by Rowe, Brian
“Hello, my dear. How are you?”
“Great. I saw the cake in the waiting room. Was that for you?”
She wanted to lie but ended up saying: “It was indeed.”
Jonathan gave Vivien a quick one-over. “You must be the most beautiful forty-five-year-old woman in the world.”
Vivien couldn’t help but blush. “Well, thank you, Jonathan. That’s very sweet of you to say.”
“Hi Jonathan,” Lila said, waving flirtatiously. “I’m Lila. I’ll be reading with you.”
Before Vivien could stop her, Lila got up out of her chair and shook Jonathan’s hand. When he turned around, she pinched his butt. He didn’t notice.
My God, she’s worse than I am.
“All right,” Lila said. “So we’ll start at the top of page one and go to the bottom of page four.”
“Yes, that’s right,” Jonathan said. He turned to Brandon. “Need me to slate or anything?”
“Yes, please.”
The actor looked at the camera. “Hello. My name is Jonathan Korlajarean.”
Lila cleared her throat and started the scene. “I was wondering if I should invite my dad to the wedding.”
Jonathan bit down on his lower lip and looked questionably at Lila, clearly trying to find his place in the scene. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said, reading off his script, using a distracting American accent. “I think your dad’s only going to cause trouble. We don’t want trouble on our big day, do we?”
“But he’s my father, Phil. What am I supposed to do?”
“Here’s what you do,” Jonathan said, getting down on his knees and leaning into Lila.
Vivien listened to the rest of the scene with her arms crossed and her gaze focused on Jonathan’s face. It was a timeless visage, one so gorgeous she wanted to cry. She was prepared to run over and jump him right then and there, but she knew Lila would get jealous and start a girl-on-girl fight.
Jonathan is mine, all mine.
The two actors finished the scene by sharing a brief kiss on the lips. It was something that seemed natural and unplanned. Lila looked to be a little schoolgirl again, in a daze she would never want to come out of. Jonathan stood up and nodded at Vivien.
“Nice work,” Vivien said. “Excellent.”
“Thank you,” he said. He folded up his scene and took a step back, waiting for somebody to say something. “Is that all you need?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Great. Thanks so much. And Ms. Slate, again, happy birthday.”
“Thank you.”
Jonathan grabbed his bag in the corner of the room.
As he started opening the door, Vivien stood up. “Jonathan?”
He held the door open. Vivien could see at least ten more actors in the waiting room. Alyson, as always, looked frantic on the phone.
“Jonathan, close the door.”
He shut the door and took a step forward, confused, as if he had beat out the main competition but still had a bonus round to conquer. “Yes?”
“I had a question.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
Vivien smiled big. “What are you doing tonight?”
-34-
The party started at seven, but nobody showed until nine. Despite the abundance of people a few years older than Vivien, everybody was in the mood to party late into Saturday morning. Vivien didn’t care if the party were to go on until Monday, as long as it meant she could rub shoulders and other body parts with a certain exotic gentleman from Spain.
She changed into a charmingly low-cut pink and yellow dress, and put her hair up after days of letting it drop below her shoulders. If this guy wanted to mack on her neck, she wanted to make it as easy for him as possible.
By 9:30 she could hear the growing of chitchat from the living room. When she stumbled in, the guests, many of whom were good friends of Lila’s, ambushed her like a group of non-union actors desperately looking for jobs.
“Hello everyone,” Vivien said. “Thank you for coming.”
She found Gavin standing near the appetizers in the kitchen, feeding his dog Buster some shrimp cocktail. Gavin looked bored eating the carrots and moved on to the water crackers.
“Hey you,” she said. “Any of your friends coming over?”
“Nah,” he said, sulking. “They didn’t want to hang out with old people.”
“When you say old, how old do you mean?”
“Like fifty and up.”
“Good boy.”
