Vintage Love

by Clarissa Ross

  “Whenever I do anything, I try to do it right,” Richard said, his smile revealing pure white teeth in sharp contrast to his tanned face.

  Nita spoke up. “I think the salary is fair, in view of what Master is paying Barbara Lamont and others.”

  The little film magnate sighed. “All right. Your terms, but I retain control of Nita’s roles and an option on her services for the next six years.”

  Richard turned to her. “What do you say?”

  “I’ll go along with that,” she said. “I trust Mr. Meyers when it comes to selecting stories and I’ve enjoyed working at Master.”

  “Then we’ll sign,” Richard Wright said.

  When she and Richard had drinks together at the Beverly Wiltshire afterwards, he told her across the table, “You’re going straight to the top and I’m going with you.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “I am,” he said confidently. “And there’s no need to go on living in a cottage at Gardenia Court. You can buy yourself a real home in Beverly Hills and have it ready for Eric when he gets back. He won’t be living with Barbara again.”

  “You think I dare go ahead and spend that kind of money?”

  He nodded. “Your contract will cover whatever you spend.”

  “I think I’ll stay on at Gardenia Court for a while,” Nita said. “When Eric calls I’ll mention the possibility of buying a house and see what he’d prefer.”

  Richard laughed. “I know Eric. He’ll end up putting the choice right back on your shoulders.”

  “At least I’ll discuss it with him,” she said. “And I’ll tell him what an excellent manager you’ve turned out to be.”

  “I’d like that,” Richard said.

  Eric called two or three times a week. “Enslaved” was going well and the public had received him with tremendous adulation. Nita told him about her new contract and he was jubiliant. She also mentioned buying a house and he seemed to think that would be a good idea.

  “Why not a place with a view of the ocean?” he asked.

  “You’d like that?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll see what I can find,” she said. “I haven’t too much time now. I’m on the set of ‘Bondage’ from early morning to late afternoon, then when I return home I’m too tired for house hunting.”

  “Wait until I come back,” he suggested. “I’ll help you.”

  “I think that would be best,” she agreed.

  “I’m giving the story of Barbara’s and my separation to the press on Monday next,” Eric added.

  “Does Barbara know?”

  “Yes,” Eric said. “Lew Meyers called her in and told her after I left. I love you, my darling! You’ve reshaped my life and I can’t wait to begin the future with you!”

  Nita was deliriously happy. Not only had she found a man who needed and appreciated her love, she was looked on as the brightest new star of Celluloid Town, and she had made new friends in Jack Steel, her new leading man, and his wife, Joyce. Jack Steel had been active in westerns until Lew Meyers had seen his potential and groomed him for society leading man parts. Joyce, his young red-haired wife, was almost a double for Clara Bow in looks and was just as much a play girl.

  The two had a fine home on Malibu Beach and they urged Nita to buy a house near them. She promised she would consider it as soon as Eric returned. The two held many parties which Nita attended whenever her strict work schedule would allow.

  She returned home from the studio one night to find a taxi waiting outside her door. When she stepped out of her car a young woman got out of the car and came to greet her. It took her a moment to recognize the thin, shabby girl as Thelma Stone. Her face was pale and huge, sad eyes dominated her lovely face.

  Nita embraced her and then said, “You’ve been ill!”

  “Yes,” Thelma said nervously. “Back East.”

  “You must stay with me for a few days,” Nita said. “Send the taxi away.”

  “I can’t,” Thelma said in near panic. “Not now. I can come back tomorrow. Right now I have to go back to my hotel. But I needed to see you first.”

  Nita was puzzled by the girl’s nervous behavior and her shabby clothes. She said, “At least come inside for a moment. I have so many things to tell you.”

  She unlocked the door and they went inside. Thelma made no move to sit down but stood by the door in the same anxious manner.

  Nita said, “What is wrong?”

  “I need money! Cash! Right away! Please let me have two hundred dollars!” Thelma begged her.

