by S. Tamanaha
“So what should I wear?”
“Anything besides that costume,” Johnny said, and then he lifted her chin. “What’s wrong? We’ve been to a lot of parties. Why is this one stressing you out so much?”
“The other parties didn’t have barely dressed women parading around in four inch spiked heels and angel wings.”
“Okay, I know this isn’t because you’re jealous and worried about me because you know better and because if it was, you wouldn’t want to stay home. So what is it?”
“I’m just going to feel ... uncomfortable,” she confessed. “And I hate feeling that way. I hate spending an entire night wishing that I was five feet nine.”
Johnny couldn’t help but laugh a little. “Listen, I happen to like the fact that you’re not five feet nine. Maybe it’s just my ego, but I like how that makes me feel big and strong and protective of you. I don’t want to feel like you can protect me.” He pulled her to him and gave her a hug. “Just wear any evening dress. You always look beautiful. And we’re only going there for a couple of hours just to please the studio execs and then we’re leaving, okay?”
She nodded, but she knew that he didn’t really understand. How could he? When it came to looks, he was the one that every man wanted to look like. It was bad enough when she had to attend all of those other gatherings where the women were wearing their designer clothes and she was wearing a dress that she had made herself. At this party, they’d be wearing elaborate costumes showing off all that they had. She hated feeling insecure and envious. It made her feel weak inside and she didn’t like feeling weak. She couldn’t do anything about her height but she wasn’t about to show up in just a regular evening dress. She was still working on the surprise for Johnny’s birthday and had no time to sew anything new so she went to the closet and began looking through her wardrobe to see if she could improvise an outfit.
On Halloween night, Johnny dressed at the studio, borrowing one of their tuxedos, and then went to pick her up in the limousine that had been ordered for him. He smiled when he saw her. She was dressed in a crimson red gown. A flame design made of gold and red sequins followed the off-centered front slit of the gown which was slightly higher than she usually wore. The same sequined design was duplicated on the bodice and the shoulder straps of the gown. In her hair, she wore a cluster of small white orchids with a red center that matched the color of her dress.
“You look beautiful,” he said as he helped her into the limousine. “But I thought you didn’t have time to make anything new.”
“I didn’t. This is an old dress. I just put some sequins on to make this flame design. If anyone asks, I’m Pele, Hawaiian Fire Goddess, the one that makes volcanoes erupt.”
“Well, you make me hot,” he said, smiling.
“Are the scars very noticeable, Johnny?” she asked then. “I put some makeup on them and tried to make the design cover that area.”
“I can hardly see them,” he assured her.
“You look so handsome. I always love how you look in a tux even though I know you hate wearing it.” She sighed. “I’ll probably be the most overdressed person there, won’t I?”
“You’ll be the classiest one there. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but to me classy is always sexier than nearly naked. A woman ought to leave something to a man’s imagination.”
She looked at him in surprise and then smiled.
“What?”
“My father used to say the same thing. When women started wearing thongs to the beach he said he didn’t find that sexy because it didn’t leave anything to the imagination.”
“You see? I knew your father and I would have gotten along.” Johnny took her hand and kissed it gently. “I wish he was here so that I could thank him for you.”
His words touched her heart. “You’re going to make me cry, Johnny,” she said softly.
He kissed her hand again. “No, don’t cry, now. Save all those tears for later.”
She found that being at the party didn’t bother her as much as she thought it would. There were dozens of beautiful women there dressed as angels, devils, belly dancers, playboy bunnies—everything imaginable—and yes, they were wearing their spiked heels. After a while, though, they all began to look alike. A few of them blatantly approached and flirted with Johnny even though she was beside him. He tried to hide his irritation and put most of them off by simply introducing them to Susan, pointing out that she was his wife.
He began leading her over to the buffet tables. Experience had taught him that the food area was the best place to be when trying to avoid women who barely ate in order to maintain their figures. As they made their way towards the buffet, one woman, dressed as a Vegas showgirl, rudely stepped between Johnny and Susan and slipped her arm through his. “Jack, you’re looking as delicious as ever,” she purred.
Johnny freed himself from her grip and nearly pushed the woman aside as he reached around her and took hold of Susan’s hand.
“Go and play your games somewhere else,” he said, the look in his eyes dangerous. “And don’t ever do that to my wife again.”
“Marriage has made you a dull boy, Jack,” the woman said, trying to sound as though she didn’t care, but Susan could see that she was embarrassed by his rebuff.
“Not dull,” Johnny retorted. “Just sane.”
“I’m sorry, baby,” he said when they finally reached the buffet area. “Some of these women are just—” He stopped when he looked down at her and saw that she was smiling a little. “Why are you smiling? I thought that you’d be upset.”
“I was,” she admitted. “But then you stood up for me and I started thinking ... I’m glad I’m not five feet nine. I liked having you protect me. Thank you.”
He smiled and put a gentle hand on the side of her face. “I’ll always protect you,” he promised.
“My knight in a shiny black tuxedo.”
“Is that what the theme’s going to be for my birthday? Knights and damsels in distress?”
She laughed. “No. And stop trying to figure out the surprise. That’s the third time that you’ve tried to get me to say something about it.”