She started playing with Gavin’s curly hair. “Guess what? I have some exciting news for you.” Vivien sat in one of the chairs and took his hand. “I didn’t want to tell you this 'til Monday, because it’s not official yet. But I got a call from your agent today, and it looks like you’re going straight to callbacks for the next Garry Marshall movie.”
“Oh?” He didn’t look as excited as she hoped.
“Yeah. It’s a role in another of those ensemble movies he likes to do. There’s a part for a fourteen-year-old boy that the casting director wants you to read for.”
“Cool.”
“There’s just one problem.”
“What’s that?”
“The character’s written as black.”
Gavin shrugged. “I can play black. Robert Downey Jr, hello!”
Vivien laughed and patted her son’s head. “So yeah, we’ll know Monday if they’re gonna change the ethnicity or whatever. I’ll let you know.”
“Great. Thanks, Mom.”
“Thank Sarah,” she said. “She’s a damn good agent.”
“Yes, she is.” Gavin continued petting his dog.
Vivien peered down at the dog. “You love that little mutt, don’t you?”
Gavin kissed Buster on the top of his head and nodded. “Yeah, he’s the best dog ever. He’s the one getting me through my break-up with Kendyll.”
“Awww, sweetie…” she said and put her right arm around him for a half-hug.
Then the doorbell rang.
“All right mister, try to have some fun tonight,” she said, already making her way to the front door.
Lila brought in two new guests. Vivien was happy to see some people younger than forty, but neither of these guys was whom she was looking for.
“Brandon, you didn’t have to come to this,” she said, giving him a hug.
“I wanted to,” he said, handing her a bottle of pinot noir.
“Oh my God! Stop giving me gifts! You are too much!”
Brandon laughed and turned to his left. “V, this is Derek.”
“Oh, hi,” Vivien said and put her hand out for the Asian boy to shake it. He did. The kid looked no older than sixteen. “Please, make yourself at home. There’s food in the kitchen and drinks in the fridge.”
“Cool, thanks,” Brandon said. “This is a really nice place.”
“Yeah, too nice,” she said. “I haven’t exactly been itching to get out of here. My husband should cheat on me more often, right?” Derek and especially Brandon looked taken aback by her comment. Vivien forced a smile and changed the subject. “So how long have you two been dating?”
Brandon grinned at the shy boyfriend. “Uhh, let’s see now. Four months, I’d say?”
“Five months, actually,” Derek corrected him.
“Five months? Wow. It’s gone by in a blur.”
And then Vivien saw something she had never seen up close before. She saw Brandon give Derek a tender kiss on the lips. She didn’t know what to think of it at first, but, happily, the gesture didn’t bother her.
“You two are so cute,” she said. “I mean, seriously, adorable.”
Ten o’clock rolled around and there was still no sign of her boy. She wasn’t feeling a whole lot of confidence, but she knew if he showed up, she would do everything in her power to bed the international stud before the clock struck midnight.
The doorbell rang again and two women who looked close to sixty charged in, giving Lila a pair of hugs.
“Did
you two bring anything for Viv?” she heard Lila say from afar.
One of the women responded. “Why yes, we brought her a couple of gifts, actually. They’re heavy, and a young man was kind enough to bring them in for us.”
Young man?
“Oh, come in!” Lila shouted. “Come in!”
Jonathan stumbled in with two large bags and dropped them on the hardwood floor.
“Can I take your jacket?” Lila asked.
“Thank you,” he said.
He didn’t see Vivien at first. She looked at him from the adjacent room, standing mostly hidden in a doorway. He had a more casual look about him tonight, wearing a simple white t-shirt with his jeans. She was salivating at the mouth. He looked good enough to eat.
She turned away for only a moment, when she heard his voice coming toward her. “Ms. Slate? Is that you?”
She turned to him to see he had noticed her from the entrance hallway. Embarrassed just standing there all by herself, she started laughing and making dramatic hand gestures as if she were talking to somebody. “Excuse me,” she said to nobody as she walked over to greet him.
