The Inheritors

by Harold Robbins

  “You said Riverside and Seventy-eighth, didn’t you?”

  “I don’t want to go there,” she said.

  “Okay. Where then?”

  She looked at me, the smoke curling up from her face. “With you.”

  “I’m going home to sleep,” I said, “I’m beat.”

  She was silent for a moment, looking at my face. “Okay, then it doesn’t matter. You can let me off here.”

  We were in the middle of the park. The snow was piled high at the edge of the road. “You’re crazy,” I said. “It’ll take you an hour to walk out.”

  “I like walking in the snow.” She leaned forward and tapped the chauffeur on the shoulder. “Stop here.”

  He pulled the car over to the curb and she opened the door and got out. She stood there, the cold air pouring into the car. “Thanks for the lift.”

  She closed the door, climbed over a snowbank to the sidewalk and began walking. I watched her for a moment as the car began to move and passed her slowly. Her head was down and the hood was pulled over her face; all I could see was the tip of her nose. Then she was behind us and I sat back in the seat. A moment later there was a thud against the rear window behind me.

  I turned and looked back. There was another thud as the second snowball hit the window. I saw her winding up with the third. “Hold it,” I told the driver.

  He stopped and I went out the door. The third snowball whistled past me. I scooped up some snow, packed it into a ball and threw it. It broke across her shoulder. “Got you!” I yelled.

  I made the mistake of stopping to gloat and she caught me with the next snowball. It broke across the back of my neck and poured icily down my collar. I picked up some more snow and charged her.

  She ran for a tree and, hiding behind it, bombarded me as I approached. I could hear her yelling with glee. Fortunately her aim didn’t match her enthusiasm. By now I was close to the tree and she broke and ran again.

  I caught her in the back with two in a row and then as she stopped short to scoop up some snow, crashed into her. We plowed into a snowbank and rolled over and over down the other side. We came to a stop and I rubbed her face with snow.

  “This’ll teach you not to be such a smart ass,” I laughed.

  She was suddenly motionless, looking into my face. “You’re laughing,” she said. “You really can laugh.”

  “That’s a stupid thing to say.”

  “No.” She shook her head earnestly. “You’re really laughing. And I never saw you laugh before.”

  Her arms went up around my neck. Her nose was cold, her lips were warm, and her tongue was like a fire searching my mouth. After a moment, we caught our breath.

  Her eyes went into mine. “Yeah,” she said. “Really. Yeah.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Jack came in on the red-eye from Los Angeles. That put him down at Kennedy at seven a.m.; by eight fifteen my doorbell was ringing.

  She came up like a shot. Her eyes were wide and frightened. She clutched the sheet to her. “Who’s that?”

  “Easy,” I said. “My first appointment.” I got out of bed and reached for my robe.

  “Will it take long?” she asked.

  “Couple hours.”

  “Oh.”

  “You come out whenever you want,” I said. “You don’t have to hide.”

  “I’m going back to sleep. If he leaves before noon, you come and join me.”

  “And if he doesn’t.”

  “I’ll kill him and drag you to bed.” She pulled the sheet over her head and I went out to get the front door.

  Jack was all hopped up. Even the nemmies he had taken on the plane hadn’t worked. He kept jumping up and down all through breakfast.

  “You mean the old man didn’t even raise one objection, not one squawk?”

  “Not one squawk,” I smiled. “As a matter of fact, he seemed pleased about it.”

  “Does he know I’m Jewish?”

  “I imagine so. There’s very little he misses.”

  “My God,” he said in an awed voice. “Imagine that? A Jewish boy, president of Sinclair TV. Ten years ago we couldn’t even get a job here.”

  “Tomorrow the world,” I said.

  He stared at me, then abruptly sat down. “My legs are weak.”

  “You need some more coffee.” I filled his cup.

  “I’ll be all right. It’s just that it all happened so quick. When you called me the second time yesterday and told me, I couldn’t believe it”

  “You believe it now?”

