Marilyn's Ghost

by Lorena Franco

  “I don’t know.”

  “You should know, blondie. You’ve been dead longer than Christ.”

  “You go too far, Paul.”

  “He speaks a lot and my head hurts. It’s an awful itching…”

  “And is he handsome?”

  “If you mix Brad Pitt and Channing Tatum, you get Adam.”

  “Who are Brad Pitt and Channing… Channing what?”

  “Tatum. Two young actors, well, Brad already has gray hairs… Time stops for no man, Marilyn.”

  “I only know Will Smith.”

  “Great guy.”

  “I’m a fervent admirer of his work. Until I meet him, I’m not going to see Saint Peter.”

  “Saint Peter…” Paul laughed. “Strange guy, don’t you think? Always stroking that ginger beard mysteriously…”

  “Don’t talk to me about Saint Peter. He’s the damned person that trapped me here on earth for fifty-one years.”

  “And speaking of Will, Will Smith, he’s a great guy. A great companion, generous and always attentive, thoughtful about others.”

  Marilyn saw how the years had caught up with her old friend, even in ghost form. He changed the subject like he changed his underwear. Marilyn nodded, remembering that beautiful phrase Will tells his son while playing basketball in the film Pursuit of Happyness.

  “Don’t ever let someone tell you, you can’t do something. Not even me. You got a dream, you got to protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you you can’t do it.”

  And agin, she thought of Pam and her fulfilled dreams… dreams that had come true due to chasing them, thanks to her, her ghost. She was sad for how disappointed she still was in her at seeing her malicious acts with the manager of the hamburger restaurant she had been fired from for breaking her arm.

  “Hey, what a coincidence. The world is so small, Paul. Imagine our actors fall in love…” Marilyn was excited at the idea.

  “Of course, the four of us could live here,” Paul answered ironically.

  “Someday we will have to go, Paul.”

  “I know. It will hurt me to leave Adam. He’s a good kid.”

  “And so is my Pam. She’s like the daughter I never had.”

  “I’m so sorry, Marilyn. I’m so sorry.”

  Adam spoke a lot, he was a born flirter. Pam liked him. At least with him, there would never be one of those uncomfortable moments in which you did not know what to say to someone. Pam listened attentively to everything the actor explained to her about his childhood and teenage years in New York, his summers in the pretty town of Kutztown with his grandmother and his hard times in Los Angeles.

  “I thought this moment would never come. The moment of starring in a film, its like a dream come true,” he said excitedly.

  Pam could identify with him and his story. They had so much in common… After diner, they went to the Piano Bar where as usual, Brad and his band were playing.

  “I love this group,” Adam told Pam.

  Pam prayed that Brad would not spot her from the stage. They sat at the bar to enjoy the music, listen to the screams of the hysterical fans and enjoy a few shots flavored of exotic fruits that went to their heads. Brad saw Pam. Of course he saw her, and he regretted the day he stopped calling her. She would be a great actress, she would reach the top, while he would have to be content with his classes in the prestigious school Actor’s Studio, with his four small parts or appearances in movies, of which the main characters were played by great stars of the celluloid… and with his concerts in the Piano Bar, of course.

  At two in the morning, Adam and Pam took a taxi that went straight to Pam’s house. The young actors said goodbye with a kiss on the cheek and a smile, and Adam carried on back to his apartment. Before entering the house, Pam looked at Richard’s house. The light of his bedroom as on but she could not see any silhouettes through the window. Did he have company? Was he alone? Was he thinking about her? She wanted to tell him that Adam, the star of Story of Two Souls, was a great guy with whom she got on fantastically. She wanted to thank him for all he had done for her.

  Marilyn, sat on the sofa and enjoying Pursuit of Happyness for the thousandth time, glanced at Pam.

  “Have you been drinking?” she asked her seriously.

  “A little. I met Adam, what a charmer…”

  “The other actor in the movie?” Marilyn asked, without taking her gaze away from the screen.

  “Yes.”

  “Very good.”