“Because the suspense is killing me,” he moaned. “Come on, tell me something.”
She sighed. “Okay. I’ll tell you one thing and one thing only. No one here, that I’ve seen anyway, is wearing anything like the outfit that I’ll be wearing.”
Johnny frowned as he looked out at the sea of people wearing every type of costume imaginable. “Okay, now it’s really going to drive me crazy.”
“Well, I’m sorry, but that’s all I’m saying about it.”
Johnny sighed. “You sure know how to torture a guy.”
She patted his arm comfortingly. “Eat some food. It doesn’t look too bad. Oh, look—sushi. Your favorite. Then we can satisfy the studio execs and walk around some more so that even more women can tell you how delicious you look. Maybe that will take your mind off of your surprise.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Oh, now you’re being sassy, huh? Just because we’re in a public place and I can’t do anything about it? What are you going to do when I get you alone again?”
She smiled. “Tell you how delicious you really are.”
Johnny smiled, and started mentally counting down the minutes until they could leave the party.
When his birthday finally arrived, he found himself distracted all day while he was working at the studio, wondering what kind of surprise she had in store for him. She had told him to meet her once again at the same hotel where she had rented another, slightly larger, penthouse suite. When he arrived, Angel ran up to greet him.
“Hi you,” he said and then noticed that she had a note tied to her harness. He picked her up, pet her, and read the note: “Take me to the sofa and sit down.” He carried Angel into the main room which he found decorated with vases filled with orchid sprays and other exotic flowers. The room lights had been turned down very low. Most of the light came from the flickering glow o
f a faux but very realistic fireplace on one of the walls. On the sofa, there was another note lying beside a remote control: “Press play.”
He sat down, putting Angel beside him, picked up the remote and pressed the play button.
A video of beautiful evening scenery appeared on the large flat-screen television mounted above the fireplace—rolling waves breaking on a beach with a perfect full moon reflecting on the ocean. Then a Hawaiian song, the love song Kalua, began to play. She appeared in the doorway of the nearly dark bedroom dressed in a white full-length loin cloth that rested on her hips. A white halter top covered her breasts and she wore white orchids in her hair and on her wrists. She began to dance the hula to the song for him.
Johnny was hypnotized. She was so beautiful in the all white outfit that was sexy yet almost virginal. She was constantly surprising him; he wasn’t aware that she knew how to dance the hula. He watched her hips sway, her arms and hands moving gracefully, as she danced towards him. Then the singer began to sing in English and he was able to understand the movement of her hands as she danced in front of him. “This is my night of love. This is the hour of Kalua. My arms are open now. My heart has spoken of who will be Kalua’s only love. Before the night is over, my arms will hold Kalua. My beating heart is true, wanting you. Your beating heart I see, wanting me. And now my song is through, I give to you Kalua.” As the song came to an end, she knelt before him like a subject before her king, offering herself to him.
He reached out and lifted her face. Whereas Cleopatra had filled him with raw desire, this performance filled him with so much emotion.
“That was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he said to her, his voice soft and full of love. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Happy Birthday, Johnny,” she said in that soft voice that he loved so much.
He kissed her tenderly. “Will you do it for me on every birthday?”
“Whenever you want. It’s just for you ... only for you.”
He caressed her face gently and then stood up and offered her his hand. She took it and rose to her feet and he led her to the bedroom. There was another faux fireplace in the bedroom which had been turned on very low and the same video played on the flat-screen above it. Exotic plants adorned this room as well and the scent of pikake flowers filled the air. He undressed her slowly, gently, feeling almost like a newlywed about to take his bride for the first time. He made love to her the same way—tenderly, lovingly, almost with reverence because he had been reminded once again what a treasure had been given to him by the Universe. His tenderness touched her heart and soul so deeply that she nearly sobbed as he loved her. Thank you, she spoke to the Universe in her mind, thank you for him, for my soul.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Johnny’s singing ability and skill as a pianist put him in great demand during the holiday season so he wasn’t able to arrange for even a one-week break between engagements as he had done the year before.
“I’m sorry,” he said to her one evening. “I was hoping to take you back to Hawaii for Christmas. I have that three-day break if you want to go back for a short one.”
She smiled. “It would be too hard on Angel. Anyway, we spent Christmas in Hawaii last year so I don’t mind being here this year.”
“I’ll never forget that Christmas,” he said softly and kissed her tenderly. “The best Christmas of my life.”
“Mine too,” she said, returning his kiss. “I’m so glad that you decided to take that vacation.”
He smiled and hugged her tightly. “So, what do you want to do?”
“Well, Richard invited us over to his penthouse for a Christmas Eve dinner but on Christmas Day, I want to do what we did back in Hawaii. I make us a Christmas Day breakfast and then we just spend time together. No calls, no emails, just us. And no presents this time.”
“What? What kind of Christmas would that be? I have to get you something.”
“You’re too busy to be worrying about shopping and you can’t top this present anyway,” she said, touching the Scorpio pendent around her neck. “All I want is an entire uninterrupted day with you. Just like last year.”
“Are we doing exactly what we did last year?” he asked, his eyes twinkling.
