Hollywood Divorces / Hollywood Wives: The New Generation (27 page)

Nicci called Evan. ‘Your mom is driving me totally nuts!’ she complained. ‘Why didn’t you tell me she was arriving today?’

‘I would’ve if you’d called me,’ he said, still in an uptight mood.

‘When will you be home? I can’t take her on my own. She’s impossible.’

‘I don’t believe you said that.’

‘What?’

‘You’re talking about my
mother
, Nicci. She’s only trying to help.’

‘How do
you
know?’

‘Because I’ve already spoken to her, and she’s told me the maid and the gardener are both useless.’

‘Oh,
really
? So what do
you
suggest we do? Dump them right before our wedding?’

‘My mother can handle it, she’ll find us new people, she’s an expert at that.’

‘No!’ Nicci said sharply.

‘No, what?’

‘No, I’m not allowing her to walk in and upset everything.’

‘Don’t be childish, Nicci.’

‘Did you call me childish?’

‘Why don’t we discuss this when I get back.’

‘Why don’t
you
go to hell?’

She slammed down the phone and marched into the kitchen where Lynda was busily reorganizing the canned-goods cupboard. ‘What are you doing?’ she demanded.

‘Some of these cans are out of date,’ Lynda said disapprovingly. ‘Serve them, and you could be serving pure poison.’

‘I don’t think so,’ Nicci said, very close to losing it.

‘Yes, dear,’ Lynda assured her. ‘A friend of mine had to be rushed to the emergency room after eating a can of soup three months after the date.’

‘That’s a
sell-by
date,’ Nicci pointed out, grabbing a can of tomato soup earmarked by Lynda to be thrown away.

The phone rang.
Saved by the bell,
Nicci thought.

‘Hello,’ she said bad-temperedly, thinking it was Evan.

‘
Cariño!
This is your father.’

‘Antonio?’

‘You have another father?’

‘How
are
you?’

‘We are here, at the Peninsula Hotel.’

‘You are?’

‘We come early because Bianca wishes to do the shopping on Rodeo.’

‘Bianca?’

‘Contessa Bianca de Morago. My wife.’

B
y the time Michael arrived at the house on Thursday morning, Lissa was in the front hall, all packed and waiting to leave.

‘I’m not late, am I?’ he said, quickly checking his watch.

She gave him a cool smile. ‘I said ten o’clock, it’s five minutes before, you’re perfectly on time.’

‘That’s what I thought.’

‘Why don’t you wait in one of the limos? I have a couple of last-minute things to take care of.’

He walked outside. She was being off with him, and he didn’t blame her.

‘Good
morning
,’ Fabio said, emerging from the house. ‘And you are?’

‘Michael Scorsinni.’

‘I am Fabio. Lissa’s hair and makeup artist,’ Fabio said, tossing back his mane of hair.

‘Nice meeting you, Fabio.’

‘The pleasure is all mine,’ Fabio said, looking Michael up and down and licking his lips.

There were two limos parked in the driveway. Michael wasn’t sure which one he was supposed to get in. He walked over to Chuck, who was talking to one of the drivers. ‘Morning, Chuck,’ he said. ‘Which car d’you think she wants me in?’

‘Ride follow-up,’ Chuck said. ‘I’ll go with her.’

‘Sure,’ he said, taking out his dark glasses and putting them on, because even though it was early, the sun was quite bright. He remembered when he’d first moved to L.A. and partnered with Quincy. It was the weather that had lured him, followed by the laid-back lifestyle.

Danny emerged and started speaking with Fabio.

‘How’s everything?’ Michael said, going over to him.

‘Couldn’t be better,’ Danny said, ready for his Vegas adventure, all dressed up in a pale yellow leisure suit.

‘Who’s going to be on the plane?’ Michael asked.

Danny produced a list. ‘Let me see, there’s
me
and Fabio, Chuck, and Madam, of course, and
you.
Everyone else is flying commercial.’

‘So we’re on a private plane?’

‘Yes, the hotel is sending it,’ Danny said. ‘It’s the
only
way to travel.’

Michael got in the limo, followed by Danny and Fabio.

They sat there for ten minutes until Lissa finally appeared. She stopped and talked to Chuck for a minute.

Chuck came back to the second limo. ‘Miz Roman wants you to ride with her,’ he said to Michael, his face expressionless. ‘I’ll go in this car.’

Fabio and Danny exchanged knowing looks as Michael got out of the limo and headed to the front one, where Lissa was already sitting.

He climbed in and took off his dark glasses.

‘How are you, Michael?’ she asked.

‘Fine,’ he replied, copying her cool tone. ‘And everything’s good with you?’

‘Seems to be,’ she said, putting on a pair of Gucci sunglasses with pink-tinted lenses.

‘Heard any more from Gregg?’

‘No,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘I guess he’s gotten bored and gone away.’

‘Let’s hope.’

‘I
am
suing him,’ she said. ‘I mentioned that, didn’t I?’

‘You told me you were seeing your lawyer.’

‘He seems to think I have a case. Then again,’ she mused, ‘do I really need the publicity?’

