by Josie Brown
He’d seen what Hugo had done. From Sam’s perspective, Hugo had saved her too-often-lipo’d ass, and she should kiss his hairy one for doing so, too.
Not that she ever would. Instead, she’d started screaming bloody murder to everyone. Specifically to Archie Hardaway, who had then decided to yank any additional financing of the project and to sever any further connections with Hugo, despite the silent treatment he was getting from Lucinda for deserting her genius husband.
Yep, Hugo was a genius. His final cut was proof of that, despite what that idiot Kat thought.
Well, Sam knew how to shut her up. He invited her over to his place to make nice-nice and talk things out. Then he made her a proposition he just knew she couldn’t refuse:
Money.
Or, in this town, the next best thing: a bigger cut of the gross.
She bought it, hook, line, and sinker.
Along with his beach house, because she’d always wanted a Malibu love shack. Would five mill cover it?
Hell yeah. He’d use most of it to buy the distribution rights to Hugo’s film—not that he’d tell her that.
Besides, if he couldn’t live there with Nina, he didn’t want to live there at all. Now every time he watched the sun set from his living room window, all he could think about was the two of them making love on that very spot, and man did that hurt!
He told her he’d have his attorney, Jasper Carlton, send over the paperwork, and he tossed her the keys.
Then he headed out.
To Tijuana. Alone.
No clients, no cell phones, and certainly no women. Nothing except a fifth of Jack. And Towser, of course.
Voice message on Sam Godwin’s cell phone, Wednesday, 8:42 P.M.: Oh, uh, hi, Sam. It’s me, Nina. I…we haven’t talked in a while, so I just wanted to see…if you’re okay. Gee, I hate doing this on voice mail. Hey, can you call me when you have a minute? You know, just to check in? We don’t have to meet or anything…Unless you want to. Frankly, I wouldn’t mind…I…I miss you. (Click)
Voice message on Sam Godwin’s cell phone, Thursday, 10:15 P.M.: Hi, Sam. It’s me again. I wish you’d call me back. Look, I know that you’re pissed, but please, Sam, if I ever meant anything to you…if you can find a moment to just…What I’m trying to say is that I really need to talk to you! I—I’m afraid that I’m making…Sam, do me a favor and don’t hate me, okay? Just—just call! Please? I love you. (Click)
Voice message on Sam Godwin’s cell phone, Friday, 4:30 P.M.: Sam…It’s Nina…(sob) Listen, I…I’m scared! I shouldn’t be doing this…this wedding crap! At the time, I thought it was the right thing, you know, for Jake, but—but now I know that it’s just all a big mistake, and…Sam, look, I perfectly understand that you—you’ve moved on in your heart, and I accept that. Really, I do. Before we were lovers, we were friends, right? We were, weren’t we, Sam? Well, I’m hoping you can be my friend now. If you don’t mind, can we meet, and just talk? I won’t—I won’t say I love you anymore, because I now know that makes you uncomfortable. (Sob) Sam, I hope someday, you can forgive me…I love you…Damn! Scratch that! I—oh, never mind! (Click)
The estate Albertha booked for the circus sat up on the Malibu ridge, affording them a perfect view of the ocean.
It also afforded the helicopters buzzing overhead excellent visibility of the event. In fact, there were so many helicopters hovering noisily over the humongous tent that had been set on the cliff-hugging lawn that you’d have thought a mass murderer had been spotted in the area.
Jake and Ben and Plum (who was there with parents and nanny in tow because her father’s studio gig deemed him invitation-worthy, according to Riley) were so excited about the whirlybirds that Nina was afraid they might distract Jake from his duties as best man, which was a shame because, quite literally, from what she could tell by the crowd that had been invited—any industry bigwig or star Riley deemed worthy enough to invite, even if they didn’t know either Nat or Nina personally—he really was the best man there.
Unless Sam had somehow crashed the event. She asked Casey, her one and only bridesmaid, to go out and see if she could spot him. No Sam anywhere, Casey reported back, but she did find Hugo and had asked if he knew if Sam were coming. The answer she got back was, “Hell, no! He’s probably at the bottom of some bottle!”
