Limelight (Hollywood Stardust)

by Kim Carmichael

  “It’s been a long day.” He moaned and leaned his head back on the seat.

  “Oh my, I can feel the knots.” She continued her ministrations. “Once we get to the hotel we will have to get you into a nice hot bath.”

  “Oh.” Bambi scrambled for her notebook.

  “Erin.” Drew’s voice came out a cross between a warning and begging.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll take complete care of you once we stop.” She ran the back of her hand against his cheek. “By the time I’m done with you, you will be happier than Beaker when he lies on that square on the floor where the sun shines in and he’s all loose and sleepy.”

  “That reminds me, should I call the hotels and get more rooms?” Bambi interrupted their interlude.

  “That won’t be necessary. I don’t stay in hotel rooms by myself.” Erin cut the buzzkill off at the pass.

  “Isaac?” Bambi stared down at her notebook.

  In an instant, the knots she worked out seemed to reappear, and he shrugged her hands off him. “Since this is a business trip we should all have our own rooms.”

  Her cheeks heated. Drew should be making his stand. It would make everything easier down the road, pun intended.

  “Let me call our first stop and get it set up.” Bambi lifted her phone.

  While the other woman dealt with the trivial pursuits, Erin inched over to Drew’s far side and put her face as close as she could by his ear. “Don’t worry I’ll sneak in like old times.”

  “Erin this is my work.” He spoke through gritted teeth. “You lost your chance for a romantic trip.”

  “Do you want me or not?”

  “We can’t do this now.” He clenched his jaw. “Sit back.”

  She slumped in the seat and tried to think of her next plan of attack.

  “Believe it or not there is some golfing tournament in Mesquite. We have the two rooms only.” Bambi strummed her fingers on her notebook.

  Drew audibly exhaled.

  “It’s fine. Erin and I can share a room.” Bambi blurted out.

  Whoa. She let her guard down for one minute and suddenly the innocent fawn took the offensive position. No way would she allow her to get the upper hand. “That’s fine, it will give Bambi and I a chance to get to know each other better.” She laughed. “Did you ever think you would be spending the night with a star?”

  “The thought never occurred to me. I was never one to be starstruck.” Bambi rifled through her pages.

  So this was how it would be played. She needed to up her ante. “Would it throw off your plan if I told you I was starving?” Inside, her heart seized and her focus fell on the camera in the seat next to her. Though she really only wanted to be one person’s sweetheart, she might have to settle on getting her job back as America’s sweetheart. At least at the end of this sequence she would have something to work with.

  * * * *

  DON’T COMPLAIN, DON’T COMPLAIN, don’t complain. Erin internally chanted her mantra from the moment she and Bambi stepped into the bland, sepia hotel room.

  If she and Drew were together it wouldn’t matter. The prints on the walls were older than Hollywood Stardust and the plain, rough sheets would only be things to laugh about, but here, trapped with Bambi, everything wrong screamed at her.

  However, while their surroundings didn't make for a great environment, it would make for a wonderful segment on what had to be endured when on the road, and once more she got out her camera and took a surrounding shot of the room.

  “What does this have to do with the making of Hollywood Glow?” Bambi hung up a tan business suit on one of the hangers made way too small for any normal pole for fear closet thieves may make out with it.

  Erin had played in enough relationship movies to know everything she said would be relayed to Drew in some way, shape or form and thought before she spoke. “I think it will be entertaining to see everything that happens. You never know what shot will be the magic one, so the best thing to do is get everything.”

  “I suppose that sounds reasonable.” The woman sat down at the little desk, reached into what was obviously her work briefcase, and pulled out a plastic bag full of little containers and liquids and things that looked like jewels.

  “Oh, what’s that?” Camera still in hand, she joined her nemesis.

  “You can’t film this!” Bambi grabbed the bag and clutched it to her chest.

  “All right. You don’t have to scream, just tell me.” She put the camera aside and pointed to the treasure. “Are those for the meeting? I’ve seen them at the lab.”

  “They are for Oasis Orchard. It’s prototypes of their custom products.” The woman continued to hold the products as if protecting them from a kidnapper.

  “Well, since I’ll be in the meeting as well, may I see them?” She sat on the other chair in the room.

  Bambi raised her chin. “I don’t know if I should.”

  With a huff she held her hand out. “What do you think I’m going to do? Give it to all the competing labs I know? Seriously, I just want to take a look.”

  The woman pursed her lips and thrust the bag at her.

  Though inside she boiled and wanted to pummel this person, she could mask just about any emotion, and with slow, calm movements opened the bag and removed the contents one by one. “Is this the only set?”

  “No. Isaac has two more in his luggage.” Bambi kept her voice low, but it trembled like it wanted to bubble over.

  “May I?” She lifted a white bottle.

  The woman shrugged.

  They couldn’t go through a week of this nightmare, or somehow she would end up being the one to blame. Right or wrong, she always ended up being the one at fault because she was emotional, a detriment to Drew and her career. “You know, I never got to go to normal school.” She opened the first bottle. Inside were a bunch of capsules.

