dining room where her eyes were immediately drawn to a beautiful woman who looked like a prettier and thinner version of Lila. She knew she had to be seeing things. There was no way that Josh’s big-assed assistant was dining in the same country club as she was, in Bentley, Illinois. Her mind had to be playing tricks on her.

  When Melinda arrived at the table, Creigh let Johnny pull her chair out. He was so shocked by her makeover that he just sat there in mute silence. Melinda misread his reaction for total and absolute lust.

  She leaned across the table and purred, “Did you miss me?”

  Creigh answered, “Miss Forrester, we have some rather important business to discuss here. I think it would be in the best interest of your lawsuit if we kept our relationship purely professional.”

  Melinda raised an eyebrow, “Whatever you think, Creigh.” She knew he was just covering his butt, legally. There was no way on earth that Creighton Ashwood didn’t want her. After all, she knew the power she had over the weaker sex. She planned on using it to its capacity on this man.

  Chapter 11

  Johnny had just seated the Montgomerys at their regular table when Lila looked across the room and could have sworn that she saw Melinda Forrester slinking her way across the dining room. She gave herself a sharp reprimand for letting any thoughts of the troublesome starlet occupy her. After all, she was thousands of miles away from Los Angeles. Lila really, really, needed to relax and forget her mounting problems for awhile. Yet, before she did, she told Will and Bitsy all about the feud between her and the movie star.

  Will assured his daughter that Melinda was jealous of what a beautiful, accomplished woman she was.

  Lila exclaimed, “Jealous? Of me?! Dad, Melinda is a young skinny film star who makes millions. What do I have that she could possibly be jealous of?”

  Bitsy declared, “The Melinda Forresters of this world are a dime a dozen. All you have to do to get another is to bleach her hair, give her some fake boobs and inject her lips until they look like a vulva.”

  Completely nonplussed that his wife just said the word vulva in the dining room of the club, Will added, “And let’s face it Li, the girl probably isn’t firing with all her pistons. She’s most assuredly jealous of your intelligence.”

  Before Lila could disagree, Bitsy added, “Don’t you worry about Melinda Forrester. She’s nothing but a pathetic slut, a veritable whore if you will.” For good measure she added, “And I’m sure she’s a bitch as well.”

  Lila said a prayer that her mother never develop Tourette’s Syndrome. If she could rattle off such a litany of salty adjectives without it, they were doomed if she lost control entirely. She told her parents they would have to agree to disagree about Melinda and perhaps the best thing was not mention her again.

  At that point, Bitsy and Will were full of talk about Creighton Ashwood. It didn’t slide beneath either of their radars that there were sparks in the air between their daughter and Lillian’s son. Bitsy informed Lila that Creigh was a wonderful man, something of a legal genius as well. Lila asked whether Creigh lived in L.A. or Bentley and discovered that he had been in Los Angeles the same amount of time as she had, ten years.

  Lila wondered what law firm was Creigh’s. She also wondered why their paths had never crossed at industry parties. Josh made her go to more events than she thought was necessary. Plus, all the big entertainment lawyers were always invited to Amalgamated’s holiday doo at The Peninsula Hotel. She would have known if Creigh had ever shown up. Although, she did miss last year’s affair due to an unfortunate outbreak of pink eye. Josh informed her that runny pink rabbit eyes were totally unappetizing (like anyone ever ate at those parties) and he thought it would be best if she didn’t come (she would have contracted it sooner had she known. It would be her get out of jail free card.) She was currently planning an attack of scabies for the next big function.

  When the waitress arrived, all three Montgomerys ordered the beer-battered halibut. Lila got hers without the tartar sauce, but with extra coleslaw. She didn’t know what they did to the coleslaw at the club, but she found herself craving it at the most unlikely moments. And there was nothing in this world worse than craving something when it was over two-thousand miles away.

  Lila found out more about Creigh’s history over dinner. He had never been married, although he had been briefly engaged after college. According to Lillian Ashwood, he was the best, most thoughtful and wonderful son in the whole world. Bitsy added her own side note, “And what a butt! Did you see those buns, Lila? Yummy!”

  Lila looked up in shock, “Mother, I cannot believe you just said that. Of course I didn’t notice his butt, I just met him.” Then she looked to Will for help, “Dad, can you believe what Mom just said? Can’t you control her?”

  Will chuckled, “No way, Li. Your mom is a lot more fun when she’s out of control.” He winked and added, “If I’m lucky, she might just be out of control when we get home tonight.”

  Lila chose that moment to get up and go to the ladies’ room. Spending time with her parents these days was like hanging out with a couple of seventh graders in the throes of their first love. In other words, they were positively nauseating.