Upon hearing that, mascaraed tears ran down Nina’s cheeks. Albertha commanded the makeup artist to fix the damage before any tears fell on the dress Nina had chosen: a stunning, slim, strapless sheath embroidered with a spray of Swarovski crystals.
She had never looked so beautiful. She had never been so sad.
That was Baxter’s declaration, anyway. “Those don’t look like tears of happiness,” he admonished her after he’d gotten a desperate hug. “But I’ve got just the thing to cheer you up: pre-nup gifts! One for you, and one for Jake!”
“How sweet, Baxter! Really, you shouldn’t have,” she cried. The box he handed her was tiny and sky blue. “Tiffany’s! Wow! I’m awestruck.”
“Don’t be.” He laughed. “The box is recycled. In fact, so is the gift inside.”
It was the key to a car.
“It’s the only baby blue Beetle here. Something borrowed, right?” He murmured that just loud enough for her to hear. “Nondescript. With tinted windows. I made the valet park it right out front. It’s unlocked, in case you need to, you know, make a quick getaway.”
She laughed weakly. “Thanks for the thought, but—but I have to go through with this. Nathan is really trying hard and…well, this is for Jake’s sake.”
“Of course, darling. Still, it’s the thought that counts, right?” He smiled devilishly. “Speaking of the little man, here he is now! This is for you, dude.”
He handed Jake the other box. In no time flat the little boy had torn it open and was playing with the tiny digital camera he’d found inside.
Nina couldn’t help but laugh. “Is this your way of saying you need an assistant? Very sneaky, Baxter.”
“Moi, sneaky? Hardly, dearest! All children need to learn how to cherish memories, and the sooner, the better. But first off, they need to know how to make them.”
He bent down to show Jake how to look through the viewfinder and push the button. “Now, kid, go out there and take some great pictures, so that Mommy can remember this day forever.”
The day she made the biggest mistake of her life.
“Say cheese, Mommy!” Nina put her arms around Baxter and Casey, and pretended to smile.
In no time at all, Jake got the hang of it. When he got through taking pictures of Ben and Plum making funny faces, and after clicking off a few shots of the helicopters, he secretly shot the wedding guests doing goofy things.
Like scratching themselves, or picking their noses.
Or crying like babies, just because they were lucky enough to be at Hollywood’s wedding of the year.
Or hissing bad words to each other through clenched teeth.
Or hiding in one of the many bedrooms throughout the big wedding house, so that they could make out in private.
Like Daddy. With Ylva.
Oh well, at least he wasn’t kissing that mean old Balloon Lips.
Jake had a hard time finding his way back to his mommy’s room. Still, he got there just in time to give her a nice big hug.
Poor Mommy is still crying, Jake thought sadly. Hey, maybe if she sees how good I take pictures, she’ll cheer up!
“We need to talk.” Though Nina’s eyes were angry, her voice was ice-cold.
Nathan shivered. He didn’t like the sound of that.
“Hey, I’m not even supposed to be in here, remember?” He laughed feebly. “Jeez, Albertha warned me it was bad luck to see the bride before the wedding.”
“Yeah, well, I guess she also forgot to tell you that it’s a real no-no to feel up the wedding guests, too.”
Nina tossed him Jake’s camera. Right there on the camera’s LCD viewing screen, in full-color high resolution, Nathan saw hims
elf sucking face with Plum’s au pair. One of his hands was buried in her blouse, while the other was climbing up her very short skirt.
“I can explain! Ylva’s feeling a little down because Becca—”
“No you can’t explain anything, Nathan! Not this time.” Nina yanked the camera out of his hand, then tore off her veil and threw it on the floor.
“Look, let’s just face facts: You need to be single at this stage of your life. Hey, I totally understand! You’re going through a lot of wonderful changes, and you’re being presented with a lot of great opportunities, and that’s the way it should be. Heck, you’re only twenty-four, right? But I no longer fit into your life. You know what, Nathan? That’s okay, too. Because you no longer fit into mine. So let’s just call it a day.” She grabbed her tiny white purse and headed for the door.