She gave him a big bear of a hug, enabling her to feel every nook and cranny of his upper body. She didn’t want to let him go.
“How many times do I need to tell you? Call me Vivien.”
“Vivien?”
“Yes?”
“I can’t breathe.”
She let him go and promptly apologized. “Sorry. Let’s just say that I’ve had a bit too much to drink tonight.”
She actually hadn’t sipped an ounce of alcohol yet, but she knew it was time to have some fun.
I need to liquor this kid up, pronto.
“Jonathan. Kitchen. Drinks. Now.”
She took hold of his right hand and brought him into the kitchen. She poured him a glass of Brandon’s pinot noir and watched him wash it down like water.
“Thanks,” he said. “I love pinot.”
“Me too. Here, have another.” She poured him another glass.
“Thank you.” He took another sip and studied the guests around him. “So are these all friends of yours?”
Vivien backed up against the kitchen island that has recently been nicknamed the masturbatory oasis. “I know some of them. A couple of these people I’ve never seen before in my life. It’s mostly friends of my buddy Lila.”
“But it’s your birthday.”
“I don’t have a lot of friends, Jonathan.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well instead of spending time with people, I work, and then I work some more.”
“Must get kind of lonely.”
“Never. I have my little boy. He’s all I need.”
She could see Gavin across the way getting smothered by some of the older ladies. He displayed the fakest of smiles, making his mother proud.
“Is he your only child?”
Vivien laughed. “Oh yes, double yes. I never wanted kids. I love Gavin to death, but I made it firm with my husband that was it. No more.”
“You couldn’t see yourself with a little girl or something?”
“If I had another kid right now, I would kill myself. Seriously. Besides, I’m old enough to be a grandmother.”
Jonathan nodded, seemingly in agreement, but then he said, “You’d be a hot grandmother.”
Vivien smiled and downed the rest of her wine. “I like the way you think.”
She moved closer to Jonathan and smiled. She didn’t realize until now just how tall he was. She had liked Nathan all right, but Nathan had been no taller than she. Jonathan had an intimidating height that made her think his wee-wee had to be even bigger than Nathan’s eight-incher.
“Who’s that?” Jonathan asked, pointing to the other side of the kitchen.
Vivien looked to her left to see Brandon chatting up his boyfriend. “Oh, that’s my associate. Do you remember? He was in the audition room today.”
“No, not him. That guy next to him.”
“Oh. That’s his boyfriend, Derek. A bit on the young side, don’t you think? The kid’s only nineteen.”
“Age is relative,” Jonathan said.
“I like the way you think, mister.” Vivien brushed her hand against his chest. “Listen. You’ve gotta try this.”
She reached her hand past the wine bottle to pull toward her a plate of chocolate-dipped strawberries. She brought one up to Jonathan’s mouth. He smiled and went in to bite it. But Vivien wouldn’t let him. She bit into it herself, teasing him.
“Oh, it’s so good,” she said.
He crossed his arms and smiled. “You gonna let me try it or what?”
“Only if you ask nicely.”
“Please?” She brought the strawberry up to his mouth and watched in awe as his sensual lips covered the piece of fruit like he was practicing fellatio. “Oh, that’s incredible.”
“Isn’t it? It’s that really good dark Belgian chocolate, which I’ve heard is pretty healthy.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, “nothing that tastes that good can be healthy.”
“You never know,” Vivien said, taking another step closer to him. “Sometimes things that don’t seem healthy can be the best thing for you.”
She put her hand on his side, and for the first time, she saw a little bit of resistance.
“You want a tour of the house?” Vivien asked.
“Uhh, sure.”
She pretended to show Jonathan the living room and dining room but really was just wasting time so that it wouldn’t be too obvious when she gave him a thorough inspection of her bedroom.
“Here we are,” she said, stepping into her kingdom of love. “This is where I spend my evenings and rough early mornings.” She laughed and sat on her bed.
“Nice room you got here,” he said.
“Yeah, Lila takes good care of me.”