  “Some would call you lucky.”

  “It’s like being an only child. You don’t know any other way, so you don’t know what you miss. I got by because I’m an excellent memorizer.” She put the bottle on her lap and went to the little baggie filled with what looked like jewels.

  With a blank expression, Bambi stared at her. Dare she say the woman looked like a deer caught in the headlights?

  “If I promise I will retain what you tell me, will you give me a quick lesson?” She held the baggie up.

  For at least a minute the woman did nothing, but then finally gave her one nod. “Those are from the new ampoule machine. Isaac researched the antioxidants, vitamins and minerals in the fruit found at the orchard and put effective doses in the products and then combined it with extracts from the actual fruits from the orchard so their line would be completely unique.”

  “Oh, I love these.” She opened the plastic bag and pulled out one of the pearlescent bright red little balls with a matching little stem. “They look like cherries.”

  “There are cherries at the orchard,” Bambi added. “Inside is a serum, you just pull out the stem.”

  Serum? Impressive. “I love serums. These are perfect for travel. May I try one tonight?”

  “I suppose.”

  Well, they weren’t snapping at each other. That alone had to be a plus. She picked up a smaller bottle and glanced at the woman.

  “That is a liquid with similar ingredients. The other one is a powder.” Bambi then pointed to the other bottle on her lap. “That one is full of capsules.”

  “It’s a whole system of products.” Maybe their two worlds could come together, even if only for a moment. With a smile, she looked up at Bambi.

  “Yes, the lab techs were running around like idiots once Isaac decided it had to be a line of products. What a waste of time. These deals are impossible to get anyway.” Bambi retrieved her notebook. “Now I have to make a note on where those samples are.”

  “Then why bother if the deals are so hard to get?” She put everything back in the bigger bag.

  “Because they are a good account and we don’
t want them to go elsewhere. So we make the products in hope they buy them, but especially so they keep what they already buy from us.” Bambi shook her head. “Everyone wants to be a star.”

  “Yes, I know.” She tried to stay cordial.

  “So that’s why we bother, to keep what we already have. Now we have you…” Bambi turned away.

  Those were fighting words. “What does that mean?” She sat up, but still kept her cool.

  With a noise of clear dissatisfaction, Bambi spun back and crossed her arms. “They are going to take one look at you and think that they can have everything, a custom line complete with a built in movie star, and they’ll be really disappointed when they realize that’s not the case. At best, these opportunities are for us to preserve business and everything you’ve done is only going to make it worse.”

  All she needed was for the little deer to tell Drew she would hurt his business, and he would never trust her again. “Did you see a movie with me in it and not like my character or something?”

  Bambi narrowed her eyes. “I told you before I don’t watch your movies.”

  “Then what is it that you hate about me?” Though she knew the truth, and people wondered why she didn’t get along with other women. Everything stemmed from jealousy in one way or the other.

  “You are distracting Isaac, his work is a mess and he’s worse.” Bambi pounded her leg. “The last time I saw him do anything that even smacked of work was make sure you had the right supplements. He even custom blended them himself. I bet you aren’t even taking them regularly.”

  Honestly, she wasn’t sure if she was sad or not to hear Drew was a mess. “I’m nothing if not fastidious, I take them exactly as he prescribed.” To prove her point she reached over to her handbag and pulled out the little pouch where she stored her pills.

  “What are you doing here really? Did you really pine away all those years for him, or are you studying for some role and using him as your research experiment?” The woman stood.

  Still in character, Erin paused only to inhale. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m here because I have to be, I have to know and I have to fix things.” In order to even out the playing field, she stood as well. “Yes, there are some who say I went on with my life, but Drew was always there and yes, I pined away, maybe even waited for him.”

  “Something is off, and you are going to hurt Isaac and his work, I can feel it.” Bambi hardened her jaw.

  Some might say her filming for a reality show and not telling Drew would be the something, but in the end everyone would come to find she did it for him and so she could stand on her own. It would give him even more opportunities. She stepped toward the anti-Erin. “I think the real question is not why I am here, it’s why are you here? While you may have the upper hand in the personnel department for now, you and I both know, I clearly hold the win in the personal department or I wouldn’t be here at all.”

  “I’m here because someone has to take care of the business.” Bambi turned positively red. “In fact, I have to ask Isaac something.”

  With her notebook in hand, the woman snatched up her room key and left before Erin ever had the chance to stop her.

  “Damn it.” Erin put her hand over her eyes. Unsure if she should follow and plead her case or not, she decided the best course of action was no action.

  With nothing left to do but get ready for bed, she kept hold of the products for the spa and went into the bathroom. Apparently, Bambi had bested her. Every woman proved to be no different. A knot formed in her stomach. Somehow she would have to go to him alone without making matters worse and doing it in front of the too smart scientist. She should have never put her camera down. Without hard evidence, Drew would never believe she even tried.

