A New York Love Story (2 page)

Clover tried to restrain herself from laughing. “Do you think you can keep your presence secret in a place like this? You should have thought about that
before
showing your face on half the world's screens! All the neighborhood will know in a few hours that Cade Harrison is among us regular human beings!”

Suddenly he stiffened up and looked tense. “If you are thinking of selling me out to journalists for money, I can tell you that they don't pay as much as you imagine.”

“Wait… what kind of person do you think I am?!” Clover burst out. “I'm definitely poor compared to you, but I don't need to bother others to make some extra money!” Annoyed, she stepped back. “Have a good stay, Mr Harrison.”

When she turned she saw the little Stevensons watching them. Clover went over to them with a tense smile. “What are you doing still here?”

“Who were you talking to?” Andy asked, curiously.

“I saw him on TV!” Mark exclaimed.

Clover glanced at Cade. He was still there, staring at them with his blue eyes and shaking his head…

“No Mark. He's not who you think he is. I thought the same thing too at first, and asked him. He got really upset. He doesn't like it that everybody confuses him with that third-rate actor! Yes, he looks like him, but if you look at him carefully, you'll see that he's not the same guy. He's not as tall, he's much less tanned and not nearly as handsome as the actor on TV; not even as simpatico!” She spoke with a tone of conspiracy, but her voice was loud enough to be heard by
Mr Star
.

“Then I don't care about him!” The child said, focusing his attention on her again. “Do you want to play?”

“No, I need to go home. But watch out: sooner or later I will eat you… all of you!” She scared them off by baring her teeth, and shouting, they ran away.

Clover turned towards Cade Harrison, “Don't worry, I diverted their curiosity.”

“On the contrary, I think you increased it. In a few minutes – in those children's home – everybody will be talking about the man
who looks like a famous actor
, and they will all want to check him out.”

“Then, next time you're looking for peace and privacy go to a desert or wear a mask! You can't force people not to notice you…” Clover sighed. “However, if it helps, this neighborhood is inhabited mostly by kids and middle aged people. It's unlikely that you'll find a hysterical woman at your door asking you to autograph her butt!”

She noticed he was deeply embarrassed by her reference to the episode that all the tabloids had gleefully reported, and her animosity somehow weakened.

“I've always wondered how you can keep an autograph on your skin intact. I guess you must avoid washing that part of the body: a kind of disturbing idea, don't you think?”

“In
that specific case
, the autograph was immediately transformed into a tattoo.” He was trying to restrain an ironic smile, while turnng towards home.

“Oh god! Are people really willing to go that far?” Clover laughed with incredulity. She was following him and was satisfied to have found something to embarrass the
Prince of Hollywood
with. This was the nickname that the gossip magazines had given him. “Now I understand your desire to stay away from people. It can't be easy to have to sign a bottom every time you go out for groceries!”

“It's not something that happens to me every day,” Cade replied and kept walking. “And anyway, these are displays of affection from my fans. I can't complain: I owe my success to them.”

Clover had doubts about the sincerity of this. It seemed as if he were acting in a screenplay, as though he'd been instructed to answer these kinds of questions in a diplomatic way.

“If this is how you feel, then you would enjoy meeting a client of mine, she's really sweet. She has the biggest butt you can imagine! I think she would probably like to have her right butt cheek autographed by you, if you would sacrifice yourself in the name of love for a great fan of yours…”

“Very funny.”

“It could become a new trend, actually a full time job for you: the
buttocks autograph artist
. I'm sure it would be a big success in Hollywood.”

When they reached the gate of his villa, Cade Harrison looked at her, said: “If you have finished with your bullshit, I will say goodbye…”

“Oh! Already? Don't you want to sign my butt too? Maybe you would like to make a dedication on my back… if I remember correctly, I read somewhere that you did that too.”

“If you have an ice pick, I can start right now.”