“Nina, no. Don’t do this.” He blocked the door before she reached it. “Listen, if you walk out now, I’ll be the laughingstock of this town—again! I can’t let that happen! My—my career—that will be the end of my career! Is that what you want? Is it?” He put his hands on her shoulders, as if to hold her down.
She wasn’t going to let him do that. Not again.
“Do you really know what I want, Nathan? Well, I’ll tell you. I want us both to be happy.” She searched his face for the comprehension she sought. “And that’s not going to happen as long as we’re together just to save your career. Nathan, face it! We’re over!”
“Nina, you can’t walk away from me!” He pulled her to him again. “Right now, the media loves us. All of us. You, me, Jake—don’t you get that?”
He ignored the look she gave him, which seemed to imply that he was crazy. “Okay, look Nina, if that’s what you really want, I’ll go along with another separation…but later, okay? After Hugo’s movie comes out, and people see what I’m really capable of doing without all this bad-boy media crap hanging over my head. I swear I’ll keep a very low profile until then. I’ll be—you know, discreet.”
He brushed her forehead with his lips, moving slowly down for a kiss. “And you can do the same, too, if you want…”
She couldn’t believe her ears.
He wanted her to play along, live a sham, for the sake of his career.
To hell with that.
She shoved him off her. “I’m out of here. Don’t try to stop me.”
This time, he knew better.
Just as Baxter had promised, the Beetle was right out front. Jake hopped in the backseat so that he could wave good-bye to his daddy.
“Daddy’s crying,” he said forlornly.
“That’s okay, sweetie. Ylva will know how to make it better.”
When Baxter picked up the car at Casey’s later that afternoon, he found the camera in the glove compartment, with a note: “Happy scoop. Love, Nina.”
By the time Nina reached Sam’s place, it was sunset.
Everything was just as she remembered it those few weeks past, although it was as if a million years had passed since then.
She walked through the front gate, which had been left open. The front door was unlocked, too. She took this as a good sign: that he was ready to forgive her, to hear her admit that she’d made a horrible, horrible mistake about Nathan.
About herself.
About the two of them.
Then she saw them: Sam and Kat.
Making love, right there in front of the picture window, just the way Sam loved it: Standing up, with Kat’s legs wrapped around him, both of them moaning in rapture as he pounded away at her to the beat of the surf as it hit the sand…
So, Nathan had been right about one thing after all.
Numbed and emotionally drained, she walked back out to the car.
After picking up Jake at Casey’s house, she headed straight up Highway One. She didn’t know yet where she’d end up, except that it was going to be as far away from Los Angeles as she could possibly go.
Kat just knew she’d seen someone peeking in on them from the doorway.
Frightened, she slapped her grunting young lover, a former soap actor who had just signed on to a CSI spinoff, on his very high, very rounded bum, to get his attention.
Because he’d do anything to please the woman he’d fantasized about since he was, like, twelve or something, he took that as a sign to take it up a notch and slammed into her even harder.
She sighed, then pinched his ass hard, in order to get him to look up.
“What! What is it?” he moaned exhaustedly. They’d been at it, standing up like this, for what, two hours? Hell, didn’t she ever get tired?
“Someone’s snooping around! Out there!” she hissed, and pointed to the door. “Go find out who it is. Now!”
He nodded and bolted for the front door, naked. She sighed again, and shook her head in wonder. It’s the price I pay for picking them so stupid, barely past jailbait, and testosterone-driven, she reasoned. Well, he’ll learn quick enough, maybe after his first People cover.
Hopefully, not naked. And with her at his side, of course.
Besides, a shot of Barely-Past-Jailbait outside Katerina McPherson’s new Malibu bungalow, and bare-assed at that, would go a long way toward erasing the public’s memory of Nathan’s brat biting Kat’s thigh while his wife was knocking her silly.
