The Fourth K (30 page)

No one could doubt the passionate sincerity in her voice. There were even tears in her eyes. She was baring her soul to Gibson. “I want to be a real person,” she said. “I would like to give up all this shit of make-believe, this business of movies. It doesn’t satisfy me. I want to go out to make the world a better place. Like Mother Teresa, or Martin Luther King. I’m not doing anything to help make the world grow. I could be a nurse or a doctor, I could be a social worker. I hate this life, these parties, this always being on a plane for meetings with important people. Making decisions about some damned movie that won’t help humanity. I want to do something real.” And then she reached out and clutched Gibson Grange’s hand.

It was marvelous for David to see why Grange had become such a powerful star in the movie business, why he controlled the movies he appeared in. For Gibson Grange somehow had his hand in Rosemary’s, somehow he had slid his chair away from her, somehow he had captured his central position in the tableau. Rosemary was still staring at him with an impassioned look on her face, waiting for his response. He smiled at her warmly, then tilted his head downward and to the side so that he addressed David and Hocken.

Gibson Grange said with affectionate approval, “She’s slick.”

Dean Hocken burst into laughter, David could not repress a smile. Rosemary looked stunned, but then said in a tone of jesting reproof, “Gib, you never take anything seriously
except your lousy movies.” And to show she was not offended she held out a hand, which Gibson Grange gently kissed.

David wondered at all of them. They were so sophisticated, they were so subtle. He admired Gibson Grange most of all. That he would spurn a woman as beautiful as Rosemary Belair was awe-inspiring, that he could outwit her so easily was godlike.

David had been ignored by Rosemary all evening, but he acknowledged her right to do so. She was the most powerful woman in the most glamorous business in the country. She had access to men far worthier than he. She had every right to be rude to him. David recognized that she did not do so out of malice. She simply found him nonexistent.

They were all astonished that it was nearly midnight; they were the last ones in the restaurant. Hocken stood up and Gibson Grange helped Rosemary put on her jacket again, which she had taken off in the middle of her passionate discourse. When Rosemary stood up she was a little off balance, a little drunk.

“Oh, God,” she said. “I don’t dare drive myself, the police in this town are so awful. Gib, will you take me back to my hotel?”

Gibson smiled at her. “That’s in Beverly Hills. Me and Hock are going out to my house in Malibu. David will give you a ride, won’t you, David?”

“Sure,” Dean Hocken said. “You don’t mind, do you, David?”

“Of course not,” David Jatney said. But his mind was spinning. How the hell was this coming about? Good old Hock was looking embarrassed. Obviously Gibson Grange had lied, didn’t want to take Rosemary home because he didn’t want to have to keep fending the woman off. And
Hock was embarrassed because he had to go along with the lie or else he would get on the wrong side of a big star, something a movie producer avoided at all costs. Then he saw Gibson give him a little smile and he could read the man’s mind. And of course that was it, that was why he was such a great actor. He could make audiences read his mind by just wrinkling his eyebrows, tilting his head, a dazzling smile. With just that look, without malice but celestial good humor, he was saying to David Jatney, “The bitch ignored you all evening, she was rude as hell to you, now I have put her in your debt.” David looked at Hocken and saw that he was now smiling, not embarrassed. In fact, he looked pleased as if he too had read the actor’s look.

Rosemary said abruptly, “I’ll drive myself.” She did not look at David when she said it.

Hocken said smoothly, “I can’t allow that, Rosemary, you are my guest and I did give you too much wine. If you hate the idea of David driving you, then of course I’ll take you back to your hotel. Then I’ll order a limo to Malibu.”

It was, David realized, superbly done. For the first time he detected insincerity in Hocken’s voice. Of course Rosemary could not accept Hocken’s offer. If she did so, she would be offering a grievous insult to the young friend of her mentor. She would be putting both Hocken and Gibson Grange to a great deal of inconvenience. And her primary purpose in getting Gibson to take her home would not be accomplished anyway. She was caught in an impossible situation.

Then Gibson Grange delivered the final blow. He said, “Hell, I’ll ride with you, Hock. I’ll just take a nap in the backseat to keep you company to Malibu.”

