Separating Riches (24 page)

“Oh, my dear. Oh, you are absolutely ravishing in that dress,” Norma said breathlessly, her eyes sparkling with tears.

“Thank you, Norma. I had hoped you would like me in it. I’m just sorry I couldn’t find the jewelry like what you wore.”

“That brings me to the reason I’m here. I want you to wear these.” Norma held out a ruby necklace and bracelet, with matching earrings.

“Oh my goodness. Where did you find these?” I asked.

“In my bedroom at home. When you told me that your mother was having this gown made, I asked her to bring the jewelry that go with it.”

“Thank you, but I can’t wear these, Norma. I could never replace them if something were to happen.”

“Don’t worry, dear,” she said. “They’re just costume jewelry that the studio gave me after we wrapped the film.”

“Wow, those are really good fakes then,” Melinda said.

Norma gave her a stern look that I wasn’t supposed to see. I understood then that it meant a lot to her to have me wear them.

“Are you sure, Norma?”

“Yes. Very sure,” she replied, handing me the earrings and bracelet. She walked around me and draped the necklace over my head, latching it around my neck. I put on the bracelet and earrings and then turned to look at her.

“You are so lovely,” she said softly.

“Thank you, Norma.”

“So, Norma. You’ve seen our outfits. When do we get to see yours?” Melinda asked.

“You’ll see me at the ball tonight,” she answered, and walked out the door.

Melinda and I looked at each other and smiled.

Chapter Nineteen

The Stage is Set — Melinda
, Chris
and
Felicia

“Wow! Look at this place,” I said, as Chris and I walked into the grand ballroom at the Blackstone hotel.

The golden era of Hollywood was alive and well in this room. Palm trees stood in the far corners, with street signs like Hollywood and Vine next to them. The center of the room had a large, portable, high gloss checkerboard dance floor, with Hollywood Walk of Fame stars in each panel. On one end of the oblong room, Charlie Chaplin’s 1925 movie
The Gold Rush
flickered across the wall. On the opposite end of the room, Cary Grant was running from a crop-duster airplane pursuing him in
North by Northwest.

There was a piano player testing the keys on a replica of the piano Sam played in
Casablanca
. Only this piano had a tip jar sitting on top of it that said,
if you ask me to play it again, you must donate a dollar first
. I expect that the man will be rich by the end of the night. It was mainly for show anyway. When the orchestra takes a break, “Sam” will play his piano. There was a cardboard cutout of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman behind the piano, almost as if they were listening to the music, and above them was our neon sign.

Scattered about the room were pods of different movie-themed decorations just like
Casablanca
. Cardboard cut outs of Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh as Rhett Butler and Scarlet O’Hara stood in front of a mural of the O’Hara’s mansion, Tara, in
Gone with the Wind
. Ever since the first time I saw that movie, I’ve had a crush on Scarlet. I think it was her feistiness that I was drawn to. Chris has that same feisty spirit in her. As we walked by Tara, I grabbed Chris by the shoulders and told her that she needed kissing, and by someone who knows how, and then I kissed her. After that, we would stop at each themed decoration to see if we knew a line from that movie, and then enact it, always ending with a kiss. The ones that we didn’t know we just made up. Our little game ended when we caught up with Chris’ mother.

“Mom, this place looks fantastic,” Chris exclaimed.

“Thanks, honey,” Felicia replied.

“Yeah, I could live here,” I added seriously. Just put a bed on the dance floor so I could sleep in memorabilia heaven.

Meg and Frankie walked in the door holding hands, and stopped, their mouths open in awe, just as we had been. I had to admit, Meg looked damn good dressed as Fred Astaire in
Top Hat
. She was a little more beefy than Astaire, but the tuxedo with tails, white shirt, vest and bowtie, complete with the top hat and cane, muted her muscles and actually made her look more feminine. Not that I would dare tell her that though. Frankie was dressed as Ginger Rogers, Astaire’s dance partner in
Top Hat,
wearing the notorious feather gown that shed tiny ostrich feathers whenever she moved. She looked gorgeous in that bias-cut silk gown where the feathers cascaded over her shoulders, around the low cut back and flowed from the hips to the floor. I was about to ask the chamber orchestra, just setting up in a corner in front of the palm tree, to play a ballad. I wanted to see Meg and Frankie dance together. But I was distracted by Felicia waving her hand.