  He looked at me and nodded. “Yes. Do you know what convinced me?”

  I shook my head.

  “The snow,” he said. “When we came in for our landing I saw the snow and I knew it was true.”

  “The announcement is going to the papers this morning,” I said. “You have a luncheon date with Sinclair, twelve thirty at Twenty-One; at two thirty you have a staff conference to meet the department heads.”

  “Will you be there?” he asked.

  “Not at lunch. But I will be at the staff meeting.”

  He nodded. “I’ll clear everything with you.”

  “No,” I said.

  He was puzzled. “Who do I report to then?”

  “Nobody.” I looked at him. “You’re head of the network now. It’s your baby. You make the decisions. All I ask is that you keep me informed.”

  “Suppose I bomb?”

  “Then it’s your ass,” I said. “But you won’t bomb. You’ll make mistakes. Sometimes you’ll guess wrong. But I’m betting you’ll be right more often than not.”

  “That’s fair enough, Steve.” He opened the briefcase he had brought with him and took out some papers. “I’ve been studying the schedule on the way in. I have some ideas. Want to hear them?”

  I nodded.

  “You won’t like the first couple of things I’m going to tell you.”

  “Tell me anyway.”

  “I’m canceling the rest of the specials. No matter how you look at it, they got to be losers. Until we develop a replacement show, I’m going to movies.” He paused and looked at me.

  I nodded. “What’s the other?”

  “Angel Perez,” he said. “I know you don’t like him. But he’s bright and he’s tough and ambitious. I want him to be my executive vice-president.”

  I was silent.

  “I told you that you wouldn’t like it,” he said.

  “I don’t have to,” I said. “You’re the one who has to live with him. Just watch your rear at all times.”

  “If I can’t take care of myself, then I don’t deserve the job,” he said.

  “Good enough. What else?”

  He then proceeded to tear apart three of my favorite programs. “They’re old and tired. They’ve been on the air three to five years and they’ve had it. I’d like to dump them all right now, but I haven’t enough replacements, so I’ll phase them out one at a time, beginning with ‘Hollywood Stardust.’”

  “Hollywood Stardust” was our person-to-person show, only we went into the stars’ homes and did it there. It was great when we started four years ago, but it had gone way down. There just weren’t that many real stars around. “What are you putting in its place?” I asked.

  “A teen-age rock show,” he said. “Rock groups, dancing, light effects, lots of girls in minis, lots of crotch shots, big noise.”

  “That’s primetime you’re talking about,” I said. “Not American Bandstand time.”

  “That’s right. But if ABC can find a primetime show in Lawrence Welk, then we ought to be able to get to the kids. What do you think?”

  “What difference does it make?” Then I grinned at him. “Like I said, you make the decisions.”

  “Okay,” he said. “Now what about the Benjamin deal?”

  “You’ll find a copy of the proposal on your desk when you get into the office. You look it over and then we’ll talk.”

  He got to his feet. “I’ll get back to my hotel and c
lean up, then head for the office.”

  I walked to the door with him. “See you this afternoon. Good luck.”

  I stood there until he got on the elevator, then went back into the apartment and poured myself another cup of coffee. Suddenly I felt old. It wasn’t that long ago I had stood where Jack stood now. All the enthusiasm, the hopes, the plans. I couldn’t get excited about them anymore. Everything had become cut and dried. For the first time I began to appreciate Spencer’s role in the company. Somebody had to tear the ship apart once in a while in order to rebuild it.

  “Has he gone?” Her voice came from the bedroom door.

  I turned. She had it open a fraction of an inch and was peering through the crack. “Yes,” I said.

  “Good.” The door opened wide and she came into the living room. She had a towel wrapped around her sarong-style and her skin was still wet from the shower. “I was beginning to think he would never leave.”

  “Want some coffee?” I asked.

  “Do you have any pineapple juice?”

  I nodded. “In the refrigerator.”