She prayed the photographer snooping around outside had a telephoto lens. Ha! As if the kid’s cock wasn’t big enough! Mmmm…
By the time he sauntered back in, she was primed and ready to go again.
“It was nobody. Just some girl in a wedding dress. Funny, huh?”
“Yeah, a real hoot.” He could tell that he’d disappointed Kat. That was okay. He certainly knew how to make it up to her…
It was only on Sunday night, after he’d fought his way up through San Diego, past Irvine, and onto the Four-o-Five, that Sam reluctantly turned on his cell phone.
That was when he learned that Nina loved him after all.
No, not just loved him, but wanted him, and in fact desperately needed him…Now.
Of course, he needed her, too.
As fast as his fingers would let him, Sam punched in Nina’s cell phone number and heard:
“We’re sorry, the number you have dialed has been disconnected…”
One year later…
19
The Second Proposition
GENTLEMAN CALLER: Hello, my ladylove. So, have you missed me?
NINA: Of course I have, handsome. (She gives him a deep, husky laugh.) My God. As I live and breathe! I never thought in a million years I’d ever hear your voice again, Sam Godwin.
SAM: You would have heard it a lot sooner if you had given me a clue as to where you were headed…So how do you like living across the border?
NINA: It’s fantastic, really. Stunningly beautiful, wonderful folk, great schools for Jake. And a heck of a lot of voice-over work for me, so I can’t complain. Great theater community, too…How did you find me, anyway?
SAM: (With a coy laugh) I have my sources, too, you know. Hey, don’t be too disappointed. Just think, it took me this long to find you, and that was with my looking every day since you left town.
NINA: Every day, huh? (She pauses thoughtfully) So bring me up to speed with the latest. Not that we’re so much of an outback that I’m totally out of the loop. Hey, we even get Hollywood Reporter up here. And every now and then I look at Baxter’s column on the Internet. Of course, if that fails us, there are always the tom-toms…
SAM: Oh, that’s cute. Considering how many movies are made in Vancouver, I’d say you’re almost back in the thick of it…In fact, Hugo’s in Vancouver making a movie as we speak.
NINA: Oh, he is, is he? (She laughs) I have to give him credit for how he salvaged Forever and Again. That was sheer genius, his concept of putting hidden cameras all around the set to capture all the angst and double-dealings of Nathan and Katerina! And I loved the way he let the other actors and the crew in on it, so that they could give commentary, and improv without tho
se two lovebirds knowing about it. Then intercutting their shenanigans into the scripted footage—I never laughed so hard! Considering all the press the movie got even before it was distributed, audiences couldn’t help but love watching it unfold. Gee, I’ll just bet Archie Hardaway wishes he’d hung in there instead of yanking his money.
SAM: Well if he had, I wouldn’t have gotten my opportunity to produce it myself. But you’re right. Hugo is a genius. Or, as he puts it, “If what you’re stuck with is a bunch of god-dam rotting lemons, then pulp the shit out of them and make some juice.” Always the master of the paraphrase, right? Of course, when Kat saw the final cut, she went ballistic over it. Nothing she could do about it, though. Still, she threatened to sue us into the Stone Age.
NINA: Surprise, surprise. How did you finally get her off your back? I meant that euphemistically, of course.
SAM: Why, of course you did…What else? We cut her in for a larger percentage of the gross. Believe me, she was a very happy camper. It’s been her biggest box office take to date.
NINA: Somehow that gal always comes out on top, doesn’t she?
SAM: Well, she does like that position best…euphemistically speaking, of course. Not that I would know from personal experience…
NINA: Oh? Look, Sam, let’s not go there, okay?
SAM: What’s that supposed to mean?
NINA: I’m not blind, Sam. I know what you like…I’ve experienced it firsthand, remember? At the beach house.
SAM: (Sadly) Damn, the beach house! You had to mention it, huh? Boy, I miss that place.
NINA: What do you mean, you miss it?
SAM: Sold it. Hey, you’ll never believe who bought it, either. Kat.
NINA: Wait—Kat bought your place? But—when did you—? How—