“Such cruelty! I thought you just said that your fans' requests are displays of affection, therefore they are sacred…”

“I'm not responsible for people's craziness. I just do to my best to please them, within limits and quickly.” He sighed. “However, you shouldn't believe everything you read in magazines: seventy per cent of those articles are pure fantasy.”

Clover faked surprise. “Are you telling me that it's
not
true that you keep a spaceship in the garage of your mansion in LA?”

“No, I'm sorry to disappoint you…”

“And don't even have a girlfriend in every continent?”

“I would be crazy! I would have to support each and every one of them.”

“… and you are not even an alien sent to earth to inseminate American women to improve our race?”

Now he looked puzzled. “Where did you read
that
?”

She laughed, “On a website!”

“We are bordering on the ridiculous.”

“Such a disappointment! You showed up here to deprive me of all my beliefs…”

“You already know that Santa Claus doesn't exist, right?”

Clover, melodramatically, put her hand on her heart, “That is a low blow! You are a monster.”

“And you're a nutcase!” He opened the gate with a sarcastic smile. “My friend should have warned me of the danger of having you as a neighbor, when he offered me his house.”

Suddenly Clover got tense. “Your friend doesn't know me at all…”

“Or perhaps it's exactly for this reason that he spends so much time out of town!”

“Maybe…” Her good mood had disappeared in a flash. “I've got to go now. Have happy holidays, Mr Harrison.”

She left, heading to her house. She tried to appear dignified, walking with confidence and purpose, not daring to look back. She had acted like a fool in front of
Mr
Hollywood
and didn't want to give him even more of an advantage. She cursed through her teeth at the gate, when it squeaked in a sinister way, but she walked on with her head held high. Only when she was in the sanctuary of her house did she allow herself to turn. She looked through the peep hole on the front door. She couldn't help feeling attracted by the magnetic presence of that actor on the other side of the street.

“Bravo Clover! Great performance…” she mumbled to herself, watching as he climbed the steps with a feline grace. “You find yourself face to face with a famous movie star, and you become aggressive and start talking about butts and magazine rumors, mercilessly provoking him!”

As soon as she saw him disappear into his house, she moved away from the door, taking off her scarf, her hands trembling. Maybe her mother wasn't so wrong to be ashamed of her.

Nadia O'Brian was intent on living life and looking her best as she faced her middle years. She had decided to become
someone
. Actually she was only the testimonial for an anti-aging brand of cosmetic products, but to be in this milieu often gave her a chance to meet celebrities. Regardless of what they might think of her, she liked to count them among her dearest friends. Of course Clover never met any of these VIP's: after all, her mother had a
reputation
to maintain. Clover, with her unrestrained attitude and rude behavior, was too much of a liability. She always exhorted her daughter to try to be more elegant and sophisticated, but without any success. Clover didn't really care about appearances. She didn't spend hours in front of the mirror, trying to match makeup, clothes and accessories. Although her style couldn't really be called classy, nobody could accuse her of lacking honesty, or of playing the game. Ok, maybe she was too impulsive, sometimes even reckless, but what was the point of trying to be the new Grace Kelly? Whom should she enchant? Her mother? Truthfully, she had tried to, but without obtaining any more attention or consideration, she had given up. She seldom regretted being who she was, but now at this moment she thought that maybe a bit more elegance and grace would have made a better impression on Cade Harrison… “Who cares?” She thought aloud, collapsing on her sofa. She would survive without too much difficulty, even though a perfect famous stranger – who she probably wouldn't meet again – would judge her. She sighed and turned the TV on. She had no intention of letting anybody spoil her day. She had a funny movie to watch, delicious sweets to eat, and a whole lazy afternoon to enjoy.

Someone else might have considered her to be pathetically sad: all alone on holiday, sitting on a gnarled old couch, with a movie and a bowl of junk food, but Clover consoled herself thinking that even the Prince of Hollywood was all alone too, in a not especially glamourous building, in an unpretentious neighborhood. And for sure he wouldn't be considered pathetic: people would say he was celebrating Thanksgiving in an
intimate
and
discreet
way. Perfect! She was also celebrating in an intimate and discreet way. She didn't need anyone else in order to be happy.