  “Are you angry with me, Marilyn?”

  “No. I’m disappointed, Pam. I never thought you would be able to treat someone badly, as bad as they were to you in the past. Resentment is a bitter and dangerous feeling.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t do that again. If I learnt something while I was alive, it’s that you have to try to be the type of person you would like to meet. Do you know one of the secrets of happiness?” Pam shook her head. “Being nice to people, to everyone.”

  Pam thought for a second. She nodded and smiled. She sat next to Marilyn, ready to forget her mistake and ask the question that had been in her head since she met Adam.

  “Marilyn, when we first met you told me that the spirits of musicians helped young prodigies of music. Does the same thing happen with other actors? I mean… Are there other great stars that have passed that might be helping other novice actors like me?”

  “That’s a question I’m not going to answer, Pam. If you haven’t told anyone about me, no other actor is going to do so if they have their own ghost,” Marilyn answered, thinking about Adam. The ghost felt like she knew the young actor well from everything that her friend Paul Newman had told her.

  “I’m still curious…”

  “Curiosity killed the cat, Pam,” Marilyn said mysteriously, turning back to focus on the Will Smith movie.

  “You’re being odd today. I’m going to sleep, my head hurts a bit.”

  “Does Adam talk a lot?”

  “What?”

  “Maybe your head hurts because Adam talks a lot.”

  “And how do you know that?” Pam asked, confused.

  “It’s a ghost thing…” Marilyn smiled cheekily.

  “Of course… Have you seen my grandpa again?”

  “I told you he went toward the light, with your grandmother,” Marilyn answered sadly.

  “Yes, of course.” Pam knew that Marilyn was still annoyed with her and she just want to start a conversation, for everything to be like it was before. But it did not work. The ghost was still scandalized by Pam’s behavior of a few hours earlier. “Goodnight, Marilyn.”

  “Goodnight, Pam.”

  CHAPTER 14

  HAPPINESS IS NOT OUT THERE,

  TRUE HAPPINESS LIES WITHIN

  (Marilyn Monroe)

  There were only five days left until the team of the movie Story of Two Souls would move to Rome to start filming. Pam was excited to cross the pond for the first time in her life and start what would be her first great adventure. Even though like many other things, she still did not know that this project would change her life forever just as Marilyn and Richard had, and as Adam would do. With each take, each look, each smile, their relation solidified. They were great friends but there was something more. And everyone could see it. Everyone knew. It seemed inevitable that at one moment or another, the two young actors would start a beautiful romance that would be the talk of Hollywood.

  “Five days!” Pam exclaimed, from inside the pool, looking at Marilyn who was sat under the willow tree.

  “I know, you’ve told me fifty times today, Pam. I have like an itching here in my head,” Marilyn answered, understanding the kind Paul Newman, when he had spoken of the headache Adam and his excessive chatter caused.

  “Is Rome nice?”

  “Very. My favorite place is the Fontana Di Trevi.”

  “That’s the main scene of the film!” Marilyn nodded. She already knew… she had practiced the scene fifty-thous
and times with Pam and even so, the young actress was very annoying. “They’re closing the whole monument just for us. Can you believe it? We’ll see the Fontana Di Trevo without any tourists around us, it will be just for us,” Pam continued, excited.

  “Who are you talking to, Pam?” asked Richard, who had taken the liberty of coming into the garden of the actress, after having rang the doorbell several times without a response.

  “Richard!” Pam exclaimed shyly, getting out of the pool and showing her sculpted body in a bikini to her agent. Quickly, she grabbed a towel and embarrassed, covered herself. “Would you like a lemonade?”

  “Sure,” Richard answered, looking at the willow tree. For a moment, Marilyn felt the gaze of the agent. It was as if they had looked at each other for a second.