“Oh, no, that doesn’t go there yet,” Felicia said to one of the stage hands. “Put that back behind the curtain for now, please.”

“Can we see it first, Mom?” Chris asked.

“Sure, doesn’t she look great?” Felicia asked as she turned the cardboard cutout so we could see it.

It was a cutout of Norma in her rose-colored sequin dress from her movie. A little surprise that we had a plan for her. One of many surprises, actually.

“It’s perfect, Felicia. I can’t wait for her to see it,” I said.

“She’ll get a kick out of it, I’m sure,” Felicia replied. “Chris, do you have everything ready for later?”

Chris nodded. “Yes, I’m ready to go.”

“Good. Then help me with these decorations on the table, would you please?”

“Sure, Mom. Come on, Melinda, let’s start on the left and work our way around.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” I said, grabbing a bag of party favors and following Chris. Another first for me; helping to decorate for a party.

*

Two hours later, the college kids began to arrive. Each one of them dressed in a costume from a different movie. One student, dressed as the gangster James Cagney, walked around saying, “You dirty rat.” But the best costume award would go to one girl who was dressed as Elizabeth Taylor in
Cleopatra
. With heavy blue eye shadow, sphinx painted eyes that served as her mask, she wore the gold beaded headdress that covered her head and had a gold piece jutting up, and the gold cape that was made to look like the wings of a phoenix. The student had a little trouble walking and holding the headdress in place, but still, it was the best costume in the room, excluding Chris’ costume, and not just because she’s my wife, but also because she is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Chris had changed into Norma’s Charlie Chaplin costume and was so incredibly adorable wobbling around, twirling the bamboo cane. But when she tipped her bowler hat, twitched that toothbrush moustache, and raised those fake bushy eyebrows, I literally bent over laughing.

The orchestra began to play
As Time Goes By,
and I took Chris’ hand and led her to the dance floor. It was the perfect song for a slow, intimate dance, and I held my wife close, with one hand on the small of her back, the other holding her hand, tucking it in close. She laid her head on my shoulder and I melted into her, swaying with my lover, as time goes by.

Show Time — Felicia
, Chris, Melinda, Meg
and
Frankie

The party was in full swing finally, with the orchestra playing movie tunes, the college students eating, and my daughter dancing in the spotlight with her wife. I seriously doubted that they even noticed I had the lights turned down low and the spotlight put on them. Just watching them made my heart lighter and fuller, all at the same time. It wasn’t that long ago that I was praying every night for God to keep Chris safe out there alone on the streets, and He did, and now He has sent Melinda to keep her happy. Another prayer answered.

Meg and Frankie joined Chris and Melinda on the dance floor, and I waved at the photographer that Melinda had hired, to make sure he took their pictures. The photographer was also dressed in costume and wore a mask. In fact, all the hired help wore a costume of some sort from the supporting characters in the movies, like the piano player, who was dressed as Sam, or the waiter, dressed as a sailor from the
Mutiny on the Bounty
movie.

I looked around one last time and was satisfied that everything looked authentic, not cheesy. That is until I saw the Blackstones walk in. Robert apparently didn’t get the memo where people were to wear masks with their costumes. I guess he is above that. Elizabeth looked stunning in her Scarlett O’Hara costume, with the hooped skirt and velvet hat. I could tell it was a custom-made gown, not a rental off the rack. Robert was dressed as John Wayne who played Yankee Captain Kirby York in
Rio Grande
. He was quite handsome in that outfit, and it really seemed to fit his attitude. Part crusty, loveable rugged man, and part intimidating, but not because he was big and tall, like Wayne was, but because he had a reputation for squashing people like a bug.

“Who are the two men dancing over there?” Robert asked with that superior voice of his. “It’s not going to be one of
those
types of parties, is it?”

“And what if it was, Father?” Melinda asked, walking up to him. She took her mask off and kissed her mother. She didn’t touch Robert.

“Then I would write out a check for whatever fundraiser this party was for, and leave.”

I have to admit, the man didn’t sugar coat it.
Fundraiser party?
He didn’t know that this was a party to catch a blackmailer, not to raise funds. Although if it weren’t for the blackmailer part, I could have raised a lot of money tonight.

“Father, can I speak with you a minute, over here, please,” Melinda asked politely.

He looked at me, and said, “If you ladies will excuse us.” Then he saluted with two fingers to his hat, and left with Melinda.