  She went behind the bar for a can of pineapple juice. She punctured it and poured some into a glass filled with ice. She took a bottle of vodka and filled the glass to the top. She stirred it quickly and tasted it. “That’s good.” She held the glass out to me. “Try some?”

  I shook my head.

  She shrugged and lifted the glass. “Bang, bang.” She drank as she walked back to me. “What time is it?”

  “About ten o’clock.”

  “Shit! I had an audition this morning and forgot it.” She sat down and reached for the telephone. “Mind if I call my service?”

  “Go ahead. I’ll shave meanwhile.”

  When I came out of the bathroom she was back in bed. There was a fresh glass of pineapple juice on the table next to her. “My agent’s pissed off because I missed the audition.”

  “Was it a good job?”

  “A commercial. I wouldn’t have gotten it anyway. They were looking for a Sandra Dee type. And that’s one thing I’m not.”

  I couldn’t fault that.

  She looked at me. “You going right in to work?”

  I shook my head. “Not until after lunch.”

  “Good,” she said. She rolled over on her stomach. “Do you think I have a beautiful ass?”

  I looked down at her. There was only one answer. “Yes.”

  “Then why are you standing there? Come over here and kiss it.”

  I walked over to the bed and bent over her. She jumped when I slapped her and rolled over. There was a strange look in her eyes. “What did you do that for?”

  I said nothing.

  She smiled slowly and rolled back on her stomach. “Do it again,” she said. “I like it.”

  ***

  Spencer was waiting in my office when I returned from the conference room after introducing Jack to the department heads. He took one look at my face. “You could use a drink,” he said.

  We walked over to the bar and he fixed two drinks. “Cheers,” he said.

  We drank.

  “How do you feel?” he asked.

  “Like I gave away my first baby,” I said.

  He nodded. “Now you know how I felt.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  “They want six million dollars for the package,” Jack said. “I’m going to pass.”

  “Okay.”

  He looked across my desk. “Benjamin’s not going to like it. He felt sure you were going to go for it.”

  “I don’t know why. I never spoke to him about the deal.”

  “He says you made him a commitment when he was at the studio. That you still had an obligation to take them.” He lit a cigarette. “He’s up the wall, desperate for the money.”

  “That’s his problem.”

  “Ritchie tells me that the lawyers have gone over the dissolution agreement and that if we don’t arrive at a compromise, they’ll sue.”

  “They won’t sue,” I said.

  “What makes you so sure?” he asked.

  “Sam’s not about to admit that he’s tight. He can bring the walls down around him if his creditors find out how bad the situation really is.” I got to my feet.

  “Some of the pictures aren’t that bad,” he said.

  I got annoyed. “You’re president of the network. Buy them or don’t. Whatever you like. But you make up your mind. That’s your job.”

  He thought that one over. “Okay,” he said. He started for the door.

  “Jack,” I called after him.

  He stopped and looked back at me. “I’m not angry with Sam,” I said. “I like him. But I’m not going to be pushed around or threatened.”

  “I understand,” he said and went out the door.

  The intercom buzzed. I pressed down the switch. “Miss Darling on four.”

  I picked up the telephone. “Hello, Darling Girl.”

  “What are you doing for lunch?” she asked. “I’m horny as hell.”

  “Sorry, I have a date.”

  “Business or pleasure?”

  “Pleasure.”

  “I’ll kill you if you’re going out with another girl,” she said vehemently.

  “My aunt is coming down from the Cape.”

  “Yeah,” she said sarcastically. “And I suppose you’re taking her to the Four Seasons?”

  “That’s right,” I laughed. “How did you guess?”

  “I hate you,” she said and hung up.

  ***

  I sat there at the poolside table, drinking my third Scotch. Aunt Prue was late. I should have guessed. She never could resist Saks Fifth Avenue when she came to town.