  Pam went to the kitchen to prepare a lemonade. Meanwhile Richard approached the willow tree. Marilyn still stood up hastily and the agent stood in front of her. No, it did not seem like he could see her. Richard lifted his hand to stroke the fissured bark of the tree trunk and went through the diva’s spirit. Paralyzed, she remained still. She was nervous, very nervous. She could not move and she could still feel Richard’s gaze fixed on her even though he could not see her. She saw how the agent frowned feeling something strange. She also felt strange, she had never been traversed, not like this.

  “The lemonade is ready,” Pam called, feeling strange about the scene she was witnessing. Richard was stood in front of Marilyn, going through her body to stroke the trunk of the willow tree.

  “Coming,” Richard answered, moving away from the tree and Marilyn, who seemed exhausted after that strange and unexpected experience. She sat back down, being watched careful by Pam.

  “What were you doing?” asked Pam, pretending.

  “That tree, it’s strange, no?”

  “The willow tree?” Pam shrugged her shoulders and chose to laugh. “I don’t know. It’s a tree…” Marilyn remained seated, looking at Pam and shaking her head, warning her to keep the secret they shared.

  “Who were you talking to, Pam?” Richard insisted.

  “No one, I was rehearsing.”

  “Of course, well, five days.”

  “Five days!” Pam repeated, nervously.

  “Are you okay? Ready for the adventure?” Richard asked, pouring himself a glass of lemonade.

  “Yes. Adam is great, I was really lucky.”

  “You like Adam?” Richard asked, wanting to know. Pam blushed. “That means yes,” Richard continued, winking. “Well, Adam seems great to me, Pam. Also, a romance between the two of you would be great for marketing the movie. So if there’s love, that’s better.”

  “Yes?”

  “Yes, Pam.”

  Pam nodded. She had lost count of the number of models that had gone through her agent’s house over the last few months.

  “Time will tell,” Pam said, smiling.

  “In the end, I’m not going to Rome, I have a few things I need to take care of here.”

  “It’s only three weeks.”

  “And then five more here in Los Angles.”

  “It will be five in the end?” Pam asked. Richard nodded. “And after that?”

  “Enjoy the moment! After come the screenings, your publicist is already working really hard to make sure you get to the most important events and screenings of the films you participated in. And of course, if Adam is with you, even better. We also have many interviews planned for magazines, radio and TV.”

  “Okay,” Pam sighed.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “I hadn’t thought about interviews. I’m a bit scared, I’m new at this.”

  “Stay calm, we’ll have the questions beforehand, so even if you have to improvise, we can prepare the answers before. You’re an expert of improvisation, don’t worry about it.”

  “Okay…”

  “Come on, artist. To success!”

  Richard stood up to go home. Pam stopped him by holding his hand and the agent could not avoid looking at her with tenderness.

  “This, where is it going?” Pam asked suddenly.

  “To the success you always dreamed of, Pam. You’ve got it.”

  “I’m not talking about work, Richard.” Pam got up and stood in front of Richard.

  She gazed at him fixedly and without the agent expecting it and to Marilyn’s surprise , Pam kissed him.

  “Pam, no,” Richard whispered, looking downward. “It can’t happen.”

  “Because you’re my agent.”

  “Not only for that, Pam.

  “Don’t you like me? I know I’m not as beautiful as those models that go to your house every now and again, but I thought there was something special between us, I see it, I feel it.”

  “Pam…” The worst thing was that the young actress, speaking with extraordinary maturity, was right. “I don’t feel anything like that for you,” Richard lied. “I hold you dearly, you’re my favorite actress and believe me when I tell you you’re worth a thousand of those models, in every sense. But really no…”

  “You don’t have to say anything else,” said Pam, ending the conversation, disappointed and hurt, tears in her eyes.

  “Adam is a great guy. And you have so much in common.” Pam nodded. “It will go well.”

  “Sure. Everything is as it should be.”

  “Exactly. I’ll see you tomorrow, Pam,” Richard said goodbye, turning to look at the willow tree from where Marilyn was watching the scene, feeling sad.

  When Richard left, Marilyn went up to Pam. The ghost hadn’t foreseen such a tragedy. She had never thought that it would end with Pam embarrassed and tears flooding her eyes, with a glass of lemonade in her hand, due to her agent’s rejection.

