by S. Tamanaha
Susan worked on her project tirelessly so that she could leave to be with him in L.A. as soon as possible. She worked on herself too—getting more fit, caring more about her health. Looks may be transitory, but she wanted to make him proud, especially in that place. Five and a half weeks after he had left Honolulu, she was once again on a plane heading for Los Angeles.
She arrived at LAX on a Thursday afternoon, caught a cab to the Marquis Grand Hotel, and checked into her room. She had added Johnny as a guest and left a card key for him at the front desk. It was going to cost her a small fortune to stay there for five days, but she didn’t care. She wanted the place to be perfect for her and Johnny. After unpacking and settling in, she got ready for him. She took a long perfumed bath, washed and styled her hair, and put fresh makeup on. She slipped into slacks and a sweater but wore nothing underneath. She ordered off the light menu from room service in case he was hungry when he arrived. And then she waited.
It was just past seven o’clock when she heard the door open. He walked in, smiling broadly, carrying a duffle bag in one hand and a single red rose in the other which he offered to her. She smiled as she accepted his gift. Then he lifted her in his arms and kissed her passionately, over and over again.
“God, it feels so good to have you back in my arms,” he said emotionally. “I couldn’t wait to get here. I came straight from the shoot so I’ve got makeup and stuff still on me. Let me grab a shower and get cleaned up, okay?”
She nodded. “Are you hungry? I ordered something light from room service.”
He gave her that look that she had come to know so well. “I’m hungry ... but not for food.”
She waited for him on the balcony—she had insisted on having a balcony—and looked out at the city. It looked better at night, but it was not an attractive place. She found it too sprawling, too unwelcoming, and from her window on the plane and in the cab on the way to the hotel that afternoon, she noticed that everything—the buildings, the mountains, even the sky—looked gray or brown.
Johnny stepped out of the bathroom wearing only a towel, his hair still damp and slicked back. He came up behind her on the balcony and put his arms around her.
“And just why aren’t you waiting in that bed for me?” he asked in that low seductive voice that she loved so much.
She leaned back against him and decided not to insult his city. “You mean like in the movies?” She kissed his hands and turned to hug him. “I like it better when you undress me.”
He scooped her up in his arms then and kissed her passionately as he carried her to the bed. He undressed her slowly, his lips finding all the secret spots on her body. Then she removed his towel and did the same. They made love as though they were starved for each other. They were. Afterwards, she lay with her head on his shoulder, his arm wrapped around her, their souls peaceful and calm again.
“How’s Angel?” he asked after a while.
“She’s in good hands. My girlfriend adores her so I’m not worried.”
He was quiet for a few seconds, his hand caressing her shoulder and arm gently. “Listen, why don’t you both move here?”
She knew that this moment would come. Being apart was too difficult. But she hadn’t thought that it would come this soon and she had tried not to think about it. She hated L.A. and the thought of what she would have to give up if she relocated was painful.
“Johnny—”
“I know it’s a lot to ask,” he said, as though he had read her mind. “I know how much you’d have to give up—your job, your friends, your family, the life that you built, your sanctuary. I know, but I can’t be away from you for months at a time. You know, once you said that you were finally coming over, everything changed. I changed. Everyone on the set noticed it. Even the makeup lady told me to stop smiling so that she could put on my makeup. When you’re with me or I know that I’m going to be with you, all those crazy people as you call them don’t bother me as much. Just knowing that I’m going to be with you keeps me grounded and sane.”
She snuggled closer to him. “Johnny, everything is perfect when it’s just you and me together. I feel happy and at peace. But if I move here, that private world won’t be possible. I’ll have to deal with those crazy people too. And when they start in and they will, they’ll be mean and petty. I can just hear it—what does he see in her, how can he consider her as a love interest, and so on and so on.”
“Stop it,” he ordered sternly. “Stop thinking that way.”
“You know how they are, Johnny.”
“Yeah, I know. They’re stupid and superficial. Who cares what they think?”
“You might,” she said softly. “Maybe not consciously, but it might start bothering you inside. You’re always in the public eye, always being photographed. You have that image you have to protect even if it’s not really you.”
“I can’t believe what I’m hearing from you. You’re the one who said the image didn’t matter.”
“It doesn’t matter to me, Johnny. But it has to matter to you. It’s your career.”
“Listen, I don’t give a damn about the paparazzi or those tabloid reporters. They print photos and untrue stories about me every other week. Do you honestly think that I’m going to let them, of all people, stand in the way of you and me? Besides, you are beautiful and I’m proud of you and nothing anyone could ever say would change the way that I feel about you.”
“You look at me with eyes that see into my soul and all the love that I have for you. You’re not looking at me through the cold lens of a camera.”
He pulled her up then so that he could look at her. “Are you trying to say that you’re satisfied with keeping it this way? Seeing each other what? Five or six times a year?”