‘No,’ Michael said. ‘You should do what I advised and get him to sign a confidentiality agreement–one that’ll shut him up for good.’

‘I told my lawyer that.’ A long beat while she thought it over. ‘Maybe I’ll drop the case. I don’t need to put myself back in the headlines.’

‘You look beautiful, Lissa,’ he said, unable to stop himself–the words just came pouring out.

‘Don’t tell me that,’ she said brusquely.

‘Why?’

‘Because we don’t have a
personal
relationship, Michael. You made it very clear that you’re not interested. So please save the compliments for your girlfriend or girlfriends, whatever you’ve got going.’

‘I’m not allowed to say you look beautiful?’ he asked, wondering if she was planning to shut him out the entire trip.

‘I’d prefer that you didn’t.’

‘Okay,’ he said, deciding to go along with whatever she wanted to do. ‘We’ll keep it all business. You’re right, Lissa, that’s the way it
should
be.’ He was furious with himself for weakening, but it seemed that the moment he was around her, he couldn’t help himself.

They rode in silence to the airport.

Michael wondered why she’d wanted him in the car with her if she didn’t have anything to say to him. Then his thoughts moved on to Carol and the baby she was carrying–
his
baby. By the time they reached the airport, he’d slumped into a deep depression.

The Desert Millennium Princess had sent a sleek Gulfstream IV plane to fetch Lissa and her entourage. Two
extremely attractive hostesses in short, white and gold, form-fitting uniforms, were waiting to greet her as she got out of the limo and started up the steps to the plane. The two pilots stood on the top step, eager to say hello.

Lissa was gracious to everyone, smiling and shaking hands.

As soon as he was aboard, Michael walked around the interior of the plane, checking it out. There was a small luxurious bedroom with its own private marble bathroom, a spacious living-room area, and a rear cabin, where Fabio and Danny settled. Lissa sat in the living-room area, which featured a round dining table and several comfortable seats, plus a bar and large-screen television.

‘Michael, you sit in here with me,’ she commanded.

For someone who wanted a business relationship, she was certainly giving him preferential treatment. Chuck threw him a look and went into the rear cabin with Fabio and Danny.

‘You look tired,’ she remarked, fastening her seat-belt.

‘I’ve had a rough couple of days,’ he said, sitting in the seat next to her and buckling up.

‘Chasing more cheating husbands?’

‘Everything’s fallen on my shoulders since Quincy can’t do too much on account of his leg. Apart from that, I’ve, uh…got kind of a personal problem.’

‘Join the club,’ she said, as one of the stewardesses approached, a tall, leggy blonde.

‘Can I get you anything, Miz Roman?’ the girl asked.

‘Evian, please.’

‘Certainly, Miz Roman,’ the stewardess said. She then turned to Michael, giving him a long, flirtatious look. ‘Mr Scorsinni? How about you?’

‘I’ll have Evian too.’

‘We’ll be taking off in approximately five minutes,’ the stewardess said, giving him another flirtatious look. ‘I’m Cindy. Anything you need, feel free to buzz me.’

Lissa leaned back and closed her eyes.

Michael wondered why he’d told her that he had a personal problem. He wasn’t about to reveal what it was, so why even mention it?

He couldn’t help staring at her. She was so beautiful and yet even looking at her was dangerous.

Stay away
, a little voice screamed in his head. But he knew that staying away was getting more and more difficult each time he saw her.

‘Hi.’

‘Who’s this?’ Nicci asked suspiciously.

‘Who do you
think
it is? Your partner in crime.’

‘Brian?’ she said tentatively.

‘Yeah.’

‘Why are you calling me?’

‘To advise you that Evan didn’t say zip about the fiancée thing.’

‘We had a raging fight on the phone,’ she said, keeping her voice low because Lynda was lurking somewhere. ‘Your mom’s here, and she’s every bit as bad as you warned me she was.’

Brian began to laugh. ‘Hate to say I told you so.’

‘Why are you laughing?’ Nicci said indignantly. ‘It’s not even remotely funny. She’s been here twenty-four hours and she’s already driving me insane, and Evan won’t be back until Sunday. Oh, yeah, and apparently she’s like
talking
to him on the phone all the time,
mostly
to complain about me.’

‘That figures.’

‘What can I do?’

‘Tough it out, babe.’

‘You don’t understand. She’s impossible, Brian.’

‘I
do
understand. She’s my mother.’

‘She talks about Evan endlessly. Sometimes, to piss her
off, I bring
your
name up, and she like doesn’t even
give
a rat’s ass. Says you can look after yourself.’

‘That’s ’cause she knows I won’t put up with her shit, so she’s let go of me. The bad news is she’s still got Evan jumping hoops.’

‘What can I do about it?’

‘Marry the guy, then the three of you can live happily ever after. Isn’t that what you want?’

‘Screw you, Brian.’

‘When?’

‘Ha ha. Not funny.’

‘So what else is up?’

‘I’m beginning to have doubts.’

‘Yeah?’

