Sugar Valley (Hollywood's Darkest Secret)

by Stephen Andrew Salamon

  “Listen, um, do you want to audition now for the co-star role? Or would you like to do it tomorrow?” John asked, looking at Jose’s reflection on the window’s body, wondering if he was angry or not. “Because you seem like you’re tired.”

  Jose was desperate for tactics, something to make John change his mind about having Damen as the lead role. So, he allowed his jealousy to get the best of him, forgetting about everything Julienne explained to him about the plan, and suddenly grinned toward the window. Without facing John, Jose questioned, “Um, did you know Damen is a drug addict?”

  Julienne looked at him in a shocked way, not wanting Jose to ever say that again, not wanting to go through the struggle of trying to hide the lie all over again. She already knew, deep inside of her, that Damen talked to John about that issue of drugs. You could say she thought ahead a lot, being a step ahead at every instant, and knowing exactly what was going to happen next.

  John gazed at Jose’s head, seeing his reflection on the window, feeling suspicious toward his question. John blinked his eyes once, then again, and asked in a solemn way, “Where did you hear that from?”

  “I saw him doing it.”

  Julienne’s eyes widened, seeing John’s mouth, ready to open and say a word or two to Jose’s answer, she crossed her fingers and prayed. But, Julienne felt that she had to fix up Jose’s mess to better her own career. She already knew that John knew about Damen not doing drugs, and knew that Damen told him it was a lie. So, if she didn’t fix this mess that Jose caused, then John would surely know who the rumor-maker was, and at the same token, Jose would point to Julienne, and blame it all on her. So, right before John was ready to speak, she cut him off, and spoke in a loud fashion, with hesitation, “What he means is, he heard it from someone that said they saw Damen doing it.”

  She studied John’s expression, seeing that his eyes were still blinking, feeling that her lie helped make John believe that it was true. Jose turned around and stared at John, watching John still gawking at him. John twirled a pen in his grip, and explained with seriousness, “Oh, because me and Damen had a discussion about that issue. I know damn well that Damen doesn’t do drugs.”

  The envy and jealous feeling caused Jose to lose his cool, to not think before he says, and spoke with a large attitude, “How do you know?”

  “Because Damen did not look like he was a drug addict. Usually there are signs that drug addicts give, like a pale face or even bloodshot eyes. Damen didn’t have any of those symptoms, or signs that would consider him a user of narcotics,” he answered, pulling out the contract and script for the co-star role, and slapping them down on his desk. He attempted to let Jose know that he wanted to do business at this point, by forcing the contract and screenplay hard on the desk, showing him that the conversation on the Damen subject was over with.

  Julienne noticed John’s polite way of letting them know that he was sick and tired of this conversation, and he just wanted to do his job. So, she turned to Jose, seeing him still standing by the window, and whispered, “Jose, please sit down.”

  “Now, are you still interested in the co-star role?” John asked.

  Jose sat down gently, still gazing at Julienne’s eyes, and showing silence toward the room. So, she turned to Mr. Bower and answered, “Yes, he is.”

  Jose went through the audition process with flying colors. He then began signing the contract that would allow him to receive the co-star role in his grip. After he finished signing all the contracts, he asked, “So, this means that I still have a chance for the star role, that is, if Damen backs out of it?”

  John got up from his warm seat, and explained, “Um, yeah, that’s correct. You’re his understudy, and you have the co-star role as well. If you read the contract, you’ll know how much we’ll be paying you. And that’s about it.”

  He escorted them to the door, opening it and allowing them both to exit his office. Julienne then stopped, turned around to face John, seeing him still standing in between his office doorway, and spoke, “Thank you so much, John, you’ve been very kind.” John’s eyes started to widen, looking at Julienne with a strange glare, grinning in a roving way. She noticed this change in appearance, seeing the awkward expression he was giving her. “What’s wrong?”

  “Julienne, could you say that one more time?”