  As Lila reapplied her lipstick in the bathroom (just in case she saw Creigh again), Jessica Bowman walked through the door. Lila met her eyes in the mirror and knew there was no point in pretending that she didn’t recognize her. She was going to deal with this the same way she would if she ran into Jessica at the reunion. That would be straightforward and witho
ut breaking out into a cold sweat, she hoped. Trying to sound friendly, she asked “Jessica, is that you?”

  Jessica broke into a big smile and announced, “Lila Montgomery, don’t you look gorgeous! Are you home for the reunion?”

  “I’m here for an extended visit with my folks but I’ll still be around at the time of the reunion, so I’m sure I’ll go. How about you?”

  She answered, “Actually, I live in Bentley now. My husband and I just moved back from Chapel Hill. He transferred to a job in Chicago. Charles is a stockbroker. What does your husband do?”

  Remembering to breathe, Lila answered, “He hasn’t told me yet.”

  Jessica looked confused, so Lila explained that she wasn’t married. She thought she would see pity or sympathy in Jessica’s eyes, but instead her old classmate said, “Good for you. Marriage is not all it’s cracked up to be.”

  Lila had no idea what Jessica meant by that comment. She just knew that she felt a ray of hope that she might not be viewed as the class failure after all. It seemed that her life might not be the only one that didn’t turn out as planned.

  Jessica apologized, “I’m sorry I said that to you. It was a ridiculously personal comment to make to someone that I haven’t seen in fifteen years. I’m just having a bad night.” She changed topics and asked, “Do you still see Jilly Simms?”

  Lila answered, “I sure do, but she’s Jilly Sparks now.” Lila continued to tell Jessica all about Jilly’s great life with her wonderful husband and three perfect children. She felt extremely protective of her friend and wanted Jessica to envy what a great life she had. She added that Jilly and Bill were members of the club so she was sure that Jessica would eventually run into her.

  Jessica smiled, “I’m sure I will. Does Jilly play golf or tennis?”

  Lila knew that Jilly didn’t have the time or money for either of those pursuits but she didn’t want their nemesis to learn too much too soon so she answered, “Every now and then.”

  Jessica said, “Good, maybe she and I can play together some day. I don’t have many friends left in Bentley and it would be nice to see a friendly face.” With what appeared to be a very sincere smile, she continued “I hope we see each other again before the reunion, Lila. It’s been fun catching up.”

  As much as Lila didn’t want to see Jessica before the reunion or at the reunion for that matter, she was oddly touched that Jessica would want to see her. Maybe she wasn’t as scary as Lila remembered her to be. Not that Lila was actually going to go wild and become friends with her or anything; it was just liberating to feel some of that adolescent angst start to slip away.

  As Lila walked back toward the dining room, she saw Creigh leave the library and he wasn’t alone. He was with the Melinda Forrester look alike. Lila wound up within a few feet of them by the time she reached her table. That’s when she made eye contact with Melinda’s twin and realized this was no twin. This really was Melinda, in the flesh, in Illinois, in her country club, with the man of her dreams! Lila actually felt a little dizzy but managed to stammer, “Melinda?”

  With her mouth wide open like a fly catcher, Melinda blurted out, “Lila? What in the hell are you doing here?”

  Bitsy chose that moment to stand up and demand, “Is this the slut?”

  Will piped in, “You’re right Bits. She is common.”

  Creigh asked Melinda, “How do you know Lila?”

  Lila asked Creigh, “How do you know Melinda?”

  And Melinda shouted, “This is Josh’s bitch assistant!” It was total chaos.

  Lila repeated her question to Creigh, “How do you know Melinda?”

  Creigh answered, “Lila, I’m her attorney. She’s suing Amalgamated and if you really are Josh Furber’s assistant, then you’ve been named in her complaint as well.”

  At the same time that everyone else was talking, Melinda yelled, “I did not sleep with Jose´!”

  Totally confused, Lila asked, “What are you talking about?”

  That’s when Creigh stepped in, “No more talking you two. There’s a lawsuit pending so you both need to communicate through your lawyers from now on.”

  Melinda commanded, “Fine. Creigh, you’re my lawyer. Tell this fat cow that she’s trying to ruin my career and I won’t stand for it! Tell her she’s a big, fat, stupid, nobody bitch!”

  Lila simply couldn’t believe how quickly her new sense of well-being had vanished. After talking with Jessica, she was starting to think there might be something worth feeling good about in her life. But not two minutes later, she was standing in the middle of the dining room being screamed at by a crazed movie star. She couldn’t write something this ridiculous.