‘Right now, things seem so kind of like
strange.
And every time I speak to Evan, we get into a major fight. I suppose when he gets back on Sunday, everything will be all right.’ A beat. ‘It’s nice of you to call, Brian.’

‘I gotta make a confession.’

‘Yes?’

‘You an’ I–we didn’t do anything.’

‘About what?’

‘We didn’t have sex, Nic.’

‘You’re kidding?’

‘I might’ve been wasted, but here’s the thing–I can take all the shit going an’ it doesn’t affect me. So, uh…apart from the fact that I dented your car, and I
do
remember that, we didn’t do anything.’

‘Then how come we ended up in your bed with no clothes on?’

‘We were just about to get down to it when you passed out on me. So, good guy that I am–or stupid, whichever way you wanna look at it–I carried you into bed, crawled in beside you, and fell asleep.’

‘Oh, my God! Why didn’t you tell me before?’

‘I’m telling you now, aren’t I?’

‘I can’t decide whether I’m relieved or not.’

‘Huh?’

‘I didn’t mean that,’ she said quickly. ‘I’m confused.’

‘Sounds like it,’ he said.

She attempted to gather her thoughts. This was a good thing…wasn’t it? No sex with Brian. No guilty feelings. Yes, it was a good thing.

‘Uh, Brian,’ she ventured.

‘Yes.’

‘When you get back, can we sit down and talk? I think I need help.’

‘I told you before, Nic, you’re nineteen, if you’re not sure about the marriage thing, don’t do it.’

‘How can I back out now? The wedding plans are all in place, your mother’s here, my father just flew in, and Saturday night Saffron’s throwing me a bachelorette night. Wild times, here I come!’

‘Then you’d better make sure you enjoy it, babe, ’cause come Sunday, your wild times are
way
over.’

Gregg parked his car a block from his former residence, and waited. When he saw the pool man’s truck driving up the winding street, he got out of his car and waved for him to stop. ‘Hey, Lou,’ he yelled. ‘Pull over.’

The pool man, a tall, blondish ex-surfer gone to seed, stopped his truck and squinted. ‘Mr Roman?’ he said.

It had always infuriated Gregg that the idiot called him Mr Roman, but he wasn’t about to get into that now. ‘Yeah, yeah–how’re you doing?’

‘Can’t complain, Mr Roman.’

‘I’m taking a ride with you up to the house,’ Gregg said. ‘Picking up some of my stuff from the storage room.’

‘You don’t wanna drive your car?’

The man was a moron who’d obviously burned his
brains out while doing all that surfing in his youth. Which was good, because he obviously didn’t read the papers or watch TV.

‘Naw, it’s easier to put it in your truck and bring it back to my car,’ he said, jumping into the truck.

Now all he had to do was get through the front gate. With any luck, Chuck would have gone to Vegas with Lissa, and there’d be a new guard at the gate who wouldn’t know him.

The truck drove through with no trouble. Lou circumvented the house and parked in the back by the pool. Gregg jumped out and headed for the storage room, which was not within sight of the house, another plus.

The room was unlocked. Things were definitely going his way today.

He entered the overcrowded storage room, which smelled musty and damp. There were old suitcases, miscellaneous junk, boxes and boxes of stuff piled high. He remembered saying to Lissa once, ‘Why the hell do you keep all this crap?’ That had been in the early days when they’d been making love out by the pool, and she’d gone into the storage room to see if she could find an old Polaroid camera. They’d thought it would be fun to take some pictures.

He’d followed her into the stuffy little room, and that’s when he’d asked her what she kept in there.

‘My life,’ she’d said, turning to him, ‘from when I was ten years old.’

‘That’s a lot of boxes, babe.’

‘Yes,’ she’d agreed. ‘One day I’ll go through them.’

Each box had a date scrawled on it in heavy felt pen. Gregg tried to count back in his head. Lissa was forty, which meant that when she ran away from home at sixteen, it would’ve been around 1977. He decided to play it safe and took the boxes marked ’74, ’75, and ’76.

He carried them to Lou’s truck, and loaded them in the back. Then he waited for the pool man to finish.

It was easy. And nobody said a word when they drove out.

‘I set up a dinner with Oliver Rock,’ Larry said. ‘I thought it would be a good idea for us all to get together before the meeting at the studio.’

‘You could have checked with me,’ Taylor said, feeling incredibly guilty, because it was one thing having Oliver work on her script, and quite another sitting down to dinner with him and her husband.

‘I tried, but you were working and your phone was off.’

‘Where are we going?’

‘Spago at seven thirty. Can you be ready?’

‘I’ll go get dressed,’ she said, hurrying upstairs, still feeling guilty. This was a dangerous road she was travelling, and she knew it. Sleeping with Oliver Rock was
not
a good idea. As enjoyable as it was, it had to stop, because she knew without a doubt that if she continued doing so, it would lead to big trouble.

She’d experienced another great day at the studio. Recently she’d begun to realize that the one big mistake she’d made in her marriage to Larry was giving up her career. Now that she was acting again, she felt so much more fulfilled. And if her project came off, everything would be perfect.