  She was shocked. “What do you need it for?”

  “I can’t tell you!” Thelma’s voice broke on a sob.

  Nita hesitated. “I may have that much here. I don’t know. But I’ll surely not let you leave here in this state without knowing what’s wrong.”

  Thelma closed her eyes in despair and turned her back on her. “I’m hooked,” she said in a choked voice.

  “Hooked?”

  “On heroin,” the girl went on. “Alma Rubens and I have been shooting up together in New York. She went South and I ran out of money and work and came back here.”

  “Oh, no!” Nita cried, horrified.

  Thelma turned to her, the once lovely face pathetically faded and thin. “It began with Wally Reid. I thought when I went East I’d break the habit. Then Alma came along and I mixed with her gang and soon I was hooked worse than ever.”

  “How could you do this to yourself?” Nita reproached her.

  “I’m going to beat the habit,” the girl protested. “I only need enough to pay my dealer and get a last fix! I swear I’ll quit tomorrow!”

  Nita stared at her. “I don’t know what to say!”

  “I can’t wait,” Thelma sobbed. She lifted the sleeve of her dress and revealed her bare, pitted arm, scarred hypodermic needles. “If I don’t get a fix I’ll go mad! I’ll kill myself!”

  Nita considered and said, “I’ll give you the money on one condition only. That tomorrow you’ll put yourself in the hands of a doctor.”

  “I will! I will!” the girl promised.

  “A doctor of my choice,” she insisted. “And that you go along with whatever treatment he suggests.”

  “Give me the money! I’ll agree to anything!”

  Nita was sick at the sight of the girl begging. She went to her room and found the money, then came back with the bills in her hand. Before she passed the money over, she said, “I have to know where you’re staying.”

  “The Palm Court,” Thelma said, her eyes on the bills. “Room 406.”

  Nita gave her the money. “I’ll come to you with a doctor tomorrow. I’m working but I’ll get off somehow!”

  “Thank you, Nita!” The other girl said, tears in her eyes. “You look so well! I knew I could depend on you!” And she hurried out to the waiting taxi and was driven away.

  It was the first time Nita had been brought face to face with the terrifying damage caused by drugs. She had heard stories but she had never seen anyone so ravaged as poor Thelma.

  She searched the phone book and found Dr. Phillip Watters’ private number. She tried it several times but received no reply.

  Around eight o’clock she tried his number again and this time she reached him, “Phillip! I must talk to you!” she said urgently.

  “I’ll be there at once,” he promised.

  The very fact of his coming to see her and sharing the burden of her knowledge made Nita relax a little. She had a difficult day of filming ahead and the camera magnified every weary line in one’s face. She lay down but could not sleep. Then the doorbell rang and it was Phillip.

  She let him in and told him the story, ending with, “I must help her.”

  Phillip had listened gravely and now he said, “I can fully understand your being upset. But it’s doubtful at this stage if anything can be done for the girl.”

  “You can’t mean that!”

  “I’m afraid it’s all too true. From your description I�
��d say her health is probably already ruined. It is just a matter of how long it takes for her to die. People like her also lack the will to accept treatment. She’d have to be placed in a padded cell as Wally Reid was. And that means the risk of death during withdrawal.”

  “She must be helped!” Nita persisted.

  “I’ll do what I can for her,” he said.

  “I want to be with you, to persuade her to take treatment,” Nita said. “I’ll call the studio and say I’m ill.”

  “Wait!” Phillip objected. “You mustn’t do that.”

  “Why not?”

  “You’re at a critical point in your career. You can’t afford a set-back.”

  “It would only mean a few hours.”

  “I’m not thinking of that,” Phillip told her. “I’m worrying that something might happen. Drug addicts are notoriously unstable. You might find yourself involved in a scandal which would cause bad publicity.”

  She eyed him in bewilderment. “Thelma is my friend! I can’t desert her.”