  Jose formed confusion on his fatigued face, hearing Julienne ask, “Say what?”

  “‘Thank you so much, John, you’ve been very kind,’ say that again,” John replied.

  She was flustered, overwhelmed with confusion, disarrayed, and Jose was already far ahead of her in a labyrinth of mind-boggling puzzlement. Jose turned to the secretary, saw her smile toward him again, and also noticed confusion on her face as well. Jose then swiveled back to Julienne, and heard her question, “Thank you so much, John, you’ve been very kind?”

  “That’s it. Julienne, would you mind sitting down for a few minutes? Jose, you could wait outside,” said John. He grabbed Julienne’s hand and pulled her gently into his office, slamming the door in Jose’s face.

  As Jose waited in the waiting room, he saw two actresses walk in, young, beautiful girls, full of energy. They walked up to the secretary, and one of the girls said, “Hello, we’re here to see Mr. Bower. It’s for the audition.”

  The secretary called Mr. Bower’s office, smiling toward the girls and saying into the phone, “Excuse me, Mr. Bower, but I have two women outside that are here for the audition.”

  John went over to his speaker phone, watching Julienne as she signed a contract, and spoke toward the speaker part, “Oh, tell them that the position has been filled.”

  After an hour passed, the door to John’s office finally opened and out came Julienne with a happy look on her face. Mr. Bower kissed her on the hand as she spoke, “Thank you so much, John.”

  He handed her two scripts, saying at the same time, “So I’ll get in touch with the both of you, probably within this week.”

  John closed his office door, and Jose and Julienne started walking toward the entrance of the office area. Before they left the waiting room, Julienne turned to the secretary and smiled away, showing Jose confusion. He caught on to Julienne’s jealousy before, knowing that she was jealous of the secretary’s flirtatious smile. But the thing is, he was right about the jealousy, he was wrong about what type of jealousy it was. Nevertheless, he noticed that she didn’t show any type of resentment or grudge toward the secretary now, which allowed him to be suspicious of her actions. So, he asked, “What happened?”

  She handed him a script, and answered, “Well, Jose, it seems like I have a co-star role also. I’m going to be playing the part of Damen’s girlfriend.”

  They both exited the waiting room as the rage and anger reinstated to Jose’s mind, hearing that name all over again, striking his nerve with all of its might. “What?” he asked with anger.

  They both exited the building as she explained, “Yeah, John gave me a co-star role.”

  They entered into her limo, seeing the chauffeur opening the door for them and then closing it lightly. Jose beseeched, pleaded, like a little toddler, “Listen, Julienne, I have got to have the star role in this film. I can’t let that ass steal it away from me.”

  Julienne was obtaining aggravation against her will, relinquishment was what she felt, saying with attitude, “Jose, grow up, at least it’s a part.” He looked at her with shock, wondering what was the cause of this drastic change in her character, remembering that she was the one who made him turn on Damen, and the one who wanted him to get this lead role. Julienne’s plan was beginning to work, the plan for regaining, recapturing her fame again, bringing the success back to her again, and receiving the likelihood at having greater royalty in Hollywood. She really, categorically speaking, didn’t care what Jose said anymore, Julienne felt like she really didn’t need him. Julienne was ready to tell the chauffeur to pull over and kick Jose out of the limo. She almost said that, but Jose stopped her when he said his next
words.

  “Listen, Julienne, I want that part, and I am not acting like a child. All I’m going to do is approach Damen tomorrow and tell him that you took a lot of pictures of Darell having sex with an underage girl. Then, I’m gonna tell him, if he doesn’t back down from this movie, you’re going to give those photos to the media and police. After that, I’m gonna kick Damen’s ass for spreading rumors about me doing drugs. Finally, I’m gonna kick Damen’s ass again, but even harder, for messing around with you,” Jose yelled out in a speedy and crazy fashion.