  HOLLYWOOD STARBURST

  INT. SOMEWHERE MISSOURI, INTERIOR OF MOTEL ROOM.

  PANS AROUNDS A DINGY ROOM.

  In her pajamas, Roxy sits crossed legged on the bed organizing her items.

  ROXY takes out two strips of photographs from the road trip to Hollywood Stardust. One strip is her and Steven, one is her and William. She brushes a tear away from her eye and glances over at the phone on the nightstand. She takes a breath, swipes the receiver off the phone, closes her eyes and dials.

  CUT TO:

  William in his bedroom, leaning back on the bed with his school books.

  WILLIAM

  Hello?

  ROXY (O.S.)

  (Filtered)

  You made it home.

  WILLIAM let’s his head fall back on his headboard.

  WILLIAM

  You didn’t.

  ROXY (O.S.)

  (Filtered)

  I just wanted to see if you were okay.

  CUT TO:

  C.U. ROXY

  WILLIAM (O.S.)

  (Filtered)

  I’m not the one driving across the country by myself.

  ROXY puts her hands over her eyes.

  WILLIAM (O.S.)

  (Filtered)

  What happens when you get home?

  ROXY shakes her head.

  ROXY

  I wish I knew.

  CUT TO:

  C.U. WILLIAM

  Neither speak for a moment. William looks at the receiver and then presses it back to his ear.

  WILLIAM

  I want to be with you.

  CUT TO:

  C.U. ROXY

  ROXY

  (Sniffs)

  Then why did you leave me in Hollywood?

  CUT TO:

  C.U. WILLIAM

  WILLIAM

  Because I had to.

  Do you even want me, Roxy, or am I just a placeholder?

  ROXY (O.S.)

  (Filtered)

  Sometimes I think I’m the placeholder.

  WILLIAM sits up and pounds his fist into the bed.

  WILLIAM

  (Tough, powerful tone.)

  Answer the question, Roxy.

  CUT TO:

  ROXY sits straight up and looks straight ahead.

  ROXY

  Who wouldn’t want you? You’re the one who took me to see Hollywood Stardust. You’re the one everyone admires. You’re the one who ruined his school all to be with me. Who wouldn’t want you?

  WILLIAM (O.S.)

  (Filtered)

  But that’s not what you want.

  ROXY

  It is. You are. It is.

  ROXY POV camera pans over to Steven’s strip of pictures.

  Chapter Sixteen

  HOTELS, MOTELS, WHATEVER, came in three distinct categories. At the bottom tier were the motels, the roadside, dilapidated structures consisting of the smallest of rooms for those simply trying to make it through the night, or sneak through the night.

  At the other end of the spectrum were the luxury hotels. Overpriced? Yes. Worth it? Yes. These resorts with their celebrity chef restaurants, little shops, and every amenity at one’s fingertips weren’t appropriate for a business trip. Well, a business trip with Bambi.

  Between desperation and delicacies lay the doldrums in the form of the business traveler’s hotel. These beehive-like institutions with Wi-Fi and cable TV doled out free breakfasts like honey.

  Before Drew asked Erin on the trip, he made some of his own reservations at the tier three accommodations, but when she ditched him, he stayed with Bambi’s original plan and now the three of them were in the land of rancid coffee and expense accounts.

  With no normal channels on the television and a pit in his stomach, he laid on his bed staring up at the ceiling. Rather than check on them like he should, he remained in his self-imposed purgatory and prayed the women down the hall didn’t kill each other. Erin could talk her way out of anything, and Bambi could perform miracles with chemicals, a truly bad combination.

  At a knock at his door, he shot up. His chest tightened, and he glanced over at the clock, giving a nod to Erin for making it this long. He resisted rushing to the door and promised himself no matter what, he would sen
d her back to her room. At least for tonight he had to prove a point and he couldn't hurt Bambi.

  Inhaling and putting on a bit of swagger so she could go to bed thinking of him, he brushed his hair into his eyes and opened the door to Bambi.

  Stop. Wait. Rewind.

  Bambi?

  He pushed his bangs back into place. "Bambi?"

  "I'm sorry to bother you. I just needed to ask you a question." She didn't look directly at him.

  "Sure, come in." Part of him wished he wanted her. It would make his life that much easier. "Is everything all right?" In truth, he knew the answer, but he sort of wanted to know if Erin was conscious or even there. What if she wasn't there? He stopped short of asking his chemist about Erin.

  She stepped inside. "I was going through some notes for the meeting tomorrow. Erin saw the Oasis products and asked to see them. I stopped her from filming about them, but she insisted on knowing all about them and took them."

  Erin left with his products. "Damn it!" At his outburst he turned his back to her.

  "I'm sorry. I knew I shouldn't have given her the products. She said she wanted to learn about them, but then we had a disagreement, and I knew I shouldn't have shown her, let alone allow her to have them. So I came here leaving her to do God knows what with our ampoules." In what was supposed to be a comforting move, she put her hand on his back. "I'm sorry."