Rosemary gave David a bright smile. She said, “I hope it won’t be too much trouble for you.”

“No, it won’t,” David said. Hocken clapped him on the shoulder, Gibson Grange gave him a brilliant smile and a wink. And that smile and wink gave David another message. These two men were standing by him as males. A lone powerful female had shamed one of their fellow males and they were punishing her. Also, she had come on too strong to Gibson, it was not a woman’s place to do so with a male more than equal in power. They had just administered a masterful blow to her ego, to keep her in her place. And it was all done with such marvelous good humor and politeness. And there was another factor. These men remembered when they had been young and powerless as David was now; they had invited him to dinner to show that their success did not leave them faithless to their fellow males, a time-hallowed practice perfected over centuries to forestall any envious revenge. Rosemary had not honored this practice, had not remembered her time of powerlessness, and tonight they had reminded her. And yet David was on Rosemary’s side; she was too beautiful to be hurt.

They walked out into the parking lot together, and then when the other two men roared away in Hocken’s Porsche, David led Rosemary to his old Toyota.

Rosemary said, “Shit, I can’t get out at the Beverly Hills Hotel from a car like that.” She looked around and said, “Now I have to find my car. Look, David, do you mind driving me back in my Mercedes, it’s somewhere around here, and I’ll have a hotel limo bring you back. That way I won’t have to have my car picked up in the morning. Could we do that?” She smiled at him sweetly, then reached into her pocketbook and put on spectacles. She pointed to one of the few remaining cars in the lot and said, “There it is.” David, who had spotted her car as soon as they were outside, was puzzled. Then he realized she must be extremely near-
sighted. Maybe it was nearsightedness that made her ignore him at dinner.

She gave him the key to her Mercedes, and he unlocked the door on her side and helped her in. He could smell the wine and perfume composted on her body and felt the heat of her bones like burning coal. Then he went to the other side of the car to get in the driver’s seat, and before he could use the key the door swung open—Rosemary had unlocked it from the inside to open it for him. He was surprised by this, he would have judged it not in her character.

It took him a few minutes to figure out how the Mercedes worked. But he loved the feel of the seat, the smell of the reddish leather—was it a natural smell or did she spray the car with some sort of special leather perfume? And the car handled beautifully; for the first time he understood the acute pleasure some people took from driving.

The Mercedes seemed to just flow through the dark streets. He enjoyed driving so much that the half hour to the Beverly Hills Hotel seemed to pass in an instant. In all that time Rosemary did not speak to him. She took off her spectacles and put them back into her purse and then sat silent. Once she glanced at his profile as if appraising him. Then she just stared straight ahead. David never once turned to her or spoke. He was enjoying the dream of driving a beautiful woman in a beautiful car, in the heart of the most glamorous town in the world.

When he stopped at the canopied entrance to the Beverly Hills Hotel, he took the keys out of the ignition and handed them to Rosemary. Then he got out and went around to open her door. At the same moment one of the valet parking men came down the red-carpeted runway and Rosemary handed him the keys to her car, and David realized he should have left them in the ignition.

Rosemary started up the red-carpeted runway to the entrance of the hotel, and David knew she had completely forgotten about him. He was too proud to remind her about offering a limo to take him back. He watched her. Under the green canopy, the balmy air, the golden lights, she seemed like a lost princess. Then she stopped and turned; he could see her face, and she looked so beautiful that David Jatney’s heart stopped.

He thought she had remembered him, that she expected him to follow her. But she turned again and tried to go up the three steps that would bring her to the doors. At that moment she tripped, her purse went flying out of her hands and everything in that purse scattered on the ground. By that time David had dashed up the red carpet runway to help her.

The contents of the purse seemed endless—it was magical in the way it continued to spill out its contents. There were solitary lipsticks, a makeup case that burst open and poured mysteries of its own, there was a ring of keys that immediately broke and scattered at least twenty keys around the carpet. There was a bottle of aspirin and prescription vials of different drugs. And a huge pink toothbrush. There was a cigarette lighter and no cigarettes, there was a tube of Binaca and a little plastic bag that held blue panties and some sort of device that looked sinister. There were innumerable coins, some paper money and a soiled white linen handkerchief. There were spectacles, gold-rimmed, spinsterish without the adornment of Rosemary’s classically sculptured face.