  Will stood up and retaliated, “Well, I’m Lila’s attorney and she wants me to tell you that no insignificant, skinny, little whore is going to call her names and get away with it! You, young lady and I use that term loosely, have just gotten yourself a countersuit!”

  The entire dining room of The North Hills Country Club got so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone looked like they were playing that old childhood game, statue-maker. Forks were suspended in mid-air, people with mouths full of food forgot to chew. It wasn’t until a little kid let out a completely unrelated scream that everyone started to come out of their trance.

  Quietly Creigh managed, “Will, I’ll give you a call tomorrow. I think we better get together and talk about this situation.”

  Creigh and Melinda left the dining room and Lila took that as her cue to sit down again. She was horribly embarrassed by the outburst that had just occurred and more than anything she wanted to go straight home and hide under the covers for the rest of her life. But that would be letting Melinda win and she had no intention of doing that. So, as soon as the waitress came over, Lila ordered a hot fudge sundae and didn’t get up until she had finished every last bite. At that point, she didn’t care if she did become a size fourteen. She wasn’t sure she ever wanted to see southern California again anyway.

  Chapter 12

  As Creigh dragged Melinda out of the club, he wondered how he could have possibly landed smack in the middle of such a mess. All he wanted to do was come home, take care of his mother’s estate and spend some quality time in a peaceful and quiet world. Then Melinda showed up and ruined it all. His mind strayed to all the ways that he and Lila would have gotten to know each other, their first date, their first kiss, their first time in bed. He groaned and was a breath away from telling Melinda what she could do with her lawsuit.

  Creigh didn’t open the car door for the starlet when they got back to his Mustang. Instead, he went right to the driver’s side and got in. It took Melinda several seconds to realize that she was on her own. Once she was in the passenger seat, she fumed, “How do you know Lila Montgomery?”

  Creigh turned his stony gaze to her and answered, “Our parents were friends, we grew up in the same town, we belong to the same country club and I happen to think she is an exceptional woman.” Then he turned the tables and demanded, “Why do you have it in for her?”

  Melinda pouted, “I told you she’s spreading vicious rumors about me all over Hollywood. She’s trying to ruin my reputation.”

  Trying hard to keep his temper in check Creigh replied, “Ruin your reputation? Melinda, I’m certain you are the only one responsible for that. Lila doesn’t strike me as the kind of person who cares who, what, or when you’re screwing.”

  Shocked by Creigh’s bluntness, “Melinda gasped, “I never had relations with the janitor at Amalgamated Artists, ever!”

  Creigh shook his head, “Look Melinda, I’m inclined to believe you as I’m sure that it isn’t in Jose´’s power to advance your career. But why you’re persisting in this lawsuit is beyond me. The whole matter would have been yesterday’s news if you hadn’t filed this nuisance suit against Amalgamated.”

  Melinda confessed, “Oscar wanted to file, not me.”

  “But this isn’t up to Oscar. This was your choice.”

  Melinda confes
sed, “It was totally up to Oscar. If I hadn’t agreed to file he would have assumed that I was guilty and he would have left me.”

  Creigh asked, “Why did you make Lila part of it?”

  Melinda stuck out her lower lip and pouted, “Because she called me The Queen of Oral Pleasure.”

  Dumbfounded, Creigh asked, “And she would know this how?”

  Melinda snuggled closer to Creigh, “Whatever I tell you is confidential right? You can’t tell Oscar or anyone else without my permission?”

  “Correct.”

  She continued, “Well, about six months ago Lila walked into Josh’s office and I was, umm…you know…giving him, uh…”

  Creigh interrupted, “Oral pleasure?”

  “Yeah,” Melinda mumbled, “oral pleasure.”

  “Were you dating Oscar at the time?”

  Looking confused, Melinda answered, “Yeah, so?”

  Creigh asked, “How long had you been together?”

  “At the time? Maybe three months.”

  Completely stymied, Creigh asked, “Not that it’s any of my business, but is there a reason you were doing this when you were already involved in another relationship?”

  Melinda responded, “Josh told me that he could get me an Oscar nomination and when he actually did, I was so excited I thought I’d thank him, you know? It helps to keep your agent motivated.”

  Creigh rolled his eyes, “I’ve found that when you want to thank somebody, flowers and champagne are lovely gestures.”

  Melinda smiled wickedly, “Sure, those are nice, but they’re not very personal are they?” With a gleam in her eye, she scooted closer to Creigh and ran her hand up his thigh, “In fact, I’d really like to thank you for taking my case.” She let the innuendo linger in the air.

  Creigh pushed Melinda’s hand away and nearly roared, “Well I may not be taking your case now that I know that Lila Montgomery is being named, so you can keep your thanks.”