  Julienne turned to him fast, cracking her neck in the process, and knew that she had to still help him out. She spoke with nervousness, “Alright, listen to me, Jose. I’ll help you with this situation. But, we’re going to handle it my way.” She knew that if Jose said anything or did anything to Damen, then all the lies that she worked so hard to keep hidden would be found, and they all would point directly to her.

  “No, we’re doing it my way,” he yelled.

  Julienne knew that she would have enough power, stamina, force beyond her belief, and fame after this movie that it wouldn’t even matter if her lies came out. She would just deny it and everyone would believe her because she regained the power again. Julienne felt and knew inside that she needed Jose still. At that point in time, she felt that the longer she had him in her grasp, the more fame she would receive. So, she couldn’t allow him to follow through with his plan. She had to think up of a plan where Jose would be happy and Julienne would be out of harm’s way of her prevarications and lies being revealed.

  “Listen to me, Jose,” He turned and looked at her, paying close attention to her words. “First, hear my plan and then decide if you still want to do it your way.”

  “Okay, fine, go right ahead.”

  She took a deep breath and exhaled, explaining, “Alright, when I first began in this business, I went through the same situation. What happened was, my friend and I auditioned for the same role, it was a star role in a motion picture. Well, she got the part, and I became her understudy. You see, one week before the movie began filming, I took her on vacation to New York to visit her boyfriend. Well, one day before we were ready to go home, I made her boyfriend kiss me and actually have, well, sex with me. She came in and caught us having sex, so she began hitting him. While they were fighting, I took her purse and plane ticket with me and I came back to California. By the time she was able to find some money to come back also, she was too late, the movie had already began and I got the star role.”

  He formed a diabolic, satanic grin on his face, asking, “Why didn’t you just take her to New York and leave her there? Why did you have to make her and her boyfriend fight?”

  “Because, I had to create a diversion so I would be able to sneak away and come back here. By the time she realized that she didn’t have a plane ticket or money, it was too late. Plus, I hated her, so the boyfriend thing was partially for my amusement,” she explained, abruptly revealing an evil grin.

  “You think it would work?”

  She glanced out the window, and saw the buildings going by fast as the limo built up momentum, thrust to its body. She then lit a cigarette, thought for a few seconds about it, and answered, “Yes, yes, I do. Remember I said we would be able to use the incident, of him kissing me, to our advantage?”

  “Yes, I remember.”

  “Well, here’s how we use it.” Julienne inaugurate, started to explain the final plan, conception, and the scheme that would be the final lie of all. This would permit her to have it all, to have Jose’s figure, catering to her own success, and to have all the lies that were ever told by her, being concealed forever; at least that’s what she assumed. After she explained the plan to him, she lit up another cigarette and said, “So, to make this plan short and simple, mainly one week before the filming begins, we all take a trip to New York. Then, you find a way to make Vivian kiss you, and I’ll find a way to make Damen catch you two kissing. After that, you and I go back to Hollywood, and leave him there, without a plane ticket or money. Finally, we go to John and tell him that we haven’t seen Damen anywhere. By the time Damen Schultz comes back, it will be too late for him to get the star role. So, you’ll have the star role and your understudy, whoever that is, will take your role, and everyone’s happy.”

  He grinned toward her, and questioned, “Is that a gift or something?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The way you come up with plans so quickly. Is that a gift?”

  She smiled toward him, took a drag of her cigarette once, and answered, “No, it’s a talent.”

  He kissed her nose, massaged her face with his delicate hands, and spoke, “Julienne, I’d like to thank you and your talent for doing all this for me. I don’t know any other girlfriend that would go through this much trouble to help her boyfriend out. You’re one in a million.”

  My God, this boy is a pain in my ass.

  Those were her thoughts as she stared at him and smiled. Yet, when it came out orally, it changed to, “What can I say, I love helping others.”

  They entered the steel gates to her mansion, having the limo driving up to her staircase, parking its luxurious body right next to the first stair. Julienne said, “By the way, start memorizing the lead character’s lines as soon as we get in the house.”