  “I don’t ask you to desert her,” he said. “I say leave it in my hands. As a doctor, I’m not taking the same chances as you. The newspapers have only a marginal interest in me, especially now that Sally is divorcing me. You’d better remain in the background and let me carry out your wishes.”

  “You honestly think that is best?”

  “I do.”

  She sighed. “Very well. I want you to see her and send her to some good private hospital for treatment. I’ll pay the bills.”

  “The one in the hills that Wally Reid went to is the best,” he said.

  “Then take her there,” she said. “It’s fitting! She told me he was the one who started her on drugs.”

  Phillip was frowning. He said, “I don’t think I should wait until tomorrow. In cases like these time is vital.”

  “You think you ought to go to her now?”

  “Yes,” he said. “Let me make a phone call first.”

  She waited as he looked up the number of the hospital and dialled. He managed to get permission to take Thelma there at once.

  He came back from the phone and said, “They’ll take her. It’ll be costly.”

  “I don’t mind,” she said.

  “Where will I find her?”

  “The Palm Court Hotel.”

  “That’s a Skid Row place,” he said grimly.

  “I know,” Nita agreed. “She said she was in room 406.”

  “Which may or may not be the truth,” he warned her. “Drug addicts learn to lie and steal along with a lot of other nasty things.”

  Her eyes widened. “You mean she may not be there at all?”

  “There’s that chance.”

  “Can’t I go along?” she pleaded.

  “No. You have too much to lose,” he said. “I’ll call you as soon as I have word.”

  She followed him to the door and said, “Thank you, Phillip.”

  “It’s all right,” he said, and kissed her gently on the cheek. “Just don’t upset yourself anymore.”

  His advice was good but Nita was unable to benefit by it. She had visions of Thelma, hiding from everyone, living desperately from day to day for the fix which now made her miserable existence possible, frantic to obtain the money she must have to pay the vicious ones supplying her with drugs. Nita could only hope that Phillip would reach her in time.

  At last the phone rang. It was Phillip and he was clearly tense. He said, “I can only speak to you for a minute.”

  “How is she?”

  “Dead.”

  “No!”

  “I found her in her room. She’d taken an overdose. I had the desk clerk call the police. They’re here now.”

  “What will happen?”

  “Nothing much as long as you’re not linked to it. She wasn’t a big name or even working in movies now.”

  “How did you explain being there?”

  “I said I was an old friend and I came to try and help her out,” he said. “So far they’ve believed the story.”

  “Thank you, Phillip!”

  “I’ll see you later,” he promised.

  “The funeral arrangements. Do something about them,” she pleaded.

  “Something will be managed,” he said. “If she has no close relatives I’ll ask to be given the body for burial.”

  Thelma Stone had a sister in Ohio, but she could neither afford to take care of the burial nor come to her sister’s funeral. Dr. Phillip Watters made arrangements for a simple funeral, which was attended only by Nita and himself.

  Nita tried to force the tragedy from her mind by working harder than ever. The filming of “Bondage” was almost at an end and some of the scenes presented difficulties and had to be done over many times. Nita did not complain about the long hours or the retakes.

  But Jack Steel did, and he insisted she join him and his wife at their Malibu place for the weekend. “You can rest as much as you like,” he promised her.

  “You know how it will be!” she protested. “Drinking and doing the Charleston all night! I’ve been there before!”

  “This week it will be different,” he assured her. “And we’re having a guest I want you to meet. His name is Tommy Gallegher and he’s everyone’s idea of a handsome Irishman.”

  She smiled. “I wouldn’t want Eric to hear about my meeting him.”

  “Don’t worry about that. Tommy is too busy to bother with females. He’s the biggest bootleg operator on the Pacific Coast.”

  “A rum-runner?” she said.

  “Yes,” Jack Steel said, amused. “He’s the darling of all the best people and you’re bound to like him.”

  “I don’t know,” she said, thinking she might need protection. So she added, “If I come, can I bring an escort?”

  “Anyone you like,” Jack said generously.