Jonathan put his hands in his pockets and remained standing. Just like she had done for Nathan two nights ago, she patted her hand on the bed for him to come sit down.
“Oh, I’m fine,” he said.
“No. Please sit.”
“I’d prefer to stand.”
Vivien was distressed by his refusal. She got up and pushed him down on the bed.
“Feel it,” she said. “Isn’t it soft?”
“It’s nice.”
“Nice? It’s amazing. I hit this bed at night and in two minutes, I’m out.”
“I imagine you would be,” he said. He seemed to just now be catching on to Vivien’s mission, and, unlike Nathan, he didn’t seem to want to be seduced.
“How old are you, Jonathan?”
“I just turned thirty.”
“Thirty? Really?”
“Yeah.”
“You still look like a baby.”
“Oh, thanks,” he said. “You, too. I guess we both have good genes.”
“No, honey, my genes are fine. Your genes are incredible.”
Vivien put her hands on Jonathan’s right, muscular arm. She squeezed it, gently, and felt a power to it that instantly made her want to jump the guy’s bones.
Jonathan looked uncomfortable, but he clearly wasn’t stopping her. She turned to look at his face. His head was turned away.
“Thanks for coming tonight,” she said.
“Yes, of course. Should we go back to the party?”
“I don’t think so.”
She was five seconds away from making her move when she heard Buster start barking in Gavin’s room. She tried to ignore it, but the dog wouldn’t stop.
“Gavin!” Vivien shouted. “Gavin, what’s wrong with the dog!”
“Is that your dog?” Jonathan asked.
“Yeah,” she said. “Wait here a moment.”
Vivien was pissed. She had never wanted that damn dog in the first place, and now it was preventing her from getting a giant cock smashed between her thighs.
“Gavin?”
She turned into his bedroom to see Brandon cowering in the corner
. He looked prepared to piss his pants. He had a beer in his hand, and he was trying to move around Buster. Gavin, nor Brandon’s little Asian boyfriend, was in sight.
“Buster! Get off him!”
Buster turned to Vivien, not moving.
“Bad boy!” Vivien shouted. She slapped her dog on the butt, and he sauntered out of the room as if he owned the place. Vivien turned to Brandon. “I’m so sorry. I’ve never seen Buster do that to anybody. He’s usually so friendly.”
“Yeah, I think I might have been cursed at one time or another. I don’t know if it’s my appearance or scent or what, but all dogs hate me.”
“Where’s your boyfriend?” she asked, changing the subject. “What’s his name, again?”
“Derek.”
“Yes, Derek.”
“I’m gonna go look for him”
“You do that.”
She watched Brandon walk down the hallway. She calmly laughed to herself as Buster started barking at him again, this time jumping up on his stomach. Gavin appeared and pulled the dog into another room.
Vivien turned back to her bedroom to see that the door was closed shut.
Didn’t I leave it open?
She put her ear to the door. She could hear the mattress making a semi-loud squeaking noise.
She started opening the door. She did it slowly and quietly. If she hadn’t, she might’ve missed the sad sight in front of her.
Jonathan had his tongue buried deep in Derek’s mouth.
Oh no.
Noooooooo.
Vivien’s jaw dropped, but she didn’t make any noise. The thirty-year-old and the nineteen-year-old were kissing on the bed, turned in such a way that neither could see Vivien standing in the doorway.
Before she had time to stop him, Brandon stumbled into her. “Is he in here?”
Derek instantly pulled away from Jonathan, but it was too late.
“Oh my God!” Brandon went from being a straight acting gay to the biggest femme in La La Land. He started crying. “Oh my God! You little bitch! How could you!”
“It meant nothing!” Derek shouted. “It was nothing!”
“You have broken my heart!”
Brandon started running toward the front door, tears in his eyes, while Derek chased after him. “Brandon! Wait!”
Vivien turned back to the model gorgeous guy in front of her, who she had assumed from the beginning was straight as an arrow.