  They both exited the limo, with Jose stepping on a bunch of her flowers that she had growing next to her staircase. He lifted up his feet, seeing the withered and bent stems, but didn’t bother telling her what he did. Instead he spoke, “But I haven’t even began memorizing my character’s lines.”

  She meandered up her grand staircase with a brief pause, stopped in the middle of it. Feeling the warm, California breeze, zephyr, draft grabbing at her flesh, blowing around her small, minute facial hairs, tickling her face with its dance of enchanting delight, she gave out a small grin to Jose’s eyes. Julienne strolled back down the stairs, and came up to his face, features of unparalleled elegance and glamour. Touching it with her hands, she started caressing his flesh, rubbing and following his face, his neck, all the way down to his chest in a flirtatious style. She smiled toward him, kissed him once with her devilish lips, showing him her black-widow type character, and spoke, “So what, it doesn’t matter anymore. Just concentrate on the star role dialogues, baby.”

  Chapter Sixty

  Ecstatic, happy that he finally had a chance to show his acting ability to all of Hollywood, Damen didn’t want to screw it up, believing that he was destined to have this, he didn’t want anything to cause a break in his fate. So he prepared, rehearsed, and practiced remembering the script, going over it a numerous amount of times, doing this exercise only in his room. You can say his room was like Sugar Valley to him; he felt safe in it, content, out of evil’s grasp, having only him in its body, without any interruptions, without anyone to baffle his dream, and cause him to make a mistake in his pursuit for making the script perfect in his mind. Rehearsing it over and over again, in his head, and verbally, Damen knew deep inside of his soul that he finally was on the right road to making his ambition real to the eyes of Hollywood. Almost one week went by since he got the role, and Damen was almost done memorizing his script.

  One day, while he was lying down in his bed and practicing the script, going over his lines, repetition, Chuck walked in his room and asked, “How are you doing with it?”

  Damen turned his head toward Chuck, confused as to why he was interrupting him, breaking into his concentration, allowing Damen to escape from his work. Yet, Damen didn’t show his anger, or puzzlement; instead he just smiled and replied with a grin, “I’m doing alright, I’m almost done remembering it. It’s been a week so far and I have it almost all memorized.”

  Silence, calm hit the room, with Damen looking up at Chuck again, wondering why he was still present, why he was still here. Chuck noticed his face, and then pulled out a newspaper from his pocket of his blue pants. “Oh, hey, I was wondering if you ever heard of Mike Stenson?” Chuck asked,
showing Damen that he did have a motive for interrupting his memorization and practice of the script.

  Damen showed interest, answering, “Yeah, I think so, isn’t he that director who won all of those awards for directing?”

  “That’s the one. It says here that he’s holding auditions for a new movie he’s directing, the auditions are on November ninth.”

  He handed Damen the newspaper, with the audition information. He looked at it, then gazed at Chuck with puzzlement, questioning, “Why are you telling me this? I’ll be working on my movie already. I can’t audition for this movie.”

  Chuck smiled toward him again, and explained in a father’s voice, “Because, I wanted you to read on how many people they say are supposed to show up. They’re estimating over 3,000 are supposed to show up on that one day. That’s my way of saying how lucky you are to have the star role in your movie. For that movie that’s being advertised in this newspaper, all of those people are trying out for one role, that’s the star role. Damen, those 3,000 people would give anything to have a star role in any movie, count your blessings.”

  He grinned back to Chuck, like a son would to a dad, showing a bit of prosperous laughter to his grin. “Yeah, I guess I am pretty lucky.”

  “Well, I’m just gonna be in the TV room if you need--” Chuck said, stopping his words, due to the phone yelling out its tone to his ears. “Me.”

  Ring, Ring, Ring...

  He left his room, closing Damen’s door behind him. Damen then put down his script and picked up the shouting phone. “Hello?”

  “Hi, Damen, how’s your script coming along?” Vivian asked in an excited voice.