  “My dear,” the ghost whispered, stroking Pam’s wet blond mane.

  “I’m an idiot.”

  “No, Pam. You’re not an idiot. Once you told me we couldn’t choose who we fall in love with, remember? And everything I said about love, don’t listen to me. I’m bitter about that aspect of my life but you will be fine without Richard. It’s better like this.”

  “Adam is very attractive,” Pam sighed. “He might be my great love.” The young woman smiled, as if it was a consolation.

  “Pam, happiness is not out there. True happiness lies within. You are young and you still have a lot to live for, many men to meet.”

  “You see the luck I have in love, Marilyn…”

  It could be worse. Pam, smile. Five days! In five days you’ll be in Rome!,” Marilyn laughed. And she managed to make Pam smile, forgetting Richard’s rebuff for a moment.

  That night, a super tall red-haired woman entered Richard’s house. Pam saw from the living room window how Richard greeted her with a smile, placing a kiss on her lips. Pam, furious, closed the curtain and sat next to Marilyn, the only person that knew how to cheer her up.

  On his part, Richard enjoyed his night with Steff, one of his multiple lovers. The agent, attachment free, decided it would be better like this. He had the gift of attracting attractive women, who even though they could not fill him like one simple look from Pam could, they taught him the good side of things, to enjoy without strings, to live in the moment. But that day especially, he remembered Pam’s teary eyes that were his fault, and he felt like the most miserable being on the planet. She was special, fragile and pure. She was not yet corrupted by Hollywood and he would have to keep fighting and helping her to never be like that. It hurt him that the young woman felt something for him. But it hurt him even more to feel marvelous things for her and to keep them silenced in fear.

  Pain passes, reduces, can be hidden. The days do not stop and the sun always comes up, especially in Los Angeles. Richard went to the airport to say goodbye to Pam, who was leaving to Rome with most of the crew, including Adam and Karl. Nothing seemed to have changed between Richard and Pam, and you could not say the young actress was unprofessional. She was cordial to Richard at all times, without bitterness, with total normality. It was
as if he were a friend, as if he were the agent that had launched her career.

  “Best of luck, Pam,” Richard wished her, stroking her blonde mane, pulled up in a bun that day.

  “Marilyn, next to Pam, was looking fixedly at Richard. She could seen pain in his gaze, and she could identify with him in a certain way. Although many women went through his bed, none of them could fulfill him. None complimented him. Richard was empty inside and he only managed to make a small spark shine when he was in the company of his young actress. She felt sorry for him, but she knew that Pam would be better without him and that was something that Richard also new. “He did it to protect her!” the ghost thought. That was one of the few things that the moment she would hide from Pam, who seem to be more and more infatuated with Adam, rather than tormenting herself with the memory of two fleeting kisses with the agent.

  On the plane, Pam and her ghost sat next to each other in the two first-class seats the young actress had demanded. No one understood why, but they indulged her whim. Adam had done the same and the two young actors laughed at the coincidence. Marilyn and Paul Newman glanced at each other sideways, as if nothing were. Adam could not see Marilyn, nor Pam, Paul. Even the ghost learnt something that day. Those that were not predestined to meet each other never would, even if they were next to each other.

  The young actress slept during almost the whole twelve hour flight, thanks to a sleeping pill she had taken to calm herself from the fear she felt at flying. Marilyn, sat in the window seat, loved watching the sky, the clouds, the rays of sunshine.

  As soon as they landed in Rome, they headed to the hotel Hassier Roma, located in the upper part of the staircase of Plaza de España, in the heart of the city.

  Pam had done well to sleep. The activity was frantic and there was no time to rest. They kept rehearsing in the hotel while the technical team started to set up scenery on the outskirts of the city and ensured that the locations were well-prepared, with the necessary props from the art directors. That day, four makeup artists, two hairdressers and ten stylists came to the suites Adam and Pam were staying in, for more makeup and wardrobe tests for the two main actors.