  I finished the drink and signaled the maître d’. A fourth Scotch appeared as if by magic. At this rate, by the time Aunt Prue got here I would be bombed out of my mind. I looked toward the long entrance hallway. It was empty. I felt a hand touch my shoulder then looked around.

  “I hope she stands you up!” Darling Girl said in a fierce whisper.

  Before I could reply, she followed the maître d’ to a table and sat down facing my way. She ordered a drink. I grinned and she stuck her tongue out at me.

  “Do you know that young lady?” Aunt Prue asked.

  I jumped to my feet. I hadn’t even seen her arrive. “Sort of,” I said. I kissed her cheek.

  The waiter held her chair and she sat down. “Extra dry martini, straight up and very cold,” she ordered and turned to peer at Darling Girl. She turned back to me. “She’s very pretty. But her hair is dyed and she’s had a nose job.”

  I stared at her. “How can you tell?”

  “The hair is easy,” she sniffed disdainfully. “And nobody on earth was born with a nose that perfect.”

  I smiled. Aunt Prue had to be close to seventy and she didn’t miss a thing. “I got smashed waiting for you,” I said.

  “I dropped by Saks.” The waiter brought her drink and she picked it up and held it toward me. We clinked glasses. “Much love,” she said.

  “Much love,” I answered.

  She tasted her drink. “Very good.” She took another sip and put it down. “Everything all right with you?”

  “Yes,” I said. “Why do you ask?”

  “There was something in the paper about Sinclair TV having a new president. I thought maybe you got fired.”

  I laughed. “That’s not the way it is. I had too much to do, so I put on another man.”

  “A company can’t have two presidents,” she said with irrefutable logic. “Even I know that. Now you better tell me the truth, young man, because if you’re not there any longer, I am going to sell my stock.”

  “You don’t have to do that.” I explained it to her. After a while she understood.

  “Good,” she said. “I’m glad that you did it. You have been working too hard.”

  “Not really.”

  “You’re too thin.”

  This I heard before. “I lost four pounds just waiting for you to ar
rive.”

  She sipped her martini. “You ought to get married again,” she said. “What are you waiting for? You’re not getting any younger, you know.”

  “I’m waiting for the right girl,” I said. “Someone like you.”

  “That’s a copout,” she said disdainfully.

  “Aunt Prue, where did you learn to speak like that?” I asked in surprise.

  “We’re not exactly isolated up there on the Cape. We have television too.”

  “Okay.” I signaled for the menu. “Let’s order.”

  The waiter came to the table. He put a folded piece of paper down next to me. “From the young lady,” he whispered, with a sidewise gesture of his head.

  I looked down at the note. “Dinner tonight? If you’re not too angry. M.”

  I scribbled my answer on her note and gave it to the waiter. He went back to her table.

  “Wouldn’t it be simpler if you invited her to join us?” Aunt Prue said.

  “If I wanted her to join us, she would have been at the table when you arrived.”

  “I’ll have another martini,” Aunt Prue said testily. “You don’t have to snap at me like that.”

  “Okay. I’ll ask her.” I began to get up, but when I looked over, she had already gone.

  “Now see what you’ve done,” Aunt Prue said. Suddenly she was on her side. “You’ve probably ruined the poor child’s lunch and driven her away.”

  I stared at her.

  “Stephen,” she said. “You haven’t changed since you were a child. You’re just as rude as ever.”

  I leaned back with a sigh and ordered another Scotch. “Make it a double this time,” I said. There was no other way to go.

  “Is she in love with you?” Aunt Prue asked.

  “Who?”

  “The girl you drove out of here.”

  “You think every girl I talk to is in love with me,” I said. “Besides I didn’t drive her out.”

  “I know your reputation, Stephen,” she said. “We also read the newspapers up there.”

  I was getting annoyed. “I know. You also have electricity, gas, and telephones.”

  Aunt Prue looked at me. “You do like the girl!” There was a note of discovery in her voice.

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “You don’t have to,” she said positively. “I can tell.”