His telephone didn't stop ringing. This was something that really bothered him. He had only been in New York for four days, yet it seemed that everybody needed to contact him urgently!

His agent had called him at least thirty times, to remind him of things that needed his immediate attention: contract drafts, screenplays to read, charity commitments and TV appearances. His press office kept calling to ask for statements for the journalists, following the scandal that had forced him to disappear from sight for a little while – as if he hadn't made enough declarations to the press already in the last month! His worried parents continued to call, asking how he was doing. And now, on top everything else…
her.

Cade looked at the screen of his cell phone and saw that the name of his ex-fiancée had been flashing for several minutes. What the hell did she want? After all the chaos she had caused, with her offended prima donna scenes, what could it be now? After threatening him with a lawsuit that accused him of harming her public image, why did she want to talk to him? Damn it!

He didn't have any desire to hear her voice, and that reminded him once again how sterile and shallow their relationship had been. Alice Brown might be beautiful and sexy, but she definitely was not his idea of the woman he wanted by his side. How could he have tolerated her for the past six months? Perhaps people who thought that success had gone to his head weren't so wrong – being a very famous actor, wanted by movie directors and by women, must have confused him. It must have clouded his judgement and perspective. Wasn't he the one who used to dream of a
normal
life with a satisfying career, an intelligent wife, and a large family like his parents had? How could he have thought that an ambitious and spoiled actress like Alice would be the right woman for him? Of course he knew very well that the environment they lived in was not conducive to lasting relationships. Hollywood and the movie system were fascinating, brilliant, full of emotion and opportunities, but also full of predators – among them real vampires, thirsty for success, ready to do anything to get ahead.

At the beginning, Cade thought that having a woman by his side who could obviously understand the demands of being an actor, would have simplified his life. He was wrong. Alice had disproved this theory. After only three months it was clear that for her, their relationship had become a sort of competition for fame. Alice had just started to make her way into the movie system, while he had already been famous for four years. She thought that dating Cade would help her career, yet it wasn't easy to shine in the shadow of her famous and universally loved fiancé. So, once she understood that she wasn't getting the recognition she wanted, she found another way to get noticed: on national news!

The phone stopped ringing and he sighed with relief. The media war that Alice had instigated was dragging her down first. Her agent had probably advised her to come to some kind of agreement with him, to save face. But Cade had no intention of playing any more little games; he'd already taken part in this circus for too long. He never wanted to foster the juicy gossip that had emerged after their break-up, but he had been forced to respond to Alice's accusations and wasn't proud of it.

His own image had been damaged by all the stories in the press too, although not as badly. Moving away from LA had become necessary to let the events settle, to find a balance again, and put this disruption behind him. Yet, even hiding in this remote and unglamorous place wasn't enough. The text that he just received from Alice demonstrated this.

I need to talk to you. This farce has lasted too long. Why don't we end it for good? No use running away. Come back and deal with me face to face!

“You would love to have more photo ops together, right? It won't happen, my dear…” he mumbled to himself, deleting the message. He called his secretary to have his number changed as soon as possible. He turned off the phone and collapsed on the couch.

His friend Philip's house was very different from his mansion in Los Angeles. From the living room he could see every other room on the first floor, but it was spacious enough, furnished with taste, comfortable and peaceful. It was the ideal place to relax and off the radar. He hadn't been under siege for a few days now, there were no journalists in sight, and the refrigerator contained enough food for another week. This peaceful feeling was relatively new for Cade. As soon as he became famous, the opportunities to move freely around the States in privacy were almost non-existent. He had twenty-two rooms in his Californian home and enough money to travel to any place he wanted in the world. Yet freedom and privacy were still hard to come by. Wherever he went, he felt eyes on him and he saw journalists on every corner. If, at the beginning, the idea of becoming a star with a successful career had been exciting, now he began to weary of all the baggage that came with it.