  Nita asked Phillip to take her and he agreed, so on Friday evening they arrived at the huge white mansion on the seashore. They were greeted by the Steels. Mary Miles Minter, Mabel Normand and William Desmond Taylor were among the guests, and Nita renewed her acquaintance with them.

  William Desmond Taylor eyed Nita in friendly fashion and said, “Your face is so lovely I’m haunted by it. I wish I could direct you in a film.”

  “You’ll have to talk to Lew Meyers,” she warned him.

  “I know,” Taylor said. “And he’s a tyrant.”

  “Don’t you and he get along?”

  “No,” the famous director said. “He’s offered me films but his offer has always been too small.”

  “One day, perhaps,” she said.

  He moved on to the next cluster of people. All at once in the doorway of the big room there appeared the magnificent figure of a man, broad-shouldered, large of frame and dressed in the best a London tailor could provide. He had curly hair of light brown and at some point in his career his nose had been broken, which gave him the look of a pirate. Nita was sure he was Tommy Gallegher, of whom Jack Steel had spoken.

  Jack greeted the newcomer and brought him straight over to Nita. He said, “This is Tommy Gallegher whom I told you about.”

  The Irishman towered over her, his craggy face alight. He said, “Would you be interested to know I’ve had a likeness of you pinned up in my cabin for more than a year?”

  Chapter Ten

  “I’m very flattered,” Nita said, amused by the intensity of the big Irishman.

  “More than that,” Tommy Gallegher declared, “I made up my mind I had to meet you. And now I have.”

  She laughed. “I wish I had more fans like you!”

  The big man stared at her. “I don’t want to be a fan!” he shouted. “I want to be your man!” And he kissed her.

  This left her speechless and an embarrassed Jack Steele took the bootlegger by the arm and said, “Before you completely commit yourself, Tommy, come meet the rest of our guests.”

  “I’ll be back,” the Irishman promised her over his shoulder.

  Phillip, who had b
een standing in the background, now came up to her to ask, “How well do you know that man?”

  “I’ve never met him before,” Nita confessed.

  “He seemed a little familiar by my standards,” the young doctor complained.

  She took him by the arm. “He’s a crazy Irishman! I know them well enough not to take him seriously. Don’t forget I’m Irish myself.”

  Phillip continued to be worried. “I’ve heard stories about him,” he said. “He has more money than he knows what to do with and the most successful bootleg operation anywhere. He has his pick of the loveliest Hollywood women and now he’s reaching for the stars.”

  “He’ll only get so far with this star,” she promised.

  “I’m your escort,” he said. “I feel responsible.”

  “It will be all right,” she said.

  “Not judging by the way he’s begun,” Phillip said. “I say, make an excuse. Say you’re tired and let’s leave.”

  “I can’t do that!”

  “Why?”

  “Jack and Joyce would be hurt. I can’t let them down!”

  “It’s a weird collection of guests anyway,” the young doctor said darkly. “I don’t like Taylor, Mary Miles Minter seems on the idiotic side and Mabel Normand is getting a very bad reputation.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “There are whispers of orgies at Taylor’s place and I hear both Taylor and Normand are taking drugs. You saw what they did to Thelma Stone.”

  Nita stared across the room where the three actors were talking animatedly to some of the other guests. She said, “They all look so well I can’t think it’s more than gossip.”

  Phillip said, “There are times when I think I know the seamy side of this town better than you do.”

  She talked him out of his gloomy mood. Dinner was served on the patio outside, then as darkness fell the pool was spotlighted and Jack and Joyce invited everyone to swim.

  “There are bathing suits in all your rooms,” Joyce Steele told her guests gaily.

  Within a short time all had changed and were back at the pool. Jack Steel was the first one in, followed by Mabel Normand and Desmond Taylor. Next Tommy Gallegher arrived carrying in his arms a slender young girl who was playing a bit part in “Bondage.” Tommy held the girl close to him and then as he reached the pool side, let her down beside him.