She smiled, remembering. “Exactly, if you want to.”
He kissed her lovingly. “I’ll never stop wanting to.”
In addition to continuing the filming of his series, Johnny had to appear on several talk shows, not only to promote the series but to announce his appearance on an upcoming Christmas musical special that was being produced by Fox Studios. The special had been planned months earlier, but Johnny’s appearance on that special was a last minute decision that was made because of the growing demand of fans to hear him sing. As always, he asked Susan to help him select the right music.
“Traditional or contemporary?” she asked.
“They said to give them a couple of suggestions and they’d work with it.”
She went through her karaoke CDs. “I’ve always wanted to hear you sing this song. I think you’d sound wonderful.” She handed him a CD and pointed to the song “Do You Hear What I Hear?”. “It would be even better if they could back you with a real choir on that one,” she said.
Then she handed him another CD with the song “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”. “That song could be so sexy if you sang it with the right person. The male and female parts sort of overlap a little, though, so it might take a little more rehearsal time.”
“Run through it with me?” he asked.
“My voice may not be high enough to complement yours.”
“It’s okay. I just want to hear it.”
So Susan ran through the music with him on the small karaoke unit that she had bought and installed in the room that they used as an office. As it turned out, his voice was low enough that she didn’t have to strain while doing the female part. He understood what she meant about the timing of the male and female lyrics and they had to run through it a few times before he mastered it. He decided to tape their final try. She wanted to protest; she felt embarrassed at the thought of having the studio professionals hear her sing on tape. But Johnny said that he wanted to turn in a demo tape to the producers by the following day so she remained silent. He also taped himself singing the Bing Crosby version of “Do You Hear What I Hear?”. Susan loved how he sounded on that song and it gave Johnny the opportunity to demonstrate the kind of singing that he had learned while performing on stage in musicals.
As it turned out, the producers liked Johnny’s demo tape so much that they decided to include both songs in the special. Johnny ran through the duet with Susan repeatedly and scheduled several additional sessions with his vocal instructor before his first full rehearsal. When he returned home after that rehearsal, he was all smiles. He hugged her tightly, lifting her off the floor, and kissed her.
“The rehearsal must have gone really well,” she said, laughing.
He grinned. “They want to talk to me about doing a CD.”
“Really? Oh, Johnny.” She hugged him tightly. “I’m so happy for you.”
“They liked how I sounded and they think that the popularity of my series will help to boost sales and that the CD will benefit the series. God, you’re amazing.”
“It’s not me. It’s you and your talent.”
“But it never would have happened if you hadn’t encouraged me to sing that first song and helped me to choose the right music every time I perform. Will you help me again? Help me to pick the songs for the CD?”
She nodded happily. She was thrilled that his career was taking another leap in the right direction, but what touched her deeply was the fact that he acknowledged her part in that result and wanted her to continue helping him. He wasn’t leaving her behind as he moved forward. He wanted her with him and involved. She hugged him again.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
He laughed. “Why are you thanking me? I’m the one who�
�s grateful.”
“Thank you for feeling that way,” she said.
He laughed again. “You’re so unique. And I think you’re in the wrong business. With your track record, you should have been an agent.”
Susan shook her head. “I can’t do what I do for anyone else,” she said softly. “It only works because I love you so much and want you to get your dream.”
He smiled and kissed her again. “I know I’ve said it before, but you really are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. In every possible way.”
As Johnny worked, Susan decorated the house and took care of all the necessary gift giving. For her family and friends in Hawaii, she purchased a variety of Hollywood-related gifts—tee shirts, tank tops, caps, and California gourmet candies and other treats. She made gift baskets for their friends in L.A. and for Johnny’s business associates, including Daniel Stevens. The baskets were filled with items from Hawaii that she had ordered online—gourmet cookies and candies, Kona coffee, and scented soaps and candles. She even made a large box of edible goodies for the crew members who worked on his series that they could enjoy before they stopped filming for the holidays. She also sent a large box of Hawaiian goodies to Johnny’s mother and brother. In addition, for Johnny’s mother, she purchased a beautiful Hawaiian quilt and matching pillow shams. She sent his brother a Hawaiian shirt with a subtle design that she hoped he could wear in New Jersey. She had never met or spoken directly to his family. They had been unable, or unwilling, to attend the reception that he had given her. Johnny had never really explained why they hadn’t attended, but she had the distinct feeling that they didn’t approve of the marriage. However, it didn’t seem as though Johnny was at all concerned about their opinions regarding any aspect of his life so she tried not to let it bother her.
The Christmas special aired the week before Christmas and Susan texted and emailed everyone to remind them to watch it. As she and Johnny watched it together, she felt such a surge of pride and happiness. His rendition of “Do You Hear What I Hear?”, during which he was supported by the City of Angels Choir, was the best that she had ever heard. His duet with Sheree Casey, an up and coming country singer, of “Baby It’s Cold Outside” while they acted out the song was perfect. It was possible that she might be biased, but as far as she was concerned, he stole the show. The flood of postcards and letters to both Johnny and Fox Studios that followed the airing of the show made it clear that hundreds of other people thought so as well.