I’d like to be a fly on the wall of that conversation.

Something is Afoot — Norma
and
George

It had been over twenty years since I attended a party, and well over forty years since I attended a Hollywood party. And even though this masquerade ball was a guise to expose a blackmailer, I was still very excited about it. The biggest part of acting is to become someone else, and this little party will allow me to act again, so-to-speak. I’ve missed acting. I’ve missed becoming that character and wearing those costumes. And yes, I’ve missed Hollywood.

After seeing the girls off, George and I whiled the time away playing cards. He is such a gracious loser. The excitement of the party had put me in an actor’s frame of mind. I looked at George and I saw the charm and sophistication of Cary Grant, the sensitivity of Gary Cooper, and just enough of John Wayne to make him a man’s man. I don’t understand why he has never found his soulmate.

“Well, Norma, I think maybe we should go get ready for the party now. Don’t you?” George asked, as I won another game.

I looked up at the wall clock and shook my head. “It’s early yet, George. If you want to make a dramatic entrance, you should arrive fashionably late. Let’s play a few more hands, all right? I promise to let you win this time.”

“Yes, that’s probably the only way I’ll be able to,” he said with a smirk.

Another hour passed, where I let George win a hand or two, and it was time to get ready. George had brought his costume with him, and went into one of the rooms next to mine.

“Oh, no!”

George must have heard me scream, because he came running in, shirtless, and in his boxer shorts. If it wasn’t a dire emergency, it would have been comical, or worse, conspicuous in that a half-naked young man was standing in an old lady’s boudoir. But I couldn’t worry about that now. Someone had taken my Charlie Chaplin costume that I had laid out on the bed, and replaced it with the dress Chris was wearing. So of course, I knew that it had to be that the girls were up to something again.

“George, what do you know about this?” I demanded.

George, standing there in his shorts, put his hands on his hips and protested. “I know nothing about this, Norma. I promise.”

“Are you sure, dear?” I asked pointedly. “Because when I find out who’s playing a joke on me, I’m going to make their lives miserable.”

“How so?” he asked almost seriously.

“I’ll put estrogen in their coffee,” I sniped, even though I haven’t needed estrogen in years.

“Oh, dear. That wouldn’t do at all,” he laughed. “All right. I confess. It wasn’t me.”

Shaking my head, I said, “Dear, you’re confessing to nothing.”

“You’re catching on, Norma.”

“What am I going to do? I can’t go dressed in that. It would be far too embarrassing.”

“Norma, take a look at it,” George suggested. “This dress is different from what Chris was wearing… uh, not that I know anything about that.”

I gave him a piercing stare that told him I didn’t believe him. He picked up the gown and held it against his chest. It was indeed different from the one Chris had been wearing. The front slit had a skin-colored shell beneath it. So did the hip slit. No one would see my wrinkles. Well, not all of them, at least.

“George, what’s going on? Where’s my Charlie Chaplin costume?”

“Chris has probably changed into it by now,” George said, answering half of my questions.

“Why? What does it matter what I wear? It’s not a real ball.”

“I think that Chris was feeling nostalgic. She felt that you should wear your dress, as befitting an Academy Award winning actress.”

“George, that was a hundred years ago. No one cares about that anymore,” I said, trying to understand why the girls keep making a fuss over a small gold statue, and not even a Best Actress Award.

“Norma, the girls and I care about it. It’s part of what made you who you are.”

“It’s also part of what broke me,” I retorted without thinking.

“And someday you’ll trust me enough to tell me about that. But I think for right now, I should probably go back to my room and finish dressing before the rumors start flying.”

Laughing, I said, “I wouldn’t mind them, but it wouldn’t help your reputation any.”

“Yes, especially if I ever want to catch Mr. Right,” he laughed, and left the room.

Slipping the gown on over my head, I walked to the mirror and looked at myself. It was only a half-mirror but I just needed to make sure that my skin wasn’t showing where it shouldn’t be. The seamstress did a good job with the gown. It fit perfectly, and surprisingly, lifted my wrinkles into curves in the proper places. Even my sagging breasts looked forty years younger, because the gown’s lining lifted and molded them in place. Walking over to the bed to put my shoes on, I noticed my jewelry lying on top of a note. It was the jewelry I had loaned Chris just a few hours ago. I moved the jewels aside and picked up the note.