“Of course not. I’d like nothing better than to be there waiting for you every night, waking up beside you every morning. But it’s not just them. It’s ... well, every relationship starts off passionately. Maybe not this passionately, but you know what I mean. In the beginning, everything is new and exciting. What’s going to happen down the road when we settle into a regular life?”
“You think you’ll start feeling differently if we settle down?”
“It’s not me that I’m worried about.”
“You think I’ll change?”
“You’ve chosen a career that’s put you in an unfamiliar place among people who don’t really care about you and can’t see who you are. I think you’ve felt sort of lonely and alienated for a long time. And then we met and I don’t care about the image, I care about you, and you feel happy inside because now there’s someone that doesn’t make you feel so alone. But eventually you won’t be an outsider any longer. Once you get used to these people, used to this life, get your dream ... maybe my being with you isn’t going to be as important. Relationships don’t seem to have a very good track record in Hollywood.”
He raised himself up on one elbow to face her. “Okay, I’ve listened to you, now you listen. You’re not just filling some temporary lonely spot in my life. I love you—what you are, who you are. I feel lost without you and I would feel that way no matter how long I’m in this business which, by the way, I’m never really going to get used to. Now I know that if we live together, we’re going to go through what other people go through. We won’t be making wild, crazy love every night and we’ll probably fight at times, but I think that no matter what, we’ve got the best chance of anyone to make it work. What we feel for each other, it doesn’t happen every day. For most people it never happens. I know that. And I don’t want to ever lose that.”
“Are you sure, Johnny? I mean really sure? Not just about wanting me to move here but about being ready to emotionally commit to a relationship because I take relationships seriously and—”
“This isn’t a whim,” he said firmly. “I’ve given it a lot of thought. I realize what you’ll have to give up. I’d never ask you to do that if I wasn’t sure about my feelings. And I know that you take relationships seriously. S
o do I. I know you might not think so because of all the women that are around, but I’ve never really committed to anyone before, never felt like this before, and I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.”
Susan looked deeply into his beautiful eyes and she knew that he meant what he was saying. It was an enormous sacrifice for her, but her soul loved and needed him and, she knew, he loved and needed her.
“All right, Johnny, but it can’t happen overnight. It’ll take at least a couple of months.”
“You mean you’ll do it? You’re really going to do it?”
She nodded. “I love you and I want to be with you.”
He hugged her so hard that she could barely breathe.
“But we have to talk about a lot of things,” she said. “Bringing Angel over, where I’m going to live.”
“What do you mean? We’re going to stay together stay at my place.”
“You have renters. I need my own space.”
“It’s okay. They’re both graduating and they were going to move on anyway.”
“Then I need to pay you rent. Whatever half is, I’ll pay so that you won’t lose too much income.”
He smiled. “You really would do that, wouldn’t you? You can’t just come over and live with me and not chip in.”
“Everything needs to be fair in order for me to feel okay about it. I’d need to see your place though, because I have to make sure that Angel will be okay there. Next to you, she’s the most important person in my life and I promised her a good life.”
He stroked her hair and caressed her face gently. “I know. Whatever it takes, we’ll make it work. For all of us.”
The following day was a regular workday for him and he rose early in order to report to the studio on time. When he kissed her goodbye, he said that he would call her later and then take her out that evening. He had asked her to bring that special dress with her—the one that she had worn to the Waikiki show and that he had found so stunning. She took extra care with her makeup and hair as she got dressed. She had brought with her some of those same white orchids to adorn her hair. She hoped that he wasn’t taking her somewhere where there would be a lot of people.
She had told him that she would wait for him in the lobby bar of the hotel. When he walked in, he noticed right away how some of the men at the other tables kept glancing over at her. He was just in time. She smiled when she saw him and then stood up and grabbed her purse. She was as stunning as when he had first seen her in that dress—even more so, if that was possible. He kissed her hello and took her hand as they walked out, sending a silent message to any interested man.
“You look beautiful,” he said, smiling.
“So do you,” she said. He was dressed in a double breasted black tuxedo and although she knew that he hated wearing tuxedos, it was obvious that if there was anyone born to wear one, it was him.
She had expected his car. Instead, he led her to a waiting limousine.
“Where are we going?” she asked suspiciously as he helped her into the luxurious vehicle.
“Don’t be upset when I tell you, okay? I have to go to one of those parties. But smaller, not as publicized. It’s actually a charity event.”
“Johnny, I don’t want to go to one of those things,” she protested. “There’ll be photographers and Hollywood type people and I just won’t feel comfortable.”
“I hate those parties too, you know that. It was just going to be more bearable with you beside me.”
“You should have told me.”
“I know.” He kissed her hand. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t want you to be able to say no.”
“What if they start asking questions?”
“I’ll just tell them the truth..”
“No, you can’t do that. Then they’ll want all sorts of details.”