Rosemary looked at all this with horror, then burst into tears. David knelt on the red-carpeted runway and started to sweep everything into the purse. Rosemary didn’t help him. When one of the bellmen came out of the hotel, David had him hold the purse with its mouth open while he shoveled the stuff into it.

Finally he had gotten everything, and he took the now full purse from the bellman and gave it to Rosemary. He could see her humiliation and wondered at it. She dried her tears and said to him, “Come up to my suite for a drink until your limo comes, I haven’t had a chance to speak to you all evening.”

David smiled. He was remembering Gibson Grange saying, “She’s slick.” But he was curious about the famous Beverly Hills Hotel and he wanted to stay around Rosemary.

He thought the green-painted walls were weird for a high-class hotel—dingy, in fact. But when they entered the huge suite he was impressed. It was beautifully decorated and had a large terrace—a balcony. There was also a bar in one corner. Rosemary went to it and mixed herself a drink, then after asking him what he wanted, mixed him one. He had asked for just a plain scotch; though he rarely drank, he was feeling a little nervous. She unlocked the glass sliding doors to the terrace and led him outside. There was a white glass-topped table and four white chairs. “Sit here while I go to the bathroom,” Rosemary said. “Then we’ll have a little chat.” She disappeared back into the suite.

David sat in one of the chairs and sipped his scotch. Below him were the interior gardens of the Beverly Hills Hotel. He could see the swimming pool and the tennis courts, the walks that led to the bungalows. There were trees and individual lawns, the grass greener under moonlight, and the lighting glancing off the pink-painted walls of the hotel gave everything a surrealistic glow.

It was no more than ten minutes later when Rosemary reappeared. She sat in one of the chairs and sipped her drink. Now she was wearing loose white slacks and a white pullover cashmere sweater. She had pushed the sleeves of her sweater up above her elbows. She smiled at him, it was a dazzling
smile. She had washed her face clean of makeup and he liked her better this way. Her lips were now not voluptuous, her eyes not so commanding. She looked younger and more vulnerable. Her voice when she spoke seemed easier, softer, less commanding.

“Hock tells me you’re a screenwriter,” she said. “Do you have anything you’d like to show me? You can send it to my office.”

“Not really,” David said. He smiled back at her. He would never let himself be rejected by her.

“But Hock said you had one finished,” Rosemary said. “I’m always looking for new writers. It’s so hard to find something decent.”

“No,” David said. “I wrote four or five but they were so terrible I tore them up.”

They were silent for a time, it was easy for David to be silent; it was more comfortable for him than speech. Finally Rosemary said, “How old are you?”

David lied and said, “Twenty-six.”

Rosemary smiled at him. “God, I wish I were that young again. You know, when I came here I was eighteen. I wanted to be an actress, and I was a half-assed one. You know those one-line parts on TV, the salesgirl the heroine buys something from? Then I met Hock and he made me his executive assistant and taught me everything I know. He helped me set up my first picture and he helped all through the years. I love Hock, I always will. But he’s so tough, like tonight. He stuck with Gibson against me.” Rosemary shook her head. “I always wanted to be as tough as Hock,” she said. “I modeled myself after him.”

David said, “I think he’s a very nice gentle guy.”

“But he’s fond of you,” Rosemary said. “Really, he told me so. He said you look so much like your mother and you
act just like her. He says you’re a really sincere person, not a hustler.” She paused for a moment and then said, “I can see that too. You can’t imagine how humiliated I felt when all that stuff spilled out of my purse. And then I saw you picking everything up and never looking at me. You were really very sweet.” She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. He could smell a different sweeter fragrance coming from her body now.

Abruptly she stood up and went back into the suite; he followed her. She closed the glass door of the terrace and locked it and then she said, “I’ll call for your limo.” She picked up the phone. But instead of pressing the buttons she held it in her hand and looked at David. He was standing very still, standing far enough away not to be in her space. She said to him, “David, I’m going to ask you something that might sound odd. Would you stay with me tonight? I feel lousy and I need company, but I want you to promise you won’t try to do anything. Could we just sleep together like friends?”