“All right, then if they ask I’ll tell them that we recently met by accident on the set and just started dating. I’m not going to say we’re just friends though. If I said that, there’d be a dozen guys trying to hit on you in a second.”
“Oh, no one’s going to hit on me,” she said a little irritably. “They’ll all be there with their six-foot tall girlfriends. I doubt that they’ll even notice.”
“Trust me,” he said. “They’ll notice.”
The limousine pulled up in front of the posh Beverly Garland Hotel in Beverly Hills. She felt ill when she saw all of the people standing behind the roped-off red carpet. He kissed her hand again.
“It’s going to be fine,” he said. “Smile.”
The car door opened and when Johnny exited the vehicle, cameras began flashing relentlessly. He offered her his hand and she stepped out, smiling as he had ordered. She summoned all of her calm and composure and mentally turned on her Scorpio aura. If she had to be there, she wanted to make him as proud as possible. Act like you belong, she commanded herself silently. He squeezed her hand as she accompanied him up the short red carpet and into the event.
People began approaching them almost immediately after they entered. She greeted each of them with a dazzling smile and a firm handshake as he introduced them to her. Then an older woman, perhaps in her late fifties, with flaming red hair walked over to them.
“John, darling, who is this exotic beauty? You’ve been keeping secrets.”
“This is Susan. Susan, this is Isabel Franklin, Hollywood’s leading lady in the casting business.”
Casting. She made a mental note to be nice to this person. “Nice to meet you,” she said as she shook Isabel’s hand.
“Darling, that is a beautiful dress,” Isabel said.
Susan smiled. “Thank you.”
“Who made it for you? Anyone I know?”
“Actually, I made it myself,” Susan replied. Johnny was surprised; he hadn’t known.
“You’re a designer!”
“Oh no, sewing is just a hobby of mine.”
“Well, it is very beautiful. You should think about becoming a designer. That blue looks gorgeous against your skin.”
“Well, thank you. That’s so kind of you. I actually think that the blue goes well with Johnny’s eyes, don’t you?” She had deftly re-focused the woman’s attention back to him.
“He does have beautiful blue eyes,” Isabel said. “He’s the hottest thing on the hunk list these days you know.”
“So I’ve heard. It’s too bad that they’re focused on that so much that they never ask him to display his other talents like singing. He’s a wonderful singer. Such a beautiful voice.”
“Well, that’s something that’s good to know,” Isabel exclaimed. “I must keep that in mind in case the right parts come along.”
Susan smiled. If Johnny wasn’t required to maintain his composure, he would have kissed her right there.
“You must have a very difficult job,” Susan said then. “I can’t imagine the amount of work involved in having to match the right people for the right role, especially with so many aspiring actors in the field.”
“Thank you for recognizing that, darling. These producers and directors sometimes act as though all I have to do is pick one, any one. Preferably someone they already have in mind who often has no real talent.”
“Well, I’d have to disagree with them there. I don’t know very much about the movie industry but it seems to me that a movie’s success depends a great deal on whether the right person is cast for a part. Two beautiful people but no chemistry ... well, the audience can tell.”
“You are absolutely correct,” Isabel said delightedly. “John, dear, I love this woman. She appreciates the difficulty of what I do.”
“Everyone appreciates you Isabel,” he said in his deep rich voice. “That’s why we all call you the leading lady.”
Isabel smiled. “You two come with me. Come join the motley crew at my table.”
Her motley crew happened to consist of a couple of producers, a director, the wife of one of the producers and another woman who, like Isabel, seemed to be on her own.
He maintained his professional, calm demeanor as he interacted with them while marveling all the while at the way she cast her magic spell on the group. One woman commented on the beautiful orchids in her hair and she related an interesting story about how that particular flower was believed to have been born out of the forbidden love between a Hawaiian warrior and a princess.
“It was a love so pure and strong,” she said in that soft soothing voice, “that this orchid can never grow in any other color but white. All attempts to cross breed this particular orchid with another species has failed.”
They were mesmerized. There were three women seated at the table, the exact number of flowers in her hair, so she removed them and offered one to each of the women. “Wear it on your left if you’re already married or in love. On your right if you’re still searching.”
Rachel, the woman who appeared to be on her own, then said, “Well, I may be married but since I haven’t seen the dolt since we got here, this flower’s going on the right.” Everyone laughed.
“If you’ll excuse me,” Susan said then. “I’m going to find the ladies’ room and freshen up.”
“I’ll show you the way sweetie,” the producer’s wife, Amy, said. “Maybe you can help me put this flower on.”
“I’d be happy to.”
“We’re coming too!” the other women chimed in.
This gave Johnny the chance to be alone with the men on the table, which is what Susan wanted. Of course the men began asking questions as soon as the ladies had left. She was charming, they said. Who was she? Was she in show business? He related the story that they agreed on and added that she was an attorney from Hawaii, not in show business at all.